Quote Originally Posted by Catlady711 View Post
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.