Icarus Going Back To The Vet

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
"Cat Protector" wrote in message
...
Easier said than done. Isis still will want some of the dry food. Keeping
them out of each other's food is also a problem. I'll be talking with the
vet about the food options today. It would be nice if one of the food
companies came out with a softer dry food so they still get the moisture.
I could try canned food only for a month but the vet will still want him
on the Science Diet SD. Is there any wet food that can be free fed?


Female cats don't have the same type of urinary tract problems that males
do (their urethras are MUCH wider and don't get blocked up with struvite
crystals nearly as often). It won't hurt Isis *at all* to be on a canned
only diet (in fact it will be better for her) and it might help Icarus a
huge amount, so what have you got to lose?


I really think the main consideration is expense. CP is a good guy, but
on a limited budget. I think in this case adding water might be ideal.

But, CP, your cat is sick, you need to bite the bullet and ditch the dry.

I'm actually considering having the surgery done if he gets blocked again.

"blkcatgal" wrote in message
. ..
You may want to seriously consider the PU surgery. Especially if Icarus
is getting blocked continuosly. It may be expensive, but you already are
spending lots every time he gets blocked. I have a friend whose cat was
getting blocked and having urinary infections regularly. Her vet
recommended the PU which they did. Over 3 years later, her cat is doing
fine. One thing I do find amazing, though, is that she feeds this cat dry
c/d. Has been ever since having the surgery (and even before that). And
he is doing fine. No blockages, no urinary infections. I even tried to
get her to switch him to canned food but she said he wouldn't eat it (I
don't think she tried very hard to switch him).

I have another friend whose cat just had the PU surgery but this was out
of necessity....the cat was totally blocked....nearly died. He is doing
fine now too.

S.
--
**Visit me and my cats at http://www.island-cats.com/ **
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"Cat Protector" wrote in message
...
That's pretty much what I've been doing.


"blkcatgal" wrote in message
. ..
I know what you mean about vets not knowing about feline nutrition. My
own vet pushes dry food.

I feed my cats a combo of wet and dry (probably more wet than dry) and
that works out pretty well for them.

S.
--
**Visit me and my cats at http://www.island-cats.com/ **
---
"Rene S." wrote in message
...
On Mar 24, 11:56 am, "Cat Protector" wrote:
Easier said than done. Isis still will want some of the dry food.
Keeping
them out of each other's food is also a problem. I'll be talking with
the
vet about the food options today. It would be nice if one of the food
companies came out with a softer dry food so they still get the
moisture. I
could try canned food only for a month but the vet will still want him
on
the Science Diet SD. Is there any wet food that can be free fed?

As Catnipped said, it will be best if you completely eliminate the dry
food for both cats. Wet food can NOT be free fed due to the nature of
the product--it can quickly spoil and develop bacteria if left out
more than a short time. What I can't understand is why you feel the
need to have food out all the time. Two canned feedings per day every
12 hours is all they need.

As for talking about to the vet about food, this is not your best bet.
It's been said here many times before (and I know from experience with
one of my cats) that most vets know little about cat nutrition. You've
followed your vet's advice thus far about the food and where has it
gotten you--trips back to the vet for the same problem and Icarus
having continually suffer with a lot of pain and discomfort. It's time
to take action and try something else: feed canned SD only for a while
(and feed Isis a high-quality canned food, such as Wellness). It's
very simple to feed them in separate areas once they are used to the
schedules. My own cats used to free feed on dry food, but I was able
to transition both to 12 hour feedings. I put them in separate rooms
while I get ready for work (about 1/2 hour). Easy to do and each gets
the appropriate amount of food.

Because I know what each cat eats per day, I am able to budget the
food costs down to the last dollar per month. Feeding a food such as
Wellness is actually saving me money long term, as I have had fewer
vet bills and NO recurrances of urinary problems (one of my cats had
this when I fed dry). An added benefit is that canned can help
overweight cats slowly lose weight, as one of mine did. He's since
maintained a healthy weight on wet food for over three years.

"Rene S." wrote in message
...
And it's not working. That's why we are all saying eliminate the dry
food! Yes, it's true that some cats can tolerate dry but cats should
not have to tolerate their food--they should thrive on it. Dry food is
making Icarus sick and causing him a lot of pain and costing you a lot
of money.

Recall too that CP insisted when Icarus was young, that Special Kitty
and such really low quality foods were fine. I think this is how Icarus got
into trouble. I am not pointing fingers, just want CP to understand the role
food has played in this.

"cybercat" wrote in message
...

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
"Cat Protector" wrote in message
...
Easier said than done. Isis still will want some of the dry food.
Keeping them out of each other's food is also a problem. I'll be talking
with the vet about the food options today. It would be nice if one of
the food companies came out with a softer dry food so they still get the
moisture. I could try canned food only for a month but the vet will
still want him on the Science Diet SD. Is there any wet food that can be
free fed?


Female cats don't have the same type of urinary tract problems that males
do (their urethras are MUCH wider and don't get blocked up with struvite
crystals nearly as often). It won't hurt Isis *at all* to be on a canned
only diet (in fact it will be better for her) and it might help Icarus a
huge amount, so what have you got to lose?


I really think the main consideration is expense. CP is a good guy, but
on a limited budget. I think in this case adding water might be ideal.

But, CP, your cat is sick, you need to bite the bullet and ditch the dry.


Yeah, tell me about it. Fancy Feast just went up to $0.50 a can here (I
used to get it from Wal-Mart at $0.45, but that was before the melamine
fiasco). My clowder eats 10 cans a day, so I'm looking at $5.00 a day now!

However, if I really had no money and had to choose I think I'd still go
with a cheap canned food and add vitamins over the same priced dry food
(seeing as dry is mostly grains anyway you'd still probably be giving them
more actual meat).

