Sunny's Had A Relapse

[krazyaboutkatz]

Hi, most of you know that Sunny is currently having some urinary tract problems. His urinalysis was normal except for a small amount of blood that was found and his urine culture was negative which means he doesn't have a bacterial infection. He has what is called idiopathic cystitis which is inflammation of the bladder for reasons unknown.

He's still on clavamox which I don't understand the reason for because he doesn't have a typical UTI. I was also putting some animax cream on his pee pee area 2 times a day for 5 days because this had helped Storm. It's a steroid cream so I'm not supposed to use it for very long but after a few days it seemed to help him. I stopped giving this to him after Sunday evening and now he's started jumping in and out of his litter box again which started this morning.

I called my vet's office and the vet that had seen Sunny won't be in until 10am so he's supposed to call me at work. I want to know if there's any kind of anti-inflammatory medicine that I can give Sunny to help him. I'll be going out of town for a couple of days starting Aug.23rd and I need to resolve this problem before I go. I've heard that cosequin might help even though it's mainly used for arthritis and joint pain. Has any one else heard about this? Does any one else know of any other kind of medicine that I can give Sunny for his problem? I hate seeing him like this.

Thanks in advance.

[Lightning SuperCat]

Nothing like this has ever happened, so I have no idea. I'm sending LOTS and LOTS of prayers and (((((HUGS))))) to you and Sunny. I hope he gets better soon!

[NoahsMommy]

Oh no, Tracey! This has to be so worrisome for you. ((hugs))

I'd give the Cosequin a try. I had Livvy on it and it seemed to really help her bladder issues. The good part is its not a prescription...more of a suppliment, so it wont hurt Sunny.

I hope the vet can offer more help.

Take care,
Kelly

[Cinder & Smoke]

Originally posted by krazyaboutkatz

Hi, most of you know that Sunny is currently having some urinary tract problems. His urinalysis was normal except for a small amount of blood that was found and his urine culture was negative which means he doesn't have a bacterial infection. He has what is called idiopathic cystitis which is inflammation of the bladder for reasons unknown.

Did the Vet mention there being a Urinary BLOCKAGE?

Boots and several other *MALE* PT PurrKids have suffered from
BLOCKAGES between the blader and the great outdoors ...

Symptoms include frantic "attempts to pee" with nothing produced
in the sand box - sometimes with vocal distress cries.

Vet can palpate (feel) for a full blader and decide what to do from there.
A FULL Blader and inability to empty it is a serious problem needing
rapid Vet intervention.

Good Luck, Sunny!!

/s/ Phred

[catmandu]

WE ARE PRAYING,FOR POOR SUNNY,TO BE WELL,AND THAT YOU CAN FIND,A MEDICATION,WHERE HE WILL BE PEEING SOON,AND WILL NOT BE,IN PAIN.
AND I AGREE,THAT THAT,IS A TERRIBLE FEELING,TO SEE YOUR COMPANION ANIMAL,IN PAIN.

[Glacier]

This is pretty much what Pete has. Pete had repeated blockages for no apparent reason, until he had his PU surgery. The surgery stopped the blocks, but the underlying condition is still there.

Has Sunny had an ultrasound of his bladder? Sometimes that will help identify issues that are missed in urine testing.

Pete used to get injections of Adequan--basically Cosequin in liquid form. It's used for dogs with athritis. There is no proof that it helps cats with FLUTD, however, it does seem to. It helped Pete immensely. Immediately following his surgery, he got an injection once a week. That went on for about 4 months. Then he went to bi-weekly, eventually monthly. He's been off it for about a year now (surgery was 3 years ago) My vet told me there were no negative side effects and if nothing else, Pete should have very healthy joints!

Cranberry extract sometimes helps too-just like it does for women. I buy the caplets and crack them open, sprinkle the stuff on their food. It can't hurt, even if it doesn't help!

You might also want to ask about using amitriptylene. It's a triphasic anti-depresant in humans. Pete was on it for awhile. My vet thought that Pete's problems could be stemming from stress and emotional issues. The ami kept him calm and made him more relaxed. I didn't keep him on it for long as it changed his personality too much for my liking, but I've been told that Pete did not have a typical reaction to the drug. Apparently for most cats, they react much less. Pete was a space cadet on it!

How old is Sunny? Pete started blocking as a very young cat, barely 2. He's almost 6 now. He appears to be outgrowing the problem. My vet told me that he often sees this when a cat develops idopathic urinary tract problems--the cat outgows it as they age. This seems to be happening for Petey. Twicket also had urinary tract problems as a young cat that had stopped by the time I got him.

What kind of food does Sunny eat? My vet recommended a strictly wet food diet for Pete with no fish flavors. Pete did not agree. So we comprimised....Hill's C/D dry is left out for him and everyone else to graze on. The other cats get some wet food every morning. Pete gets half a can of Hill's C/D minced chicken at the same time and a bit more in the evenings. Sometimes the urinary tract problems can be aggravated by lack of water intake. Wet food can help solve that part.

Good luck. FLUTD is a frustrating condition to deal with, especially when no cause can be identified.

[catland]

I don't have any advice but it sounds like others here have been able to help. Good luck Sunny - we'll be thinking of you.

[jenluckenbach]

I have not had that exact problem, so all I can say is best of luck getting Sunny some relief.

