TopCat has had a couple of episodes of bladder crystals. These have provided him with yet another exciting opportunity for death involved hospitalistion for several days.
After the first episode he was put on Hills CD then after a period of time his urine was tested and he was allowed back on his old food. A second recurrence saw him back on the CD, this time for life (I cannot find anything in the literature that suggests CD is suitable for lifelong treatment but the vet assures me its fine)
The CD is £15 for a small bag, not an issue if he really needs it. However he will only eat fish flavours and the CD only comes in a low calorie chicken or full fat fish or chicken. In the summer he is always out and about and could be described as a healthy weight, certainly not wanting to put anymore weight on but OK. In the winter he undertakes a sort of feline hibernation and piles the pounds on, much to the vets distress.
He is genuinely not given anything else except the CD and we are very strict with DS about giving him treats or scraps.
I have recently lost a week long battle of wills over a bag of low calorie chicken CD. He eventually deigned to eat a few mouthfuls of it but it transpires he has been eating the neighbours cats food instead
So can anyone advise on an alternative? My options so far are:
- Continue on fish flavour CD and acknowledge that he will get fat in the winter? I also fear this will get worse as he gets older.
- Persevere with the low calorie version? This will help his weight but if he is eating next doors Felix or GoCat instead then it is putting him at greater risk of further bladder stones and rendering the vast amount of money the CD costs a waste.
- Try something else and if so what?
Any advice or experiences much appreciated :)