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Cat with FIC

HartlyH

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1. Your pet's name: Kai
2. Approximate age: 2.5 yrs old
3. Sex: Male
4. Neutering status: neutered
5. Breed: domestic medium hair(?)
6. Approximate weight: 14lbs
7. What's their BEAM (behavior, energy, appetite, mood): right now I have him on gabapentin (just started yesterday) so he is veryyy sleepy but typically he is high energy, very sweet and cuddly, and playful boy. He has been dealing with FIC and when his bladder flares up which is pretty frequently (approx. once a month) he starts to eat less and is less snuggly. We have been dealing with an on and off flare up now for a few weeks and have been using gabapentin and Royal Canin prescription food to treat. I took him to the vet to get a second opinion and they did all the test for stones and UTIs and came back clean. During a bad flare up about 8 months ago we also did an ultra sound and did not find any stones.
8. Diet: I had him on Viva Raw wet food for a couple months and he seemed to be doing well but because the delivery service was difficult with my travel schedule and his shipment was stolen once I decided to switch to The honest kitchen wet food as it was a little easier for me to obtain. He then started having the flare ups again so the vet suggested he get back on the prescription Royal Canin food which I don't think is helping. After becoming dissatisfied with the treatment two vets have given me for FIC I am seeking more holistic routes because his current treatment plan is not working and has become quite stressful for Kai and myself. Over the last 3 days we've gone back to raw and I have added in some supplements like b-12, Urinary Gold, a cranberry bladder supplement for kitties, a turmeric coco oil supplement from green juju cat food and just bought salmon oil and Wyson archetype raw chicken formula to try out today on top of the Viva raw. Kind of throwing everything at the wall over the last couple of days to get my boy better.
9. Vaccination history / exposure to toxins, other medication: he is up to date on all vaccines- I would have to check medical records to get exact vaccines hes had- let me know if needed. Currently on Gabapenten.
10. Primary problem, when it began and if there was anything else happening around that time: FIC- inflammed bladder that makes it hard for him to pee. Frequent litter box visits with little pee coming out. Becomes less energetic and sometimes runs out of the litter box and bounces off the wall like he is pain after going to the box. Started about a year ago and we've been managing on and off flare ups since. There isn't much at home that should be stressing him- I have a hunch this is more dietary related.
11. Is the condition better or worse from exercise, heat, cold, time of day, certain foods, emotional upset, being touched, excitement, etc? Not particullarly. He did seem to do better on raw food so we are back on that now.
12. Has any diagnostic work been done? Diagnosis if available (you can attach your diagnostic tests to the post if you have them.) Yes, see above in diet section.
13. Current and previous treatment. just pain meds and Royal Cannin prescription food.
14. Other health concerns. none
 

HartlyH

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his recent lab results from vet on April 5th:
Kai's urinalysis results have returned. His urine is dilute which is actually good. In the face of cats with UTI's or the FIC condition I actually want cats to have dilute urine. Dilute urine means that they are trying to flush out the inflammation or infection out of their system. In other scenarios dilute urine could be indicative of kidney disease. I think if you wanted to cross all of our T's and dot our I's we could have you bring Kai back for us to get some blood to assess his kidney levels. However he is a young cat and I would not expect him to have kidney disease at this age.
Otherwise no excessive protein, white blood cells, crystals or bacteria seen in his urine.
His urine culture is still pending and that will be the end all be all for if we are looking at a UTI.
If his urine culture returns with no evidence of a UTI then I think we are looking at that FIC condition. I will email you some additional information on FIC, biggest strategies for managing FIC will be to manage stress and promote hydration as much as possible.
I recommend he go back to being exclusively on his C/D diet. I recommend adding as much water to his diet as he will allow. I recommend increasing the amount of litter boxes to three in the home. You could also consider utilizing kitty phermones called Feliway to help Kai feel less stressed in his environment.
I hope he is feeling better with the medications we started him on-let me know if not.
Otherwise I will be in touch when his urine culture results return and I will send you additional information on FIC in general.
 

HartlyH

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Vet records form when he had his first flare up about 8-10 months ago. We did all the labs at Nob Hill Cat Clinic and then ended up having to go to ER because I thought there mightve been a blockage- both records attached.

Preview attachment Kai Nob Hill Cat Clinic Records.pdf
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui...tt&disp=inline&realattid=188e605e614cd3a13442
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui...tt&disp=inline&realattid=188e605e614cd3a13442

Preview attachment Kai pet hospital records.pdf




Kai pet hospital records.pdf
707 KB

icon_3_pdf_x32.png

Kai Nob Hill Cat Clinic Records.pdf
180 KB
 

Dr. Jeff

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Hey Hartly!
am seeking more holistic routes because his current treatment plan is not working
Yay!
and has become quite stressful for Kai and myself
You've done so much to help Kai already, so let's turn that stress around and focus on fun, love and environmental enrichment (and I am sure that you can do this).

