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The Drama-Filled Life of Benjamin

Featured diary?! And also-- MOMMA, HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?

First off, I would like to thank the Catster people for making me a featured diary on Friday. I'd also like to say hi to my new friends!

That aside, I am mad at my Momma. She and the male human went away for the weekend for some sort of marriage preparation retreat, whatever that means. I wouldn't have minded, except that they had me BOARDED at the VET'S OFFICE. Momma said it was for my own good, and that she wanted to make sure that I was peeing all right while she was away so somebody had to watch me, but it was AWAY from home and there were dog smells and cat smells and even a horse smell. UGH!

Timothy got to stay home on his own. Momma says that's because he isn't likely to get sick, and he doesn't mind using the automatic feeding dish. He acted very happy to see me when I got home-- he licked my head and rubbed up against me-- but I know the little punk probably threw a party while I was gone.

Eww, what is this crap in my bowl?!

So my human mom is trying to switch me over to a new food. She says it is "raw" and that it is more like what I would eat if I was a lion out on the savanna-- but I am NOT a lion and I DO NOT like it.

It is a funny texture and I have to chew at it. And then I threw up-- twice today! Mom says my body probably needs time to get used to it, but I don't like it, and it seems so unfair-- Timothy is being switched to it too, and he hasn't had any problems at all.

If it were up to me, I would just eat curly fries all day. They are my natural prey-- if anyone leaves a box of them unattended, I make a serious dent in their population.

Welcome to my diary!

My name is Ben, and I'm a big kitty with a lot of issues. I fret a lot over little things, and I have a heap of health problems. Luckily I landed myself with a human who works as a veterinary nurse, so she does a pretty good job of keeping me healthy even though we feel as though my entire life is a tight-rope walk.

I suffer from something called FLUTD, which causes me to have chronic urinary tract issues. I have chronic cystitis, which means that my bladder becomes very inflamed, causing it to hurt a lot when I urinate. My urine also has a tendency to become much too alkaline and as a result crystals form. Twice these crystals have blocked me, making it so that that I was unable to urinate. It is a very serious medical condition and one that can be life-threatening-- the last time that it happened, I had to be rushed to the emergency clinic in the middle of the night the day before my Momma was scheduled to leave on a weekend trip! Poor Momma-- but she says she is glad it happened then instead of a few hours later when she would have been away, or I probably would have died!

Most kitties are able to manage FLUTD with dietary changes, but we have a problem there as well. I have very severe allergies, including an entire list of food allergies. I am allergic to chicken, corn, most types of freshwater fish, tuna, wheat, venison, pork, turkey and duck. Whenever I eat something that I should not have, my poor nose turns bright red, my face poofs up, and I'll begin chewing on my paws even to the point of making them bleed! Every single prescription diet designed for FLUTD cats had something in it that triggers my allergies, so diets like SO and C/D just will not work for me!

Luckily for me, my Momma and my vet have figured out another way to keep me healthy. I am on dietary supplements that acidify my urine, and I eat a low-allergen diet that keeps my allergies in check. So far I'm doing pretty well, but the vet worries that as I age, this may not work forever. Acidifiers can cause kidney problems in kitties, and we don't want that to happen to me. Momma says we'll keep a close eye on my bloodwork and when it comes time to stop the supplements, we will figure something else out. Maybe by then SOMEBODY in the petfood world will make a prescription diet for kitties with my problem that doesn't have so many common allergens on its ingredients list!

I live in Washington state with my Momma, her fiance, a Siamese-mix cat named Timothy who I get along with pretty well, and a naughty little dog named Penny that I STILL can't believe my Momma brought home.