bladder infections

http://www.pacificcollege.edu/
scroll down to this paragraph... the other stuff is still interesting
Theory and Practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine

http://www.yinyanghouse.com/treatmen...ders_treatment
http://www.alternativemedicinechannel.com/tcm/

I will do a food search later .... most of what I wrote is what I figured out from the food chart ( works for humans too) and then consults and accupucture treatments with the holistic vet

Thanks.

I find that kinda stuff sometimes hard to believe 100%, but I think it's good to keep in mind.

Personally I've had maybe a dozen NAET treatments for my cat allergies (based off of chinese medicine and acupuncture). I was in pretty bad shape when we first got our cats a year ago. Normal allergy symptoms led to asthma, and it kept getting worse and worse. After those NAET treatments I've been a lot better. I very rarely have to take ashtma medicine or even antihistamines. Do I understand it? Not completely, but I can't argue with the results!

Originally Posted by wmarcello

Thanks.

I find that kinda stuff sometimes hard to believe 100%, but I think it's good to keep in mind.

Personally I've had maybe a dozen NAET treatments for my cat allergies (based off of chinese medicine and acupuncture). I was in pretty bad shape when we first got our cats a year ago. Normal allergy symptoms led to asthma, and it kept getting worse and worse. After those NAET treatments I've been a lot better. I very rarely have to take ashtma medicine or even antihistamines. Do I understand it? Not completely, but I can't argue with the results!

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Ditto .... I have got yin and yang down but the rest is a nod of the head and a trip to the store ....

I had both Kandie and Gigi both on Glucomine, chondrotin, Hyloronic acid and an herbal to control the jt issues( they are 9.5 yr old yorkie and nearly 19 yr old cat) .... Kandie is only on the Hyloronic acid and Gigi get s just the herbal since they both took to accupucture and eating off the cool to warm chart

I just wanted to add that the past 2-3 days Inka seems to be doing much, much better. Looks like she's on the mend.

Thanks everyone!

Inka ... keep getting better and stop scarring mom

Originally Posted by sharky

Inka ... keep getting better and stop scarring mom

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Haha dad too. Dad's the one on the message boards doin' the dirty work. Mom makes up for it and sooks the kitties when I'm on the computer.

Originally Posted by wmarcello

Haha dad too. Dad's the one on the message boards doin' the dirty work. Mom makes up for it and sooks the kitties when I'm on the computer.

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Sorry ... Stop scary Daddy

So... an update on Inka's bladder infection...

Two days ago she finished her 2-week round of antibiotics. Shortly after the 1-week mark she started showing great improvement. Unfortunately though, we woke up this morning to some more bloody urine in the bathroom.

Off to the vet.

We couldn't take her to her regular vet because apparently there's a big pet education conference going on so a lot of places are closed. After trying two places, we finally found a third one that was open.

The vet there felt her stomach and everything, and said she would probably just need another round of antibiotics. We suggested maybe it would be good to have a urinalysis done (thanks guys!), but she said her bladder was too small and the only way we'd be able to get one would be to have her stay overnight. Luckily Inka must have heard that because right at that moment she had a good pee right on the floor . So the vet took the sample downstairs to get it analyzed. Shortly after she told us that there were obviously red blood cells there, but there were also a lot of white blood cells as well, signs that her body was trying to fight off an infection. No crystals though, so that's good.

So anyway, 2 more weeks of antibiotics it is for her. Hopefully she won't need any more than that.

I am sure you mentioned what antibiotic but what has she used and now using??

Same antibiotic both times. She started to eventually do pretty well on the old meds, so the vet saw no reason to change. It's called Baytril.

That is a BIG GUn ...

What do you mean? Strong stuff? Good?

As a related question, can you see passed urinary crystals with the naked eye, or do you need a microscope. Can the crystals come and go during the day, or does the cat pass a bit every time? I'm asking because Inka seems to like to pee in the bathroom sink when she's having troubles. Partly because I'm sure she associates the litter box with pain. Anyways, after we brought her home she peed in the sink, and I could swear I could see little gritty substances in her urine. I'm not totally sure if it was from her because the sink wasn't exactly spotless, but I'm just a little worried that they were crystals.

Most crystals need a scope ... some rarely the naked eye

Baytril is the LAST one my vet uses... VERY STRONG and LOTs of side effects...she also doesnt use it in older cats

From what I know, you need a microscope to see the crystals. However, cat urine does begin to crystallize once it's out, exposed to the air. If you've ever found an old spot, especially on plastic...there will be nothing but a yellow spot with a sandy appearance, no liquid left.

Baytril is my vet's 1st choice for UTI's. Beandip didn't have any trouble with it, no loose stools or stomach upset like Clavamox, but I have heard something about Baytril in older cats. I can't remember what exactly, but I remember something.

When the first vet prescribed the Baytril, I think it was for our convenience. She asked if we'd ever pilled a cat before, and we said yes (we had to pill the brother before), but it was definitely a chore. She thought it might be a good idea to give us a pill that we would only have to give once a day.

It turns out though that Inka's been much better with the pills than Tux, but I think we're getting better at it too. With Tux we tried the kneeling on the floor, cat between our legs method. With Inka, my girlfriend holds her in her arms, and I control Inka's head with one hand, and drop the pill to the back of the throat with the other hand. Even my aim is getting better . With Tux it was 3-4 tries per night and chasing after slobbery pills. With Inka's it's been done and over in less than a minute each night.

Originally Posted by wmarcello

When the first vet prescribed the Baytril, I think it was for our convenience. She asked if we'd ever pilled a cat before, and we said yes (we had to pill the brother before), but it was definitely a chore. She thought it might be a good idea to give us a pill that we would only have to give once a day.

It turns out though that Inka's been much better with the pills than Tux, but I think we're getting better at it too. With Tux we tried the kneeling on the floor, cat between our legs method. With Inka, my girlfriend holds her in her arms, and I control Inka's head with one hand, and drop the pill to the back of the throat with the other hand. Even my aim is getting better

. With Tux it was 3-4 tries per night and chasing after slobbery pills. With Inka's it's been done and over in less than a minute each night.

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Well at least Inka is cooperative. I do see the point about Baytril being 1x a day...makes sense. Twice is a day is twice as much fun (NOT!).

I've been there with the slobbery pills.

To answer your other question about crystals, I would say it's fairly consistent once a cat has that problem...I mean until it's cleared up it's probably an every time thing...not hit and miss. I hope that makes sense.

Another question here...

Is it possible for food intolerances/allergies to cause, aggravate, or prolong UTI-like symptoms? I got to thinking today that Inka got her first checkup for the infection on April 7. Early March was about the time that we converted them over to Felidae dry. They seem to be doing well on it, but I've always wondered how they would take to the multiple meat sources (first ingredients are chicken meal, turkey meal, brown rice, lamb meal, chicken fat, and herring meal).

I just bought another, bigger bag of Felidae today, but now I'm second-guessing my decision. Unfortunately both pet stores around here that carry it only carry the original formula and not the chicken + rice.

Any thoughts?

Originally Posted by wmarcello

Another question here...

Is it possible for food intolerances/allergies to cause, aggravate, or prolong UTI-like symptoms? I got to thinking today that Inka got her first checkup for the infection on April 7. Early March was about the time that we converted them over to Felidae dry. They seem to be doing well on it, but I've always wondered how they would take to the multiple meat sources (first ingredients are chicken meal, turkey meal, brown rice, lamb meal, chicken fat, and herring meal).

I just bought another, bigger bag of Felidae today, but now I'm second-guessing my decision. Unfortunately both pet stores around here that carry it only carry the original formula and not the chicken + rice.

Any thoughts?

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YES allergies can aggravate and sometimes are the cause of UTI ... I would actually say the lamb is likely a bigger culprit it can be a inflamation causer ...

So... time for another update on Inka. No real good news unfortunately .

Inka pretty much just finished week 4 on the Baytril, with no real signs of the infection clearing. As before, most of her days on the antibiotics would be good, but there would be the odd day here and there when we would see some blood remaining in the urine, so it has obviously not cleared.

We were back in our old hometown this weekend, so the girlfriend's mother set up an appointment for Inka at yet another vet. An x-ray was taken to look for stones, and nothing was found. We asked again about a urinalysis, but he said that at this point a urinalysis would not be useful as she had already been on antibiotics for awhile (and like last time, Inka's bladder was pretty much empty). Now that I think back though, would another urinalysis have been useful to confirm that there were no crystals present? Because really, her last sample was taken when she peed on the floor. Not exactly the cleanest sample I'm sure.

Anyways, he gave us a different antibiotic to try. I think it was called amoxil...? He also recommended that we put her on Medi-Cal's preventive dry formula for the rest of her life. I really would like to avoid feeding her the Medi-Cal however because of all the recalls, and the potential for corn gluten to be added to the mix. Royal Canin already had some pet deaths in South Africa on account of tainted corn gluten. Not to mention, with all the research I've done these past few months, I know there is so much better food out there. Unfortunately, it's not a view that was shared by this vet.

Is there something else we should have asked? Can anybody see any positives from this vet visit? It's been 4 weeks with this infection now, and I'm starting to lose my patience. It seems that the vets seem content with prescribing antibiotics without doing any real tests. I just want Inka to get over this.

Okay I am going to play dumb....

Does Inky like wet food???

Are you willing to make homade???

I know that Seregetti s grain free seems to fall in line with UTI friendly

Any crystals?>?? if so which kind??