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Old December 23rd, 2011, 01:14 PM
eishiba eishiba is offline
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cat not going to bathroom

I have about a 6 or 7 year old male yellow tabby cat and weighs about 16-17 pounds. He has developed this habit of going to the bathroom in his litter box. Then he gets out and takes a bite of his food, maybe lays down for a few minutes, then gets up and goes to his litter box again. He will get into his squating position and stand there. Nothing happens. He then scratches at the litter to bury what isn't there. Then he walks back. Looks around, maybe he eats a little, maybe he lays down. Then goes back and does this again. And again and again and again.
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Old December 23rd, 2011, 01:30 PM
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Winston Winston is offline
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Welcome to the site! Are you saying he is trying to urinate but nothing comes out? If so I would highly reccomend a vet vist. Cats can get crystals in their urine and they can create a blockage. Does he ever seem to be in pain when he is straining to go? Regardless best bet would be a quick check up!

Good Luck and let us know what the vets say?
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Old December 23rd, 2011, 02:01 PM
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Love4himies Love4himies is offline
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Yes, this kitty needs to see a vet, it could be a life threatening blockage or a bladder infection.

Good luck and please keep us updated.
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  #4  
Old December 24th, 2011, 08:56 AM
Hazmat Hazmat is offline
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Definately sounds like Crystals. Crystals are very painful and extremely life threatening, get him to the Vet IMMEDIATELY!
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  #5  
Old January 6th, 2012, 05:09 PM
eishiba eishiba is offline
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Just an update. He has crystals but all the vet did was do a urine sample. Gave me some oral antibotics to give him and said "We can't cure it but this should help." The best piece of advice they gave was get him off meow mix and on science diet. I looked online and alot of places talk about using herbs as natural to help.
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Old January 6th, 2012, 07:17 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eishiba View Post
Just an update. He has crystals but all the vet did was do a urine sample. Gave me some oral antibotics to give him and said "We can't cure it but this should help."


Can you get the results of the urinalysis from the vet? I'm curious to know what the urine ph was.

Quote:
Originally Posted by eishiba View Post
The best piece of advice they gave was get him off meow mix and on science diet.
Terrible advice. The best thing you could do is get him off the Meow Mix (which is indeed a very poor quality diet), and switch him over to all wet food (preferably with good quality meat sources and little to no grains, such as Wellness). Science Diet is no better than Meow Mix and costs a lot more - but of course the vet is going to recommend it because they sell the crap, plus all of their university education was provided by Hill's .

Read this link to find out more than you ever wanted to know about how diet relates to urinary tract issues in cats: http://www.catinfo.org/?link=urinarytracthealth


Quote:
Originally Posted by eishiba View Post
I looked online and alot of places talk about using herbs as natural to help.
Switching to wet food should be at the top of your list, but there are some things you can do in conjunction with that if necessary (although honestly, the vast majority of cases are cured by wet food and anything else would likely be unnecessary). A nutraceutical that helps occasionally is glucosamine (Cosequin for instance). It strengthens the lining of the bladder so that crystals are less likely to irritate it. Marshmallow root powder is also soothing to the mucus membranes of the urinary tract. And since struvite crystals tend to form in alkaline urine, if the diet change isn't enough to get rid of them you can consider adding an acidifier to your cat's food (but only if you also monitor his urine ph at home since over-acidification can result in calcium oxalate crystals, and they are much harder to get rid of).

Good luck!
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Old January 24th, 2012, 11:54 AM
SnuggleBunny SnuggleBunny is offline
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Thank goodness I have only had to deal with urine crystals once before, probably 25 years ago but I had an old farm vet, who didn't like alot of medicines, surgeries etc unless they were life threathening. I do believe he gave me the best advice that worked. I had a male that was neutered at 3 months, (not recommended until a year back then). He had constant crystals & we seen so many vets it was pathetic, until I found this old farm vet one Saturday when me was so sick. He told me to forget the fancy expensive foods & get any food that had no ash content in it or as little ash as possible. The only brand I could find at the time was a semi-moist brand called Happy Cat. He ate about half of his diet this semi-moist food & about half boiled chicken, ground beef,or home made food. The thing that makes me feel his suggestion of, "no ash" worked was the cat would be fine on his normal diet, but If I could not find Happy Cat & got another brand with ash in it, he was sick again 5 days later or so every time. Their is no Happy Cat brand here anymore, it has been long gone for years, but you might read your labels & find another one now with little or no ash & try it. Please don't slam me for recommeding a grocery store, cheaper brand of food, I know they are bad, but hey when all else failed it worked. Spunky lived 17 years on Happy Cat & boiled assorted meats & eggs & I think was healthy otherwise.
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Old January 24th, 2012, 12:34 PM
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Dog Dancer Dog Dancer is offline
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Sugarcatmom, I so agree with you. I actually had an argument with the vet tech a couple months ago who was trying to sell a bag of their dry crap to a new cat owner who knew nothing about food. THe vet tech told her the dry was good for their teeth. I told her she should go wet. The tech told her "listen to one who's sitting behind the desk". I said, well if you want clean teeth crystals go dry! The one behind the desk has not taken any nutritional training but they do get a cut from the food she's trying to sell you. The lady put the food back on the counter and left without it. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to send her this way - I was looking for her ever since.
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