My cat has a UTI and crystals in his urine.

Did you get new cat litter and cat boxes??

I would suggest that and using CAT ATTRACT litter for a while

as for the food some need it for life others can go to something else .... a second opnion is a good thing

WELCOME TO TCS

How long has he had the meds? It takes a few days to work. I've been through it with Summer. Is he going in the same area? Nature's Miracle may help. Also, don't forget to take him in for a re-check once the meds are up to make sure everything is cleared up. Hope he feels better soon.

confine him in a room with his litter box, food and a bed. Cat attract litter works great. Keep him in the room until he starts to use the litterbox normally, the start letting him out more and more. Find all the places that he peed and make sure you clean them very well with an enzymatic cleaner. If he can still smell his pee, he will continue to go there, sick or not. Black lights work great to find spots you didn't know were there.

Get new boxes and do a google search on UTIs and crystals

Simple Solution is a good one, as is Urine-off. Seriously, think about the cat attract litter. I have 6 finicky cats and I put the cat attract litter in the 2 upstairs boxes, and left the regular litter in the 5 downstairs boxes, and for 3 days straight no one touched the downstairs boxes and I had 6 cats fighting for the 2 boxes with cat attract. Something in it makes cats go crazy over it. It won't hurt, trust me.

I would add extra litterboxes and see if that helps. Keep the boxes as clean as you can. Maybe try different types to see if he prefers a certain style. Also mix some of the cat attract litter with the old at first, that may help.

Summer has to be on special food too. She's had re-curring UTI's. It's miserable I know. However, she only urinated outside the box when she had a UTI. She had crystals a few times too. I had to switch vets a year and a half ago when we moved and I am glad we found one that has specialized in cats only for over 20 years! I am glad because my old vet never did a urinalysis, just a stick test.

Cait~~

All excellent suggestions.

Did the vet explain what kind of crystals were present?

A life time sentence of script food isn't always the case.

One of my boys had struvite crystals. Round of abx and Hills' script c/d for a stretch. He has been fine since (though I am always on the look out because utis have a nasty recurrance rate, some more than others).

You can maintain his health with lots of water drinking, as least stress as possible, and a diet that meets his needs (not necessarily prescription).

Talk to your vet about what foods can replace and/or rotate. There are good premium, even mid range diets that can meet these needs. But it does depend on which crystals your cat developed. Utis can be easily managed but once one starts it's vital to be aware of signs & symptoms as they can lead to fatal blockages, fast. Know your cat and his habits well

Some easy reading:

http://www.peteducation.com/article....articleid=1188

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/urin...infection.html

http://www.paws-and-effect.com/pawsandeffect152.html

I am sure the litter issues will resolve with some patience and creativity. It may take some retraining to an extent, and definitely look into the enzymatic cleaners. They aren't going to break the bank and make a huge difference. Regular household cleaners can actually exacerbate inappropriate elimination.

Cat Attract litter has been a godsend for many cat households, btw

You've gotten some good advice. I'll just add that after just 4 days, he probably still has some discomfort, so you can probably still hope for some improvement in his habits. The new and extra boxes, and the cat attract litter are still good ideas, though.

From my experience, the most effective prescription urinary food is the wet version...regardless of whether it's Hills, Waltham's, etc. If you can get the wet, and get him to eat it...that will help a lot. I hope he feels better soon.

No problem; I have a vested interest in this topic as well so I understand your concerns.

I had this other link saved too; it's very detailed and if you scroll far down it gets into struvite vs oxalate as well.

http://www.iamscompanybreeders.com/b...&articleID=226



Your little guy may have been more progressed than mine was; hence your vet's concern. Canned wet cat food is also key in cats with utis and crystal history. I still use the Hill's c/d dry and canned. But I also pay careful attention to all cat food composition, and found alternatives with more actual animal protein. You do what works best for your cat--there is no real right or wrong.

It can get confusing but keep in mind that when it comes to cat urine, alkaline pH allows struvite crystals to form more quickly; acidic pH allows calcium oxalate crystals to form more quickly.

The magnesium level in a cat's diet -- When certain cats consume dietary magnesium, byproducts form in the urine which help to produce struvite crystals.

Male cats are more prone to blockages due to their more narrow, bottlenecked urethra (can invite crystal build up).

Here's another quick link: http://www.strongpets.com/catuti.php

Keep us posted!

Summer had struvite crystals as well. She did fine on Hills c/d. However, when we got Chevy, he was very sensitive to it. I tried it again last month (only a teaspoon mixed in) and it affected him badly! She's been on Purina St/Ox and nutro max for now. Chevy's tummy is ok so far too.

Can I order Waltham's online?

I think there are a couple places online where you can get Rx food, but I believe they need a faxed prescription from your vet. The Waltham's is called Urinary SO.

It depends on the cat. It is worth the trouble to get them turned on to canned food IMO. I like this site...it has a lot of info about wet food, in addition to some tips on switching.

www.catinfo.org

Besides everything that she says there, I would add that I prefer a plate for wet food...a lot of cats don't like a bowl for wet food...it's too messy for them that way. If you can't get them to take a bite, then you can try offering it on your finger, or a spoon, and/or put a few kibbles or treats on top of the wet...push them in a bit so they have to dig them out. Sometimes cats don't even recognize the wet as food...getting them to try it is half the battle.

If you're free feeding the dry, I would suggest switching to meals if you are going to try and get them to eat wet. Then when it's time for a meal, they are hungry and more likely to at least try the wet. If they absolutely won't eat it, you can always fall back on the dry as their "meal". It takes some work and experimentation. Well worth it, though...IMO. We switched to an all wet diet...it wasn't easy but I'm real happy with the results.

The wet s/d formula is not particularly tasty...but you could try. I don't know if it will make a very good first impression on them, though. When it comes time to switch to c/d, I would suggest trying the wet varieties of it. The wet c/d with chicken was the most liked one here in my household.

Yes, I think specific mealtimes are good. Some get along fine being free fed, but I have come to appreciate meal times. I think it will help in your transition to wet food, too. They will eagerly await the next meal.

The Hills script diets are specifically formulated to meet each diagnoses. This link will go over all the Hill's Rx plans: http://www.hillspet.com/zSkin_2/prod...=1177087463750

The Purina Indoor formula (http://www.catchowindoor.com/products_4.aspx) doesnt' read too impressively, especially in light of recent recall scares (though not on the recall list at this time, I believe). I cannot decipher the mag levels off the link, but maybe another poster (Sharky?) may see this and reply.

I think if you are comfortable with that food you can certainly rotate it but I would like to see a more whole food plan, more wet foods, and food geared toward urinary tract health.

I actually have used the Purina One Urinary Tract formula with great success for a couple years. http://www.purinaone.com/products_cat_uth.asp

but you can see there are other questionable grains on there to worry about now. Cats just don't need a lot of extra processed grains.

Both magnesium and ash are key in uti health and I believe the recommended uti % are:

ASH: (5.5% to 4.5%)
MAGNESIUM: (0.095% to 0.08%)

According to this vet, best = less than 0.12%

http://www.petplace.com/cats/best-lo...ood/page1.aspx


The thing is, you want a 'whole' approach. You want to incorporate as much wet food as possible, and a high degree of wet. You want to use a mid to premium range cat food, and watch the mag levels. Many say ideal for urinary tract health. They don't necessarily HAVE to unless a pet is diagnosed with FLUTD....(not to confuse you more) but it's best to just feed a high quality diet regardless. Encourage water drinking (have afew water stations available, toss in ice cubes now and then....) Cat foods with fish tend to be high in mag too.

And certainly, use the vet's recommendations with the Hill's script diet. I still use both c/d dry and canned. My only suggestion is to look at the whole approach, again. That way you cover all your bases.

And believe it or not, stress can affect urinary tract health so note if your cat has any stressors.

It's sort of funny--

All the talk about transitioning to wet foods. My cats were more dry fed so whenever they got a can, they didnt' care *WHAT* it was. If it was wet and had funky wet cat food smell, they were all over it. So a cat not taking to wet food is just ALIEN to me

It's DRY food that gives me headaches. I am actually transitioning to a higher wet food ratio. So you can imagine my cats are grinning like, well...cheshire cats about THAT.

Not sure if Beandip mentioned this...but it can be helpful to warm up the wet food. On a plate you can just warm it or warm the can in hot water for a moment.

Again, my cats would gnaw at a frozen chunk of wet food. They dont' care, lol. But some are temp sensitive (texture sensitive, smell sensitive, etc...etc...etc...etc...etc..