Thread: Poor Monty... peeing probs / cystitis

For some days I’d noticed our Monty making more frequent toilet visits than usual. As he didn’t act the least bit unwell I initially dismissed it as insignificant. But this morning I didn’t trust it any longer, especially when I saw he only produced a few drops which were an orange-y color!
So I immediately called the vet. She told us not to bring him in at once, but first keep him for an hour inside a locked carrier with no blanket. That way, he should have a full bladder and with any luck would even pee inside the carrier so she'd have a sample. No such luck though. Poor little guy just sat there patiently, big golden eyes staring through the mesh door at little Minnie who kept him company on the other side.
When we finally arrived at the vet’s and she examined him, she could feel no full bladder. And no obstruction either, thankfully! She suspected cystitis and we took our little fellow home together with a bag full of pills and potions: antibiotics, something to relax his bladder, and a painkiller fluid. We also got a bag of plastic grains to put in his litter tray, so we can collect a pee sample for bringing in early next week.

Luckily hubby is quite adept at popping pills (into the cats’ mouths I mean), and with the aid of some generous dollops of butter he got the first batch of medicine inside El Monto who was being a very good and brave boy about it all. After that we treated him to ‘Swill’ (a small can of Gourmet mixed with water for extra fluid). Tomorrow I’ll cook some fish in lots of water and give it a whizz in the Magimix to make Fish Swill for him.
The vet said he’ll need lots of fluid for the time being. Of course we all too gladly indulge him… but it’s a drag trying to keep the girls from stealing Monty’s share of the Swill! We hate feeding them separately – the one time we ever tried it they went all Bolshie… it was like Mutiny on the Bounty.

An interesting thing though… I have been reading up on the web about cystitis in cats and found out cats with cystitis often don’t act as if they are ill! So now I’ve learned to take any unusual toilet behaviour very seriously.

And a second thing I’ve learned: I am going to abandon the ‘mostly dry food’ rule. Especially now that all three our Coonies are approaching adulthood, and I was planning to stop feeding kitten kibble soon anyway. Dry food may be good because MCs are supposed to be prone to gum disease, but I understand it also raises the risk of bladder problems. So I am going to try to work out a diet which (a) is 50:50 dry:wet, (b) gives them enough to chew on, (c) agrees with their tummies, and of course (d) they like the taste of.
Suggestions are welcome.