Can Wellness canned food cause crystals or is it hereditary?

[rjesak]

Last night Oscar tried to use the litter box a couple of times. He managed to poo but not to pee and he licked his chops most of the time he was in there. This morning, when I picked him up he growled (very unusual). He didn't seem to be feeling well so I took him to the vet this morning. He got very, very upset while she was examining him - usually, he just sits quietly for the external but he growled, yowled, and tried to crawl off the table when she felt his bladder. Clearly he was very uncomfortable.

He's currently locked in the bathroom with an empty litter box so I can try to get a pee sample (the vet tried to pull some but she said there was none to be got).

I'm really worried about this because I'm NOT giving him the Hill's the vet recommended - I'm giving him Wellness instead. Should I have stuck with the Hill's? Did I make him sick again?

Argh! He's in the bathroom crying now. I gave him Metacam so he's not in as much pain but I hate having to keep him locked up and he hates using litter-less litter boxes. I really, really hope he goes!

Any suggestions???? Help, help, help! I'm so upset about this - I feel like crying.

[sugarcatmom]

If there are calcium oxalate crystals like he's had before, I would say that it's more likely the steroids that he's on which are the issue. When you finally get a urine sample in to the vet, make sure you get a copy of the results (urine ph, USG, crystals etc).

Instead of an empty box, maybe he'd be more willing to use one with No-sorb (from the vet - tends to be pricey) or aquarium gravel in it.

[catlover2]

I'm so sorry to hear you're having trouble with Oscar...again! SCM's idea of acquarium gravel is a good one; maybe sand would work too? Poor Oscar, hope you and vet can get him better soon.

[rjesak]

If he doesn't go on the plastic by the time I leave at 3, I'll pick up some acquarium gravel - brilliant idea! I tried the no-sorb last time but it didn't work. It might just not have been enough - the vet gave me about a half a cup! Maybe I just need more.

I didn't know the steroids could cause them. Ugh! How awful. The asthma cure could be causing his bladder problems... Yeesh!

I'll definitely get a copy of the labs. I can use any help at all I can get here!

[ancientgirl]

I'm so sorry Oscar is having another health issue. Poor guy. If it's not one thing it's another with him.

[chico2]

rjsak,I too am sorry and hope Oscar will get better
I know how you feel,it's frustrating,scary and you feel helpless,don't know if you should cry or scream,
Hopefully Oscar will give you a good sample

[Love4himies]

If it has been hours since his last pee and you are getting pressed for time to get the sample, then the vet should be able to express the bladder to get a sample.

Poor kitty.

[rjesak]

I don't know what to do! Oscar's been locked up for 12 hours, and he still hasn't peed. The vet is closed and his bladder feels like a tennis ball! Do I take him to the ER? Do I try to press it (he growls when I feel around down there).

This is miserable. I'm clearly going to have to call in sick because I can't leave him in the bathroom all day tomorrow too! I just don't know what to do for him.

I went to get sand or aquarium gravel but the bags said they change the PH balance of the water, so they'd affect his pee too, right? Ugh. I wish I knew what to do.

[sugarcatmom]

Originally Posted by rjesak

The vet is closed and his bladder feels like a tennis ball! Do I take him to the ER? Do I try to press it (he growls when I feel around down there).

Definitely don't try to express his bladder yourself, this can actually be quite painful. If I were in your shoes, I'd let him out to pee in his normal litter box and try to get a pee sample another day. Cystocentisis at the vet is the best option (they can keep him there for a few hours until his urine builds up if he doesn't have enough when you bring him in).

[rjesak]

LMAO!!! Well, SCM, I ALMOST took your advice and you saved me a trip to the ER because I was freaking.

I did decide to do it another day but as I opened the door and he went tearing for the litter box, I thought what a wasted 12 hours it had been. I suddenly had a thought that I wouldn't have expected to work, but anything's worth trying right? I grabbed a cup and shoved it under his ass as soon as he started to pee. Got myself 6 cc's of NASTY smelling urine. Highly concentrated stuff that!!!

Oscar is glaring at me quite resentfully every time he sees me but I feel much, much better!!! Thank you so much SCM. I was completely at my wit's end.

[rjesak]

The vet didn't call me back today and Oscar seems ok. Not great, but ok. I did give him more Metacam because he seems to be not himself and I really do think it's pain. It would be really helpful if he could just tell me!!!

