Hey Pet Parents & Pet Lovers,
This week we’ve been worried that Beau’s UTI may be showing it’s nasty head again. He’s been using the litter box a lot more and has been peeing in small amounts. Luckily, this means he’s not blocked, but it does mean that we may be in for a scare if it gets worse.
As you may already know, we are doing our very best to try to get Beau to eat wet food regularly, but the little fellow is just so darn picky and so much wet food goes wasted.
Last week we actually got him to eat a few different types of Weruva and man were we proud of him! We’re hoping that he will actually stick to eating Weruva as we love the brand and boy would it be so much easier if he would eat wet!
In the meantime, we’ve grabbed an extra bag of Science Diet Urinary C/D this time with Chicken instead of the Whitefish (since it seemed like Beau had an allergy to that one.) We’ve been trying to find one that doesn’t have any fillers/grain because we’d like to avoid all possible allergens, but our vet isn’t necessarily the most educated when it comes to urinary specific foods. They keep pitching us the same 3 types of food (Royal Canin S/O and the two Science Diet flavours) and whenever we ask them if there are any other alternatives they tell me they will “call me back,” but never do. *sigh* Anyone else ever have this issue?
It wouldn’t be such a huge problem if foods like this could be bought on shelf in Canada. Unfortunately most (if not all) urinary foods that actually melt crystals don’t get sold outside of the vet’s office. Now, this really sucks, especially because this limits us to the choices we can have regarding food because it’s all case by case and it depends on what food the vet can order. *another sigh*
I will say, this Science Diet has been working wonders. Beau doesn’t seem to be having issues after about 3 days of the switch and is peeing quite a bit more. The only issue so far is the fact that it is absolutely not filling for him. Beau usually eats 1/3 of food a day and some pumpkin. He is happy with this portion of food and never complains. Today, for example, he has had a bit of pumpkin and 7/12 of a cup of food and he still got grump because he didn’t have enough food. Now, I know, I know… cats need different intakes based on what ingredients are in the food, but since Science Diet made him gain quite a bit of weight last time I’m pretty certain he’s going to be gaining quite a bit of weight over the next few weeks.
My hope is that we can get him to eat at least a can a day of wet food to keep him full and use the C/D to further promote melting the crystal. But today, for example, he refused to eat wet food… silly cat. You ate it yesterday!!
I just want him to be better now! I hate it when he gets sick, especially with UTIs because we’ve been trying so hard to take the steps to prevent them.
My MaineCoon, MalloyBoy had the same problem. CD worked great! Have to have a Rx, and it is pricey$$$. I get now through Chewy. Did the repeat delivery thing which helped with the price. MalloyBoy is a dry food kitty too. Took awhile to get him on wet food. FancyFeast Beef He will eat now.
Have reduced his dry almost to half.
No reacurance so far…
I wish we could get Rx stuff without going to the vet 🙁 Unfortunately we’re already on a C/D diet but each bag is around 80$ which is quite a pricey bag if it’s not working 100% for one of our kitties.
Poor Beau. I hope he eats more wet food and keep UTI away. I like my vet but don’t agree with her when it comes to diet. I think bloggie friends have much better ideas 🙂
That’s really a shame. I know a lot of vets in our area don’t look up new foods and continue to recommend just the ones they sell instead of looking elsewhere. Which kinda… sucks…
Aww poor guy. Hope he’s feeling better soon.
Thanks Mary! He’s getting progressively better 🙂
When Angel Minko first got sick…(not with urinary troubles…), the vet then adamantly prescribed a Hills food…and also gave some in cans. Ugh. It was full of corn. What kitty eats corn? She thought I was nuts to question her so we found a vet who was willing to work on our terms. Minko ate regular wet food…and if I watched the ingredients…no carageenan, etc or grains, he began to thrive; of course since he wouldn’t eat on his own i had to put it in his mouth…every day for almost three years…sigh…sometimes I wish I still had him, even all that was a hard labor of love.
So yes, hunt around, ask questions and get other opinions. Can you get to the vet school in Guelph? They might be able to give suggestions.
Check these out…then see if you can find alternatives in Canada. Or some homeopathic drops. Or go to a health food store in your area (The Big Carrot is one I know of), and see if anyone there can help.
This is a site that sells a product for UTI’s:
http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/products/Animal-Essentials-Tinkle-Tonic-Herbal/148001.aspx
This is a site in the Seattle area that has some good advice:
https://www.allthebestpetcare.com/urinary-problems-in-cats/
http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/holistic-healthcare-library/bladder-problems/56/feline-lower-urinary-tract-disease.aspx
Well, I sure hope your little sweet Beau will get over this trouble and feel a lot better soon.
Thanks everyone! I will definitely look into these. And yes, maybe I can contact Guelph, see if any of their students (or teachers) have any suggestions!
We send healing purrs to Beau and hope he feels better soon. We cross our paws and hope he agrees to eat wet food ! We agree with above, maybe raw food could help. It’s difficult to get ready-to-eat raw food in Switzerland, Claire does it herself. It takes her about 30 minutes to prepare our meals for 10 days (2 cats). We have our own drawer in the freezer MOL ! Purrs
Ahahaha!That’s great though! And 30-minutes isn’t much time at all ! I could totally be up to that!
