Help My Cat Hates Me!

[FrankNTessa]

Doesn't he where it well 

[clarenmax]

Love than piccy hun with Frankie and his wiggly waggler 

[FrankNTessa]

Aw you guys are the best. Thanks for all the support and advice 

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[Gillian Harvey]

Taz is idiopathic pathetic,

LOL! 

[Millys Mum]

Yep complicated for sure, they still dont know that much about it, so it often gets labelled idiopathic.
Taz is idiopathic pathetic, i wish i knew what set him off, he was born here so i know all his history 

[FrankNTessa]

Thanks for the thread link. The vets said it was complicated and they weren't wrong!  Just a bit of a shock I wish Frank would just eat the wet stuff Doh! I'll ask the vets for advice before trying anything suggested.

[Millys Mum]

I am worried that the dry S/O food he's on is too salty - Why would any vet recommend a high salt diet to a cat that's not getting enough water in his food? I don't get it? 

The salt is put in the dry food to increase their water intake as the result of all the studies shows that water turnover is the most important factor in treating the problem   
I find the idea of dry urinary food plain crazy 

http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php/topic,11904.0.html

If you want to try the methigel in cheese then check with your vet as it should be used under their guidance 

[FrankNTessa]

That's a good point. Keep medicine separate from their fave food. Will keep trying his chicken. 

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[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Yes I had a cat who went through every food on the shelf and as soon as she liked one and I had a stock in she would go off it.............I believe Marks has had same probs with Clapton.

Yes she went back to some but the one thing ceratin to put her off was to try putting medicines in it and she went off her favourite chicken freshly cooked for months after i sprinkled medicine on it!

[FrankNTessa]

This is really good to hear as it sounds like you've tried everything I have. Frank's been given every flavor of the Royal Canin Urinary S/O wet food and I've tried every combination of mixing with water, mixing with the dry S/O bics, mixing with chicken (Not his fave anymore and maybe that's why?). He wouldn't even touch the chicken flavor S/O which is meant to be a popular one with cats. We did this over two weeks and were strict not to give in and give him the food he likes (James Wellbeloved Bics). Ever sine we've had Frank he's never liked any wet food we've offered him.

I'm gunna try the raw diet - The cheese idea too sounds good - And Clare suggested catching rain water and trying that.

I am worried that the dry S/O food he's on is too salty - Why would any vet recommend a high salt diet to a cat that's not getting enough water in his food? I don't get it? We do have a very good vet though and I trust they are doing their best. They do support Cats Protection too.   

[Kittybabe (Ruth)]

Glad to know he's being conned into the water treatment  Lexy is the same Tessa.  She's on a mixture of a diet, a Royal Canin Urinary SO. She has a small amount of dry. I measure it with a little glass dessert dish I got from a Gu pudding     About half of that only for the whole day. I found it difficult to move her solely to wet only as she really loves her biscuits.  So she gets a mostly wet diet. She won't touch the beef flavour of the Urinary SO pouches, so its just chicken.

I water it down a little bit, not by much, but as she's a grazer, she gets half a pouch in the morning and another half in the evening.  Plenty of water around the house. I can't give her more right now as madam has a paunch to lose.

I don't give her these daily, maybe once a week if that, because they are packages for the retail market and I am not sure the salt content is that great, but its very liquid and Lexy literally slobbers it up, and that's Sheba domes, chicken flavour. I tend to stay away from any fish flavours since that's what we believe caused her stones before.   

The supermarkets sell high meat content complimentary foods like feline fayre, waitrose and sainsburys. Most make a chicken or tuna flavour. Salmon is high in magnesium and a big contributor to stone formation so if you can avoid that it's a big help.

Gillian I never thought of a raw diet to help avoid this, so I might think about this for Lexy too.

[FrankNTessa]

Things I've been doing since the first post. Not force feeding him water!! I'm still on strike where that's concerned. Got Frank a new water fountain which we've had a week today. Frank's still giving it a wide birth bless. He's drinking more water since we changed the Britta filter. Putting different types of water bowls in different places.

Next I'll give some of your suggestions a go. I had no idea that his dry urinary food was high in salt so no wonder his PH is worse. Thank goodness for his cyst aid   

[FrankNTessa]

X-Ray - Yes Frank did have an X-Ray on his bladder and there are no stones so hooray for that.

Urinary diet food - Our vets prescribed every urinary diet on the market and if I remember correctly it was called Urinary SO and SD. I will check at the vets, as I've not ruled out giving it another try. We tried every flavour and every texture. Mixed it with some of the dry food tried adding a small amount of luke warm water. I tried putting it on my hands because he hasn't so many teeth it's hard to pick up.