In any case, I'm really afraid that his bladder is infected after the surgery. :sad: I wouldn't think so because he got an antibiotic shot just three or four days after the surgery but that was a while ago. I don't know what to think - poor kitty. I really wish I could stop worrying about him for a while!

My vet's usually good about calling (she knows I'm prone to panic) so I hope I'll hear from her early tomorrow.

[rjesak]

Well, the vet is going to fax me the full results but she said there were no crystals, white blood cells, anything in the urine to show a problem. She agreed that he seemed to be showing some tenderness there and he really doesn't seem to be himself. He's been a bit withdrawn and I haven't been able to get him to purr for the last two days. Now, Oscar's not one of those cats that starts purring in anticipation or anything so he's not the biggest motor mouth, but I can usually get him happy when I make a concerted effort. This morning he wouldn't even play with the strings on my nightgown!! :sad:

I wish I knew what to do. His weight is down again (8 pounds so he dropped 4 ounces) but he's breathing just fine! I'm just so frustrated and worried...

So here are his symtoms:
- Tenderness in his bladder
- Won't play or purr
- Withdrawing from me (this may be in part because I'm doing so many terrible things to him lately: 2 pills, 2 oral liquids, 2 inhalers) :sad:
- Puking up hairball-y material 5 or 6 times a day. This is really unusual for him; usually he just throws up saliva. He's been throwing up a combination of saliva and little (tiny) chunks of tightly packed hairball. No food which is odd because he's eating ALL the time while on the Cypro.
- Super aggressive (this is only kinda new. As most of you know, I've been dealing with this for a while but it got better when we got him off the oral steroids. About 2 weeks ago, it ramped up again.)

I'll post the urinalysis results when I get them. Maybe you'll spot something the vet didn't. For now, she's just recommending pain meds. She says if the Metacam isn't strong enough she can prescribe something else but I'd rather find out WHY he's hurting in the first place!

[ancientgirl]

Could part of his problem be emotional/behavioral? All of the medicating you have been doing with him and his asthma may be stressful to him, and that might be one of the reasons he's having these issues.

I fully believe Oksana's recent bout with cystitis is partly stress, so maybe giving Oscar some sort of calming medication may help him.

[Love4himies]

I know both Puddles and Sweet Pea are not their normal selves when they are trying to get up a furball. Their appetite decreases, they are more lethargic, and pretty cranky. An x-ray of his tummy should show if there is a problem with furball. This can last up to 2 weeks and finally I will find one, yup, you guessed it, on the carpet . I have hardwood and very few carpets in the house.

[rjesak]

The vet was thinking that maybe a furball is just starting to loosen him up. I have an appointment to take him in Saturday for X-rays.

As to the calming, I've got him on the kitty prozac which should (hopefully) help in the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, I got the urinalysis tests back. I've no idea what all this means so I could use some links or help deciphering.

pH: 6.0
PRO: 30mg//dL
GLU: neg
KET: neg
UBG: 1mg/dL
BIL: neg
BLD: neg
S.G.: 1.045

ALT: 105 U/L
Sediment results were all 0 except Bacteria which shows 2-3+ (it has something I can't read written next to it "From cronbox" or something...)

[ancientgirl]

Originally Posted by rjesak

The vet was thinking that maybe a furball is just starting to loosen him up. I have an appointment to take him in Saturday for X-rays.

As to the calming, I've got him on the kitty prozac which should (hopefully) help in the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, I got the urinalysis tests back. I've no idea what all this means so I could use some links or help deciphering.

That's right, I forgot you have him on prozac. Yeah, that will take a while to begin working.

Hopefully it is just a hairball though, and he'll be himself soon.

[rjesak]

Well, my vet ran an X-ray to see if she could see any reason why Oscar has been miserable. She's testing him for Pancreatitis since she said it looked a little "fuzzy". Worse though, she said his lungs look just awful. She doesn't know if it's just permanent damage at this point or if it's not as controlled as we had thought (he hasn't been wheezing and hasn't had any obvious attacks - a couple of bouts of accelerated breathing is all). Either way, it's pretty bad news.

If he doesn't have Pancreatitis, she wants him back on the Prednisone which is what caused the aggression (and possibly the bladder stones).

What am I gonna do? Poor Zander was finally getting brave enough to come out again. I'm so tired of worrying about Oscar - wondering if he's feeling ok and if he's breathing alright. Not breathing is almost worse than pain and I never know how he's feeling.

I don't know what to do. I'm feeling very defeated and heartbroken. I thought things were going so well...