I wonder if there is anyone that may have had similar experience with me. This could be a little long, but I need to put all that is going to on to build a complete picture.
My male cat Tigi is almost 6 years old, in the last 13 months he has had 3 urine blockage's. The Vet has said that is is Idiopathic Cystitis. The first blockage was treated with a catheter to remove the blockage, and crystals were seen in the urine, antibiotics, anti inflammatory and pain relief, after 4 days he was well. The vet said there was no need to change his food, he was on Hills feline maintenance dry food, and Whiskas (oh so meaty) gravy food pouches. All seemed fine until 4 months later he blocked again, this time the vet was able to move his bladder around manually and he managed to pass water without a catheter, she suggested we pay more attention to the wet food, Tigi will only lick the gravy, refuses to eat the meat, so we carried on that way also using hills feline maintenance dry. Also he started having Cystease one every other day.
9 months later 2nd Feb this year, he blocked again, no need for a catheter as he passed water as soon as he stood on the vets table. The vet ran tests on his kidneys they were fine, and there was no crystals in his urine. on advice from the vet we changed the wet food to Hills c/d and the dry to hills c/d also, taking everything else away. Tigi totally refuses to even lick the gravy from the wet food, but is more than happy with the dry food. He was given 5 days of antibiotics and was put on a 4 day course of metacam. I have been making sure he takes on more water by giving it to him from a syringe, 5ml every few hours. All the medication finished last Friday 3rd Feb. He is passing water with no problem, but now he seems a bit constipated, 3 very small dry motions in the past week. I am hoping this is a result to the change over of food and all the meds he has had. on 2 occasions as soon as he has had his cystease he has vomited, I am a little concerned that maybe he is overloaded on urinary products from the Hills c/d dry food and the cystease? also today, as I was concerned about his fluid intake, I gave him his whiskas again. as he still refuses to touch the hills c/d wet food. he had his normal morning cystease followed by the whiskas pouch, about 30 minutes later he vomited a large amount, it was very liquid looking and smelt of the gravy, but there was also a large amount of what looked like dark phlegm in it.
Basicly I am wondering if its ok to let him eat the Hills c/d dry food, accompanied by the whiskas wet pouches, 3 a day (as its only the gravy he eats) and the daily cystease tablet ? could this be causing the constipation, and sickness? I have asked 3 vets and very conflicting views from each. any advice would be appreciated.

Firstly, cystitis is called idiopathic when no identifiable cause can be found and this does not appear to be the case here given that crystals were found on the first occasion. I find it very surprising the vet didn't recommend a urinary food then in order to prevent a further occurrence. Do you know which type of crystals? This should have been the first recommendation. Also, worth mentioning even though present in the bladder, crystals do not always appear in a urinalysis so it's very possible they caused the second blockage as well.

I would cut out the Hills and the Whisas completely from now on and feed a preferably wet urinary one exclusively-sounds as if the dry version is contributing to the constipation for one thing.There are other urinary foods ( RC do one for instance ) so it's worth trying him on a few of them-it sounds as if he's a dry food addict! A maintenance dose of Cystaid would also be a good idea as is increasing water intake ie a fountain.

Three blockages in such a short space of time is a lot and you need to concentrate on preventing another one given the potential dangers involved.

Hiya,

my little Persian fella had a lot of problems with bladder stones - he had both types at different times. We tried the Hills urinary food but he was sick with it. I tried him on Royal Canin Urinary S/O and he remained on that for years. It comes in both wet and dry versions, and helps with urine dilution and management of crystals. I found it very good for us - he only ate the wet, but it seemed to manage things quite well.

Has your vet advised using a water/ drinking fountain? Encouraging your chap to drink more water (to flush through) is also advisable. Also, there can be links between cystitis and stress - I used a Feliway plug-in when we had any episodes - it is pheromone based and can help in keeping a cat calmer.

Hope this helps

Thanks for the response.

I have spoken to my vet today, and he says to take away the wet food, and give him just the dry, as the wet food (gravy) wont help his cystitis problems.
Its impossible to get him to eat an all wet diet, he will, and has, gone without eating for almost 2 days to prove his point !

He seems to think the constipation could be just to do with the diet change and just to keep a check on it.

I have ordered a water fountain today, I just hope he will use it, as its more important to get fluids into him now he's on dry only.

I have been using feliway spray since last year, it seems to help a bit, but he gets so comfortable he forgets to use the toilet.

I am hoping I can find a way to manage this problem for him, but Tigi being Tigi, he is offering no help in return