Oh no, what's wrong with Riyl?

[Medesha]

Riyl or Riri, or Brat Queen is my second SV. For a while now she has had issues and I've been trying to deal with them the best I can. She doesn't squat when she uses the litter box, and when she does, she starts straightening up midway through and watering the nearest surface. I got even more litterboxes, rearranged them, got different kinds of littterboxes and litter, tried the feliway plug-in diffusers, no dice. Sometimes, she wouldn't even go to the litterbox and go somewhere really random and inappropriate.

So I took her to the vet and they did a urine analysis thingy and they said that they found protein in her urine and that they want me to bring her in tomorrow for some bloodwork. They said depending on what the problem is, one of the solutions would be a low-protein diet and more omega 3's.

Now, I tried to get my sciencey friend to explain to me how a carnivore that needs a low-protein diet doesn't have a deathwish but it all went over my head. I feed Riyl and Vakai and Erra a raw food diet from Hare Today (usually coarse ground chicken or turkey), and most days I add fish oil to their food, so I don't see what I could be doing differently...

And aside from the improper urination thing, there's nothing wrong with her. She's growing fine, gaining weight, playing....

Has anyone dealt with something like this before?

 

[John Popp]

We have a stand up pee'r in the mix and just moved to some large Sterilite storage containers (25 gallons plus). Square 9"x9" hole cut in the side, 80lbs of Dr Elsey's litter, refilled when 50% empty and 20-1 water to bleach mixture to clean up the sides where any urine balls are stuck or she has relieved herself on the walls of the container which has worked great. I was informed by others here that a clear container works better than one that's opaque.

In a younger cat, the protein in the urine is more likely to be a bladder infection than any type of long term issue. Not sure I would move to a lower protein diet long term unless advised to do so by the vet.

If your cats tolerate fish oil it should be part of their daily raw diet and even if they don't care for it, it should be there in at least a limited quantity. I too use Hare today for things I don't have the stomach to grind, but none of what they offer eliminates the needs for additional supplements.

 

[Medesha]

We have a stand up pee'r in the mix and just moved to some large Sterilite storage containers (25 gallons plus). Square 9"x9" hole cut in the side, 80lbs of Dr Elsey's litter, refilled when 50% empty and 20-1 water to bleach mixture to clean up the sides where any urine balls are stuck or she has relieved herself on the walls of the container which has worked great. I was informed by others here that a clear container works better than one that's opaque.

In a younger cat, the protein in the urine is more likely to be a bladder infection than any type of long term issue. Not sure I would move to a lower protein diet long term unless advised to do so by the vet.

If your cats tolerate fish oil it should be part of their daily raw diet and even if they don't care for it, it should be there in at least a limited quantity. I too use Hare today for things I don't have the stomach to grind, but none of what they offer eliminates the needs for additional supplements.

Thanks. I was using the Alnutrin supplement for a while in addition to fish oil but Alnutrin was kind of wallet-burning expensive, so I stopped giving them supplements for a bit while I researched others. She was still having problems while I was using Alnutrin, so the fact that I stopped using it shouldn't be the problem. I kinda scared myself while doing reading about protein in the urine, but the fact that she's not even a year old yet has me hoping that it can't be something serious...

 

[John Popp]

The supplements aren't a luxury for a raw diet but a necessity. They are an important part of feeding your cat or kitten a balanced raw diet. We get our vitamins and supplements through vita cost.com and a rough estimate has the price coming in at less than $2 for a 25lb batch of raw food.

I definitely agree with you that it's likely an infection of some sort, and not something that is going to be a lasting issue. It's also unlikely that it was born of a food related issue, but that's also something best for your vet to determine.

 

[scorpius]

Shango's sometimes does the stand up pee thing, although not as much these days. I don't think he cares or really thinks about it - he does a good job of nearly getting the wall! LoL! Needless-to-day, I've opted to find the highest-walled pee box available!

 

[Jacq]

The supplements aren't a luxury for a raw diet but a necessity. They are an important part of feeding your cat or kitten a balanced raw diet. We get our vitamins and supplements through vita cost.com and a rough estimate has the price coming in at less than $2 for a 25lb batch of raw food.

I definitely agree with you that it's likely an infection of some sort, and not something that is going to be a lasting issue. It's also unlikely that it was born of a food related issue, but that's also something best for your vet to determine.

My cats are on a raw diet, and I choose to give them the nutrients they need in a variety of food, as opposed to added supplements. I have been feeding them this way for many years, and they are happy and healthy.

 

[John Popp]

I do the same, but I also know that I don't always have chicken hearts to provide the proper amount of taurine, Fish to cook and provide Omega 3 Fatty Acids, and I'm always adding Vitamin B and E. If I can't complete my raw recipe with all the ingredients, I'm an arms reach away from pulling out some taurine powder or fish oil capsules. The one thing I won't do without is liver when making food with chicken as it's too easy for me to purchase and less than a mile from our home.

Also lets not kid ourselves about diet as there are plenty of cats out there that will live long and healthy lives eating kibble. The first cat I ever had lived to be 23 years old and subsisted his entire life on Happy Cat and chicken bones he would occasionally pull out of the trash. I wouldn't think of feeding my cats that stuff today but as much care as I take with our cats it's not at all a guarantee of their prolonged health.

 

[admin]

Yes but hare today includes hearts and livers in their ground rabbit, so i really don't supplement much anymore...i may use a little Mazuri and fish oil and maybe taurine...or i give them some canned food.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[Jacq]

Bravo includes those as well in their rabbit, and mine get rabbit mixed with their chicken every night. Plus I grind whole chickens which come with hearts, livers and gizzards.

 

[admin]

Hey Jacqui, do you just buy whole chickens and cut them up and grind them?

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2