Do you believe in MIRACLES...

[SarichFan]

My older cat had the same thing (Now in Kitty paradise due to old age )... I had to give him antibiotics for 2 weeks due to the blockage, and fed him PH balanced food the rest of his days.

I thought he was a gone, it was in 2002 and a day before Christmas so I thought it was the worst time ever.. Luckily we were able to treat him, I was so happy.

Glad to hear it worked out for you too!

Yup, Dry food is all you should be feeding your cat... the PH balance type is really good. I feed my cats Iams Multicat as it seems the most balanaced and we do have more than one kitty in the house.

[BBQorMILDEW]

Thanks for the support guys..

He is currently laying down and napping right now, He has gone to the bathroom twice today, which is a relief,

I really think that the 24 hour vet hospital was the biggest scam ever, They never seemed truly concerned about my cat, just about making money. The nurse even called me a client!! I was going to snap on her but it wasn't the place or time..

I will post some pictures when i have time..

Also one thing the vet told me was since Ziggy was a male orange tabby he is more likely to have this happen to him than any other regular cat.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by BBQorMILDEW

I really think that the 24 hour vet hospital was the biggest scam ever, They never seemed truly concerned about my cat, just about making money. The nurse even called me a client!! I was going to snap on her but it wasn't the place or time.. .

Slightly off topic, and first let me say that happy to hear your cat is doing well.

But the best care I've ever got is with in-home vet care. There are a couple of services that offer this in Calgary - the one I did did a phone consultation first, came out within 24 hours and examined Mandy (my cat), and brought with them some of the likely medications that would be required - which I purchased directly from them once they confirmed the diagnosis.

They asked me to call them the next day to update them on her condition and said if need be they would come back.

Really seemed to care about her and offered great care.

Of course for more urgent or serious things you need to get the cat into the hospital rfn, but if you can afford to wait a day - I recommend the house doctor. There is of course a cost to it above your usual vet visit but my cat gets really freaked out if she has to be moved at all so i didn't want to try and get her to a vet office - it was likely going to make the situation worse.

Anyhoo if someone wants more info on this PM me and I'll send you over the contact info for the service I used.

[Bill Bumface]

So is it for sure that dry food is better? Was my vet blowing smoke (and ash) up my ass (and my cat's urinary tract)?

I've been giving him 1/2 a can a day with very little dry on her recommendation.

[J pold]

No not really, and that is hardly a miracle

[Bill Bumface]

Looks like the vet was telling me the truth:

The same studies showed that cats fed with these dry food diets excreted alkaline urine. Urine pH has been implicated in the formation of struvite crystals in feline urolithiasis, and many dry food manufacturers address this by adding urine-acidifying ingredients to their food. However, this practice may lead to the formation of calcium oxalate stones, therefore water intake rather than urine pH appears to be the most crucial factor for the prevention and treatment of feline stones

Owners and veterinarians who recommend a diet consisting largely or entirely of canned, homemade or raw cat food point to higher water content of such food and the increased total water consumption in comparison to a dry food diet as an important health benefit.[citation needed] Wet food also generally contains significantly less grain and other carbohydrate material, although many are made with fish ingredients.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_food

[FireFly]

My vet also told me to feed them wet food, more for the moisture thing than anything else.

[GrrlGoalie33]

I had to take my dog into the 24hr emergency clinic on 4th St NW on Sunday (see the Giving your dog glucosamine thread for the full story) and they were totally awesome. They really worked with me and my budget and were awesome. Never got the feeling they were in it for the money only.

Today she was chewing her "cast" off, my gf whisked her into the clinic again and they fixed the cast and gave her a larger cone for free.

[evman150]

Miracles are for idiots.

Seriously.

Reality is for the rest of us.

Sounds like you caught your one-outer for quads on the river though, nice hand.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by evman150

Miracles are for idiots.

Seriously.

Reality is for the rest of us.

