Vanity: I have a dilemma regarding my cat

self | 6/28/06 | Huntress

[Huntress]

Dear FReeper animal lovers:

I have a dilemma regarding my cat and could use some advice. I have had Norman the cat for six years and he is a very beloved pet and companion. He got sick this morning, and my vet says he must have surgery or he will die. Here is the problem: the vet quoted me a price of $1800 (yes, $1800) for Norman's treatment; this includes what he has already done in an attempt to cure the cat without surgery, the surgery itself, and care after the surgery. $1800 is a tremendous amount of money but still within the bounds of what I can afford (barely). If I pay for the surgery, it is going to hurt financially. If I have the vet put Norman down, I think I will feel guilty about it forever.

My parents and many of my friends think I'm out of my mind for even considering spending this much money on a cat. What would you do if you were me?

[rintense]

Ok, now I'll jump in. My boy kitty has urinary tract disease and has blockages 4 times- each one remvoed without invasive surgery. If your cat has this problem, request he be made into a girl- which basically opens up the urethra wider so no obstructions will occur.

I guarantee you that if your male cat has one obstruction, he will get another one unless he has a complete dietary change and/or the surgery to make him a girl.

As much as I loved my previous vet, I found a new one with more reasonable prices, more personable and will hunt down problems and call me. Get a second opinion. Even explain your monetary concerns to the vet and that you're considering a second opinion purely based on the cost and type of procedure.

[stlnative]

Please read here about the surgery the vet will be doing on your cat. (this explains it all)

http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/urethral.html

[rintense]

Dry food is fine. It's the kind of dry food that's the problem. Your cat will need to switch to a dry food that promotes a healthy urinary tract. The prescription science diet is wonderful and your vet will recommend the correct one. Purina also makes a great prescription line of food as well.

Commercial canned food is like letting your cat eat out of the garbage. Ick. Does terrible things to the teeth, liver and coat.

[RSteyn]

I've been through urinary tract obstruction woes with one cat. $1800 sounds steep, even if it includes emergency care.

If you do have the surgery performed (and yes, the cat will die if the obstruction stays in place--I lost one to this problem 35 years ago before much could be done for them) YOU MUST change the cat's diet.

Elsewhere, I have ranted about the dire effect dry food can have in inducing diabetes, but dry food also is a bad idea with a cat inclined to plug (and once they plug, forever after you must watch them for signs of straining, or bloody urine, because they are likely to plug again). Go to a low carbohydrate, canned food. Not all are wildly expensive. Cats just are not inclined to drink enough water if fed dry food.

[new cruelty]

Tough call. I am sorry for you and Norman. My family (wife and two daughters) have two cats- Tommy (8) and Romeo (12).

Whenever I am faced with a dilema with all things being equal and I can't seem to find the rationale to decide one way or the other, I flip a coin and let the coin decide for me. Just one flip, though. No best two out of three or anything like that. If I don't like the result of the coin toss, I go with the other choice, since that is the direction I really wanted to go in the first place.

As for our cats, if they needed my help and I could afford it, I would help them. I can always make more money and I don't care for the prospect of losing something my family and I truly hold dear.

Best wishes for you and Norman.

[RSteyn]

>I do feed dry food. I hope I didn't cause Norman's problem by doing so.<

I had a cat develop this problem feeding one of the best known and supposedly great dry foods out there.

Cat people, read: www.felinediabetes.com

They aren't selling anything! There is a great table listing the composition of just about every commercial canned cat food available so you can feed your CARNIVORE properly by selecting not by brand, but by composition!

Your cats, present and future, would thank you if they could.

[nmh]

Been there ... done that ... my buddy had bone cancer ... we went for the surgery ... it was successful in saving his life however 4 months later it was in his lungs and his organs on the x-ray were "marbalized" a huge tumor.

Would I do it again?

YES! We knew his personality and knew he would handle the outcome well. We were right!

He loved us and we loved him. We just had alittle more time together and babied him. This too was a couple grand ... it was either that or he would die.

Unfortunately the blood work lied and so did the ultra sound ... the cancer had traveled bit wasn't showing up yet so that is why we proceeded with the surgery.

[rintense]

I should explain that my boy, after his 4th blockage, was 6 years old as well. After one more blockage, the vet was going to 'make him a girl'. The price would have been $1600. But, with a change of diet- including massive weight loss, he hasn't had a blockage since. He's going to be 14 this year and acts more like a kitten now than when he was younger. Oh, and with all the emergencies, I'd say he's got around 4 grand invested in him.

