AJ has blood in his urine :-(

[JBalways2000]

He would not touch his food last night at all. eventually we had to give him a little tin of hi life pate just to know he had eaten. its so awkward because we cant even just leave it down for him so he will eventually eat on his own because the other two would have it gone on him! tried again with his breakfast and he wouldnt eat it again but this time we didnt give him anything else thinking that eventually he will get hungry enough(and feeling very mean thinking that way, but as they say you have to be cruel to be kind) anyway he has just eaten another half of a pouch so we shall just have to be strong tonight if he wont eat it and not give in even if it means him waking us in the middle of the night(which he did anyway lol)

Nearly rang the vets in frustration but we will persevere with it for now. Im pretty positive that Raven was exactly the same when he first started needing this diet too so im sure AJ will get used to it and hopefully it will just be short term anyway*crosses fingers!*

He has been very playful this morning so he must still be feeling well

[angieh]

It is very hard to be "cruel to be kind" JB - but I am sure that you are doing the right thing to persevere. Probably a good thing to give him something else if all encouragement fails because he does need to eat and it will keep his interest in eating keen. Good luck!

[JBalways2000]

Originally Posted by angieh

It is very hard to be "cruel to be kind" JB - but I am sure that you are doing the right thing to persevere. Probably a good thing to give him something else if all encouragement fails because he does need to eat and it will keep his interest in eating keen. Good luck!

Yes we were just talking and we are going to give him a mix of his normal wet food and the prescription diet for dinner tonight. maybe if we try to wean him over the way you are supposed to any other time when changing the diet then it might work better. we shall keep him off the dry food still though.

Poor AJ is looking very sorry for himself now-he heaved a little while ago and then sat slopping his chops for a while after so im wondering if changing his diet so quickly is giving him a belly ache

[JBalways2000]

Just a little update on AJ. He is now eating the food much better, though not as well as I hoped he would be! i guess because the boys are used to going back and forth to the food dish all day whenever they want for dry food they are finding it hard to eat a full meal in one sitting. we are trying to get them all used to having 3 meals a day(with Rhino and Hernie having a little dry kibble mixed in with their wet) but AJ is proving the most difficult! He's not too bad during the day as he tends to have his morning meal and then sleep the rest of the day but in the evening and during the night hes being a little terror! We will feed him and he will leave food and less then an hour later he will cry for food again and when we give it him he eats! its so frustrating, especially when he is waking us during the night.

It seems the wet food is only keeping him full for a couple of hours before he is hungry again We are giving him 2-3 pouch's a day but as i said he wont eat a full pouch in one sitting so he ends up having a few smaller meals during the evening and night, and trust me its not our doing

I guess the main thing is hes finally eating it! We tried him with the Alutray version which for future reference for anyone reading this, the alutray is classed as a pate type version without any gravy etc it seems quite dry and AJ certainly prefers the pouch's to this though he will eat it eventually too.

We are due to bring a urine sample up in just over a weeks time so i guess i shall give you all another update then! Im so hoping there are no crystals present-he has been going the toilet perfectly for his wee's and not a drop of blood in sight! unfortunately he now isnt pooping very much, and all the boys poop stinks something terrible thanks to the new wet diet but il live with it if it helps my boy!

[angieh]

At least he's eating, JB. I'm not sure what you can do about him getting hungry at night and waking you up for more food - perhaps he will adjust. After all it's not been that long. Good news that his wee is blood free. Fingers crossed for his test in a fortnight.

[JBalways2000]

Great news everyone! We had AJ's urine sample results back yesterday and they were completely normal-not a crystal in sight! Im over the moon about this Spoke with the vet this morning and he was pleased too. I decided to ask if we could give AJ a small amount of the dry version of the prescription diet just in the evening so we can try and get a good nights sleep! We havnt had a full nights sleep since he started this diet now, obviously its completely worth it but i think if he had a little dry food before bed time it would keep him fuller for longer. Anyway the vet said that aslong as it was kept as just a small part of his diet then he couldnt see the harm, but to just retest his urine again in about 3 weeks to make sure the dry food is agreeing with him. So fingers crossed the dry food doesnt upset things! Im just so so happy A couple of days ago i was feeling very low because we have a few other fur babies of the rattie variety that arent very well and now we have this good news and the ratties are all doing much better too Looks like Raven is being a perfect Guardian Angel

[angieh]

That is such good news JB. Please pass on a cuddle to AJ!

[Shelley123]

Great news for AJ and the Ratties, thanks for the update

[dandysmom]

Very pleased to hear the good news, JB!!

[yola]

Really happy to be reading this. Hopefully that'll be the end of the worries for a while.