Feline Idiopathic Cystitis (FIC) Advise needed!!

[karolina_59]

My kitten Shadow is 10 months old. Suddenly out of the blue the day before yesterday he started going to his litter tray every minute or so trying to urinate with no luck. Eventually some spotting would occur so in the morning the next day I called up the vet and they told me to come right away. They checked Shadow’s bladder and it was empty which meant luckily there was no blockage however, they believe he has Feline Idiopathic Cystitis (FIC) caused by stress and overweight. Now Shadow is 10 months old and weighs 4.9kg. When he was last at the vets in June he weighed 3.9kg. The vet wants us to get him down to 4kg but I’m not sure if that’s not too drastic? He recommend I only give him half a pouch of food for breakfast, one spoon of dry food and another half of pouch for dinner. Also, has anyone experienced FIC? How long does it last and how likely is it to return?

I hate seeing him suffer I will be grateful for any information or advise!!

[Mollycat]

I don't know about urinary problems but your cat really does have a serious weight problem. you can get diet foods with all the nutrients and reduced calories, that might help if he is hungry all the time. Weight numbers out of the blue don't mean much but a 10 month old cat 20% overweight is really very serious. The risks of diabetes, hyperthyroidism, heart disease, and arthritis in later life are very real and if he has put this on in less than 6 months that is really shocking too.

Do you have any idea what the source of the stress might be? Is the vet helping you with that?

[karolina_59]

Is there any way to work out how much he should weigh? The vet advised using a stress diffuser which I have purchased right away and prescribed Metacam for the urinary issue and that’s about it.

[Mollycat]

His weight at 5 months old does seem a little low as an ideal weight at 10 months, unless he was already a bit podgy then. Better to go by body condition scoring, this is quite good descriptively https://www.thehealthypetclub.co.uk/bod ... t%E2%80%9D. or you can google for picture guides. Good ones show the cat from above and side, to help you gauge where your cat is overall. It's not always helpful for cats (or for us or anyone really) to go on weight - our dog is a lovely slim 18kg and I was astonished to learn my friend's dog who is just a couple of inches taller and a little bit longer and all legs like the youngster he is actually weighs in at 24kg and there is nothing to him. You would never think her dog was heavier than mine let alone by that much.

Stress is more complex and might take some big detective work. Those calming sprays diffusers etc are great for short term use when you know what the stress is, eg a house move, new pet, illness etc. It could be that overeating is also part of the stress or even a metabolic malfunction could be part of the cause or effect of the stress ... cats really are complicated. On the same website as above, go to the link in the left column about stress - that is excellent.

Do you have any other pets in your home, and how many humans and their ages roughly - small children, older children, adults? How does your cat respond to them - does he show any signs of nervousness, hiding, moving away, running off, hissing, or avoiding anyone? other animals outside - does your cat go out, what other animals are in the neighbourhood? In the house does he have plenty of litter trays, water bowls, places to hide, scratch climb? Does he get told off for anything he does and how is he disciplined when he does misbehave? Is his food safe from everyone else? How do you feed him, set meal times, free, does he get treats and titbits at the table, does he stress about food like yell at you when there is still half a bowl of food down? Is he possessive or obsessive about food, or has he just got into the habit of eating high calorie foods or lots of snacks? Getting to the bottom of the source of his stress might save you a lot of stress and expense long term, sorry for all the questions but there is so much to think about.

[karolina_59]

No don’t be sorry! This is my first pet so I really appreciate all this to guide me to things I should think about! He is the only pet in the house, no children it’s just myself and my partner both 23 years old and my father. My partner and father works full time but I’ve been furloughed since March unfortunately and we got him in April. He doesn’t shown any signs of nervousness towards any of us he’s playful and curious of everything. The main things I can think of recently that could have caused him stress is our living room renovation and fireworks for Guy Fawkes night/Diwali. He has a big run built outside with climbing posts and platforms for him to jump around. He doesn’t get fed human food sometimes he would get the odd treat (which we will be stopping completely from now). In our neighbourhood there are unfortunately a lot of Ferrell cats running around so that might be the cause too although he doesn’t show distress, he watches them and meows at them.

