Young Cat with Kidney Crystals

bertie2

Our cat used to have very similiar problems from approx 1 year old. After several vets we found out it was apparantly related to depression!

this was 5 years ago now and she was put on amitryptiline and walthams anti urinary crystal formulae food. I have weened her off the medication but she is still on the special diet ( I give her the dry version which is a lot cheaper than wet).

in 5 years she has only had one episode when we moved from lancs to scotland and were doing up a house (loads of tradesmen in and out ) for which the vet and i put her back on amitryptiline for a short period, antibiotic injection and a course of cytanese.

To be honest if you weigh up the price of the food and peace of mind against urinary infection episodes and vet costs i think it is worth it.

Also was at vet for boosters the other day and was told walthams pet food is now including the the anti urinary cystal stuff in a majority of its foods and this is making it cheaper, so ask your vet.

patchwork_cat

Is this the food that dissolves the crystals. If so they are not recommended to take it for very long - It says on the bag. I think it is a month or two. After that switch to either just wet food or buy a water fountain. Yes just checked on Hills website - not meant for long term feeding.

frivolous_fay

Sorry to bump an old thread but one of our cats is currently suffering. We had to change our Christmas plans in order to stay at home and keep an eye on him in case of full blockage.

Eels's link above is dead, so here is another:
http://www.fabcats.org/owners/flutd/info.html

rita-rabbit

feed any wet food long term. Also give Glucasmine. After my Tom had this I changed them to 1/2 wet/dry - can't afford 100% wet & then there is their teeth to consider. I give the Tom Glucosamine tablets (human ones - cheaper than pets) every other day or so to ensure it doesn't reoccur.

ButtonzandBeadz

Our cat had the same problem and we had to pay for prescription food and tablets. After a few years and no episodes we decided to wean him off the food and just keep him on the tablets - he has been completely fine.

mapcr77

Hi, my cat is also having symptoms of this today. He tried peeing many times in the morning all over the place, but with little success. In the afternoon he's been able to do little pees, and some of these have come with blood. Needless to say, I'm really worried, and no vets around are open today. He does seem better now that he's been able to pee, but I think the blood is quite worrying. What type of treatment can I expect him being given? He's not insured (I know, my fault!), how expensive would it be? Many thanks and my sympathy for all owners and moggies going through this...

ButtonzandBeadz

You need to get to a vet asap, my vet has emergency access 24hours a day- I don't mean to worry u but this can potentially very serious, our first bill for a blocked bladder was £600

memelalou

Just to add to any other cat owners to do take your cat, it is more common and dangerous to males, to the vet. Signs include peeing and drinking more often, blood in urine, straining to wee - has perhaps been weeing on soft furnishings, change in behavior, change in appitite to name a few.

My cat very almost died from this. So i would hate other cat owners to go through it.
Some other poster has mentioned it can be caused by depression and it is true. The vet said it was very possible the stress of our new kitten {even more upsetting as we had to rehome her with a friend of ours}.
Also our vet said neturing can reduce episodes, she didn't reccomend a special diet but stressed that he must be feed wet food and though it's obvious fresh clean water. I have found whiskers sachets better than tinned for moistness, and he has not had a repeat episoide. Also though not always possible try to reduce major changes that can cause stress and anxiety.

Hope this hasn't come over all preachy, but i would hate anyone to lose their cat over this.


mapcr77 it cost around £77 two years ago for some medicine and food. It would cost more depending on the severity. But it is very important to see a vet asap. If it is more expensive some vets will let you pay in installments, or try pdsa to see if they will be able to help with some of the cost.

frivolous_fay

I don't think our vet is cheap. It cost:
£27 for full urine test (by the way, work on getting a sample now, because this one is a nightmare)
About £80 for consultation, antibiotic jab, course of antibiotic tablets and 2 1.5kg bags of the special Hills food. (We have two cats and we anticipate going through this much and probably at least one more bag)

He is to be kept on the food only (plus water) for 6 weeks, then re-tested. I don't know what we'll feed him after that - the Hills isn't complete, apparently. They were on Burns until this week.

When the vet told us how serious it could be (so far there is blood, and crystals) we cancelled our Christmas plans and stayed home, because it's an emergency case if he does get blocked, and it would have been unfair to put that responsibility on our cat-sitter.

mapcr77

Hi Fay, sorry to hear about your kitty. I'm on a similar boat to you. Cat currently at the vet's. Took him this morning, but as he managed to pee ok since last night, his bladder was empty! grrr! So they kept him to try to get a sample later in the day. And it won't be cheap either £30 consultation, approx £30 urine test, plus whatever treatment they give him... Waiting for them to ring back and getting rather anxious...