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Hi Judith,

This is a fairly common problem and I can understand your concern. Blocked bladders in cats are a serious problem and prevention using dietary management is definitely better than cure.

Blocked bladders occur reasonably often in cats and are most common in male, neutered, over-weight animals. They are usually caused by a build-up of cystalised sand or stones in the bladder which block the narrow tube which runs to the penis tip. We don´t know why some cats suffer from this problem, it is probably a combination of genetics, diet and lifestyle. The treatment involves unblocking the bladder when it happens, flushing out the crystals and then starting the cat on a special diet to prevent them reforming. It is also important to encourage them to drink as much as possible, so there is good urine flow, which again helps with the flushing out.

Getting a cat to eat a new diet is always difficult, especially if they were first introduced to it while they were poorly (so you are exactly right in your assumption that he may associate this food with the vets and being poorly). Ideally you would introduce it gradually but in circumstances like this, the sooner the cat starts eating it the better. Firsly, I would suggest chatting to your vet about trying different cystitis diets, there are several on the market and he may prefer one brand over another. Also, because the fluid intake is so important, especially in the early stages of this problem, the wet preparations are better and often more palatable to the cat. In some ways the receptionist is right in that the Felix diet is not ideal and certainly he should come off it in the long term but you can mix it in with his new diet to help him accept it for the first few days. Another very important aspect of controlling cystitis is ensuring the cat drinks as much as possible, this is not always easy as cats have evolved to live in very dry climates and don´t need very much water. Good tricks include; leaving a tap dripping or investing in a pet fountain; adding water to the dry biscuits (which can encourage the cat to eat them as well, especially if you use warmed water as this will release the smell of the food); having a water bowl in every room of the house and also flavouring it with the spring water from tuna tins.

If he hasn´t relapsed by now then that is a good sign but it is important he starts to eat this food and I am sure your vet will be wanting to test his urine for crystals again soon. Do persevere, keep asking your vet and their nurses for advice and you will get there in the end!

Cat

my cat had bladder problems but his were down to the onset of FLUTD and we were advised we simply needed to get more water in to him to lessen the acidity of his urine..i assume this is different to what your cat has as if not, i can´t see that eating dry food will help - although i would assume that the RC diet has special things in as its a vet prescription diet. i wonder whether adding a little water to the wet food / dry food mix you are giving him might help? you could put it all in a bowl, add some water and mush it all up and see what he makes of it? i would seek the vets advice first though as maybe this would do damage to the ingredients in the dry food somehow? i guess i´m quite lucky as my cat is such a pig we can add tons of water to his food and he´ll still eat it but it means he has no more urinary problems.