Hi everyone,
My cat Stella was adopted by our family in December of 2017. She came from a local cat rescue group with a good reputation. She had been found outdoors on someone's front porch where she proceeded to give birth to a few kittens. This person called the rescue and the rescue came and got her and her kittens. Stella's kittens were of course adopted right away, but she lived at her foster home for over a year before we adopted her. This foster home had a TON of cats. I mean, a LOT. Stella spent most of her time under things like beds and couches, according to the foster mom. She also indicated there were a few large cats that bullied and harassed her, so she was personally very happy we wanted to adopt her.
We brought Stella home and introduced her slowly to our large dog and within a week they were fine around each other. My dog was raised with a different cat and never chased. Stella settled in quickly and hardly ever hid. We adopted a small dog about 2 months later. This dog was also raised with cats and left her alone. She was fine with this dog too. About 5 months later we sold our house and moved to a rental in a different city. Soon after, Stella began to pee blood and strain at the litter box. I brought her to the vet and he gave us meds. She was back to her old self for a little bit but then relapsed with same symptoms. Back to the vet we went and he diagnosed her with feline idiopathic cystitis. He said there was no medical cause, that it was "all in her head." He gave us the same meds but also strongly recommended we put her on a vet Rx food called Royal Canin Urinary SO. We put her on the food immediately but it bothered me because of the crap ingredients. After a good while (we are talking months and months later), I tried taking her off and giving her a higher quality food (kibble and wet) but she began having symptoms again and so we went back to the vet, got the same meds and put her back on the Rx food. It bothers me so much that I am feeding her this food of poor quality; however, I'm not crazy about experimenting again by trying to take her off of it to see what happens. We bought a house a year and a half ago, we lost our big dog 6 months ago (he passed at home and we let her smell him and be present). We adopted a young cat about 4 months ago that she is now used to (but hated at first). As I type this, I realize we've put her through a ton of changes, but WE have always been a constant. She goes where we go. She is extremely routine oriented and I keep her routine very steady and predictable. Our house is usually pretty quiet and calm. She seems happy and while she is more of an independent cat than our new one, she is being noticeably more social and playful than ever before (the new cat wants to be with her and play).
Does anyone have experience with this diagnosis? Should I suck it up and just keep her on this food because she has zero issues when on it? Has anyone used anything more holistic with great success? Thanks for reading if you made it all the way to the end!
My cat Stella was adopted by our family in December of 2017. She came from a local cat rescue group with a good reputation. She had been found outdoors on someone's front porch where she proceeded to give birth to a few kittens. This person called the rescue and the rescue came and got her and her kittens. Stella's kittens were of course adopted right away, but she lived at her foster home for over a year before we adopted her. This foster home had a TON of cats. I mean, a LOT. Stella spent most of her time under things like beds and couches, according to the foster mom. She also indicated there were a few large cats that bullied and harassed her, so she was personally very happy we wanted to adopt her.
We brought Stella home and introduced her slowly to our large dog and within a week they were fine around each other. My dog was raised with a different cat and never chased. Stella settled in quickly and hardly ever hid. We adopted a small dog about 2 months later. This dog was also raised with cats and left her alone. She was fine with this dog too. About 5 months later we sold our house and moved to a rental in a different city. Soon after, Stella began to pee blood and strain at the litter box. I brought her to the vet and he gave us meds. She was back to her old self for a little bit but then relapsed with same symptoms. Back to the vet we went and he diagnosed her with feline idiopathic cystitis. He said there was no medical cause, that it was "all in her head." He gave us the same meds but also strongly recommended we put her on a vet Rx food called Royal Canin Urinary SO. We put her on the food immediately but it bothered me because of the crap ingredients. After a good while (we are talking months and months later), I tried taking her off and giving her a higher quality food (kibble and wet) but she began having symptoms again and so we went back to the vet, got the same meds and put her back on the Rx food. It bothers me so much that I am feeding her this food of poor quality; however, I'm not crazy about experimenting again by trying to take her off of it to see what happens. We bought a house a year and a half ago, we lost our big dog 6 months ago (he passed at home and we let her smell him and be present). We adopted a young cat about 4 months ago that she is now used to (but hated at first). As I type this, I realize we've put her through a ton of changes, but WE have always been a constant. She goes where we go. She is extremely routine oriented and I keep her routine very steady and predictable. Our house is usually pretty quiet and calm. She seems happy and while she is more of an independent cat than our new one, she is being noticeably more social and playful than ever before (the new cat wants to be with her and play).
Does anyone have experience with this diagnosis? Should I suck it up and just keep her on this food because she has zero issues when on it? Has anyone used anything more holistic with great success? Thanks for reading if you made it all the way to the end!
