Cairo & Isis

Hi Bobbi,

I just want to echo Michael's comments below; dry cat food is a major cause of urinary tract problems in cats (they provide little or no moisture, and since cats do not have a high drive to drink water, this leads to urine that is more concentrated).

Cats are designed to get most of their moisture from the prey they eat, so a decent raw diet or high quality wet cat food might well have an excellent effect. Also, as Michael very rightly says, cats are obligate carnivores - they MUST eat protein, as their livers operate at a high rate to process protein; they are not designed to process more than small amounts of carbohydrates (which are also present at inappropriately high levels in most commercial dry foods).

I cannot recommend highly enough a book called "Your Cat: A Revolutionary Approach to Feline Health and Happiness" by Elizabeth Hodgkins. She is a vet and a breeder, and actually worked for Hills for a number of years. She makes an extremely strong case against dry food for cats.

As you can see, there have been no additional posts concerning Cairo & Isis. I would just like to thank all who have tried to help us.

To clarify Cairo's condition and to possibly find an owner in a similiar situation, I have decided to add some additional information. When Cairo had the 3rd blockage, we were sent directly to Akron Veterinary Referral & Emergency Center. Cairo had a perineal urethrostomy, or P.U. which is the removal of the penis. As the opening at the base of the penis is somewhat larger, he may have infections from time to time throughout his life. However, as I was told these would not be life-threating and the condition he had was life-threatening. It was a difficult thing to do but we had no other options. We wonder if we feed him normally and a stone did develope, would he pass it with the larger opening. I have his urine checked about once a month. The results usually are the PH is ok, no crystals, no white blood cells but the urine is extremely concentrated. Any and all advise is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I appreciate all the comments and have additional concerns about the lack of protein. My breeder advised when we brought the kitties home that it should be a high protein food and no corn. According to the stone analysis after we took Cairo to Akron, Ohio for the surgery, the stone was ammonium urate - I hope I spelled that correctly - and was formed from protein. I think I need to do some more research on my own.
Cairo and Isis spent yesterday and so far today on opposite sides of the great room. Hopefully we will have a more friendly afternoon. They had to be separated to sleep last night. (A skimish had started when we tried to keep them both in our bedroom.) Halfway through the night I switched Cairo who had been with us with Isis who slept outside the bedroom. I will try adding more water bowls throughout the house. Again, thank you to everyone.

The wastes cleared by our kidneys come from the catabolism of protein. It is the breaking down of proteins, not carbs or anything else we eat, that create the nitrogenous wastes filtered from the blood by the kidneys. The kidneys do this whether we drink enough or not. With dehydration comes a very concentrated urine. So it might seem that if you can't get more water in the cat, give less protein. No protein, no nittogenous wastes. The problem is that a cat's entire system is made to run on protein. Substitute carbs and he's going to develop feline diabetes because his pancreas isn't set up to handle all those sugars.

A friend of my sister gives her cat water with an eyedropper a few times a day as an answer to this problem. My sister cat sat for that cat and I will say that trying to drip water into the cat is not really fun, and may not be enough extra water in the long run.

I buy low sodium tuna packed in water and give Monty the excess liquid from the can with a little tuna floating in there. I call it tuna soup. He calls it heaven. It does get more liquid in him-- he will urinate copiously afterwards. I'm not sure if the low salt tuna is still too much salt, so he doesn't get that every day. But you could try it once in awhile. Not all a cat's liquid has to come from drinking-- the wetter the food, the better for your cat.

Bobbi, you say, "can no longer have any protein as this causes the stones to form". With the greatest of respect, this is incorrect as cats are carnivores and they have to eat protein. In fact even herbivores eat protein as far as I know. Cats are flesh eaters. Are you saying that it is the protein that is causing his urinary tract problems? I don't believe that is the case.

Dry cat food can cause a cat to become dehydrated which promotes less urination and therefore a tendency towards the growth of bacteria in the urinary tract as it is not flushed out. If he is eating dry I would stop it if he was living with me - sorry.

Stress also can be a factor in urinary tract problems. It may be that he is stressed. His behavior indicates that too. I am only guessing however.

There may be some other reason that is not readily apparent as to why he might be stressed. It may be the cause of the fights or the fights may be the cause of the stress.

I can see that you have a nice home for cats so I am not suggesting that it is something that you are doing.

Meant to say "NF" canned food. Not "KF".

I really appreciate your thoughts & suggestions. Cairo, unfortunately can no longer have any protein as this causes the stones to form. He is on KF canned only. I feel so bad for the little guy as he LOVES real meat. And anything dry to crunch! Isis could care less and never wanted people food. (Isn't that the way? The kid that can eat anything, does not care but the kid who LOVES meat, can't have it!) I will try your water suggestions. I have a 360 fountain and now only use filtered water but it hasn't made much of a difference. Thank you again. I am desperately trying to make things better for Cairo & Isis. They're really great kids!
Wishing you the best in 2012,
Bobbi

Hi Bobbi, thanks for showing us your gorgeous cats. I would have thought that they would get along permanently as they are well socialized to each other and domestic cats adapt to living together. Of course some are difficult in respect of space requirements.

I wonder if he is in discomfort due to the operation and this is making him irritable. I have no idea but did his aggression start after the operation? Also he may have discomfort due to a low level bacterial infection in the urinary tract. As you say drinking more water would help to keep it flushed.

As to water, have you tried different sorts of bowls in different places. A clear bowl might help in some odd place away from the food. Then again it might not!

What food do you give him? What you might do is give him microwaved raw fish and add water to it when cooked (perhaps bottled water for purity). Mix it slightly to produce a kind of fish soup. He has to drink the water to get at the fish if he likes fish. Experiment with different kinds of fish. This worked for my lady cat.

Best
Michael