Help with recovery from crystal blockage

[williamcornock]

I'm not sure he has a clear answer on this either (as he thought the pumpkin would be OK and that has apparently had a pretty substantial negative impact on the pH - not blaming him, these things are case by case I'm sure).  I wish it were easier for me to test his pH and I could adjust things accordingly!

 

[mommyto]

 
I'm not sure he has a clear answer on this either (as he thought the pumpkin would be OK and that has apparently had a pretty substantial negative impact on the pH - not blaming him, these things are case by case I'm sure).  I wish it were easier for me to test his pH and I could adjust things accordingly!

I have ZERO idea if it actually works or not, but I did see a pH testing litter at the Pet Store recently.  I was going to ask my vet about it, but he was super occupied with a doggie snake bite last time I went in for food.  Might be worth looking around for?  I don't know if my boys would go for it though, since they are pretty against any crystal sort of litter.

 

[williamcornock]

 
My cat is on Miralax, and it hasn't affected her pH of her urine.  She takes it twice a day.  Pumpkin can sometimes have the opposite effect (constipation) rather than softer stools.  It adds bulk to the poop.

That is good to hear.  So you had pH tests done prior and after the Miralax that show this, or is that based on your cats not developing crystal problems after having Miralax introduced?

BTW - I'm in Canada and apparently we don't have Miralax specifically up here but there are other PEG 3350 powder supplements available and, from what I can tell, they are pretty much the same.

 

[cprcheetah]

 
That is good to hear.  So you had pH tests done prior and after the Miralax that show this, or is that based on your cats not developing crystal problems after having Miralax introduced?

BTW - I'm in Canada and apparently we don't have Miralax specifically up here but there are other PEG 3350 powder supplements available and, from what I can tell, they are pretty much the same.

She has had a bladder infection, but it's not related to the Miralax, she has interstitial cystitis so is prone to them.  Her urine pH has been tested 3 times in the last month or so and it's within a normal range.

 

[williamcornock]

Thanks for the info.  Can I ask what you are feeding your kittie with the crystal issue?  

 

[cprcheetah]

She has been on canned food for 4 years and it has greatly reduced her incidents of bladder flare ups.  She has had a lot of health issues recently (she's almost 15 years old) so I think that's what caused her problem with her urinary tract this time.  Right now I am feeding her whatever she will eat (sheba and meow mix cups).  She refuses to eat any of the higher end foods.  I try to feed her grain free where I can as grains (which the urinary diets are loaded with) can contribute to crystal formation.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14974568  However she is getting switched to a raw diet tonight.  I have fed my chihuahua raw for 3 years and she used to have issues with all sorts of crystals forming even on the prescription diets.  She just had her urine tested on Sunday and she has no crystals.  She hasn't had any issues since I switched her to raw.  This is another excellent source of information about it: http://feline-nutrition.org/health/feline-cystitis-and-bladderkidney-stones 

 

[williamcornock]

Thank you very much!  Yeah I think a better course of action for me from the start (for both crystals and constipation) would have been to just cut out the dry food.  I switched from no grain, high quality wet foods (usually natural balance limited ingredient) to the prescription food and his pH went up, they both developed constipation, and nothing has gotten any better.  I bet had I just cut out (or severely reduced) the dry food I had been feeding I'd be further along than I am now.

Of course the vet is pretty fixated on me using the prescription stuff and nothing but that stuff - but the evidence just doesn't seem to support that course of action.  I don't really want to switch vets for a number of reason (among other reasons, they do legitimately care about my cat even if I'm not sure the recommendations aren't working out).

Poor Wesley now gets a pill in the morning and two squirts of different stuff in his mouth and then 2 pills at night with two more squirts of stuff in his mouth.  On the positive, I think I've become far more adept at administering medication to a cat!

 

[williamcornock]

You just buy capsules for humans and when you open them they have powder in them. We give him about 250mg in the morning then again in the evening. He started peeing larger amounts the next day! We also ordered him some mercurius vivus, and cantharis. 

Hey Furmom - how long did you keep your kittie on the cranberry, and did you end up using the mercurius vivus, and cantharis?  If so, how did that work out for you?

 

[williamcornock]

Have you tried coating the pill in butter or sour cream or something else he may like to make it easier to swallow and more palatable? 

So my cat was too cleaver for this apparently as he would lick all the good stuff off the pill and manage to kind of hide the pill in his cheek until I wasn't looking

My vet gave me a good tutorial on giving a cat a pill and now that is going very smoothly for me.  You open the mouth up (with my cats just kid of rubbing on both sides of their gums will do it) and then place the pill at the back of the tongue.  It sounds like it would be hard but in practice it worked the very first time I tried and he swallowed it right away.  Now I can give him his pills and he doesn't even fight it.  He doesn't like it but it is no longer a big fight and thus both of us are left less stressed out.

 

[furmom101]

I kept him on it about 8-10 days. I lifted his head up, tilted it back and poorer the powder in there. I did use the mercurius vivus, I placed one pill on the back of his tongue and held his mouth shut until it dissolved twice a day. You only need to use that until he stops straining though! I used the cranberry a few days longer just to be safe it didn't return. So far so good!

 

[furmom101]

Also The mercurius vivus dissolves as that is what it's suppose to do and it dissolves super fast! Both worked out great for my cat!

 

[susank521]

How is Wesley doing?

 

[williamcornock]

I had been putting off posting about him because I didn't want to jinx it, but he is doing much better!

Wesley hasn't had any symptoms for about 4 days now.  He pees in one go, doesn't lick himself afterwards and is in a really good mood.  He's off the pain killers completely, half the dose of muscle relaxants (although I may cut that today too), and half a dose of the anti-inflamatories (which I understand you have to taper off).

We have managed to get them both onto an all wet diet (I still leave out a very small handful of dry when we go to bed but I hope to be able to stop that as well soon).  I started the Hills stuff with Wesley but he just won't eat much of it, but they are eating the RK Urinary SO wet very well.  It was a battle of wills for a few days but last night they decided they were OK with it and ate tons.  I've been adding some PEG 3350 to their wet for now, but I'm hoping the constapation will subside and I can cut that. 

...for the moment they both seem super healthy and happy!

 

[susank521]

Great news!

Yey Wesley!

 

[mommyto]

So glad to hear that!!!  I am headed to the vet this afternoon with my boy, and I am going to really push him about the all wet diet.  He is peeing great...outside of his box.  I think there is some pain and irritation still going on.

 

[furmom101]

Yay! So glad to hear that! )))