It was worth it. He is my dog's best buddy and watching them play together gives me such great joy.

[stlnative]

or the surgery to make him a girl.

This is what the vet wants to do to her cat and will charge her $1800 to do it. It does not solve the problem fully, but it will take care of the blockage in 90% of the cases, but the cat can get bladder infections easily after the surgery. All the info is here... http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/urethral.html

Spending the $1800 is not going to solve the whole problem for her or her cat. The cat will most likely have more problems later on after they do the surgery.

[RSteyn]

>but I love living debt free even more.<

Back in the late 1940s before I existed my father and his mother discussed whether or not to pay for the surgery to treat my (future) mother's breast cancer, or to just let the condition be...

[nmh]

Forgot to mention we have some biopsies of his lymph nodes and all was clear - no sign of cancer.

We were fooled!

God had other plans. He was good to us in allowing him to have just alittle more time. he healed beautifully and had NO trouble getting around. It was bitter sweet. Inspiring to see him just want to stay and be with us.

[rintense]

My cat has been on dry food his entire life. It was the kind of dry food he was eating that was the difference- and his weight. He went from Science Diet WD to CD to now MD. He is thriving with no other health issues whatsoever. And he hates canned food! But loves carmel popcorn. Screwball.

This is my boy:

[RSteyn]

>Dry food is fine.<

NO! Newer information indicates ALL dry food is bad for cats since it must contain carbohydrates to be processed and to hold together in a pellet.

"Prescription" dry food still contains carbohydrates. Kitty is NOT a dog, and not a deer. Their metabolism is not like a dog's, as was long assumed.

[rintense]

If the cat is put on the correct diet, he should be fine, post surgery.

There are no guarantees with any pet. And there are always risks with any pet surgery. A lot of kittens and puppies die during spay/neutering due to an allergic reaction to the anesthetic. All you can do is love them when they're yours, and return the love they've given you.

[rintense]

Well my 14, 11 and 9 year old healthy cats all raised on dry food would disagree with you.

[RSteyn]

Lovely critter.

But please, please, for the sake of this fine feline go to the feline diabetes site and read the research about dry cat food and why canned food is better.

I loathe canned cat food. It is inconvenient, and my cats wake me at 5 AM wanting to be fed. But while I switched for the sake of Pye the diabetic, the other two, including Wilbur who in addition to swallowing thread also plugged solid 9 years ago, are also benefitting.

[RSteyn]

>Well my 14, 11 and 9 year old healthy cats all raised on dry food would disagree with you<

Please, please read the research, for their sakes. I was a dry food feeder for years, and not the cheap, rotgut stuff, either, but a formula I could only get from the vet.

Cats were not studied the way domestic farm animals were studied in veterinary nutrition trials decades ago. Newer work makes clear that they are obligate carnivores.

[swmobuffalo]

"healthy cats all raised on dry food would disagree with you."

As would all of the cats I've raised and the two current kitties! I do feed them a can of wet food at night, you should see the dance and hear the music when it's time for that!

[CAluvdubya]

Yes dry cat food (most cheap brands) will cause the problem in male cats that have a small urethra to begin with. You will have to feed your cat a special diet for the rest of his life so he does not get blocked up again. He also may start urinating where ever he pleases after the surgery and for the rest of his life.

It's not cheap brands of dry food that's bad. It's all dry food that's bad. The diet won't be any more special than going to the grocery store and buying Fancy Feast or 9 Lives or the Wal Mart brand. The cat will not have problems urinating or doing so outside of a litterbox if dry food is not fed. I have lived through this and made one change...no dry food of any kind, ever and my cat has had no further problems and acts like a kitten again.

[rintense]

I nearly lost my favorite girl in April. She was so ill that I had her boarded at the vet during a business trip. She had never been away from home overnight and it just crushed me to have to leave her. I thought for sure it would be the last time I saw he alive. But, on the day I left Vegas for home, she began eating on her own.

She was a 15lb. cat who shrunk to 6lbs from a bronchial infection which led to triad disease. She's on meds for the rest of her life because of the triad, and yes, she got a special post illness canned food (Science Diet AD), but she's thriving and back up to 10 lbs. She's a new cat who acts like a kitten. I love her so.