My parents had a hugely obese cat which they let manipulate them into feeding him nothing but 9-Lives Tuna. (This is back in the '80s - I don't know what the formula is now). Anyway, he developed blockages and the vet recommended a prescription diet. The cat would not eat it, and my dad could not stand seeing the cat go more than a day or two without eating and would break down and give him his "fix" of tuna food. In the end, they had to lop the boy's wee-wee off to save his life. He lived a long life after that. Dietary management requires someone willing to manage!

Wow, this is a good to remember, ABOUT 35YRS. AGO WE HAD A Cat,Ruba.......he had this, the pain was unreal, until the stone passed. We are older and wiser(I hope) I would never put a male cat thur this again. Thank-you Doctor Khuly.

Just sending healthy vibes to your client and a hope that he makes a full recovery.

My sister and husband just put their cat down on Friday - he was very ill and 14 years old. I feel badly for them because it won't be long until their other cat is gone, too.

Wishing for less sorrow in the world,

Heather

I hope the kitty in your article recovers. I spent yet another Sat night at the laundromat because one of my boys likes to water my bed pillows. Sometimes with my head on them. Ewwww. As annoying as that is, I will take a laundromat run any time over a blockage. (BTW, he has had two workups and no reason for the occasionally indiscriminate peeing has yet emerged.)

We had this happen with our 9 year old cat when we moved to our new home. It turned out to be the hard well water as the cause. After having him hospitalized and catheterized for over a week and no improvement, we elected to have the surgery. We have a great relationship with our vet. He knows I am knowledgeable and I always respect him when he says we have to do "THIS".

Now all cats get filtered drinking water and have not had any further issues. The cat in question is currently 14.

Gosh my comments sound that we didn't consider the surgery right away. My vet tried to relieve his obstruction via the other routes first, before the surgery became the option. It wasn't that we didn't want to treat our cat.

What are the surgical options these days? Many years ago we had surgery done on a cat for this. It never healed properly and his urine burned the raw sores. Eventually we had to euthanize him after much suffering on all our parts, and a lot of money we couldn't afford.

Any chance we can get more symptoms of the "blocked Cat" syndrom other than lying under the bushes

Any chance we can get more symptoms for the "blocked Cat" syndrome other than lying under a bush limp? Am really worried about my 15 yr old cat that is my love.

to my questions about symptoms. Thanks.

About 35 years ago I had a cat with chronic cystitis. He had many procedures and it was frustrating as at the time there were no good options. Several blockages. And the cat was urinating all over my house. He also got my attention by peeing blood on my foot. I remember yelling at my vet saying that if he were suffering like this, he would find a solution. They decided to run a catheter into his bladder to fill the bladder with antibiotic and that worked for a short time. Then CANNED CD was invented and that worked. A lifesaver really.

More recently my friend's cat was urinating all over her house after many blockages and two years of prescription CD which now comes in a kibble form. I suggested that a kibble might not be good for the condition as he might not be getting enough fluid in his food. I had good results with changing my cats to a canned cat food by EVO. And then slowly changing them to a raw cat diet. Today they alternate raw and canned. This worked immediately on her cat. I think diet works but it has to be canned or raw meat as cats get most of their water from their food. They just don't drink enough to have healthy bladders and a lot of the kibbles have grains that are inappropriate for cats. They need a diet as similar as possible to what they would get on their own.

Hope little guy is doing better and better. I gather dry food is the main culprit? My new guy won't eat anything but dry stuff. His cat litter is also making one of my dogs feel bad. Mickey shouldn't be that interested in it, but evidently he is. Changing litter now. Never a dull moment.

Doesn't sound like surgery for this condition is the be all and end all solution either. Terrifying thought.

My guy's symptoms were an unusual "cry" he made. He didn't sound "right" and I knew something was wrong. How right I was.

We are praying for your patient.

I had a cat, sidney, with a blockage. It happened twice, both times we caught it fairly early and had him cathed. Then, to our delight, it never happened again. He lived a long and healthy life with no problems until old age caught up with him. We didn't do anything too special with food, just canned newmans own and kibble. As the emergency vet we saw the first time was pushing surgery and when we held off on that he told us Sid wasn't long for this world we were thrilled with his recovery. The blockages happened in his second year I think, he passed away at 17. So don't give up hope.

