My 2-year-old male cat was taken to the vet in late February for what they called “sudden onset lameness”. Basically he was acting like he had a sore foot. After examining him, the vet found he actually had a bladder blockage and needed to be catheterised.

He stayed in the vet hospital for three nights. When he came home we were given Royal Canin Urinary S/O wet food and some pain relief.

For context, both of my cats hate wet food and usually refuse to eat it. He only licked a bit of the gravy from the urinary wet food and wouldn’t touch the rest. Because of that, we bought the same brand of Urinary dry biscuits the next day so he would at least eat something.

The following night we noticed signs that looked like another blockage. We checked his bladder the way the vet had shown us and it felt enlarged, so we took him to the emergency vet. He was blocked again, but it was caught early and they were able to manually express his bladder. We brought him home the same night with stronger pain medication and anti-anxiety medication.

The next day he was going to the litter tray very frequently and we noticed bleeding from his penis. We took him back to the vet again. This time I pushed for a UTI test, which confirmed he did have a urinary tract infection. They said he had been tested when he was first catheterised, so they believed the infection must have developed in the days afterwards. He was given a five-day course of antibiotics, and the pain relief and anti-anxiety medication were continued.

Now we are about two weeks later. The pain medication has stopped and the antibiotics have finished, but he is still on the anti-anxiety medication. He has continued to use the litter tray frequently, although his bladder hasn’t been enlarged.

Because we were concerned, we took him back to the vet. They said he was not blocked, but his bladder was inflamed and his urine suggested he either still had, or had developed, another UTI.

This leads to my question.

Because these have all been emergency visits, we have seen a different vet each time. Every other vet we spoke to said that if he refuses wet food, it is okay to keep him on the urinary dry biscuits and focus on increasing his hydration in other ways. We have gone from one water fountain for two cats to three fountains, and we also give him a small amount of bone broth every second day. I checked that with one of the vets and they said it was a good idea.

The last vet we saw was very blunt about it. He said all of my cat’s urinary problems are caused by dry biscuits and that we should remove all biscuits and force him to eat the prescription wet food. He told us cats will not starve themselves.

That doesn’t match my experience. My older cat once refused food to the point that her regular vet told me to give her the food she preferred because she was losing weight. At the time I had been trying to transition her from the food she ate before I adopted her to a higher quality brand.

After this last appointment I’m feeling like a neglectful and terrible pet parent.

Was the last vet right? Should I remove the dry food completely so he is forced to eat the wet food? I’ve also been told urinary issues can be triggered by stress, so I’m worried that forcing a food change could make things worse.

I’m feeling really unsure about what the right thing to do is.

Male cat sudden urinary issues