Urinary tract issues - ongoing & frustrating

Just wondering if anyone knows of any good sources of information or a messaging board that is as great as this one is for diabetes, but the topic is Urinary tract issues.

A friend of mine has a cat, Wooster, that has had bladder infections, blood in his urine, crystals, blockage, the works.

After months of struggling, anti-biotics, special wet food from the vet, threats from the vet to cut off Wooster's penis so there'd be no more blockage, etc... things were getting better but it's a delicate balance.

The wet food from the vet is very expensive and Wooster isn't keen on it, very hard to get him to eat it. (if it smells as interesting as some of the wet vet food I got for Suzie and her diabetes, then no wonder...)

Since I've gotten so much wonderful help for my Suzie and her diabetes, am wondering if anyone knows of good links with info & tips, message boards, etc... on the topic of urinary tract, bladder, etc.. so I can hook up my friend and her cat Wooster with some good help & advice?

Thanks !

Maria

 

was an actual infection ever actually diagnosed? I had several vets tell me my cats had urinary infections when they actually had crystal issues.

I had two cats deal with urinary issues. First Eli, who was peeing around the house in secret, and sometimes it was bloody, until one day he finally peed in front of us (in the bed while we were in it). i was just at the point of trotting all of the cats down to the vet to figure it out so I was kinda thankful (DH wasn't though, it was his side of the bed) He had crystals, and was just about blocked. antibiotics were given (standard routine) and he was flushed. Put on "prescription" foods, then went on regular canned food (low carb) and did fine.

Jack then had issues. He is a little more sensitive then Eli is. He blocked. Twice. We realized he was having issues, and got him on the "prescription" food, but he blocked over the weekend anyway. Flushed, more ABs, more heartache. Put him on the "strong" stuff, then on the "regular" stuff, and then I tried to get him on the same food Eli was eating and he blocked again. Another round. At that point I had Em who was eating her diabetic diet. Jack and Eli eating their urinary diet, and the rest on dry. Which is when I read http://www.catinfo.org and asked if a raw diet would be ok for a cat with urinary issues. Dr. Lisa said of course (I was so naive at the time believing my vet who said food didn't matter - which if that was the case why was I feeding prescription foods??)

Got everyone on a raw diet, and the transformation was amazing. Em's numbers were ideal. Jack and Eli didn't have another issue.

Unfortunately Em decided she didn't want raw after a few weeks, but she was old and I wasn't going to fight it..

Anyway.. after a couple years of making my own food I didn't want to do it any more, so I started buying it. Well it was higher in carbs, and after a while Jack started showing issues. and finally started peeing in the tub. I took him to the vet and he had a very high urinary PH (it was 8.0 it should be between 6.0-6.5) and the vet gave me ABs even though no infection was detected, and she told me there was "no other option" then prescription food which I just couldn't believe.

So I read up more on holistic options. I am a member the yahoo group wholecathealth who are very versed in alternatives, and I bought some L Methionine* to help acidify Jack's urinary PH That helped him for a while, but I felt bad fixing an issue the food was causing, so I found a new brand of food. He seems to be doing fine on that (it's Bravo in case you are about to ask. I was feeding Oma's Pride, but I can't even come close to recommending that after what happened a while back and their pathetic reaction over my problems - another long story)

If it is an infection, It would be a good idea for the vet to do a culture and sensitivity to find out what kind of infection and get the right antibiotic to kill it off.

For inflammation, cornsilk or marshmallow will help there. Lots of reports say Glucosamine-chondroitin also helps (cosequin)

I've found that plant material is very alkalizing (a big health movement for humans) and will lead to a higher PH, so that needs to be as minimal as possible - even plant based protein sources. I've also found that the more water you can get the cat to drink the better to keep things flushed out and to keep crystals from concentrating and forming a blockage.


Connie



*Methionine is often used in cat foods to over come the alkalizing effects of plant material. Often they use a lower grade version of it, the dl which isn't as helpful. I recently read a bag of OTC dry food and it had it listed and I couldn't help but laugh. If you are going to use L Methionine, I would recommend you get some PH strips to test the urine of the kitty frequently so you don't over dose. Cats with severely acidic urine can form oxolate crystals / stones, which are much more difficult to deal with.

 

Thank you Connie !

I'll pass this on to my friend and encourage her to join the board !

Maria

 

Hi Maria,

Lots of good info from Connie.

Just to add, though, I have a cat now that is female with Interstitial Cystitis or Idiopathic Cystitis. No known causes sometimes why some cats get it, and others don't.

Does your friend have a multi cat household? Is Wooster a STRESSED out cat? My Ketchie is a very high strung cat, and this disease is more common in cats that seem to live in multi cat households, or eat dry food only and do not get enough water in their diet.

Since I switched Ketchie two years ago to all wet food (I use Fancy Feast for her) and she does drink from the faucet in my bathroom, she has done better. But, that is not always going to be a 100% cure all.

I had a cat, Rudder, whom I lost last year. He was almost 14 when he died, complications of diabetes, and most likely he had intestinal cancer. BUT, he was an FLUTD cat since he was young. He totally blocked at the age of 3 in 1998. He DID have the surgery (PUS) where his penis was cut and after that, he seemed to do better. But, I was rather ignorant at the time and believed that my vet knew best on what to feed him. Hill's W/D food. So for years, he ate mostly the dry W/D, and then developed diabetes.

Last year I lost my cat Proto, who was only 5, when he totally blocked. He suffered for over 8 months with different meds, trying to get wet food and water into him, but he started gaining a lot of weight when the vet put him on Amitryptiline (Elavil) and I do believe that he had been destined for all the problems he had since he was a kitten when I took him in. The vet could not save him last August 8, 2009, and I really felt horrible when he died. He was so young.

There is also a drug that can be compounded for these cats that sometimes have 'spasms' that cause issues with this disease. The drug is Phenoxybenzamine (Dibenzyline) that is used by some vets for this disease.

Your friend's cat, Wooster, may also need sub-q fluids, which I recently had to have given to my Ketchie. That helps flush out the bladder.

I belong to a Yahoo group that is for FLUTD cats, but there is barely ever anyone on that group that posts.

Please feel free to PM to me if you have any other questions.

Jean and Charcoal (GA)