My late wife and I had a white long haired cat named Monster
he got that name when He was a kitten. He mellowed out.
Anyway he came down with Feline Urinary Syndrome and he had
to take pills for it or Die from kidney failure. one day he
just disappeared. You get attached to your pets and when you
lose one it's like losing a member of your family. I was
dog person until I met my late wife, I've been a cat person
ever since. I like all animals, I'm just partial to cats.

Dr. Khuly -- I wanted to get your reaction to Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkin's book "Your Cat" when I saw this post. So -- to make a long story short, I sent you a paperback copy of the book to the clinic in Miami. What I wanted you to see is, I think, Chapter 23.

I found that book while researching feline diabetes for a friend. I know a fair amount about canine nutrition but didn't know much about cats.

It's been informative for me and I keep a few copies around to give to cat people.

It would be good to hear your comments. And I send very best wishes to the little kitty patient you are treating.

I hope your little patient gets better soon,
poor little guy. : (

After having read about feline nutrition & diseases on several sites by veterinarians, vet associations, cat breeders, enthusiasts & advocates, I agree with you that inappropriate diet causes a lot of health problems. On Dr. Lisa Pierson’s Catinfo.org, on her Feline Urinary Tract Health page, she has photos about the treatment of a cat found in similar circumstances to your patient. I’m hopeful your outcome will also be good. Ideally, all cat owners (AND vets!) will learn more about the huge impact nutrition has on the health & behaviour of cats. I’m really glad you’re writing about urinary blockages, because all cat owners NEED to know about it. This syndrome can even lead to a ruptured bladder. (http://www.catinfo.org/?link=urinarytracthealth)

I also wish more vets were on board with the AAFP (American Association of Feline Practitioners, Catvets.com) guidelines that recommend cats be started on canned food as kittens because wet food can be especially good for older cats; it can be difficult to get a cat to switch to wet food later in life. (2008 Senior Care Guidelines, available to read online too. Dr. Zoran was a contributing panellist). Dr. Pierson does have a lot of good suggestions for transitioning kibble addicts to a new diet on her Feline Nutrition page.

Dr. Khuly, you’ve been collecting info & data on possible contributing factors to urinary blockages. Would you be able to share more info about this with us? Blocked Cat, Part 2 perhaps, with an update on your patient?

I’m trying to learn more about all things that may contribute to blockages & inappropriate elimination. I think you & others have stated that IE is one of the top problems that lead some cat owners to surrender, abandon, euthanize or even abuse their pets. I believe it’s a matter of animal welfare that cat owners have information that may prevent problems & promote optimal health - another topic I’m interested in. I too would like to know what you thought of Dr. Hodgkin’s book. It’s on my to-buy list.

I had two cats block that I know of (a third cat from my far far past peed on the rug one day and a few weeks later disappeared) and they were eating a "premium" kibble at the time. the first one went over to canned food and did just fine on it. The second blocked (he was still eating kibble as were the rest of the crew) and he went on to the "prescription" canned food, and then over to the "urinary canned food" I purchased at my local pet food store. He blocked again.

Doing a lot of reading on the subject, I have come to the conclusions no one knows WHY a cat forms crystals, but they do know what causes it when a particular cat is prone to it.

A diet high in carbohydrates and plant materials lends to urine that is alkaline. Alkaline urine tends to help the formation of crystals. a diet too low in moisture tends to concentrate the crystals. Dry food is the antithesis of what a cat who forms crystals needs as it is high in carbohydrate and plant based proteins and it is low in moisture.

Meat is acidifying. A cat who eats a meat based diet that is high in moisture (certain canned or raw that limit plant based ingredients) helps a cat maintain proper urinary PH to keep the crystals in check.

There are also herbs and supplements that can help a cat with urinary issues, but supplementing a diet (which is what prescription foods do, they are high in plant based ingredients, then they add an acidifying agent to try to balance out the damage done in the first place) can cause a cat to go too far over the other way (cats can form stones in urine that is too acidic and that is more difficult to treat) and should not be taken lightly and should always be done with urine testing to make sure the cat is in the ideal PH range.

I bought Dr. Hodgkin's book. I gave it out to several of my friends with cats and to my local shelter manager who ended it up gifting it on to a couple dealing with a diabetic cat. I think it is a wonderful resource. If I'm not mistaken, Dr. Hodgkins worked for Hills for a while and was instrumental in creating the "diabetic diet" they and now other companies sell.