Miracles are a matter of perception, whether one is an "idiot" or not is really beside the point.

Amazing and inexplicable things happen to all sorts of people all the time, and many would classify these events as miraculous. Who are you to call them idiots? For most, it is much more meaningful to experience God, or same form of "supernatural" involvement in the mundane details of life, than to merely dismiss them as naturalistic coincidences. There have been miraculous moments in my own life that I am sure could be dissected and explained as natural phenomena. But quite frankly, I don't care to think of them that way, because they are much more meaningful to me otherwise. Am I an idiot for choosing to believe that I can see the hand of God in those moments of my life that I cannot explain? Does it make me "stupid" for my decision to allow for the supernatural to provide an element of significance to my human experience?

As for BBQoM, I know well of the passionate attachment that cats and dogs can cause us to experience. I have been on the unfortunate side of the same story, with less "miraculous" results. We had a cat die on the operating table because of anesthetic. My borzoi died in my arms at 11:57 pm on 5 October 2005. Had either of them survived, I would be loathe to dismiss it as a purely "natural" occurrence.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by Ford Prefect

Glad to hear your cat is doing okay.

Regarding which is better, wet vs dry cat food, I've been told by vets that dry is generally better, but some wet cat foods are okay too. What you need to look for is whether the food is low in ash or not ... you want as low as possible. I've had two cats with this problem, both male. It's called Feline Urinary Syndrome and is more problematic with male cats because of the shape of their urinary tubes. Basically, it's like gall stones for cats. Uric crystals build up in the urinary tubes and block them, preventing the cat from being able to whiz. High ash content in the cat's food is the main cause of the uric crystal buildup, and the worst brands are the big name supermarket brands. It really pays to buy high end, low ash cat food from a vet or pet shop. Go to Petland or someplace like that and tell them what you're looking for ... they should be able to offer a few choices.

Hmmm I used to feed my cats Hills Science Diet but switched to Purina One Indoor Cat as it was more readily available yet still had a high protein content. Ash is not listed on the Purina One analysis nor is it on the Hills Analysis. Is there a reason why it's not listed, or are they just leaving it off?

[Ford Prefect]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Hmmm I used to feed my cats Hills Science Diet but switched to Purina One Indoor Cat as it was more readily available yet still had a high protein content. Ash is not listed on the Purina One analysis nor is it on the Hills Analysis. Is there a reason why it's not listed, or are they just leaving it off?

I'd be suspicious for sure. If your cats are female it's not as vital as with males to feed them low ash cat food, but females can develop Feline Urinary Sydrome too. With males, feeding high ash food is pretty much a death sentence.

[llama64]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Hmmm I used to feed my cats Hills Science Diet but switched to Purina One Indoor Cat as it was more readily available yet still had a high protein content. Ash is not listed on the Purina One analysis nor is it on the Hills Analysis. Is there a reason why it's not listed, or are they just leaving it off?

Perhaps ash goes by another name? Does anyone know?

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Weird. For both brands, some formulas list ash but some don't. Take a look at Purina one Chicken and Rice vs Indoor Cat formulas.

http://www.purina.ca/products/purina...asp?page=adult

That would SEEM to suggest they would list ash if it had any.

Who knows who's right on the net - this link seems to suggest it's Magnesium, not ash that makes a difference.

Prevention
Your cat's diet is the key in preventing FLUTD. Using high quality, well-formulated diets that reduce the minerals in the urine that cause the formation of the crystals and maintaining urinary pH is the best method of prevention.
In the past there have been some misconceptions on the importance of " Ash" in the diet. Ash is the measure of all the minerals in the food. It is now thought that a low level magnesium (a component of ash) in combination with a consistent acidic urinary pH is the more appropriate measure.


http://www.vetcetera-vet.com/kittens_urinary-tract.html

Most things I read seem to suggest that water intake is key. Luckily Marbles the Cat drinks water like no other so that's good I guess?