UTI's, Vitamin C, Cranberry, help!

Alright... a while back I posted of one of my cat's having problems with crystals in his urine. He's allergic to everything when it comes to food. He is on vitamin C now and although he still has crystals they are by far way less than what we originally flushed from his bladder. He doesn't have any stones and is doing great on the vitamin c. I put him on vitamin C so I could keep him on his regular food, but help acidify his urine.

Since then my other cat has started having problems. I brought him in and his urine was way bloody, he's been on Clavimox and Baytril as well as vitamin C. His first u/a he had some crystals. Now his urine is bloody with no crystals, no bacteria. His bladder is VERY angry and I noticed the other day he had an accident on one of my dog's beds. I feel so bad for him!

They are both on vitamin C and I just started giving them glucosemine which one of our Dr's said has been known to help with UTI's.

They were eating Cal. Natural Herring & Sweet Potatoe but I have switched them to First Mate Fish Flakes & Blueberries. It has a lower ash content and is higher protein, the blueberries are supposed to help with bladder health and are the 4th ingredient.

For the cat with bloody urine no crystals/bacteria the vet recommends c/d. I thought I would switch them both to an all wet diet[one on c/d one on first mate] however the cat with allergies will eat anything, the other cat WILL NOT eat wet food. I've been considering trying cranberry because it stops bacteria from sticking to the bladder wall but I'm not sure if it will help at this point. I just feel bad for the one cat because he has to be super uncomfortable... he uses the litter box a ton but I'm not sure what else I can do. Why is his bladder so angry? How do you deal with recurrent bladder infections with no bacteria/crystals? The last u/a I saw a lot of red blood cells and some white cells.

Has anyone had success with glucosemine, vitamin c, or cranberry? Has anyone had a cat whose bladder infection just won't go away?

Imho I would NOT ever used a fish based food for UTI health ... fish has the bone ground in it and herring is a BONEY fish ... What kind of crystals??

My UTI boy a grain free ( two usually mixed ) and low grain wets seems to keep it in check ...

cranberry and other berries really only help if in CONCENTRATED and or Powdered form ... so on a food label cranberry or blueberry being high up = mostly water and like chicken vs chicken meal not as high as label states

Total ash is NOT the issue with UTI s , it is calcium , phosphorus and magnesium mainly

http://www.peteducation.com/article....+1372&aid=2729

IMO changing just ph would be hard to control. For crystals I feel its better to dilute the urine and flush it out as often as you can. Wet food will help you out for that. For infections boosting the immune system will help prevent. Look into lysine. To help deal with one antibiotics from the vet will help. Some have stated that cranberry has help also

I can only see fish + dry food= more problems

cranberry and other berries really only help if in CONCENTRATED and or Powdered form ... so on a food label cranberry or blueberry being high up = mostly water and like chicken vs chicken meal not as high as label states

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I have the cranberry in a pill[powedered in a gelcap] form. 100% cranberry, it's a human supplement people take.

Imho I would NOT ever used a fish based food for UTI health ... fish has the bone ground in it and herring is a BONEY fish ... What kind of crystals??

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Napolean the one with crystals has had struvite crystals. The other cat [Pause] has NO crystals or bacteria in his urine.

I understand a fish based diet is a bad idea for urinary tract health, but fish is the only food Napolean can eat without totally turning his ear into a giant hot spot/yeast factory. He is allergic to EVERYTHING. I have tried everything from rabbit to venison to raw beaver and he is allergic to it all. If he could eat something else I would be switching their food.

IMO changing just ph would be hard to control. For crystals I feel its better to dilute the urine and flush it out as often as you can. Wet food will help you out for that.

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The second cat will not eat wet food, I have tried time and time again to put him on wet food. The last thing I need is fatty liver syndrome on top of urinary problems.

http://www.peteducation.com/article....+1372&aid=2729

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Thanks for the link!

can he eat salmon?? ie larger fish less bone ground up = less UTI not so friendly>>??

the human supplement is one to verify with vet many times the amounts are to high for kitty ( per my vet when I asked about PJ)

Originally Posted by sharky

can he eat salmon?? ie larger fish less bone ground up = less UTI not so friendly>>??

the human supplement is one to verify with vet many times the amounts are to high for kitty ( per my vet when I asked about PJ)

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I think we've tried salmon, Nature's Variety Salmon & brown rice and he ended up allergic to it, but it could be the rice. I need a food with a potatoe base because he is allergic to peas. If the food was salmon it would need to be straight salmon.

According to my vet you can't overdose on vitamin C [they get 500mg per day] and they are getting about 250mg per day of cranberry which my vet says is just fine for the long term.

