Ragdoll Cat Forums

So some you may know that Teddy hasn't been well the past week or so - vomiting, not peeing very often or very much, crouching down a lot, hoarse, and just generally not himself. As an aside, Teddy has calicivirus, so his eyes have been a little runny. He turns two in January.

I took him to the vet today, where he ran a full blood test and urinalysis, and I have the test results back from the vet. His urine is very concentrated, with high protein and blood levels, so essentially he has an inflamed bladder. Teddy has had cystitis in the past, but this time he wasn't in and out of the litter box constantly or peeing outside the box. The vet gave him an antibiotic shot. The bladder inflammation explains the low amount of pee and his crouching like “an old man” as the vet put it.

His blood work also shows he likely has the start of irritable bowel disease (I can't remember the specifics of the connection, but I do remember his BUN levels are higher than normal). Regarding the IBD, he likely developed an intolerance to the wet food he was eating, hence the throwing up. Unfortunately, there aren't any other wet foods that he's fond of! Thankfully though, the other blood results were normal.

That said, Teddy has a compromised immune system and likely the only way it will improve is through a special diet. The vet gave me a bunch of different foods to try (and I do mean try – I’m not optimistic with Mr. Picky Pants over here). One of the foods is the Medi-Cal gastro. I’ll see how things go with the food, but I’m not feeling overly optimistic right now given how fussy he is.

His tartar build up is also bad again on his back molars (this is from the calici), so he’ll need a dental again in the near future.

At least I know what's going on and hopefully can get this poor lad on the road to recovery. I trust my vet - he specializes in cats and is well respected in the city.

I did buy Teddy a new fountain today - the Drinkwell Platinum. So far, he's playing in the water and watching it, but I'm not sure how much he's actually drank.

Thanks everyone for asking about Teddy. I really appreciate it.

Coral

Poor Teddy - I'm so sorry he's not feeling well, but I know you're going to do all you can to get him "right" again. Keeping my fingers crossed that he'll absolutely love one of the foods your vet has sent you home with to try!

Coral,

So sorry Teddy's under the weather. Gee, too many sick kids on here lately. How did the blood tests indicate IBS? Bun is for kidney. If he's not drinking much the urine is concentrated and that could account for the high bun rate, a bit of dehydration. Have you showed him how to use the fountain? That's what it took here........lol. Hopefully he'll be sucking down the water soon.

Well.....sure hope he likes some of the food you brought home. We want Mr Picky Pants to get well.

Thanks Teresa and Diane - your kind thoughts are much appreciated.

Diane, thank you for clarifying what BUN levels are about. I sometimes have a hard time keeping things straight and am a bit sleep deprived - lol. What I'm going through with Teddy is about a two on a scale of 1 - 10 when I think of what you're going through. You're amazingly strong and an inspiration.

Gosh he's having a bit of a time of it, isn't he? Fingers crossed he's on the mend now you know a little more about his (most recent) problem(s).

Is it only wet food you're offering?

I'm sorry to hear about your Teddy not feeling well. I'll be praying for him and hopefully he will like one of the new foods you have to try.

Hi Jane,

Right now, I'm also giving Teddy Eukanuba dry food for sensitive stomachs and I also gave him some dry Hills Z/D this evening, which I got from the vet. He's eating the dry okay, but because of his bladder issues (and playing in the fountain instead of drinking from it!) he needs the wet as well.

Thanks for your well wishes.
Coral

Thank you, Dorothy! It's so nice to see you on the forum again. How is your beautiful boy Teddy doing? We need some pictures.

Coral Wrote:Thank you, Dorothy! It's so nice to see you on the forum again. How is your beautiful boy Teddy doing? We need some pictures.

Thank you, Coral. Teddy and I are doing okay. He has finally stopped calling for Peek-A-Boo. I was thinking about posting pics of him since he is 6 months old tomorrow.

Have you tried soaking Teddy's dry food in water to see if he would eat that as wet food? My Teddy's breeder does that for the kittens instead of can food. That's what he had till he decided he didn't like it any more. Maybe it will work for your Teddy since he likes the dry food.

I have tried it, but he doesn't really like it and I wind up with a soupy mess. Thank you for the suggestion though.

I'm looking forward to Teddy's photos!