Cheese Paste!! Where do I get that? Is it a cat version or just one from the cheese section? I want to give that a go as Frank loves cheese and hasn't gone off that yet.
 
Chicken water - I did try the poaching a chicken breast thing as Frank use to love his chicken and it was his fave but he seems to have gone right off it at the mo and I can't seem to get him to eat it or drink the poaching juice. I'll not give up on that idea as he may suddenly love it again. Have any of you experienced your cats going off their fave things and have they gone back to them later?

Tuna water - Frank's very fickle with tuna but I'll deffo give that a try too as you never know...

Thank you all for the fab advice, I'm gunna give everything I've not tried a go and I think it's always worth giving everything another go as it could be that he wasn't in the right mood before.

"You can lead a Camel to water but you can't make him drink"

[Desley (booktigger)]

Has your vet suggested anything like Cystaid or Cystease? Cystaid worked wonders for one of my fosters, and I know one of my friends uses it for her female. Milk is a food rather than a drink, so wont help that much with his fluid intake. Have you tried things like the water from cooked chicken, or fish? Although probably better with chicken than fish, as fish should be avoided for cats with UTI issues.

[berties mum]

You could mix anything up with cheese paste and Bertie would eat it ... it HAS to be the one with the mouse on the tube though 

[Millys Mum]

Bertie was poorly with cystitis and struvite crystals just over a year ago, and no amount of wet food and water brought his pH levels down.  He is now on a marvellous product called Methigel, which tastes fishy so he sometimes eats it voluntarily, or else has it mixed up with cheese paste 

Ah ha, a cunning plan 

[berties mum]

Bertie was poorly with cystitis and struvite crystals just over a year ago, and no amount of wet food and water brought his pH levels down.  He is now on a marvellous product called Methigel, which tastes fishy so he sometimes eats it voluntarily, or else has it mixed up with cheese paste 

[Millys Mum]

http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php/topic,11904.0.html a recent thread on the urinary theme. 

You can get supplements to acidify the urine so he could have normal food...
He will increase his water intake on the urinary diet because of the high salt %.


When clare posted before about frank i suggested an xray incase he has stones in there, did he have one in the end? Cant remember 

Have you tried the cheaper pouch brands, kite kat, tescos, sainsburys etc?

[Gillian Harvey]

Didnt he eat wet food at all before? I know this is prob a daft question but what wet foods have you tried?

Yes, I'd be interested to know what wet foods you've tried too - and have you tried a raw diet? Raw diet is what helped my Ben when he had recurrent cystitis which ultimately resulted in a blockage requiring emergency treatment. He'd been eating only dry, and I was offered a dry prescripton diet, which seems ridiculous for a cat with urinary issues, plus he ate the wet prescription for about a week! I did a lot of research and decided on the raw diet, and we've had no problems since (around 4 yrs now). He sometimes has the high meat content foods like Natures menu and Bozita, but its mainly raw. Worth a try?

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

How old is Frank?

Didnt he eat wet food at all before? I know this is prob a daft question but what wet foods have you tried?

[clarenmax]

He doesn't hate you hun    He just doens't understand that you're doing all this to help him 

Is he still drinking his milky?

I think his Auntie Clare needs to come round soon and give you both some cuddles 

[Maddiesmum]

When Dragan needed fluids I used to squeeze the gravy out of an "in gravy" pouch and give him that.  He seemed to enjoy it.  Good luck

[FrankNTessa]

Frank has Cystitis and it’s been bad since December 2007. After a frantic trip to the emergency vets on New Years Day he’s stable but not out of the woods yet. A resent trip to the vets proved that his HP levels in his wee are higher than they were at the beginning of January. Under the vets instructions we have tried every wet food and combination possible but he hates it and after a two week stint of gritted teeth and nothing but wet food I put my hands up and we gave him the dry food prescribed by the vets. We have no choice but to try getting water into him another way to dilute his wee and bring his PH levels down. The vets gave us a 5ml and 10ml syringe and under their instruction we braved the task of syringing 50ml of water a day, 25ml in the morning and at night, and it’s not been an easy task. “My Cat hates me and it’s getting worse” At this point and on the verge of complete insanity I want on strike and no more stress. We have changed the water filter in our Britta jug and placed extra water bowls over the flat and also got him a deluxe water fountain which he hasn’t touched yet but it’s only been three days. He likes the new water now the filter has been changed and we have noticed he’s been drinking more.

But it’s still not enough. What else can we do?