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- Apr 16, 2024
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Hi there,
I know there are quite a few threads on this matter but I have a couple questions. I have a 7 year old male flame point ragdoll. 2 years ago shortly after our move into a new home my cat got blocked for the first time. Unfortunately we were out of town and the friend watching him did not know the signs or his normal behavior. So when I returned home it was almost too late. Thankfully we have a great 24 hour emergency vet and he recovered. I switched to the hills c/d dry food and was good until recently. Just under the two year mark he blocked again. Thankfully this time I was home and knew what to look for. Immediately took him in before his levels were drastically out of range. He still had to stay 3 days but was much better when he returned home than the first time.
my vet recommended looking into PU. At this point I’ve spent $6k between the two visits and cannot afford the $4k PU surgery or another blockage to be honest.
Since reading some thread on here I have switched him to a full wet diet. We do have kibble out for my other cat that does not have urinary tract issues, but he is now almost strictly wet food. I also add a few tablespoons of water to each feeding. I’ve read on here that adding D-Mannose could be beneficial. What I’m wondering is this supposed to be a daily supplement added or only in case of a flare up. Unfortunately with him I don’t get much of a warning leading up to the blockage. My vet told me that there was not a significant amount of crystals in his urine either visit. This round had even less. She was at a loss because in her experience the food usually solves the problem. She also didn’t think wet food would make a difference but after reading more it seems that it makes a huge difference.
I’m looking for any advice on what I can do to try and give him the best chance at avoiding another blockage. He’s on hills c/d wet food now. I have fountains and clean his water daily. I attributed his first go round to stress from the move. He is a stress case in general and really doesn’t do well with change or any type of travel. We only moved 10 minutes away. Of course here we are again going through another move. We have started packing but haven’t actually moved anything major so I have a hard time thinking that’s what caused this but I'm unsure. For now I am giving him gabapentin to ease his anxiety for this transitional period to the new house. But this is in no way a long term solution for me because I don’t see him having a great quality of life essentially being “drugged”. I’ve read about prescribing cats that are generally anxious Fluoxetine. Has anyone had experience with this and if so do you think it would be helpful if the blockage is also contributed to stress? Thankfully we’re moving to a much quieter area and this should be long term. It’s the process of getting there that has be stressed out. Also the idea of going through this again and not being able to afford the hospital stay and having to make a tough decision. Any possible suggestions to give him the best chance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
I know there are quite a few threads on this matter but I have a couple questions. I have a 7 year old male flame point ragdoll. 2 years ago shortly after our move into a new home my cat got blocked for the first time. Unfortunately we were out of town and the friend watching him did not know the signs or his normal behavior. So when I returned home it was almost too late. Thankfully we have a great 24 hour emergency vet and he recovered. I switched to the hills c/d dry food and was good until recently. Just under the two year mark he blocked again. Thankfully this time I was home and knew what to look for. Immediately took him in before his levels were drastically out of range. He still had to stay 3 days but was much better when he returned home than the first time.
my vet recommended looking into PU. At this point I’ve spent $6k between the two visits and cannot afford the $4k PU surgery or another blockage to be honest.
Since reading some thread on here I have switched him to a full wet diet. We do have kibble out for my other cat that does not have urinary tract issues, but he is now almost strictly wet food. I also add a few tablespoons of water to each feeding. I’ve read on here that adding D-Mannose could be beneficial. What I’m wondering is this supposed to be a daily supplement added or only in case of a flare up. Unfortunately with him I don’t get much of a warning leading up to the blockage. My vet told me that there was not a significant amount of crystals in his urine either visit. This round had even less. She was at a loss because in her experience the food usually solves the problem. She also didn’t think wet food would make a difference but after reading more it seems that it makes a huge difference.
I’m looking for any advice on what I can do to try and give him the best chance at avoiding another blockage. He’s on hills c/d wet food now. I have fountains and clean his water daily. I attributed his first go round to stress from the move. He is a stress case in general and really doesn’t do well with change or any type of travel. We only moved 10 minutes away. Of course here we are again going through another move. We have started packing but haven’t actually moved anything major so I have a hard time thinking that’s what caused this but I'm unsure. For now I am giving him gabapentin to ease his anxiety for this transitional period to the new house. But this is in no way a long term solution for me because I don’t see him having a great quality of life essentially being “drugged”. I’ve read about prescribing cats that are generally anxious Fluoxetine. Has anyone had experience with this and if so do you think it would be helpful if the blockage is also contributed to stress? Thankfully we’re moving to a much quieter area and this should be long term. It’s the process of getting there that has be stressed out. Also the idea of going through this again and not being able to afford the hospital stay and having to make a tough decision. Any possible suggestions to give him the best chance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.