Treating his Pandora syndrome (the newer name for FUS/FLUTD/FIC) with homeopathy is most effective IMHO. See below for a bit more about feline urinary challenges:

 

HartlyH

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Thank you so much, this is so helpful! I usually feed Kai wet food morning and night and have dry food for him to munch on during the day while I am at work. Should I switch the dry food to something like Primal raw freeze-dried nuggets for day time snacking?
Regarding the subject of boredom from the post, I do feel like he would enjoy more environmental stimulation. I got him a stroller but he seems to get scared when we go for walks but maybe I will try it again with him and see if he likes it more! He is a very curious and explorative kitty so I feel like he would enjoy it if he got past the initial fear.
Lastly, any supplements or specific foods you would recommend? We are definitely going to stick with raw but any brands, supps, bone broth(?) anything you would recommend would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you SO much for all your help. Made me so happy to read a success story.
 

Dr. Jeff

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You're welcome Hartly!
Should I switch the dry food to something like Primal raw freeze-dried nuggets for day time snacking?
Anything but dry food, yes!

You might also want to consider hunt-catch-kill-eat games for him rather than just leaving the food out. For example:


any supplements or specific foods you would recommend?
Viva raw is great and along with environmental enrichment you shouldn't even need any supplements.
bone broth
Yes!

If you feel strongly called to use a supportive supplement, maybe try this:

 

HartlyH

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Is feeding Kai the Viva raw once in the morning and once at night enough food for him? I tried the Primal nuggets to snack on mid day as a replacement to his dry food but he doesn't seem to like it. Unfortunately I am not home during the day to give a third serving in the middle of the day.
I also ordered some interactive toys for him to play with while I am at work and playing cat TV during the day.

Hoping these changes work however, I am starting to think that maybe my home isn't the right environment for Kai which breaks my heart because I love him endlessly but he doesn't deserve to be in pain like this. If his issue was just diet related, that I could fix but I didn't consider how much his environment might be playing a role. I work M-F and am gone for 8 hours a day and travel a lot for work. My roomie takes care of him while I am traveling but she too works in the office 4 days per week. He is like a dog in that he needs SO much attention and could just play all day. I really want to make things work in my home but I am beginning to think that maybe he would be better in another home where he could have another cat friend to play with and with someone who is home more and doesn't travel so often. After a lot of reflection, maybe he is just bored. Any advice on this? I ordered the interactive toys and will make any changes I can to help him but there is only so much I can do. I have another cat and was hoping they'd be friends but she keeps her distance from him and won't play. I realize it may be a little out of your scope and hard to comment given such little information but let me know if you have any thoughts. Trying to make as informed of a decision as possible as this is such a massive decision to make.
 

Dr. Jeff

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Is feeding Kai the Viva raw once in the morning and once at night enough food for him?
If his weight looks (and feels) good, then yes.

Tho if he's food motivated then he may like an automatic feeder set to open every few hours per day that dispense a freeze-dried or air-dried treat like Small Batch or Ziwi.

interactive toys for him to play with while I am at work and playing cat TV during the day.
Great! And how about something like this:


I love him endlessly
Your love is a powerful energy that can be used to help him heal. He will respond to your BEAMing love to him both when you're with him and when you're at work.

could just play all day. he could have another cat friend to play
Yes! Is a new playful kitten a possibility?

Perhaps cat and flower essence specialist @Dr. Jean Hofve will have other suggestions.

You might also want to schedule a 15 minute HMDM call with one of the HA! vets prior to making a decision.
 

Dr. Christina

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You may want to check in with several animal communicators.

TV, music?

Local teenager or at home person to come play with him?

You are doing so much for him. While boredom is possible, the real cause is an energy imbalance. It may take some time, trying different approaches, working with a great holistic vet to turn things around. would be unlikely another person would have your committment.

Dr. Christina
 

Dr. Jean Hofve

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Agreed, no dry food of any kind for Kai. Even the Primal nuggets--if they have not been moistened--are still dry and therefore dehydrating.

There are so many factors that can be modified here; let's not worry about re-homing just yet. Seems like environmental factors are significant, though, so maybe start here: indoorpet.osu.edu/veterinarians/environmental-enrichment-resources-and-references

I'm updating my ebook on FLUTD and will post it here shortly. It's everything I know about it, and I've been a feline veterinarian for 30 years!
 

Dr. Jeff

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This is a fantastic e-book! Thanks so much for writing and sharing it Dr. Jean.

One addition to it, for everyone here who may be energetically-oriented, is that although the conventional (and physiological) "cause" is not known, it is known from the non-physiological and homeopathic perspective.

IMHO, the underlying cause is an energetic imbalance that results in the physical symptoms.

It's no coincidence that the biggest trigger for that imbalance is stress...

I also would like to second the importance of monitoring your kitty's urine output (along with their BEAM and everything else).

For those of us who may not be too observant, but are tech inclined, here's a cool tool using AI for monitoring litter box habits:

 

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