Advice on chronic urinary problems..

[Grace]

Grady had an episode with hematuria and frequency back in May. After 2 separate urinalysis, X-rays and an ultrasound, he was diagnosed with both kinds of crystals. Tried him on almost every prescription diet on the market - he wouldn't go near any of them.

The important thing is giving them lots of fluids. So he gets regular canned food, to which we add about 2 cc of water for every feeding. We even give him water with a syringe - just squirt it in his mouth throughout the day.

Catty1 also suggested cranberry powder. That's been a blessing. I give him approximately 50mg each day - mixed in with his food. I think he likes it. And it did clear up the hematuria.

I know he should be on a special diet - but he is supposed to avoid stressful situations, and that food was a big stress to him.

[JustineNYC]

This is my little patient Irwin....



Good news is he will eat anything, so whatever food they give me, he'll eat for sure and I can mix it with water no problem. Its just a matter of finding a food that wont make him sick.

Im curious, does anyone feed dry to their cats with urinary problems? I read to avoid dry food. Are the crystals ever really gone? Or when you have a cat like this, is it more about minimizing crystals and just trying to flush him out as much as possible.

I really hope the food switch will work. The vet said the S/O food neutralizing the urine. This has been a long battle. This all seems like a band aid over a gushing wound, and we havent gotten to the bottom of it yet.

I asked the vet what is the treatment if this is a chronic thickening of the bladder wall type thing he explained, and he said diet change and maybe low doses of anti inflammatories here and there. That doesnt sound like a 'cure'

The doctor also gave me supplements. He said some people believe the glucosamine helps with cases like this. Its called "Synovi feline" andits a joint care supplement powder.

Thanks for your posts and well wishes!!!

[catnapper]

Pouncer eats dry and wet. I give the wet because he simply won't drink enough throughout the day otherwise. I would prefer no wet food because it causes such a mess with the other cats in the house -- you can't give one cat wet food and not the others. You also can't give one cat different food than the others, so they all eat prescription food. And yes, the prescription food makes a HUGE difference. I noticed whenever I tried to save $20 a month by not giving prescription food, the following month I got a $250 vet bill because opuncer got sick.

You patient looks like mine

[Catlady711]

Most cats, particularly males tend to have crystals in their urine. Most of the time it doesn't cause any problems, but once in a while it can. Things like stress, Ph balance upset, food changes, infections etc. can cause things to go haywire.

Did the vet that did the urinalysis happen to mention anything about the leukosites (sp?) or Ph balance? Leukosites tend to show infection, and an off Ph balance can lead to infections or stones. Antibiotics would take care of infections and there are meds to help with the Ph balance. My Cami takes one called MethioForm tabs.

There are two types of crystals, one can be dissolved with a special diet and the other can't. The one that can't is the Oxilate crystals. Did your vet specify which crystals your kitty has? http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body...er_stones.html

At our hospital we use both Hills C/D and Royal Canin S/O with similar success, it's just a matter of which food the cats prefer. You're fortunate that your cat isn't picky. The pet store urinary foods do seem to have some effect on minor urinary problems, but major problems like your cat has requires a special diet which while more expensive will do a better job.

Wet food and plenty of water do help to keep things flushed out. Adding a pet water fountain may help encourage your cat to drink more water as well as using more canned food to add water to the diet.

There has been research into using glucosamine supplements with urinary problems and research suggests it helps. We do use that at our hospital as well although ours is Cosaquin. While I can't say for certain exactly what percent it helps with the problem, it doesn't have bad side effects, and has the added benefit of helping joints stay healthy as the cat ages.

Anytime there is an infection or irritation in the bladder the lining of it will be thicker, and may always be even after the problem gets resolved because of scar tissue.

As a precaution you may want to take regular urine samples to your vet, say like once a month for a while then maybe twice a year once things settle down. That way you are more likely to catch a problem before it gets bad.

In some cases cats can have cronic problems to which no one knows exactly how to 'cure' it. Best thing in those situations is to manage the symptoms as they pop up. I'm sure your vets are just as frustrated as you are with the whole situation with your kitty. Their job is to help animals and they also get frustrated when they can't fix everything.

I hope your vets can find the right food/med combo that helps your kitty from having frequent flare ups. Good luck.

[Jessika]

I'm very surprised they did manual expression when your cat obviously has large crystals... that can easily cause blockage and rupture the bladder Males especially block VERY easily. Poor baby

Though I don't normally recommend it, Science Diet does have good veterinary formulas for urinary problems as well as Purina too. Sorry I can't be of much help other than that!

[JustineNYC]

I'm very surprised they did manual expression when your cat obviously has large crystals... that can easily cause blockage and rupture the bladder Males especially block VERY easily. Poor baby

Though I don't normally recommend it, Science Diet does have good veterinary formulas for urinary problems as well as Purina too. Sorry I can't be of much help other than that!

Im not sure if that was his intent. They all seem to feel the bladder during the exam, I guess for stones? The vet today laid him down and felt his bladder too. That day we got a little surprise.

Today the bladder was empty.

I saw what it looked like on the table, just like sand.....I cant imagine what that feels like to pass that. Ouch.

