I saw that several of you have had cats with struvites just this year-- if I didn't know better, I'd think something was going around! At any rate, we've got one with them now, too, and I thought I'd throw a few of my questions out there to see if any of you have any advice. This is a little long, but I'm flying a little blind with this mess...
Our poor boy Chester stopped eating Tuesday and was totally blocked by yesterday; they blasted the crystals and put in an open catheter, which he'll wear for a week while he takes baytril. The laundry room is now carpeted in puppy pads
![Rolling Eyes :rolleyes2:](./images/smiles/rolleyes.gif)
. He threw up a little bile last night after we brought him home. But after that he sort of nibbled a very little bit of the S/D wet and dry. This morning he picked at it, but was pretty unimpressed. I got him to eat a piece of tuna (I know-- tuna is bad and probably one of the contributing factors to this mess, but a boy needs some moisture) and lick a little super watered down tuna water. I'm waiting to start the antibiotics until he has food in him.
I've relented and am using the S/D for a month,
![Blue Angry >(](./images/smiles/angry.gif)
and I'm not happy about it-- but I've got to get him to eat it first. Did any of you have trouble with your cats eating the S/D? I was hoping he would be ok with switching foods cold turkey (he's not usually picky and had a day or so of fasting), but I guess I'm going to back up and try slowly transitioning him. If it comes down to it, I'm going to see if the vet thinks I can give him a mg or so of valium to get his appetite going. My concern is that he's wearing the e-collar while we're gone, so it's not always easy for him to drink or eat (though not impossible). I want to make sure he stays hydrated and avoids lipidosis. And I don't know what I'll do if he refuses altogether.
My second question is about the maintenance diet-- have any of you found something better than the Science Diet C/D? The vet clinic I use has 3 fairly traditional docs-- one is pretty open to natural remedies and seems somewhat knowledgeable and trusts me to do the research on things (and appreciates that I do). The main vet, and the one my family and I have used for 25 years and who we saw yesterday, is great and I trust him a lot-- but he doesn't know much about raw foods or other more holistic approaches. He's told me he's very happy for me to try a raw diet with the cats, but has been frank that he doesn't know much about its effect on struvites.
I am currently considering either: a homemade raw diet with Wysong's struvite prevention supplement; or an incomplete prepared diet, like Bravo, also with the Wysong. I have 4 cats in the house, one of which is frustratingly allergic to everything. I hate the thought of having the Science Diet anywhere in the house; one bite of that and our allergy baby will be throwing up, shedding, and sneezing all over the place.
Ugh. At least we have entertainment: Robin thinks Chester in his e-collar is some horrible monster that's moved into the laundry room and that we need to be constantly alerted to this new development.
![LOL lol](./images/smiles/smellie_lol.gif)
"In these bodies, we will live; in these bodies we will die.
Where you invest your love, you invest your life." --Marcus Mumford
--Amalie