Flutd reoccurrence?

[Amni Alia]

Hi everyone, my cat, Jerry is already one and a half y/o.. time flies fast.. so last Wednesday, i noticed that Jerry spent a very long time and frequently squatting in the litter box but nothing came out.. i could tell that he got flutd by the symptoms as i had the same experience with my other two cats back then, but unfortunately both of them died after flutd reoccurrence..we already brought them to the vet though but we couldn't bring them to the vet again during the second time they got the flutd as it was really pricey..
So i immediately brought Jerry the next day but with different vet from my other two cats.. Jerry was warded and came home early on Saturday as the vet was closed on Christmas.. so we monitored him with the catheter still inside him and he got better..
The vet advised us to change his kibbles to royal canin urinary s/o and gave him Clavamox, Prazosin, Prednisolone and some supplements such as Nefrotec DS and Cystophan...i keep changing his water and even feed him water by syringe right after he eat..more urine comes out and there is no blood in his urine anymore.. he becomes very vocal and his appetite improves so much..
But one thing that worried me so much is the reoccurrence.. I'm afraid that he'll get it again and my mom said she won't take him to the vet again if it happens ‍.. so it is the best to take preventive action to avoid the reoccurrence.. I'm asking anyone who had the same experience to suggest me some ways in order to prevent this. I don't want to lose him just because of this

Thank you

 

[verna davies]

Did your vet do a scan and did it show stones or debris in his bladder? The prescription food will help dissolve the stones or debris. I would not feed any dry food, only wet and add a little water to eat feed. Also look at Cornsilk ( non alcoholic) and d-mannose. They are both natural products and wont interfere with any other meds.

 

[stephanietx]

Good job watching your kitty and getting him to the vet. Sometimes, this is a chronic condition, but sometimes it only happens once or twice in a cat's life. I would suggest giving him wet food and only supplement with dry food. I like Royal Canin rx food, but it can be super pricy. Stress is the leading cause of a lot of issues like this. You may want to run calming diffusers in your home to help de-stress. Watch your routine and keep it the same as possible.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
Purina Hydra Care is specifically formulated for FLUTD kitties, it might help your baby.

 

[Alldara]

I would also recommend changing from clay litter to an alternative if you aren't already using one. Personally I found paper and corn based are best for preventing FLUTD flares. Please also do not use pine litter.

But you MUST keep in mind the FLUTD is a stresses based illness. Diet and litter helps, but he needs to be provided enrichment as well. This is one of the best websites for discussing FLUTD and preventative maintenance. Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD) | International Cat Care

If he has a catheter, it means that he had stones, so he will NEED the prescription diet for one year at least to dissolve them. Then, you may be able to move him to an "over the counter" urinary food like Purina Urinary care or Blue Buffalo urinary. He will need to remain on a minimum of 50% wet food dirty and adding water will help. Many studies have shown that a wet diet is the biggest prevention possible, along with enrichment to lower stress.

My cat has had FLUTD a long time. It started when he was around 5. I changed to corn litter, but have also tried nutshell based litter and paper litter with good results. Nobel was on urinary prescription food for one year and then regular wet food. And we increased his enrichment and lowered his stress. He now hasn't had a flare up in 7 years. He had at least 4 other flare ups before it was fully sorted. Part of the issue was that he wasn't suited to us living with roommates, and we had to move to our own place.

However, while a FLUTD cat becomes stable, they frequently have flare ups. You can expect at least 2 or 3 more flare ups before you get it sorted for him. So unfortunately, I must also recommend that perhaps he be rehomed if your mum isn't willing or able to make those appointments. It will be very painful and traumatic for you all if he dies at home from this, but especially the cat. The urine builds up and he can't pee and backs into the kidney and causes infection there. Kidney infections are very painful and can even kill humans if they have one (Ive had one myself and wouldn't wish it on anyone).

FLUTD is a chronic condition. For some cats, it never goes away. Prevention of it starting with proper enrichment and at least a partially wet diet is particularly important to male cats, as it happens with mostly male cats.

Whatever route you end up taking, I wish you all the best, and your little floof too.

 

[Amni Alia]

V verna davies yes they did an ultrasound scan, but there was no stone..it was like sediments.. i asked the vet of how about using wet food, then they said it is the best to use dry food.. maybe there are some reasons behind it.. i searched about the royal canin wet food, but it contains pork..and I am a Muslim myself.. maybe that could be one of the reasons idk.. actually we can still feed our cat with pork derivative products but we have to be extra careful in handling them

 

[Amni Alia]

A Alldara can i just soak the kibbles in hot water to increase the moisture to substitute the wet food? Idk if i can convince my mother to buy another wet food

 

[stephanietx]

Wet food is best because of the moisture content. Dry food actually sucks the moisture from your kitty's body to process it. Look at other prescription foods from Purina and Science Diet. You can add water to wet food to make it the consistency of oatmeal to also increase water intake.

 

[CatladyJan]

Good job watching your kitty and getting him to the vet. Sometimes, this is a chronic condition, but sometimes it only happens once or twice in a cat's life. I would suggest giving him wet food and only supplement with dry food. I like Royal Canin rx food, but it can be super pricy. Stress is the leading cause of a lot of issues like this. You may want to run calming diffusers in your home to help de-stress. Watch your routine and keep it the same as possible.

Stress is a very big factor.

 

[verna davies]

Amni Alia . I am not a vet so can only pass on my experience. One of my cats developed stress related UTI and a scan showed debris in his bladder. At that time he ate 90% dry food. I started to feed him a prescription urinary wet food with added water and no dry food. Two months later the next scan showed his bladder to be clear. He now eats 95% ordinary wet food with added water and hasnt had any problems for 4 years. You could try a wet food of your choice and give him D-mannose daily which will flush the bladder of the debris. In your position I would not feed dry food.

 

[Alldara]

A Alldara can i just soak the kibbles in hot water to increase the moisture to substitute the wet food? Idk if i can convince my mother to buy another wet food

This is better than nothing but unfortunately, no. Still, if this is the best you can accomplish then yes do that. And check the link from earlier to see other tricks too. Did your mum get the prescription dry food Amni? He really cannot keep eating whatever food he had before, because it is causing that sediment, which will turn to stones. Maybe you can show her the link I sent before on FLUTD prevention.

Even when they check if other things will help prevent the bladder flare ups, changing to a mostly wet food diet is key for FLUTD prevention: Oral glucosamine and the management of feline idiopathic cystitis - PubMed

I started Nobel with just one can of wet food per day with some extra water mixed in and the rest of his diet dry food. It didn't prevent flare ups, but it did prevent blockages and infections. It made the vet visits cheeper. If you could convince her to feed one can of ANY wet food, the cheapest there is even, with extra water in it once a day and lower his dry food just a bit, it will prevent MANY health problems and expenses.

Are you in North America Amni? If yes, Purina prescription food should be available at the vet and does not contain pork. Our neighbours who watch our cats are Muslim too so we use Purina prescription food instead.

 

[Amni Alia]

A Alldara yes Jerry is on the vet prescription dry food. But I'll ask his vet first before trying any wet food