Advice on make cat bladder issues( crystals in urine) and water intake please

[BigButtons]

I have a 7 year old male moggie- never been unwell up until this week.
we had to rush him to the vets- he had a blocked urethra and couldn’t pee. Very managed to rush him out, saved his life. He said he would need to be on a special diet from now on- so I went and spent a stupid amount of money on royal canin and Hills food.
the cat will not touch it. He has always been a hideously fussy eater.
He is refusing to drink too.
spoke to vet again yesterday and he said it was more important that he ate his wet food to get some water in him and to give him his regular pouch. I have added water to the pouch gravy and he ate that.
For those with cats who are similar very fussy eaters and have this urinary issue are there tricks and tips you can give me?
I am so worried it will happen again.
i wish there was something I could put on his regular food to break up any struvite crystals that might form again. Does something like this exist?
Thanks

If they found crystals blocking then I would definitely talk to your vet about introducing an acidifier to a regular diet (uri balance that we started to use has been out of stock everywhere for the last couple of months so have now started using one by VetIQ that's available on amazon) and testing the pH of his urine if you can and ensure it's being kept below 7. Crystals won't form in acidic urine above this - although you have to be careful it doesn't go the other way as oxylate stones can form if it's too low. Male cats are like snowflakes, I swear!!

We feed a rotation of meats - chicken, duck, pork and turkey mainly - they're not keen on lamb or beef - and use the Purrform completer (which is a must for any homecooked diets as they don't get all the nutrients they need from cooked meats) alongside a few other supplements. We usually boil it so there is always broth but sometimes do a turkey leg or such in the oven (when it's too big for a pan!) with some water so there is always broth and juices to feed, which so far he's taking to really well.

Although it takes time to do, we find it no more expensive, possibly cheaper, than our previous food (Katkin) and a lot cheaper than a prescription diet which is mainly junk even if they do eat it. I would never feed a cat with urinary issues dry food (it's completely counterintuitive when you need to up their fluid) and the wet food is very limited. Even if you can get them to eat it, there are only a couple of flavours so they'd be so bored and they only work if that's the only thing you feed them.

100% you always need to add a completer to cooked meats. You can make complete raw recipes with bone & organs, but as you can't feed cooked bone, it's never complete without supplements.

Purrform is the only one in the UK that I know of that's made specifically for this. There is one from Kiezenbrink that you can get in the UK but it's for dogs & cats so a bit more questionable. Purrform is the one recommended on the nutrition group I mentioned above

Also collect rainwater if he likes puddles. Lots of cats don’t like tap water but will drink from a bowl outside. If he’s being bullied he might not be stooping to drink out there, so collect rainwater and put it in a bowl indoors. My old boy had human milk, didn’t upset his tummy so vet said fine, it definitely helped him.

I offer Dcat scrambled egg with water, poached chicken or tuna in spring water occasionally to up his water intake he doesn't particularly like wet food unless it's Applaws.
He also likes drinking out of the pond rather than out of his water bowl.
I buy some cystease powder and sprinkle it on his food too.

If you haven't tried already, it might be worth getting a feliway plug in to reduce stress. It didn't work for us as his sister was allergic to it (again - snowflakes!) but they are supposed to work.

I'm allergic to Feliway which is a pain as it worked like a dream.

We now use a Comfort Zone Calming Collar. Within 15 minutes she's a happy cat.

Cat soup
Add warm water to food

Hows It going Bigbuttons? Our 3 year old male cat came down with the same thing this morning. Yesterday afternoon he started struggling with weeing and then by about 9am it was suddenly clear he was really unwell and in pain. 😞 I’m just waiting for the vets to call me.

I put my cat in a raw diet and it really really helps with everything.

It can work out cheaper too! My cats seem to prefer eating lamb heart and I add some liver to it every now and then.

Thank you so much everyone- really helpful suggestions.
i have ordered something from Amazon which is meant to help the bladder and also reduce anxiety.
I think you are right that his liquid intake is reduced because he is not going out much. He goes out to do his business and if I am outside but he is always nervous of the cats next door. One of them will literally charge at him and chase him into our house.
must be horrible for him.
out last house had masses of green space and also a pond- we were renting- now I have bought my own place. Maybe I should look to put a small pond in my small garden this summer.
I will boil up some turkey drumsticks and freeze the stock in ice cubes and give that with his wet pouch.
The vets have been so amazing and have looked after me as much as him. They are phoning again on Tuesday to see how he is getting on.
He actually had a poo today as he has been back on his normal pouches with extra water- no kibble though.
I have noticed that he is only passing very small amounts of urine each time- I am guessing his urethra is still quite swollen from the procedure. I am giving him metacam and powder from capsules to put on his food to help his bladder.
@Roseyposeypie so sorry your cat has had the same thing. It happens so quickly doesn’t it? Quite terrifying.Fingers and toes crossed that he makes a quick recovery.
yes these snowflake male cats- too acidic- not acidic enough! I will check with the vet re the acidifier.

It could take a while for his pee to go back to normal. One of mine nearly died from a blockage (this was about a decade ago) and I'd say it took nearly a month for him to start peeing normally again. This was after several catheters and four days in the vets - it was very touch and go, bless him.

So basically, don't stress too much if he's still going little/often for a while - as long as he's peeing regularly and isn't in pain then try not to worry!

Thank you for the reassurance. I am absolutely paranoid. I’m sure that will subside with time.🙂

Yes, I'd echo the same, as long as he is passing SOMETHING it's normal for him to be going a lot. I mean if you'd had something shoved up your bits you might wince for a while too!

We use clumping litter (and I became a helicopter cat parent!) so I was able to count how many times he went, and in the week after his blockage, the one day he went 70 times. I was going frantic but the vets said that can be normal. This was after 3 ops for blockages and pulling his own Cather out so pretty extreme but he was drugged up on gabapentin, metacam and buprenorphine so hopefully not in too much pain. It was a HORRIBLE few weeks for all of us but he's now back to doing big waterfall wees which we celebrate every time! 😂

I would say you're doing all the right things so far, and fingers crossed it's all does the trick.

Big hugs to both of you @BigButtons and @Roseyposeypie - if there's anything I can do or any other advice/signposting feel free to drop me a PM

My DCat1 has this last year he was peeing loads with blood in it too. Fortunately he is not fussy (if you saw him you would realise this quickly) and eats Royal Canin special food no problem. He refuses to drink from the cat fountain but drinks from the dogs water bowl instead (cat logic).

When my cat needs increased fluids I boil some white fish and give her the fishy water. She loves it.

Thank you much you lovely person 😍

I know this message might be a bit late. but my cat had trouble peeing, after vet treatment I put him on feliway cystease. 2 tablets a day for 1 week then one tablet a day. capsule so can be opened and mixed with cat cream ( lic e lic ) . Once I stop these he has trouble again. so highly recommend but will need to be on for life. not to expensive if you buy the 300.

My cat will not drink out of a bowl on the floor but will drink out of a tall pint glass! You can get raised bowls- apparently it is easier for them not to bend right down? Although it does not stop her drinking from puddles?

Cheap solutions though- collect rainwater and raise the bowls
If desperate for any moisture there is always licky lix