Poor Beau. We can’t really help, since not one of us has ever had a UTI. We eat Science Diet regular (not prescription). A long time ago Mom got us a lite version and we ate it at twice the rate! Ha ha ha ha! Needless to say, that was the only time we got that formulation.
Mom sympathizes about the wet food. Caroline mainly eats canned food–that is, she should. She too is the Queen of Picky, so her rejects go to Elliott. He’s skinny enough to have the extra intake.
Haha! When Beau and Walker lived together Walker was definitely the garborator! He would alwwwaaaayyyyyssss eat Beau’s food. :’) I had a silly video of them trying to steal each others food one time, but I don’t know if it was lost with the other videos on my phone. Time to search!
I will add Beau to my prayer list. My Sammy eats this food along with the canned chicken stew from Hill’s.. We get it from Chewy, but the vet still needs to give a prescription for it. Do you have an equivalent to Chewy in Canada?
I don’t think we do… I haven’t done too much research into online food suppliers just yet (other than Amazon). It never passed my mind that there are much more retailers! Thanks for the advice, time to search!
Sending healing purrz for Beau. Some people swear that a raw diet will do away with the crystals and urinary issues. Connie from Tails From the Foster Kitties can give you advice on that. We were told to avoid fish when Chizzy kept getting blocked. The Tabbies gave you some good advice. TW adds a spoonful of water to my pate.
I’ve actually been thinking of feeding Beau a raw diet. However, the closest pet store that has a freezer is 45 minutes drive and we don’t have a car! So it mayyyy have to wait. But if it means my little one is going to eat and gonna be healthy it will be worth it! I’ll see if I can get in touch with Connie about it 😀
Mudpie is super picky about wet food too but she does like some of the loaded with gravy Weruva foods as well. I hope Beau keeps enjoying it.
I do have a recommendation for recurring UTIs…D-Mannose. We wrote about it here: http://www.mochasmysteriesmeows.com/2016/09/d-mannose-your-cats-urinary-tract-health.html
I’ve had really good success with it in my cats and think it might be a good supplement for Beau 🙂
Will definitely look into it and see what’s up!
Purrayers for Beau .
Purina does make a UR that is much more palatable – but it’s a dry food. My vet has also told me to avoid fish flavors as she has seen them often in UTI cases, so skipping the whitefish might help a lot !
Hope you can get some good results soon !
Thank you Mary! Yes, I really hope the chicken works! In the past he put his nose up to chicken… so I’m surprised he’s actually eating it this time! (Silly kitty! <3)
Scooby had those crystals. He did not get special food. We added a bit of water to his canned food, and tried to encourage him to drink more. He got no dry food. Took a while but he is good now. Hope Beau gets over it soon.
I’m going to have to try the water to the wet food see if Beau likes it! First we’re gonna try the broth, see if that helps!
I been a little picky of late too. Mom has been putting tuna on top of my canned food. I love it. You know cats don’t eat what they can’t smell so the stinker the better and Sardines packed in water are very good for a kitty too…
Hugs madi and mom
AWww Madi. Please don’t be picky!! I’m always iffy about putting Tuna into food because of the mercury scary, but I guess that’s also something I need to look up (or source better)!
Poor Beau. Could you try a consult with a new vet who might know of other options? Or a second opinion with a specialist might not be a bad bet. If you’re not satisfied with the care Beau’s getting – it might be time to go elsewhere. The rescue’s vet recommended we put Ellie on i/d (I think this is the digestive one) – but she doesn’t like it. I think she’s got an allergy or IBD – and that’s why she sometimes has diarrhea but usually is fine. I just started tracking more closely what wet food she ate the night before (I switch flavors every night because Bear can be … umm … tricky). Since the rescue paid for the first visit, I haven’t taken her to my vet yet … but I’m hoping they’ll have other ideas.
At the moment we’ve tried about 6 vets. (So we’ve crossed out all the ones that are within a 30-minute radius from our house.) Our next call is to a vet that comes to your house. We’ve heard some good things about them, just never tried them before! I’ll see if I can find a specialist. I’ve never really heard of one before!
It’s hard when they’re… tricky. Especially when they are younger. Beau hasn’t even turned 3 yet! So I’m nervous for what the future brings. I’ve gotten some recommendations from folks who have had similar issues and I’m going to run them by the vet.
But yes, will look into specialists for sure!
Those are always scary and I battled them for a long time. Purrs to Beau from all of us.
Thanks Brian <3 Fingers crossed this is the last time.
beau…sorree dood….been ther done that……N we haz hurd N red at lotz oh placez that fish iz bad for urinary health; allergeez a side.. purrhaps dad could add sum water two yur canned; just enough to make it a bit mor moist; but knot like soop ?? heerz hopin ya get ta feelin 11000000000 purrcent better ~~ ♥
pea ess…chex out amazon canada, may bee they will carry de food yur lookin for ??
We checked Amazon Canada 🙁 Couldn’t find it just yet. And the ones they do have are like $100! (What cheap farts!) haha. I’ll try to add water! Right now we’ve got some fruitables broth! I think he should like it 🙂 (FINGERS CROSSED!) Thank you for your best wishes little ones <3 Beau is currently sleeping so he couldn't make it to the computer 😉
we’re sending positive vibes out to Beau…
Thank you, I’m sure he appreciates it <3