They are such sweethearts! They are very affectionate, playful and love to greet people at the door when visitors come. They are completely black from the tips of their noses to their claws. Most people can't differentiate them but as their surrogate parents, we can. Onyx is very vocal and cuddly while Zeo is quiet and nervous. As soon as we got them at 6 weeks old, immediately Onyx became daddy's boy:
and Zeo became mama's boy:
So naturally, when we noticed (thank the gods!) that he was walking around the apartment straining all the time, we did not hesitate to call the vet as soon as they opened the next morning. Luckily, they always keep a little window open for emergencies such as this. Turns out, he had crystals blocking his urethra, a common ailment in male cats. We were given 3 choices which would all cost us dearly in either money or heartache: the first was to put him on a catheter right away, give him an an i.v. and hospitalization for 2 to 3 days; the second was to put him on pain medication and anti-inflammatory medication and send him home in the hopes that that was all he needed to pass the crystals or 3-- and one I would never consider-- to put him down. Now anyone who knows me and my husband know that we are animal people. Our 2 baby boys are our children. Who could ever think of putting down their child because they have tonsillitis or another such operatable problem? So naturally, we chose option number one. Yes, it was expensive to say the least. Like most unfortunate events, it didn't happen at a very good time either for us during the summer since my birthday was coming up on the Thursday-- and to my surprise!-- Richard had planned a surprise dinner party with many of my most cherished friends on Friday night as well as one of our famous 'couch parties' with said friends on Saturday night. Wow! I was beyond touched! Anyway, I'll get back to that a little later.
But luckily, I am off work and Richard had a week vacation which made it easier to take care of our sick little one. Zeo stayed in the hospital from Tuesday afternoon to Friday afternoon. Poor baby. He had a catheter, head cone and iv on all that time. The techs told us that he was a charm to work with. It is true. Our babies are pretty well brought up! *toots own horn* He was ready to be picked up Friday afternoon. Like us, he was so happy to be coming home. He was giving us his special nose kisses and purring as soon as the teach brought him to us. He had 2 pills to take 2 times a day and a liquid. He is now down to 2 pills a day for another week or so. The medications he is on are Clavaseptin, Metacam and Phenoxybenzamine. I am happy to report that he is doing much better now. He is using his litter box appropriately and is no longer straining.
It was an eventful week and weekend all around. We had to literally constantly follow him around the apartment because his urethra was leaking because of the inflammation and irritation. This is a lot of work. Since he had had a few accidents, we wanted to keep him our of the bedroom. Therefore, we had to also keep Onyx, his brother, out of there too or Zeo would follow and whine to be with him. Richard and I had to take turns watching him while we went to the bathroom or took our showers. If we had to leave the house, we would put them both in our spacious bathroom where they have there litter box, food and water, their cat beds and a little night-light. We did this for a good 6 months when we first adopted them, when we went to work. Being that they were 6 weeks when we got them, they needed to be in a safe, kitty-proof place when were weren't home. Since Richard works down the street, he would come home at lunch and let them out which means they were in there for 2 four-hour intervals. Anyway, since they grew up with this, they were quite comfortable being put to bed together in the bathroom. Another reason the bathroom is the perfect place--besides the fact that their litter box is permanently there-- it is a tile floor. Since Zeo was 'leaking' we were able to clean up in the morning with a mop. Since he hasn't had any accidents today, we will try to leave them loose for bed tonight. I am glad his medication seems to be finally doing it's job. We were worried Saturday morning that he may still have a problem so we took him back to the vet. Like his mom, Zeo has a bit of an anxiety problem. We have seen this during his 2 years. He is a nervous cat and jumps at the slightest sounds. Being the intelligent cat that he is, he knew he was not well and therefore that started the snow-ball effect of him straining, licking etc. So the vet prescribed a small dose of some sort of valium which we picked up at our local pharmacy. Oh boy! What a trip! The recommended dose was half a pill which we gave him Saturday night and Sunday morning. Well, Zeo looked completely drunk. He was waddling onto the bed with us and sticking his nose in our faces and letting his body fall on us all while purring wildly. His eyes were crossed and he was having trouble jumping up on the couch. He was obviously feeling good. But again, being a nervous cat, it seemed to not calm him but make him restless. He was having a hard time keeping still and sleeping. Poor thing was trying so hard to keep awake with us that his inner eye-lids were half over his eyes. Needless to say, we have discontinued this relaxant for now and he seems to be finally doing better. Phew!