[JustineNYC]

Most cats, particularly males tend to have crystals in their urine. Most of the time it doesn't cause any problems, but once in a while it can. Things like stress, Ph balance upset, food changes, infections etc. can cause things to go haywire.

Did the vet that did the urinalysis happen to mention anything about the leukosites (sp?) or Ph balance? Leukosites tend to show infection, and an off Ph balance can lead to infections or stones. Antibiotics would take care of infections and there are meds to help with the Ph balance. My Cami takes one called MethioForm tabs.

There are two types of crystals, one can be dissolved with a special diet and the other can't. The one that can't is the Oxilate crystals. Did your vet specify which crystals your kitty has? http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body...er_stones.html

At our hospital we use both Hills C/D and Royal Canin S/O with similar success, it's just a matter of which food the cats prefer. You're fortunate that your cat isn't picky. The pet store urinary foods do seem to have some effect on minor urinary problems, but major problems like your cat has requires a special diet which while more expensive will do a better job.

Wet food and plenty of water do help to keep things flushed out. Adding a pet water fountain may help encourage your cat to drink more water as well as using more canned food to add water to the diet.

There has been research into using glucosamine supplements with urinary problems and research suggests it helps. We do use that at our hospital as well although ours is Cosaquin. While I can't say for certain exactly what percent it helps with the problem, it doesn't have bad side effects, and has the added benefit of helping joints stay healthy as the cat ages.

Anytime there is an infection or irritation in the bladder the lining of it will be thicker, and may always be even after the problem gets resolved because of scar tissue.

As a precaution you may want to take regular urine samples to your vet, say like once a month for a while then maybe twice a year once things settle down. That way you are more likely to catch a problem before it gets bad.

In some cases cats can have cronic problems to which no one knows exactly how to 'cure' it. Best thing in those situations is to manage the symptoms as they pop up. I'm sure your vets are just as frustrated as you are with the whole situation with your kitty. Their job is to help animals and they also get frustrated when they can't fix everything.

I hope your vets can find the right food/med combo that helps your kitty from having frequent flare ups. Good luck.

Thank you, your post was very informative!

I dont remember what kind of crystals they were unfortunately, with the urine analysis because the last one was Feb of 2007. I just remember the doctor telling me he had to be on the CD diet and I was happy that it seemed to work and a few months past where we actually did not need an emergency visit.

Irwin is already on a special diet and I can see the crystals in his urine (which is very dark btw) so that would sound like their Oxilate crystals then? The crystals not helped by diet? Unfortunately my boys arent water drinkers. My females fight over the water bowl and if its empty they will sit in the sink to give you a hint.

This is a new hospital we went to today that has treated some very ill cats Ive taken in off the street so I know their good. They did a urine analysis today and I get the results Thursday so Im sure Ill know more then. He said once we get a look at that, we can go forward with how to treat him. In the meantime he is on antibiotics, anti inflammatories and the supplements. Ill probably end up going back Thursday to pick up the S/O.

The doctor who used to treat Irwin retired so today I gave the new vet the whole story and told him to start from scratch and lets find out whats going on with this cat.

New doctor, new plan, so well see.

[Jessika]

There are actually a large number of different type of crystals, but the two most common being struvite and calcium oxalate. Most, if not all crystals, can be eliminated by specific dietary changes, so the best advice I can give is discuss with your vet about which specific crystals he has and then what diets work best to eliminate those types of crystals.

Calcium oxalate crystals are also common artifacts found from refrigerating urine samples (found some in my dogs in lab the other day from a sample a little over an hour old that I'd refrigerated for a little less than 30 mins), but can have diagnostic value as well. Since you say they obtained the sample from a manual expression and you can see them in his urine when he urinates it isn't likely they are artifact.

[Grace]

Irwin is already on a special diet and I can see the crystals in his urine (which is very dark btw so that would sound like their Oxilate crystals then? The crystals not helped by diet? Unfortunately my boys arent water drinkers. My females fight over the water bowl and if its empty they will sit in the sink to give you a hint.

His urine could be dark because it is concentrated, or that could be old blood. His urine should look like yours does - clear, pale yellow.

[columbine]

I'd suggest a second opinion, with urinalysis done by an in-house lab, which would probably mean bringing him to a major veterinary hospital that doesn't have to send the samples out for testing elsewhere.

Your vet needs to know what kind of crystals they are to know what to do.

In the meantime, there are a lot of different ways to encourage a cat to drink more water and help dissolve the crystals. A lot of cats really enjoy drinking from a water fountain that keeps the water moving. My little scaredycat was actually afraid of a fountain, but turned out to vastly prefer drinking from a glass bowl in the living room to drinking from a steel bowl in the kitchen! You just never know.

He now also gets a joint supplement called Cosequin, that turns out to also be good for urinary complaints - and HUMANS were the "guinea pigs!" Some smart doctor noticed that female humans who took glucosamine and chondroitin (the ingredients of Cosequin) for their joints stopped having such frequent urinary problems. It turns out that glucosamine/chondroitin strengthens the protective glycosaminoglycan (GAG) inner layer of the bladder and urethra, so cats who've had urinary problems in the past often get joint supplements because they help with that too.

Love, Columbine

[Anikaca77]

I don't know much about chronic urinary problems but I hope this new doctor will help your baby out. He reminds me of my Anika. Prays being sent that things will work out.