This is my cat Rodeo. He's a 6 year old tabby who came into my life with his sister, when they were kittens living in the yard of my parents' forest cabin. Rodeo is the perfect name for him as he is very curious, industrious, and entertaining. He's a great pal, a bit of a mama's boy, always wanting to be right where I am.
About a month ago I woke up to a cat fight in my bathroom. After 15 minutes, when it didn't stop, I stumbled out of bed to find Rodeo's sister howling at him while he hyperventilated, drooled, and vomited blood. I was terrified, as he had never been sick with anything and he was clearly in tremendous pain.
We got into the vet, who poked and prodded and checked (and petted and gave Greenie treats), and finally diagnosed him with feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD). He had crystals in his urine, akin to kidney stones in humans, that were making it very painful for him to urinate.
FLUTD, it turns out, is a very common ailment in male cats as they approach Rodeo's age, and there is a very simple solution. Many commercial foods promote the development of the struvite crystals that were causing him so much pain. A diet change lowers the urine pH and solves the problem. Well, it's a simple solution on the human side of the equation.
Rodeo's vet prescribed a canned food called S/D to help dissolve the crystals, and another one called C/D for maintenance thereafter. And Rodeo absolutely hates the food. He has become obsessed with the kitchen, running in with me whenever he sees me headed in that direction. A few days ago he actually jumped INTO the refrigerator and sniffed around, then turned and looked at me like,"This is the best you can do?" And then he jumped down and slunk away with an indignant posture.
I've been killing myself trying to think of things to feed him so that he doesn't lose weight and create another problem. He's been getting half a trout every night. Trout used to be his treat, he'd stalk me all day when he saw me pull one out of the freezer. But now, it's just that thing he gets when all he wants is the good old dry food.
Earlier this week I walked into the bathroom where the old dry food bowl used to be, and found Rodeo lying down next to the toilet, head between his paws, wistfully gazing at the old dish. Every single time I head in there, he comes in and stares at the dish, as if all it's going to take to make things go back to normal, is to stare long enough at the place where the food used to be.
Rodeo has taught me a lot about food issues. Do they sound familiar?
1. Once you can't have what you want, you want it even more.
2. Once you have something that used to be a treat, every day, it kind of loses its thrill.
3. Some things just can't be done, no matter how healthy they might be.
I've been working with the vet on some compromises. Do they sound familiar?
1. We are going to try a dry food with a similar healthy formula, so that the part of the food that is comfortable to Rodeo, he gets to keep, and the part that the doctor wants to provide, is less noticeable.
2. We are going to mix the new food in with the old and gradually change over, so that the change is not as drastic.
3. We are going to let him have a handful of his favorite stuff in its pure form a couple of times a week.
We don't want perfection, we just want a general trend toward a different diet composition. Just enough to shift the biochemistry. Not so extreme to turn him into Super Cat. We just want him to have an improved quality of life. To be able to pee. And to hopefully never experience that pain again.
Rodeo is gradually accepting the changes, and gradually forgetting the old food bowl. It's the part where the change is occurring that is the hardest. On the other side of the change, life is not so bad.
If that part doesn't sound familiar, just keep at it. Someday you'll be right there with Rodeo.