Zeo and Onyx are also, now both on a prescription urinary health diet by Medical. We had our late cat Smudge on this brand for bowel health for a few years and it worked well. We are now going to be more strict with their feeding times and portions. They get fed at 7:00 am and 7:00pm, 1/4 cup of hard food and 1/4 cup of wet food each. I am glad this is working out well so far. Zeo needed to lose a couple of ounces anyway as he is an emotional eater. I had been recommended by a very good friend of mine who was a vet tech that all male cats need to be on a wet diet. I had changed their diets to include a portion of wet food a couple months before this event but the crystals must have already been forming. For those interested, the food is called "Urinary So" by Medical. You can only buy it at the vet's. It is a food specially designed for cats with feline lower urinary tract disease and cats with crystals in the urine and idiopathic cystitis. I don't know if you can just buy it without the vet's recommendation though. There are very good over-the-counter brands which you can buy at pet stores that are for urinary tract health as well.
Richard and I have always been extremely conscious of pet-food quality and always gravitated to holistic brands that have protein as their main ingredient rather than grains and rice which are used as fillers--- not for your pet's health. Also, you must watch the ash content. Ash can cause many problems in your feline companion as well as urinary infections. When Zeo and Onyx were kittens we had them on Medical's Development formula. We then switched to Dental and I wanted to find something more natural. Here is just one of many sites that gives good information about pet food: http://www.acreaturecomfort.com/cathealth.htm
and one to help you choose the best cat food:
http://www.a-house-full-of-cats.com/bestcatfood.html
In the past we have had them on Oven Baked Tradition--my favourite because it is natural and grain-free. It also kept them full much more than other brands. The only downfall was that I could only get at the Sandy Hill Pet Food Coop, so we opted on putting them on Holistic Blend which I would still use, in wet form, if Zeo had not been diagnosed with a problem we now need to prevent.
We know you are not supposed to change your pet's food often but we were forced to make concessions since our local pet store closed. Ugh. I am happy that now we can go somewhere to get their food; know they will have some in stock and it is in our local town. There is nothing more frustrating than realizing they are very nearly close to being out of food and that you have to drive all the way into town to get some. We live half and hour from the city so it is not always convenient and cost-effective to have to drive all the way up for one item. We had been trying to find a brand with a formula we could live and now we can.
I hope you have found this post informative.
There is nothing we wouldn't do for our feline children! ;)
For more information on urinary tracts disease:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_feline_lower_urinary_tract_dis.html
Veterinary Exlusive Urinary So:
http://www.medi-cal.ca/diets/diets.php?diet=38
Some personally recommended grain-free, no by product cat-food:
http://www.holisticblend.com/
http://www.ovenbakedtradition.com/en/nourriture-chats.html
***Comment From Sophie B (vet tech):
Wet food is more important for male neutered cats because they don't spray like intact cats, the crystals don't get eliminated. Wet food helps by adding more water to the diet.
Medi-Cal Dental is a great diet because it helps your animal's teeth however it is high in fat compared to the other food. I would recommend using it as a treat rather than a main platter.
Ash is definitely something you want to watch out for, the less ash in the food the better. Ash is, if I recall correctly, the minerals that are incinerated to a fine powder, and whatever that remains is added to the food.
Another good option to help relieve urinary tract infections are treats with cranberries in it or a diluted cranberry juice.
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