Update on Jason the Cat

A couple of months ago, I mentioned that Jason had pink pee and they found stones in his bladder. Well, he has fully recovered from surgery to remove the stones and is currently on an extended round of Clavamox. The lab work showed that his stones were OXALATE NOT STRUVITE, which is what you get from an abnormally LOW pH... Anyway, I feed all the cats inside Hill's C/D already, because of another cat (Frankie) who has had chronic UTI for many years (Frankie's crystals were always struvite). The vet said that the Hill's C/D formula was changed some time ago so that now it will work on pH in either direction and can be eaten by cats with both types of crystals. I would be in a real pickle if it were any other way.

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"I have learned that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everyone off is easy and fun as hell"

:eatu

Poofy_puff, my beloved Siamese tomcat (purebred cream point), Pretty Boy, had FUS just as your cat Jason does. FUS was also known as cystitis back in the '80s when this was happening.

In my experience he became tired of the C/D food meant for cats with FUS. He just stopped being willing to eat it. So after doing some research, I discovered that some people had had some success with giving FUS-prone cats low-dose vitamin C. Apparently this will tweak the urinary pH and stop the crystals from forming.

It was also important not to give the cat dry kibble (that is, regular dry cat food), because its ash and mineral content was thought to be a major culprit in bladder stone formation. More recently Dr. Peter Gott, the veterinarian who has a syndicated newspaper column, has long said not to give cats kibble anyway, as he favors a more holistic approach with natural foods for cats and dogs to be proactive against health problems.

When I gave Pretty Boy the vitamin C tablets daily and a variety of canned food, his FUS cleared and never returned. After some time I experimented and found that he no longer needed the vitamin C. He lived to be 14, when I had to have him put down for cancer.

I hope this helps you.

Yes, I know that what you say is correct; Frankie has the problem where the urine is too high pH and adding ascorbic acid is one thing that would lower pH. The vet originally recommended Methigel, but it didn't really work. Eventually, Frankie had the urethral bypass (his penis was removed) surgery, and tried to return to a regular diet (I only purchased high-end cat food from the pet-supply store), but he kept getting pink pee so his vet told me to only feed Hill's C/D from then on.

Jason, on the other hand, out of the blue, came down with these stones (Frankie had multiple episodes over the years which eventually led to the bypass surgery) which turned out to be oxalate (crystals that form when the pH is too low or too acid), so giving him ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) would not be good for the condition. I was concerned about feeding him C/D because the original formula was supposed to LOWER the pH (make more acidic) of the urine, but the vet tells me that now the food is formulated to neutralize from either end of the pH scale.

So far, all my cats like this food just fine and I feed them usually just the dry kibble with occasional feeding of the canned version. I have tried different feeding strategies, but at this point, my options are limited due to the fact that most of my cats stay indoors all the time and I can't segregate their food very easily (except temporarily), so I am at least thankful that there is one food everyone agrees on. The ones that go outside eat all kinds of crap that the neighbors and my grandparents put out, which is probably how Jason contracted the stones in the first place.

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"I have learned that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everyone off is easy and fun as hell"

:eatu

Our Sammy had struvite crystals in his bladder also, and had one embedded in his bladder wall. It will be 4 years ago this June for his surgery to remove those. He had so many crystals that the doc actually had to cut open the bladder and remove them. Knock wood - he's fine now.

Our whole crew is on Hills w/d which is low protein/low cal. This works well for Sam who is also diabetic but also for our other 2 males who are very large cats and we have to watch their weight. the females are very petite so they can have as much of anything they want.

I hope your little fluff ball continues to do well. I know how stressful it is to have a little one who isn't feeling great. It breaks your heart. =^..^=

Yes, my "Fluffball" (I prefer to call him "Smudgeface") is feeling better, I think. His surgery scar has healed up. They DID have to cut open his bladder like your cat had. First they did a test to see if the stones could be dissolved with drugs and diet, but no. Fortunately, I am hooked up with rescue services and the vet I use on my own used to be our spay-neuter-rescue vet (until, of course, he and his wife decided to breed, now they have 3 kydz and I think he knows that they're not getting any cheaper as they grow), but his prices are really low compared to every other vet (like, his regular price for a dental is the same thing I would pay with the rescue discount at the New Vet) AND he gives me a courtesy discount when things get crazy. I also buy my cat food from Old Vet.

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"I have learned that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everyone off is easy and fun as hell"

:eatu