How I Learned Dry Food Was Killing My Cat
Everything I’ve learned about Feline Urinary Tract Disease
My cat, Ziggy, is two years old and until recently, was relatively healthy. He passed his annual check-up with flying colors in September. But come November, I rushed him to the emergency vet because of a tragically common and potentially deadly condition: a urinary tract blockage.
After the following three days he spent at the emergency vet stabilizing, hours of poring over articles about feline urinary health, and consulting with my family vet, I have learned a lot about what happened to Ziggy and how I can prevent it happening again.
A variety of urinary issues in cats fall under an umbrella diagnosis of Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD). Diseases deemed FLUTD range from UTIs to bladder stones to plain old inflammation of the urinary tract. Urinalysis testing to see which specific urinary tract disease is affecting your cat is key to an appropriately tailored treatment. In Ziggy’s case, the pH of his urine grew too alkaline (likely due to his food or just his unique physiology), and caused crystals to form in his bladder. These crystals eventually grew numerous enough to block his urethra entirely, which is life-threatening.
Learning the ins and outs of FLUTD and how to manage it was a nerve-wracking trial by fire for me, and the volume of information I sorted through was often overwhelming. I have distilled the knowledge that helped Ziggy and me recover from this incident into some key points.
Feeding only dry food makes cats prone to urinary issues
This was the most shocking revelation for me, as Ziggy had been eating a high-end dry food exclusively since he was a kitten with no problems. But ultimately, I was dehydrating Ziggy, which made his urine more concentrated and less likely to be able to flush out the crystals that caused his blockage. Our domestic kitties’ wild ancestors consumed most of their necessary water through eating meat. Mimicking that style of diet through feeding wet or even raw food will help ensure that your cat is well-hydrated enough to keep urinary problems at bay. I mention this first because I have learned that ensuring your cat is fed a healthy, species-appropriate diet is the most important preventative measure against FLUTD. Ziggy was prescribed a special wet food that keeps the pH of his urine acidic, which prevents harmful crystals from forming.
Of course, it’s also important to make sure the water you’re giving your cat is appropriate as well. That means no unfiltered tap water, especially if you live in an area with hard water, like we do. Encouraging your cat to drink more water by introducing a water fountain, multiple sources of water, and adding a bit of extra water to their food are all good ways to ensure they are hydrated and their urine is dilute.
Go to the vet as soon as you sense a problem, especially if your cat is male
When I noticed something was off with Ziggy’s litter box habits, it was already too late to reverse the cause of his oncoming blockage. But I saw that he was straining to urinate in the litter box, and sometimes trying to go in other places, like on the bed, in the bathtub, or to my boyfriend’s chagrin, in the houseplants. Cats are generally conscientious about doing their business, and when they are doing so in places they should not, you should see it as a cry for help.
This is especially true if your cat is a male, as the vast majority of urinary issues appear in male cats. This is simply a matter of anatomy; the urethra of male cats is much longer and narrower than that of females, making them more susceptible to a blockage. If you notice anything off about where and how your cat is eliminating, call your vet right away.
Question everything, even if you trust your vet
Asking a lot of questions at my cat’s numerous vet appointments throughout this process helped me get a more objective view of the situation. But I still double-checked and cross-referenced everything I was told at the emergency vet and his regular vet to arrive at a treatment plan I was comfortable with.
For example, at our second visit to the emergency vet, I was warned that if Ziggy continued to have urinary problems, I may have to consider having a perineal urethrostomy (PU) performed. This, they told me less than tactfully, is a surgery in which the penis is removed to allow for a larger urethral opening to prevent further blockages. Of course I was willing to do this to save Ziggy’s life, but I thought it a bit strange for the vet to suggest such an invasive surgery so early on in his recovery process.
After a call to our regular vet and some more poking around on TheCatSite.com (which is a great resource for cat advice, by the way), I came away feeling that I should push back on the surgery if it was offered again, and ride out the medications and lifestyle changes we were introducing to see if we could control his condition on our own. All this to say, you are your pet’s best advocate, and just because you get a suggestion from one source, that doesn’t mean you should blindly follow it without doing your own legwork first.
As a parting message, I don’t want this story to scare or shame anyone into thinking they’re a bad cat parent for feeding dry food to their cat. The cat I grew up with ate kibble his entire life, and never had urinary issues until his 18th and final year with us.
Some cats are more prone to these frustrating conditions than others, but as a life-long cat owner dealing with FLUTD for the first time, I want to pass my learnings on to others who may be in the same boat, or those who were oblivious as I was to the possibility of my cat developing a urinary disease.
I’m happy to say that one month post-blockage, Ziggy’s condition has been improving and he is almost back to normal. He only drinks bottled water now, is eating a combination of prescription and other high-quality wet foods, and takes a glucosamine supplement for lingering bladder inflammation. He’s also being spoiled now more than ever, and I have learned more about cat pee in the past three months than I ever thought I would.
If you want to learn more about FLUTD or peruse some of the resources that helped me, I suggest TheCatSite forums, r/AskVet, and the aptly-named Feline Lower Urinary Tract group on Facebook. The latter is a closed group, but many of the members are hardened veterans of feline urinary issues and the help I gained from joining has proved invaluable.
On behalf of Ziggy and myself, hug your kitties close and keep them healthy!
