Mineral water is OK?(and a few more questions)

[calico]

Hello, I'm a new member and I'm excited to have joined! I have a simple question and a few more complicated ones.

First, is it in general okay to give my cats mineral water? What does it do thier urine Ph level? I know it's a bit technical but here's the complicated explanation for all of this.

My Calico cat has recently been diagnosed with a calcium oxilate stone in his bladder and had it removed. It was due to an acidic(low ph level)urine. So now he's on prescription food that does not have any acidifyers(which most cat food these days have). I also thought that mineral water may help make the urine less acidic because it normally raises the ph level in our blood (making it more alkaline). But I'm not sure if it's best to give it to them all the time. Can any one please tell me?

Then the next question is also related to this issue. Acidic urine can cause the calcium oxilate stones, but more alkaline (higher ph level) urine can cause crystals in the urinary tract (that's why there are acidifyers in many cat food now). How can I find a good middle level so that he won't develop either problem? Does any one know of any good tricks, tips?

Finally, the same calico has also been diagnosed with Colitis. He's lost 4 pounds in the past year! He has to be on Prednisone regularly which is a type of steroid. I'm not excited about this and wanted to know if there are any alternatives to steroids.
I know these are many questions at once, but even if anyone can reply to any one of these questions, I would totally appreciate it!!! As you can see, I have suddenly been bombarded with several problems with my calico and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed.

[macassie]

Welcome to the board. Wow. If you have a male calico, you have a very rare cat indeed!

I'm sorry, but I don't have any answers for you. Have you asked your vet about the mineral water?

I did have a kitty (Ghost Baby) that was on prednisone off and on for about a year. She had what we thought was IBD/IBS, but unfortunately, it turned out to be bowel cancer. I do believe however, that the steroids gave her more time and a better quality of life than she would have had without them. She was an elderly cat and we did have her heart checked (ultrasound by a specialist) before committing to the steroid therapy because she also had a slight murmur and we needed to make sure she could handle the therapy.

The prednisone would get things under control nicely, then we could wean her off of it until she started having problems again. However, her problem was more severe than colitis.

You also need to make sure your kitty stays hydrated. My vet showed me how to give Ghost Baby subcutaneous IV fluids and that helped her alot too. It's not hard to do and the immediate relief that it seemed to give her was amazing.

Talk to your vet and keep us posted on how your furkid is doing. Good luck!

[calico]

Thank you for your reply! I will ask the vet about mineral water. I started him on prednisone and he seems to be responding well. My vet told me that cats respond better and have less side effects compaired to dogs. I'll be taking him in for blood test every six months.

And yes he's a male calico. Somebody left him in one of the dorm rooms when I was at college. I found him in an empty room, abandoned, and feeding off of garbage. He seems more prone to health problems compaired to my other cat. I don't know if being a male calico has anything to do with that.


You talked about a cat you use to have. Do you have other cats now?
At one point I had five, but it got a little out of hand with the power struggle b/w them. So I have two now.

[macassie]

I still have 4 cats - Maybelline, Miss Emma, Indy and Smudge. And 2 dogs - Matilda and Cassie. Not enough pets as far as I am concerned! LOL!

Good luck with your kitty - keep us posted on how he's doing.