Georgie, Georgie.
10 days ago, I spent 5 hours at the Emergency Vet trying to figure out what was wrong with him. He acted fine first thing that Saturday morning but then he kept going in and out of his litterbox trying to pee but couldn't. I called our primary vet, they said this has a potential to be fatal. Off to the ER Vet we went.
He had crystals & bacteria in his urine. (once I shared this in stories, I learned how common this is for all of your own cats) His kidneys & blood levels looked good, but the Vet was concerned for his enlarged bladder, "not to the point of bursting, and not to the point of euthanize or treat" she said. 😶 We decided to keep him there overnight with a catheter to drain it, clean it out, put him on iv fluids etc.
We picked him up Sunday night with 4 different meds to give him. That's been fun. He was so happy to see us, but also, freaked out over any sudden movements or noise. Poor guy.
The ER vet directed us to give him prescription food, they sent us home with samples. I looked up all the ingredients, lots of bi-products & grains/fillers. If you know me IRL or have been around a while, you are probably aware we are big into organic, natural foods and supplements for ourselves and have been for our fur babies too. I got to researching potential causes of crystals in urine.
Tuna & Salmon are high in the minerals that can cause crystals. Gulp! That is 95% of his diet. Remove fish ✔️
Hard water may cause crystals. Switch to filtered water ✔️
Increase his water in food. Georgie has this thing with always needing dry food out, it's a comfort to him. Well as he's been chunking up, we cut back on his wet food. BAD. Increase wet food ✔️
Reduce stress. A lot of stress in the house since end of May with covid, his favorite people were isolated from him at different times, litter boxes moved out of covid+ kid bathroom. Lost access to the 3rd litterbox in another bathroom due to covid+ kid & me. Then 2 times to regular vet for wellness then shots & claw trim. Getting into the carrier is stressful as he freaks out and fights it. Plus, Yin isn't his biggest fan. We have added feliway plug in, hoping it helps. Extra playtime & lots of pets.
We just started adding in a probiotic, Yin has been on it since last fall.
Today, I took him back to our regular vet to see how he's doing. While levels have improved since the ER visit, he still has a UTI. Plus, his PH level is still higher than normal but lower than previously. The vet is growing the bacteria for a few days to see what the best antibiotic will be to treat the infection. my poor baby. In the meantime, I am going to do the following:
Got home and started him on a natural urinary tract support chew, made from cranberries, parsley & a bunch of other herbs. Thankfully he loves eating them. I ordered these from Amazon.
Add back in a little coconut oil, we used to do this but we took it out after he got so chonky.
Increase his wet food even further and bring him water to drink more often.
The vet is still recommending the prescription or over the counter urinary care food. I have requested records of his levels because if I'm right, his PH levels have decreased significantly in 10 days with what we've been doing so then its helping.
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