Poor Seymour...urinary issues

[Jem]

HI!
So my husband decided to get a shop cat. He partnered with one of our local rescues and took in Seymour, he was recommended by the the rescue people because of his personality and what not. He is much more of a loner cat and was not doing well in a shelter environment. He was overstimulated and aggressive and even projected this towards people as well. You should see all the scars on his ears from his previous life...so sad.
So cue my husband taking him in...he's technically a foster cat right now, but we've had him for over a year at this point...although not "official" he's basically a foster fail.
Anyway, The day my husband brought him in, he settled SO WELL. Became a different cat basically overnight. We had to work on his overstimulation as he would bite...and quite hard too, but even that has pretty well stopped...the hard biting not the overstimulation.
Seymour seemed very happy as my husbands shop cat.
However...he unfortunately does have issues with urinary crystals, but that has been kept under control with diet. We did not know about it at the time we brought him in, so that was his first blockage, after a few months of my husband having him.
Then a few months later, he started to show signs of another blockage...this time, no crystals and no infection...so we got a cystitis diagnosis. It did make sense because the building where my husbands shop is, was undergoing really loud renovations.
So he was put on anti-inflammatories as well as an anxiety and pain medication.
I should also mention he's long haired and fat so he's not very good at cleaning himself "down there", so we also got a sanitary shave done as well.
At the time of the second blockage, my husband was "checking him out" because even with the medication, it seemed he was not getting better as fast as he should have (we've had experience with crystals and cystitis before) and noticed fur wrapped tightly around his penis, I guess the vets missed that at the visit. So he pulled on the fur and unraveled it all and by the next day, he was a whole new cat again...not quite back to normal but WAY better.
Cue today...it's been 3-4 months. My husband had to bring him back in again for yet another suspected blockage. Again, no crystals and no infection, but this time, the vet did notice that fur has again wrapped tightly around his penis. It has been removed and the vet said that the fur actually did cause a boo-boo on the underside of his penis this time, that is just starting to get infected.
The fur is actually the cause of his blockages! It's basically choking out his penis causing pain and limited flow once it gets tight enough.

So this brings me to my questions....
1) has anyone ever had this happen to them before? The vet was kinda in awe about the whole thing.
2) we will now have to keep his backside shaved at all times, but as mentioned before, he can get overstimulated very easily. He's getting better with brushings and nail clips but he will tell you when he's done and you better listen! So do you have any recommendations for a quiet and easy to use shaver for a long haired cat?
3) his blood work did show high blood sugar so we have to work (better) on him losing weight so he doesn't become diabetic...as per vet, he has to stay on the prescription food (which he doesn't love so we've mixed it with other wet foods...can't do that anymore) and we are being told no more treats...So, are there any diabetic safe treats that cats actually like to eat? and also diabetic/weight safe toppers to encourage him to eat his prescription food?

Sorry for the long post,
Thanks!
This is Seymour...the shop cat.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Oh my. Seymour is quite the handsome guy

Ok, I have a couple questions for you. Since the Vet said that the fur wrapped around his penis has been the cause of his issues, WHY does he need to be on prescription food? Does the Vet still think he has cystitis, or FLUTD, or at risk for crystals, or what? Next, what wet foods were you mixing the prescription food with that you feel is causing him to gain weight? Additionally, aside from treats, are you feeding him any dry food, even if 's prescription?

Feeding wet food is normally how we advise people to get their cats to lose weight. It worked in our household, and we had to convert four cats from free feeding on kibble to to scheduled meals of wet food only to make it happen, but it worked. Calories are the key to losing weight, and for cats, it's best of those calories come from protein, not grains, potatoes, rice, etc. For instance, you can look at the calories on cans of food and they vary vastly. Some 3 oz cans may have less than 60 calories, while others may have 90 plus. For a cat, that's a huge difference, especially if you are feeding several cans a day. As for treats, it's probably not the treats, but the number of treats given. With my overweight cat, I tossed a couple of treats to him and made him run and jump for them, which he actually enjjoyed doing. It gave him exercise along with the treats. And as I said, he just got maybe 2, sometimes 3. I would do treats the same way as food...high protein, no fillers. Something like Purebites 100% freeze dried chicken. One single ingredient - chicken. That's what I use for both treats and toppers, although not necessarily that brand.

 

[Jem]

does he need to be on prescription food? Does the Vet still think he has cystitis, or FLUTD, or at risk for crystals, or what?

risk of crystals as the first blockage was crystals.
I just got off the phone with my husband and asked him the same thing...I'm going to revisit this when things settle down to see if the prescription food will still be necessary moving forward.

what wet foods were you mixing the prescription food with that you feel is causing him to gain weight

He was fat when we got him so he's not gaining...just not loosing enough.
We would mix a variety of foods from Friskies to higher end stuff...unfortunately the not so great Friskies is what encouraged him the most, so that one was used the majority of the time...vet says that Friskies = high sugar...
Trust me, I understand it's not the greatest but we were/are dealing with multiple issues with this guy from a few behavior and different health things so we were kinda just taking it one thing at a time. We didn't want to stress him out too much considering the urinary stuff and the progress we made with his demeanor.

are you feeding him any dry food, even if 's prescription

Yes, prescription dry and wet. However, the vet (today) said to stop with the dry food for a while...
I understand the dry is not good for weight issues but because he wasn't eating the wet food, we did want to make sure he was eating. And of course...it's what the first vet wanted us to feed him due to the first blockage/crystals.
At the time...ensuring that the crystals dissolved and did not reform was more important than the weight.

I tossed a couple of treats to him and made him run and jump for them

We do that too. He actually loves to "chase and kill" his treats...prefers it, it seems, than just handing him one.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I think the Friskies pates aren't too bad. Kind of like Fancy Feast pates vs the gravies, etc. Of course, I'm guessing he likes the gravies!

Have you tried any Weruva or Soulistic (manufactured by Weruva, but a little less expensive) Totally different from Friskies but pretty high in protein.

I totally understand tackling one thing at a time

 

[Jem]

I should also mention that the vet who diagnosed the crystals (1st blockage) was an emerge vet...and not really our favorite vet around. Well, to be honest...I dislike her VERY much and think she's a twit, so I do question her diagnosis. But we had no choice as you don't mess with blockages and they were the vet on call. The second blockage we were able to get our vet, they diagnosed cystitis but still recommended we keep up with the prescription food. This third blockage is a 3rd vet, and although they still recommend we keep up with the food they did say no more dry (at least for now)...but because this is just the vet on call today, I will assume that he won't want to go completely against the "treatment plan" that our current vet recommended.

I've been debating switching all our cats to another vet clinic, it's a cat only clinic, but they are much farther out than where we go now...
Although I do like my vet (when I get her) our clinic we go to has several vets and you don't really get to pick who you see...especially if the need is more immediate rather than regular check up that can be booked well in advance. And since Covid they aren't the same as they used to be...IDK, It might just be me...I can't put my finger on it...it's just not the same.

 

[Jem]

Have you tried any Weruva or Soulistic

No, not yet. I'll keep those in mind when all this clears up and we are given the green light that we can start changing up his food.