A trip to the vet

Rene was straining and screaming to go to the bathroom today so I made an appointment for her. The vet took her in right away. Thank goodness it was only an urinary tract infection. I was fearing for the worst thinking it might have been kidney stones. She got 2 shots of pain killer and antibiotics.

The vet said it was rare for female cats to get kidney stones. Because Rene eats strictly dry food, she can get urinary issues easily. So he advised her eating purely canned foods and that the foods should be either chicken or turkey, no fish. Fish can induce stomach issues and allergies in cats that are not used to them.

The problem is, Rene doesn't like canned foods. Does anyone know of a good method to get her to eat purely canned foods? She is 18 pounds and maybe getting her to eat just the canned foods might help her with the weight issues as well. If she's fed twice a day instead of having dry food available to her all day long might do the trick. The persons in charge of her do not understand the term portion control.

Another issue is that Rene doesn't like to drink water. Maybe I should buy her a drinking water fountain.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

just offer her wet - or mix her dry with wet food gradually decreasing the dry. Start out with tiny miniscule amounts of wet and keep increasing.
My current foster, also overweight, won't eat anything other than dry and on a male it's also not a good thing but luckily he drinks a lot of water.
I know a lot of people have luck with the water fountains

 

She won't eat the wet food by itself. Thanks for the tip Mary! We'll have them mix the wet with the dry food until she's used to wet food. I'll buy her a water fountain today and see if she'll drink more water from it.

 

I have that issue with all of mine.... they normally only eat dry...but had some bladder issues with my males and with my little girl....so I had to introduce wet... I slowly added wet into some dry.. now they get wet in the morning and the dry is free for them to eat.. But I did get a fountain and they LOVE it!!! especially Chopper who had the major constipation issue and had to get an enema!! Harley drinks lots and Zoe loves the fountain..it's cold because it's always moving and they love drinking out of the faucet anyways so it was a good transition..
Good luck

 

So glad to know that slow intro of wet into dry works! Rene used to drink out of the faucet too. Maybe the water fountain will take care of some of Rene's issues. HDrydr, thanks for sharing your story! Your poor little kitties went through a lot! :shock:

 

Thanks Vene.. They have I still wonder about Chopper he is such a skinny cat..I think it's because he's got some Siamese in him? Very dainty. but he does strain in the litterbox and he still has hard poop but offering them the wet food I add more water into the food espec Chopper's dish.. He drinks lots of water as I'm always adding water to the fountain...
I just know that I love the dry as it keeps their teeth good..... I now have to brush their teeth as the vet said the have some gum issues as they don't crunch on enough hard stuff.... double edged sword it is I say....

 

Chopper is such a cutie pie! Rene can use some of Choppers skinny genes. :mrgreen: How do you brush their teeth? Mine will not hold still for me. If it was done when they were kittens, it would've been a breeze to brush their teeth.

As for the gum issues, it's probably genetic. Pumpkin and Monty had lots of dental issues but Milo didn't need a cleaning until he was much older. And Rene has perfect teeth no matter what she ate.

Rene is eating canned foods without any problems. She plays with her new water fountain but doesn't drink from it. :roll: At least she's drinking normal amounts of water again from her water bowl. I'm very thankful that she's happy and healthy again (except for her weight issue).

 

Chopper is my little love sponge I call him ... Zoe is super sweet Independent little gal... Harley is coming around he actually sleeps next to me now and will come up and sleep next to me on the couch for short times...
Zoe being the Russian Blue she's only over a year and the vet said she had some gingivitis.. and that she would need regular teeth cleanings... ugg so I went to the pet store and got the cat toothbrush they are small headed they don't like the paste so I don't use it on them... they are getting better with it... I was doing it every day so they got "used" to it...May have to roll em up in a towel...I've had to do that with Chopper.. now I do it everyother day they don't like it but all of their gums look a ton better!!! no redness!!! Zoe does much better than the boys... upside down on my lap holding feet I just brush the back side ones on the outside near cheek.. inside seems not to be an issue. Couple quick swipes on top and bottom on both sides done. Chopper does fine on right side doesn't like the left being done.. Harley is well Harley I think he doesn't like the being held down part more than anything.
Buster loves his being done!!! I have the big dog toothbrush and use the paste on him :mrgreen:

I'm glad Rene is doing better!!! Yea the kids played in the fountain for a bit as well still kinda do at times but they really like it now... Chopper rarely drinks out of the bowls of water.. Harley only drinks out of Buster's water dish and Zoe either does the fountain or Busters dish...

 

Hope she's better soon! Is she back living at home with you?

 

Thanks Halaroo! Rene is back to her old self and seems bright eyed and bushy tailed again. And no, she isn't back home. She's still with my in-laws. She tore Monty and Milo apart after Pumpkin passed away and we fear she will continue to hurt Milo should she return home. Milo enjoys being the only baby of the house and so does Rene. Unfortunately, I have no control over how much they feed her as they have a tendency to give her snacks all day long. :shock:

I don't think Milo is sweet like your little ones HDrydr! Last time I took Milo to the vet he scratched me when I put him into the pet carrier. Rolling him up like a burrito to brush his teeth is out of the question, lol. I wish he had Buster's temperament. :mrgreen:

 

That's good that Rene is back to her old self.

If I tried to brush my kitties teeth, I probably wouldn't have any arms left. They would be a shredded mess. :mrgreen: