Idiopathic nonobstructive FLUTD

[columbine]

My Smudge has "idiopathic nonobstructive feline lower urinary tract disorder," which means that something gave him a scare and made him uncomfortable about peeing, and he clenched, making urination painful and difficult. He's had two three-day courses of meloxicam and prazosin, which worked like a charm but weren't long enough to bring the inflammation down, and now he's going into his third week of pain and fear. (I'm not doing so great either.) He can pee, but it hurts, and ends up all over the house, although he does use his box too. Has anyone here been in a similar situation? What did you and your vet do to get your kitty healthy again?

I should admit upfront that I'm not really interested in untested remedies that make somebody a lot of money but don't have anything but anecdotes to back them up.

Love, Columbine

[Lizzie]

Why is your vet allowing this to happen? What does he say when you tell him what Smudge is going through? I haven't had a cat with something exactly the same as Smudge, but similar conditions where they needed anti-spasm medication for a while and, while there were a few days when off the drug that the cat still have some problems, a few days was all. Smudge does not need to be in this much pain and distress, so if you vet won't do anything to help him, go to another.

[Laura's Babies]

I agree with Lizzie, I would get another opinion. That baby shouldn't have to suffer in that kind of pain..

[columbine]

Hmm - you may be right. I'm going to get on the phone tomorrow (Monday) and RIDE them (the one who totally blew me off last week, and her partner who was at least somewhat helpful) until I get some kind of help, and if I don't, it'll be the Yellow Pages.

Apparently it's a waiting game - the meloxicam (an NSAID) can eat up his insides if he's on it too long, and I don't know much about prazosin. But this is also an unusually stubborn case, and if it's left untreated, he CAN obstruct with all the inflammatory cells that his bladder's producing because of the pain.

This all started over a weekend, so I took him to the big 24/7 hospital, and they gave him the two too-short courses of medicine (the second when the first didn't clear it up), but then said they'd want to book him with a specialist - which, since he's not obstructed, would only mean more trauma for him.

Damn. He really likes Dr. O'Donnell and Dr. Gilbert, and I'd already chosen them over one in my own neighborhood who immediately decided I was a Crazy Cat Lady and needed to be communicated with in short, shouted words (I was wearing a hat at the time - I guess hat + cat = Crazy Cat Lady, and half deaf besides.) And he doesn't need to be stuffed into his carrier and terrified again - he just needs a little more medicine to give him time to heal. His bloods, urine, appetite, everything's fine except that he gets these clench/pain attacks, and in between he's his normal happy little self.

I did squirt a LOT of Feliway around the house yesterday, and we had our first uneventful day without meds, but it only bought us one day.

Love, Columbine

[columbine]

Chased Dr. Gilbert down (actually it wasn't that difficult) and she sent me to a compounding pharmaci$t for tramadol and dibenzyline. Quite the kick in the wallet, but once I get the little poofle to EAT the stuff (he's turning up his nose at the food I mashed it into at the moment - I'll try something smellier) I should have enough to get him well.

Meanwhile, all the horror stories I heard from the vets & other folks sent me scurrying for Photoshop and Cafepress, where you can now view (and even purchase) the bumper sticker I designed.

[Catty1]

I am using Feliway 2 -3 times a day. My Oscar was feral, tamed at about 2 1/2 years of age, and became a total sucky boy!

however, he is a tad high-strung, and a few months after I got a second kitty, he developed a UTI. One month on antibiotics, and he was left with the Idiopathic Cystitis (my vet was nice enough to use just two words! LOL)

Since Oscar LOVES plain yogurt, I checked with the vet about cranberry powder. He said 50mg a day, twice a day, was good, but not for more than 5 - 6 weeks.

Check with yours - but I think this REALLY helped Oscar!

hugs and I hope your baby is well soon!