[sirrahbed]

I wish I had a helpful suggestion but just wanted to offer my sympathy and hope you can find something helpful for Sunny!

[catnapper]

No Advice here, just plenty of good wishes.

[rg_girlca]

I'm sorry that I am unable to give any advice either, but sending prayers and positive thoughts for Sunny.
((((((HUGS)))))) for you.

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

So sorry to hear Sunny isn't getting better. Unfortunately the only time "I" had a UTI that didn't respond to antibiotics it was because Peanut had a tumor. I sure hope that's not the case with Sunny.

I know Tigris (Barbara) went through an, I think she called it "idiopathic" UTI, meaning they really couldn't find a reason for it. Hopefully she'll respond here with some tips, or maybe if you search the Health section...

[jazzcat]

Poor Sunny. I know this must be so frustating for you both.

I hope something can be done to give him relief - and not too evasive.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Thanks for all of your concerns about Sunny. To answer some of your questions, Sunny will be 5 years old on Aug. 25th and his urinalysis didn't have any crystals in it and he wasn't blocked either. He's just been peeing very small amounts since this morning. This evening I haven't noticed him jumping in and out of the litter boxes very much but I also haven't been home very long either. I'm working very long hours this week because the lady I usually work with is on vacation. I've been getting home around 9pm the last 2 nights and 10 pm on Monday night. I've been stressed out and I know that my furkids have picked up on this.

I never got to talk to the vet that saw Sunny last week. I had to call again at 1:30pm because no one had called me back. At 4pm a man from a pharmacy called me to tell me that the vet had called in a prescription for Sunny and that it's in liquid form and they'll make it tuna flavored so hopefully he'll like it. He said it's a blood pressure medicine or something like that and it will help Sunny pee. I asked him if it was an anti-inflammatory and he said it wasn't. He'll be on this for 5 days and I'm picking it up tomorrow morning. I don't know if he needs it 1 time a day or 2 times a day. It's also very expensive and will cost $48.50 so I sure hope that it will work.

I really wish that I been able to discuss this with the vet before he called it in. This is one thing that I don't like about the place where I've been taking my furkidsis that when I call them and need to speak to a vet they either never return my calls or it takes all day for them to finally return my calls. I know that they're busy but you'd think that they could take a few minutes out of their day to call you back.

I've been feeding my furkids Innova dry and wet food mixed together and I also add some water to it. They also have 3 watering holes to drink from which I clean every day. The Innova Lite wet food that I give them has cranberries in it and is supposed to help cats that are prone to UTI's. It also has glucosamine in it and so does the Innove Lite dry food. The ash content and magnesium levels are also very low. It does have herring meal in it though. I really don't think that the food is causing Sunny's problem. I still think it's stress related. I'm also probably going to to buy some Cosequin for Sunny because I don't think that this could hurt him. I may also start giving it to Storm too.

Thanks again everyone.

[Barbara]

It's exactly what Tigris has- unknown reason.

The reasons could be viruses that are not identified yet or an autoimmune process. If you search for iFLUTD in Google you will find links.

In top of that it is easy to get a bacterial superinfection. (Super meaning "on top of it"). So you will also find UTI bacteria. This is why usually antibiotics are given to kill them.

In the case of iFLUTD you don't have crystals. Thus changing of the food is not needed as all the UTI food prevents the forming of crystals.

What you do is trying to keep the inflammation down whose cause is not known. Usually this is done by cortisone. In addition a lot of drinking is necessary so that the urinary tract is rinsed properly.

In the case of Tigris this worked out nicely. Our vet informed us still that it may happen the problem comes back. Then we would try the same medication. She says she knows cats who have this problem once a year but are fine the other times.

Tigris is now ok for 8 months. I hope it'll stay like that as long as possible and wish Sunny the same


Edit: I add a text from a website about the iFLUTD:

"Idiopathic Lower Urinary Tract Disease
Although cats with lower urinary tract disease behave in similar ways, the potential causes are multiple. Urinary tract infections (bacterial, fungal, parasitic, and perhaps viral), urinary stones, urethral plugs, cancer, and other disorders can affect the lower urinary tract of the cat. Unfortunately, in spite of extensive diagnostic tests, the cause of over half of the cases of feline lower urinary tract disease remains elusive; such disorders are called idiopathic feline lower urinary tract disease (IFLUTD). Cats suffering from IFLUTD make frequent attempts to urinate, probably as a result of bladder discomfort, and often are found to have blood in their urine. Dietary management (see below) has reduced the likelihood that cats with IFLUTD will develop a urethral obstruction, but there is no evidence that these "special" diets have reduced the incidence of idiopathic feline lower urinary tract disease itself.

Veterinarians have recently noted many similarities between this common form of feline lower urinary tract disease and a bladder disorder affecting humans called interstitial cystitis (IC). A psychologically stressful event often precedes the onset of lower urinary tract discomfort due to interstitial cystitis in humans. Interestingly, in one study, a recent weather change or a move to a new environment—both potentially stressful events to a cat—were factors related to the onset of signs related to IFLUTD.

A number of therapeutic methods have been attempted, but none are uniformly successful in the treatment of either IC in humans or IFLUTD in cats. Studies are ongoing to determine whether the human and the feline disorder are truly the same, and whether therapies helpful for humans will be of benefit to cats as well. Thankfully, most cases of IFLUTD resolve within a short period of time, even without treatment."