Feline Cystitis (female Cat) - Diet?!

[jstie]

You may remember my dear Pawnee, victim of a horrendous vaccine reaction, then last year histoplasmosis, and now this. Idiopathic cystitis. We've nursed our way through 2 flareups in the last year, and the most recent one was the worst yet, dripping blood clots as she walked through the kitchen... :-( She Will. NOT. Eat. The. Rx. Food. Not C/D, not S/O, in any flavor. She is finicky at best, and during the histo ordeal she ate Fancy Feast and any other assorted crap we could get in her. Which did not help. She'll eat something for a couple of days, then refuse it. We've used the appetite stimulant mirtazepine, but she's very difficult to pill and we can't keep her on that forever! I have made raw mix food, which the other four will kill for, but she nibbles, eats a little, shrugs and says, "Naah." At the moment, she seems to kind of like Purina Urinary Health wet food in turkey flavor, which is at least better than Little Friskies. My vet really wants her on the Rx food, but I don't like that crap and neither does Pawnee. So, O Moms and Dads of Cats, what should we do?? Is the OTC urinary food marginally acceptable? Better than nothing? I'm tired of wringing my hands! Thanks!

 

[abyeb]

I'm so sorry to here that Pawnee is going through this. I'm glad that you came to TCS for help, I'm sure we all want to help you and Pawnee through this. Will she eat a different brand of Rx food? You can also go to another vet to get a second opinion about the Rx vs. OTC diet.

EDIT: I just found an article relating to this: Feline Idiopathic Cystitis - How To Improve Your Cat's Quality Of Life, which should give you more insight.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

You might find this interesting, as well. Feline Idiopathic Cystitis: More Than a Bladder Problem

I know that your vet wants her on the Rx diet, but since everything I've read says that they don't know exactly what ingredients in the various urinary diets are the ones that actually work, I'd think that ANY decent urinary diet she will eat would certainly be far better than a prescription diet she hates.