We have started introducing him to adult food to get him used to it as he will be 1 years old in January. Could this be the reason for his weight gain? Although we can’t say for sure, he does look like a Ragdoll mix.

[Mollycat]

Ah this all sounds great, love the big outdoor cat run. So the ferals in the area could be making him feel a little insecure, or something else!! He's not spraying against the fence or anything? Not afraid to be out when they are around? Now - what kind of meowing? Is it a wailing anxious meowing, or more like he is calling to them? If he goes out when they are around, does he seem to want to make friends or chase them away, or hide from them? I had a Ragdoll, adopted as an adult, and he quickly became very anxious if I went out, so bad his fur would be full of static electricity even if I only went to take the bin out. Any time he heard a cat outside he would rush to the window calling and calling. He needed a friend. That's how we got Molly, she was for him, not my decision at all. (Now Bobby is gone and Molly is a happy lone cat) That's a possibility and if that's his stress it will get a whole level of worse when you go back to work, but we do need to be very sure that is his problem as the last thing you need is a second cat and double the problems, and eliminate everything else from the enquiry. My only other boy Henry was an in-out cat and he would actively go recruiting for a friend to move in with him, he was a social bug too.

I wouldn't have thought adult food would be responsible, it's less calorie dense than kitten food as kitten is extra high protein and made for the rapid growth of that age and adults need a little less.

Renovation and fireworks could both be major stressors, did you notice any behaviour changes around those times? Usually you know if something like fireworks is stressing them because they will give you an instant and dramatic show of their feelings, usually hiding but can be refusing to eat, soiling, even aggression. How did he respond at the time? And what was he doing while the work was going on?

[karolina_59]

When the ferrel cats come hes the complete opposite he sits still eventually going closer to the edge of the run to be closer to them and watches no noises except when he meows as if he wants to go out to them as he’ll run into the house and run to the garden door meowing. We did think he wanted a friend so we started introducing him to another little kitten but when the kitten came to our house in September shadow completely did not accept the other cat in the house. He was hissing and spitting and all his fur was static so we had to give the little one alway eventually. Shadow is fine when we leave the house especially me he knows I’ll be back within a few hours but we have also left him alone all day and he was fine too.

He didn’t show much care during fireworks, he was asleep on a chair and windowsill however when we were doing the living room the doors were shut of course because of the mess and dirt. He would sit by the doors watching till they open and someone comes out. I think he did that because he is used to being able to go any room in the house when he wants too so suddenly taking away the living room might have annoyed him possibly.

The only other thing that has happened recently a couple of days ago, a Ferrell cat has been attacked by a fox on our driveway which is visible from the windowsill. If shadow would have seen that I’m not sure if that would have caused him stress.

[Mollycat]

Ok so maybe he just wants to know who is out there but not to have as a companion.

But the cat was attacked a couple of days ago and he suddenly was unable to urinate the day before yesterday? Do you know if the cat was injured, dead, managed to get away, or what? Do you know if it was one that your cat showed friendly interest in?

[karolina_59]

The cat was completely torn apart, we had to bury it. It could have been the cat that he was friendly towards, I haven’t seen that cat since last week.

[Mollycat]

God how awful. Your lad must have heard something at the very least. I've never heard of this happening before but my guess would be that could well be the root of his trauma, if he was absolutely fine before. He sounds like a pretty cool cat who takes all kinds of challenges in his stride like fireworks and noise in his home, but if he witnessed this that's a hard thing to make sense of. Poor love.

Would be good to get some thoughts form other peeps here but I think in that position I would probably give him plenty of love and affection, as much as he wants but also give him his own space when he wants it, and try not to worry or he could pick up anxious vibes and think there is a reason for him to be anxious too. Keep a close eye on him and see how things develop in the coming days, it's all still very fresh, whether that is the true cause of his cystitis or only a contributing factor.

[karolina_59]

Yeah I can only imagine what it must have been like for him not understanding what is going on. He is particular about his cuddles he will come to you when he wants them! Thank you for your help, it’s definitely helped calm my anxiety!