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My 2.5 year old male, neutered cat has had incidences of FLUTD twice recently. He's been to the vet both times I noticed him having a problem, and idiopathic cystitis (no certain cause) is diagnosed. He has a bladder inflammation, but hasn't blocked. He will spend long minutes in the box with very little output. The first time it took a few days and he was back to normal (in and out of the box quickly to urinate, no straining, normal urine output) but then it came back.
I've done everything correctly to help him. I have cat trees, I feed raw (70% water in meat), I have a drinking fountain, I scoop boxes 2x daily, I use 37 gallon totes for litterboxes, I bought music for him, I've done everything I can that I've read about to enrich his environment and reduce stress, outside of giving up our new dog (I will not do).
Anyone else deal with this and what have you done to help your cat? Anti-anxiety meds? He doesn't act afraid of our dog at all, and the dog is no longer allowed in the litterbox room.
One of the factors that seem to set off idiopathic FLUTD (from what I have read, and what the vet told me) is stress. The new dog (well, we've had him 7 months now) is the only source of stress that I can see in his life. My dog is still young and will chase him once in awhile. I have plenty of places the cat can escape from the dog, and it seems to be playful, but of all the factors I have read about, stress is the only one I can put my finger on.
It does seem odd, though, that he never had a problem before I started feeding raw. But my vet is OK with my feeding raw, and agreed that higher moisture foods are better for him.
I don't know. He is peeing, but he is having problems. nothing showed on his urine culture as of today, and the vets are going to call back Monday.
And how do the incidents of FLUTD compare to the seven months you've had the dog - ie, are the incidents only in the past couple of months, did you have some "trouble-free" months to begin with and then *bam*, or has it been on and off since Doggie showed up?
What sort of raw - homemade or commercial?
Is Kitty indoor only or indoor/outdoor?
Just more detective work.
There's a lot of literature out there on the use of anti-anxiety meds for cats. A lot is going to depend on how you personally feel about using them. Were I in your shoes I'd hold off for the pure and simple reason that they're sort of the "end game" - ie, they're the biggest guns out there. I'm one of those that always likes to have something to spare in the arsenal.
He was fine until I gave the dog full run of the house. I have a room with 2 doors that I use as a cat room. It is where the litterboxes are and is also my office. I was allowing the dog to come into this room and I think he was a little too curious about what the cats were doing in the boxes. He'd stick his whole head inside while the cats were in there if I wasn't watching. I now have the doors closed to this room (except a door stop just wide enough for the cats to get through and use their boxes) so the cats can come and go freely but my puppy can't.
I feed homemade raw. I don't really make it, I am following the "frankenprey" model. I feed mostly cat-meal sized whole parts. I feed 80-10-10 (meat -bone-organs percentages). I buy human grade meats and organs from the grocery store and I am extra careful that there is no added sodium or flavors, so it is just plain meat.
My cats are indoor only. The literature and journal articles say this is a disease that usually strikes indoor cats (that are obese and eat mostly dry food, but my cat is neither of those), but I am not letting mine outdoors. That is why my vet (and the literature) encourage environmental enrichment to combat this.
Good grief woman - you deserve a "#1 Cat Mom" award. Had to laugh at the music though. Should I turn the cd player on, one of our shoots me a filthy look and leaves the room in a huff, doesn't matter if it's Mozart or hard rock.
What I found interesting in the article I've linked is that, perhaps, compared to some of the literature you've been reading, it puts less stress (LOL pardon the pun) on environment and more on actual physical/medical causes, including cystitis. (I have to admit my eyes water when I read that word. Ouch.)
You mention this never happened before you switched to raw. I can't help but wonder if there's something going on between the raw diet mineral levels/ratios (for example) and increased incidence - or some sort of other connection.
You could ask your vet about the addition of, for example, some sort of cranberry or similar extract to his food. It's something you could try that has no downside.
It must be super frustrating, and while I think you're 100% correct to dissect the cat's environment for triggers, you run into the danger of completely disallowing medical causes. Don't forget, the timing really could be nothing more than coincidence.
Hanna, I have been reading this thread, truly puzzled as to why your cat is displaying FLUTD symptoms when you are going above the top in doing everything right. It is something I caught within your own words......"It seems odd, he never had a problem BEFORE I fed him raw". My opinion is that your cat's digestive system is not tolerating the raw diet. I know the literature says raw is the best way to feed our felines. I feed raw as well. But, I have noticed, some of my cats will not eat the raw, but rather, they prefer the quality canned food instead. Some people are of the thought to get a cat to eat raw because it is truly the best, but I am of the thought, the cat knows his or her own body better then we do and to allow that cat to eat what he or she prefers.
I recommend not feeding your cat raw and feeding him instead high quality canned food, such as Newman's Own Organic canned food, Wellness Core, or Blue Buffalo. It's just a hunch of mine that your cat is trying to tell you it is not able to tolerate the raw food. I have 8 FLUTD's, Hanna, and all are eating either raw or the canned food I just mentioned. That, and keeping stress to the minimal is crucial, and I think it is an excellent idea to keep your dog away from the litter pans as well.
Thanks for both your insights. I guess the reason I was focusing on environment is because the vets can't find anything wrong with him (although he was showing crystals in his latest urinalysis, unlike the first time), and if they can't find anything medically wrong other than a bladder infection, I can't control it, and I am at a loss as to what to do to help him.
I can control his environment.
It may be that raw is wrong for him, but it boggles my mind to think that cooked and processed canned food may be better for him. He ate well yesterday, but I did have to break down and give him tuna. He ate his raw chicken for dinner, but nothing so far today.
No call from the vet so far, so that means nothing was found in his culture. I'm going to see if they'll give me something for the discomfort he's feeling.
It may be that raw is wrong for him, but it boggles my mind to think that cooked and processed canned food may be better for him.
I wouldn't think it's the processing, but it may well be the break down of molecules or protein chains or all the other bits of chemistry I've forgotten in the cooking that allows his body to absorb/assimilate the nutrition properly.
You try cooking the ingredients you feed him raw (minus the bones) maybe?
I was thinking about this actually and I wondered if there could also be a genetic component. Let me use a human analogy: lactose intolerance. They've found that in, for example, Mediterranean cultures where adults do not drink milk, there's widespread lactose intolerance. But in Scandinavia, where milk drinking is continued into adulthood, it's almost non-existent. So I wondered if, perhaps, a sort of similar thing could happen with cats. Could cats that come from a long line of domestically kept animals fed on cooked &/or processed food have some sort of an hereditary impeded ability to cope with raw food? It was just something I was pondering while walking the dogs.
I'm willing to try it (the cooking). It may help him eat today, too. I hate to remove any water from the meat, though, since cooking will do that, but he hasn't eaten very much today and it can't hurt. My vet ordered some urine acidifier that will come in tomorrow. Thanks for helping us!
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