Question:
Our 9-year-old spayed female cat had a urinary-tract infection recently, for which she received an injection of antibiotics. She lost a couple of pounds, but her appetite seems better. Her blood tests showed everything else was OK -- no feline AIDS or leukemia. She was a kitten from a feral cat and has always been skittish. She bites if confronted or even petted unless she instigates it. Around the same time of the urinary-tract infection, her back toward the tail started to spasm. Her eyes get large, and she runs and hides, remaining hidden for hours. We have not had her X-rayed or cat-scanned yet because she would have to be sedated.
We use Fresh Step clumping litter. The vet said to try to give her vitamins and fish oil. When we put the crushed vitamin pill in her food, she won't eat the food. She eats a variety of mostly wet canned food and freshly baked chicken, sauteed shrimp, cut-up steak, canned tuna water with a small amount of tuna and other people food. If we aren't looking, she will lick bacon and eat creamed, chipped-beef gravy (very salty). We never see her drink any water, so we started giving her a small amount of 1- or 2-percent milk after the urinary-tract infection. What else can we do?
J.K. & D.L., Fairfax, Va Apr 04, 2011
Answer:
Your experience confirms the connections between temperament, stress susceptibility and feline cystitis. Check www.feline-nutrition.org for more insights and possibly transitioning onto a raw-food diet.
The bottom line is to avoid stress (veterinary visits, vaccinations, etc.) as long as she seems well. Encourage plenty of water drinking, like seasoned, salt-free beef or chicken bouillon flavor or a 1/2 teaspoon of mackerel in 1 cup of filtered (not tap) water. Even having your cat lick from a dropper or pipette of diluted skim milk would be a good preventive of further episodes. Also, do not used scented cat litter, because volatile chemical fragrances can make some cats ill.
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