Are there particular brands/varieties of wet food that will help make his pee more acidic that i can get at the specialty pet food stores (rather than from the vet)? I kinda don't trust cat food brands that the vet is promoting, since they're awfully keen on Iams and Royal Canine dry brands which i see as pretty junky. I'm not up for preparing meat in my veggie kitchen, so i need to be able to buy any cat food pre-made.

Very wise. Did the vet specify that your cat has struvite crystals and/or needs food to acidify the urine to dissolve them? Or was that something you picked up from your own researches? I'm wanting to double check that the issue is struvite crystals rather than calcium oxalate crystals which dissolve in a basic environment. Either way, follow your instincts to stay the heck away from dry foods, because the more water in the urinary tract, the less concentrated will be the crystals, which allows them to A) not form into blockage-causing uroliths; and 2) facilitates the process of dissolving them, generally. I'm sure you get that bit. But I'm at the burbling stage of drinking Bartles & James coolers. Now, if you are in fact dealing with struvite crystals, the best prescription/veteriary food that I am aware of is the IAMS cannned Veterinary Formula Urinary S/Low pH. The ingredients label does not make me run screaming from it in the same way that its opposite number at Hill's does. Be aware that the active ingredient that acidifies urine is an amino acie supplement, dl methionine. I know of a few OTC supplements available in pet stores which have this ingredient included, but I am not aware of any brand of better quality food (ie the ones that do not make a person want to yell, "they want me to PAY to feed this shit to my pets? Are their companies run by a sack of crazed weasels?") which have this added. Err, to be specific, that's canned food. I kinda remember a few dry foods a few years ago that had it. Doesn't mean there aren't any, but it does mean that to find it you may end up standing around more than one pet store, reading dozens of labels. I do not think it is a crazy idea to feed your cat a high quality canned food, and supplement on the side with either something OTC that has dl methionine in it, or to request a prescription of pills from your veterinarian. If your vet. will not cooperate with such a plan, it may well be time to consider finding another vet who isn't so far behind the times with regard to the healthful properties (or lack thereof) of dry fooods.

Here is an article that can tell you a heck of a lot more about urinry tract issues in cats than I can. In fact it will probably tell you more than your veterinarian will. [link] It was posted in a threaded forum. It has a number of citations at the end of the article (scientific studies and whatnot). Keep scrolling down until you see those cites. Unfortunately, because it was longer than the limit for individual posts in tha tforum, the author had to post it in several pieces, and some of the subsequent comments got mixed in with the posts containing the article. Hope it helps.

had my throat stabbed today. (Injection through the front to reach the top of the spine in back

aaaahhhhhhhh fucking hell. There's not enough valium in the world for me to be able to do that while conscious.

agree with smonster, that was an excellent response.

I leave glasses of water on the bathroom sinks. Both the cats drink out of those more often than out of their water bowl. Leo will sit on the sink when he can't reach the water anymore and cry until I come fill it up.

Dear one, you don't have to lie and say you feel something you don't. It's ok to say non-committal things like "thanks for taking the time to try to encourage me". It's also ok to not magically feel better just because someone makes encouraging noises at you. Or... well... there are people out there, that what they say to encourage others is more about them than it is about the person needing encouragement - to them, you might want to pretend, just to get them out of your hair.

Andi is so, so wise.

aaaahhhhhhhh fucking hell. There's not enough valium in the world for me to be able to do that while conscious.

Really not as bad as it sounds. He does a lidocaine injection first and the only pain is one tiny sting when the lidocaine is injected and another tiny sting when the main needle goes in and is pushed through to the back. The nurse always has to wipe sweat off the doctors forehead. I joke with him that the injection is a lot more stressful for him than for me. Although I guess there is trauma at a deeper level I don't notice, which is probably why I'm so tired to rest of the day when I have this. (And the doctor warned me the first time I had this that I should arrange a ride home cause I would not be safe after. So apparently some trauma is expected. I guess I'm just really really good at denial.)

Baby food chicken is palatable and comes in a conveniently small size.

Gerber's Stage 2. Comes in beef, chicken and turkey. At her pickiest, Kittenish noms it every time.

Really not as bad as it sounds.

It's not the actual pain, it's the thought of what's happening. Also, needles.

My friend is collecting pet treat recipes. Here's one that sounds good but has not been tested by us.

3 jars baby food, beef or chicken (2.5 oz each) 1/4 cup dry milk powder 1/4 cup wheat germ, cream of wheat, or rice flour

Combine ingredients, mix well. Roll into small balls, flatten slightly, bake 15 minutes.

Alas, the cats are picky and usually don't like the home baked pet treats we've tested on them, but all the dogs have been very enthusiastic. Obviously they are better pets, but I am too old to change my kitty lovin' ways now.

It's not the actual pain, it's the thought of what's happening. Also, needles.

We all have stuff like that. Mine is large unleashed growling dogs.

It's not the actual pain, it's the thought of what's happening. Also, needles.

::clinks tea glass with Zen's::

Very Pleased With Self Department: I have just harvested 5 different types of lettuce from my container garden. I have tomato plants taller than me, so there will be plenty of tomatoes later, if the weather ever gets warmer and less windy. Finally I have turned the wasteland of lava rock that came with the house into something beautiful, useful and enjoyable.

Next Ima want a koi pond and a pony farm.