Yeah, my male cat formed a full urinary blockage after a few months of a kibble-only diet. He had developed calcium oxalate bladder stones in his urinary tract. It cost me like $1200 to treat him and he nearly died. If it had progressed any further, he would have required surgery and a week-long stay in the animal hospital, which would have been around $5000.
Both of my male cats now eat a 100% wet food diet supplemented by the occasional kibble or lickable treat. I am going to start brushing their teeth soon for this reason, but I would rather give them wet food and brush their teeth than give them kibble and cross my fingers, hoping that they drink enough water. If I give them a mix of wet and dry food, they will only eat the wet food, like this post mentioned is happening with their cat.
Of course, every cat is different and bladder stones can still form on a wet food diet or still not form on a dry food diet. But managing risk has been really important for me since rates of bladder stone recurrence are high in male cats.
My cat ended up needing the surgery and had to stay for a week with a catheter. One of the concerns was that he wouldn’t regain control of his bladder and we would have to assist for him to urinate. Luckily, he made a full recovery. We were fortunate that our primary vet was equipped to handle it because they charged us around $750 USD for the whole ordeal and I have no doubt the animal hospital would have been thousands.
We switched to a prescription dry food afterwards with the occasional wet food. 3 years later and he had stones forming again and intestinal lymphoma. That’s when he started on daily steroids and a primarily wet food diet based on the vets advice. We had to say goodbye a few months ago when it progressed too far. All that to say, do anything and everything to spoil them and keep them healthy.
Yeah, my male cat formed a full urinary blockage after a few months of a kibble-only diet. He had developed calcium oxalate bladder stones in his urinary tract. It cost me like $1200 to treat him and he nearly died. If it had progressed any further, he would have required surgery and a week-long stay in the animal hospital, which would have been around $5000.
Both of my male cats now eat a 100% wet food diet supplemented by the occasional kibble or lickable treat. I am going to start brushing their teeth soon for this reason, but I would rather give them wet food and brush their teeth than give them kibble and cross my fingers, hoping that they drink enough water. If I give them a mix of wet and dry food, they will only eat the wet food, like this post mentioned is happening with their cat.
Of course, every cat is different and bladder stones can still form on a wet food diet or still not form on a dry food diet. But managing risk has been really important for me since rates of bladder stone recurrence are high in male cats.
My cat ended up needing the surgery and had to stay for a week with a catheter. One of the concerns was that he wouldn’t regain control of his bladder and we would have to assist for him to urinate. Luckily, he made a full recovery. We were fortunate that our primary vet was equipped to handle it because they charged us around $750 USD for the whole ordeal and I have no doubt the animal hospital would have been thousands.
We switched to a prescription dry food afterwards with the occasional wet food. 3 years later and he had stones forming again and intestinal lymphoma. That’s when he started on daily steroids and a primarily wet food diet based on the vets advice. We had to say goodbye a few months ago when it progressed too far. All that to say, do anything and everything to spoil them and keep them healthy.
Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that your little boy has passed. I’m sure you did everything you could to keep him happy and comfortable.