It wasn't as much of a consideration when I had only girl cats, but I can't
imagine putting my baby boys through the pain and suffering of a urinary
blockage.

Hugs,

CatNipped

On Mar 24, 2:06 pm, "CatNipped" wrote:
"cybercat" wrote in message

...




Also, a note, even the canned Hills S/D - prescription formula is not
as good as the vets seem to think.

One article by a veterinarian specifically indicated that even the
canned Hills has far too many carbs in it. The real meat in canned
food is what helps to combat the urinary crystals... not more carbs...

It really is important to feed the right ingredients as well.

.... and it doesn't have to be expensive to do so...

On Mar 24, 2:29 pm, mc wrote:
... and it doesn't have to be expensive to do so...



CP...

What you really need to do is read as much as you can on the subject -
articles written by real vets... educate yourself.

THEN go have the conversation with your veterinarian. You may not get
too far if you say you read all this on a forum... You need to get the
facts to have an honest conversation with your veterinarian.

Here are some links that helped me:

This one reguards cats and diabetes, but it sure gives a lot of good
reasons to feed wet food, so it does apply:

http://www.catnutrition.org/diabetes.php

This one is also excellent:

http://www.catinfo.org/index.htm

Someone else on this forum gave me these links, and sadly, I don't
recall who it was, but I am sure glad I read these articles.

Thanks and I still hope for the best for you. I really Icarus doesn't
have to go through the surgery.

Thanks,
Melissa

"cybercat" wrote in message
...

"Rene S." wrote in message
...
And it's not working. That's why we are all saying eliminate the dry
food! Yes, it's true that some cats can tolerate dry but cats should
not have to tolerate their food--they should thrive on it. Dry food is
making Icarus sick and causing him a lot of pain and costing you a lot
of money.

Recall too that CP insisted when Icarus was young, that Special Kitty
and such really low quality foods were fine. I think this is how Icarus
got
into trouble. I am not pointing fingers, just want CP to understand the
role
food has played in this.

I remember that argument. Like you, I know it doesn't do Icarus any good to
point that out now, but hopefully somebody else with a male kitten will
learn from this experience.

When I first came to this group (eons ago) I was feeding my (then) two
female cats Science Diet dry at the insistence of my vet. I argued with
people here that since my vet recommended it, and since my two were never
sick a day in their lives, that everybody else here must be crazy.
Thankfully Phil and a few others finally got it through my thick skull that
this wasn't the best thing for my cats (which is all I and everyone here
really wants to do, I'm sure). I try to pay this favor forward whenever I
can.

Now that I have two boy kitties, I'm especially glad that I started them off
early in life eating canned. They still got a small amount of dry free fed
on for a little while (1/3 cup a day for all five cats) - just in case they
got the munchies in the middle of the night. But it wasn't hard at all to
discontinue it since the main part of their diet was always canned.

I understand that it's hard to get an adult cat to change from dry to canned
(I had to do it for Bandit when she was 8 and Demi when she was 7) - it's
hard for me to give up potato chips too even though I know they're bad for
me - carbs taste good! But, ultimately, it's the best thing you can do for
your cats.

Hugs,

CatNipped

Thanks. I talked with the vet and the cats will now be on an all canned
diet. I might also have to change the food schedule as well.


"Matthew" wrote in message
...
I am sending purrs and prayers for him CP

Trust me I know about the expenses Got one diabetic/epileptic cat and one
with hyperthyroidism


"Cat Protector" wrote in message
...
It looks like Icarus may be going back to the vet for another possible
urinary obstruction. I called the vet and left a message so hopefully
I'll get a call back despite it being a Sunday. I've followed all of the
vet's instructions and he gets canned food quite often every day and also
gets water. Today, he was throwing up and also has a bit of diarrhea. He
was just at the vet on Wednesday to have a urine sample done and the vet
was able to get good stream of urine from him. This is pretty unreal
because it's costing quite a lot to have him in and out of the vet. The
worst part is that Icarus's attitude at the vet is pretty unruly.

I put Icarus in the bathroom with his own litterbox. He's also had his
medication every single day so I don't know how he could have had all
this happen again. He's been kept hydrated. It's getting to be pretty
expensive.

I think people need to realize that I had 3 cats at the time and 2 of them
never had any diet issues. I discussed with the vet the food options so now
it's been decided that both Isis and Icarus will have to eat only canned
food but I did ask about dry foods that are softer and have moisture as
well. I got to visit Icarus today and he isn't happy about being there. I
brought a teaser to hang on the cage to hopefully keep him occupied instead
of biting the vet.


"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
I remember that argument. Like you, I know it doesn't do Icarus any good
to point that out now, but hopefully somebody else with a male kitten will
learn from this experience.

When I first came to this group (eons ago) I was feeding my (then) two
female cats Science Diet dry at the insistence of my vet. I argued with
people here that since my vet recommended it, and since my two were never
sick a day in their lives, that everybody else here must be crazy.
Thankfully Phil and a few others finally got it through my thick skull
that this wasn't the best thing for my cats (which is all I and everyone
here really wants to do, I'm sure). I try to pay this favor forward
whenever I can.

Now that I have two boy kitties, I'm especially glad that I started them
off early in life eating canned. They still got a small amount of dry
free fed on for a little while (1/3 cup a day for all five cats) - just in
case they got the munchies in the middle of the night. But it wasn't hard
at all to discontinue it since the main part of their diet was always
canned.

I understand that it's hard to get an adult cat to change from dry to
canned (I had to do it for Bandit when she was 8 and Demi when she was
7) - it's hard for me to give up potato chips too even though I know
they're bad for me - carbs taste good! But, ultimately, it's the best
thing you can do for your cats.

Hugs,

CatNipped