Stones in my cats! Dial-Up Warning!!!

Our vet always advised a quality dry food diet with wet food given occasionally as a treat for the cats and the dog. As well as other issues with wet food, it also tends to stick to their teeth and gums and cause excessive problems with their teeth over the years. Quite honestly I always found with our cats that their feces stunk to high heaven whenever they got too much wet food (and who needs a stinkier litter box...not me! lol) Also they tend to get that stinky wet food breath thing going on...yewwwww.

FYI, Becky ROCKS! Thanks for sharing your leet info! =)

Haha, info... That's just me stepping on my soap box every 5 flippin' seconds to gripe at someone for buying junk for their animals to eat. How about they eat sawdust mixed with chicken blood and other "parts" such as feet, beaks, hooves, ears, skin, etc(can be called a by-product if it has any sort of animal SOMETHING in it)? It just appalls me to see the crap that is in these bags of "stuff". I work at a grocery store right now, and see people going by with Dinner Time dog and cat food, other unmentionables... I could scream...


Even my rats eat Wellness Senior, which is pretty hard to find in Waco(Petsmart and one specialty shop that is closing *sniff*). The poor dogs only get Science Diet Sensitive Skin and Senior, LoL. Poor unloved things :)

www.omhpet.com has a great explanation of dog and cat foods and what ingredients are included in the crappy foods and what it can do to your pet.

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

www.omhpet.com has a great explanation of dog and cat foods and what ingredients are included in the crappy foods and what it can do to your pet.

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We have always given our animals the best food we could get that they would actually eat, if needed I suppliment there cat food to make sure there getting what they need to live long comfy lives.

We need them to drink as much water as possible, since you cant really make an animal drink more, we water down there wet food, we keep Royal Canin Urinary SO down during the day, and give them the wet food at night...they never fail to polish the wet food down. They talked about putting them on wet food full time, but I was a little worried about there teeth and gum health, so we are trying this out for now.

I might just talk over the BARF (bones and raw food)diet for cats, with the vet. and see what she thinks...I'm sure it couldnt hurt to give it a try.

I'll keep everyone posted. So far Masin is doing fine, his staples are ready to come out...I havent noticed him having any fluid build up, Morgin did with her surgery because she has so much fat on her belly. But so far Masin hasnt gotten any lumps to indicate he has fluid built up.

~Audrey

So I had this huge long response typed out, and just as I was doing the closing paragraph, one of the kittens kindly jumped on the keyboard and erased it all.


The short version:
BARF is a royal PITA, I wouldn't bother when there are so many good quality diets available. We feed Science Diet here, does wonders with our elderly chronic kidney failure cat.

Get the stone analyzed; your vet might not be aware that the Minnesota Urolith Lab does them for free; I think at most you pay shipping. I can check the forms when I go in to work tomorrow, and would be happy to fax a copy of the submission paperwork to you or your vet.

It's absolutely essential to know which type of crystal you are dealing with, so that you can regulate your urine pH appropriately (easily done with one of the Science Diet Prescription Diets). The wrong diet will push your pH in the opposite direction from the one you want, making the problem worse...so it's essential to know what you're dealing with.

One trick to increase water consumption is to add a drinking fountain. I have one for my cats, and they love it. It produces a constant flow of filtered air-cooled water for them.

Good luck! Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease is one of the most frustrating to deal with; please be patient with your vet...they will most likely need to do a lot of follow-up urinalyses and stuff...it can seem overwhelming if you're not used to dealing with it, and often you will have recurring problems for years. :-( One of the biggest challenges I have in communicating with owners is getting them to understand that this is a complicated and long-term condition, with many setbacks and no quick fixes.