BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Cats Atta Cat Warning

Hi All! I am the proud owner of 3 wonderful kitties...Samantha,Boo (Blue Pt. Markings)and Satin a beautiful Black Kitty. Boo and Satin are males and of course Samantha is a little girl! They are 3 1/2 years old. Since they have been old enough to eat solid food I have fed them Meow Mix and just recently (the last 2 Very large bags)was feeding them Atta Cat. In the last 2 weeks both my males have been to the Vet diagnosed with F.L.U.T.D. It is a disease of the urinary tract that is sometimes related to the buildup of crystals, leading to the inflammation of the lining of the urinary bladder and urethra. Satin had the non-obstructed form that was treated w/o surgery but he was very ill. Boo on the other hand was completely obstructed and had surgery removing a portion of his [censored]. This still did not work and I have just picked him up having gone through the Dr. completely removing his [censored],cutting and suturing his urethra at a point just below his anus. He is now a she! The cause? Their Dr. is absolutely convinced it was the Atta Cat...I'm not sure of the ingredient in it (I will find out)but it is linked to this disease and should be thrown out immediatly. F.L.U.T.D occurs more often in males as their urethra is much narrower. I found helpful info @ www.lbah.com/Feline/flutd.html I hope this saves at least one kitty from going through this terrible ordeal that my poor Boo has been through. Sharon

Wow - what a terrible episode! I have a female cat prone to crystals and bladder infections, and the only thing that has helped is putting her on a diet of prescription canned cat food only, mixed with some distilled water. She also is only allowed to drink distilled water (to the extent possible). Although the prescription food is a little pricier, I recommend it. Even the non-prescription brands that claim to be for "urinary track" problems make her sick.

I have an update on my cat with this condition. She just came down with another infection, and I took her to our new vet in Seattle. They want to put her anti-depressants (!!) because they think stress makes the urinary tract problems occur more often and makes them worse.

Our cat Sophie is very dominant, and she's always stressed out. Our other 4 pets are always pretty mellow, so she's definitely the most uptight.

We're going to try the anti-depressants and see what happens!