Just double checking ....

EKK about the food ... Maybe someone else knows of a "bigger" fish potato based food ... My mind is yielding a ummmmmmm

I got a second oppinion and we put Pause on buprenex [buprenophine] for 5 days. He is having a recheck u/a tomorrow. The vet said that it should take care of the bladder irritation and he might have to go on it every once in a while. We'll see what the u/a says, he's definitley using the box less and seemingly more comfortable.

Just double checking ....

EKK about the food ... Maybe someone else knows of a "bigger" fish potato based food ... My mind is yielding a ummmmmmm

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I appreciate it for sure! I think there is a company I bought packets of salmon from a looooong time ago but it was only fish not necessarily a complete meal. I'll have to look for that again maybe.

none of these have peas...
timberwolf serengeti
california naturals herring & sweet potato
[that one's ingredient list, tho, leads me to believe that it's got more of the starch than the protein]
natural planet organics
nature's logic duck & salmon
nature's logic rabbit
nature's logic chicken
before grain salmon
before grain tuna
before grain chicken
will any of these work? i couldn't remember anything except the peas...

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Thanks for the list, unfortunatley the allergic cat is allergic to practically EVERYTHING protein wise. He is allergic to chicken, duck, pheasant, turkey, beef, buffalo, venison, [would not eat raw or cooked elk!], wouldn't eat raw or cooked beaver, rabbit, lamb hmmm I think that sums it up as far as proteins we've tried. It could all be in how it is processed at the plant. He's already been on cal. natural herring & sweet potatoe, he was getting allergic to it again I think because it has chicken fat in it but doesn't say on the label "rendered protein free" so you never know.

Thanks for the replies, I hope his u/a is clear tomorrow!

I just wanted to point out that the study on cranberry and UTI's have been shown to prevent bacteria from sticking to the bladder. It is not recommended for anyone with a history of stones or crystals.

I just wanted to point out that the study on cranberry and UTI's have been shown to prevent bacteria from sticking to the bladder. It is not recommended for anyone with a history of stones or crystals.

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That is correct. The cat with the idiopathic urinary tract infection has no history of crystals. Supposedly on the first u/a he had... 2. His u/a's now show no crystals.

Anywho ran the u/a today and man is his bladder angry! The urine was very bloody there again were >50 red blood cells and 4-5 white blood cells per view on the microscope. I am going to give him 150cc's subq fluids every other day to see if it helps flush the bladder. I'm going to try adding water to their food to see if he won't eat wet food, maybe hell eat soaked dry food. We'll see.

What about Addiction's Grain-Free Salmon Bleu?

It's salmon and potatoes. There is chicken fat, too, but they claim it's free from chicken protein.

I know how frustrating food allergies are...my dog is allergic to everything and with the addition of liver disease, sometimes it feels impossible!

What about Addiction's Grain-Free Salmon Bleu?

It's salmon and potatoes. There is chicken fat, too, but they claim it's free from chicken protein.

I know how frustrating food allergies are...my dog is allergic to everything and with the addition of liver disease, sometimes it feels impossible!

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You are a saint! I didn't know addiction finally came out with a dry food! We tried some of their wet foods, but they had peas in them!!!! Thanks for the reply I'm going to call my pet store tomorrow and see if they can order it for me!

Originally Posted by Pami

I just wanted to point out that the study on cranberry and UTI's have been shown to prevent bacteria from sticking to the bladder. It is not recommended for anyone with a history of stones or crystals.

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I was about to take my cat off the Royal Canin OS Urinary prescription because the ingredients seem to be terrible. He has struvite crystals.

I was going to just start him on a fish free diet, and add cranberry powder to his food.

I guess I'll go back to the drawing board on this one.

I just wanted to drop a "note" to say thanks for your post.

For your kitty with the idiopathing UTI, has the vet said anything about him actually having chronic cystitis? With the buphrenex helping it made me wonder. My cystitis kitty has done amazingly well with the addition of Cosequin, which helps the mucus membrane of the bladder lining.

Just a thought for your one boy.

I have no clue on what allergy food to feed, unless you go to a vet developed raw or homemade diet. That really has to be hard to deal with.

Have you tried any of the Wysong foods/supplements? I'm curious, because I live in the town where it is manufactured. When I was looking for foods for Cleo (CRF and IBD) I called them and they sent me all kinds of information via e-mail, in Excel spreadsheets and PDF form, regarding Dry Matter Analysis (DMA) for all their foods, as well as content, etc (I have since lost it in an old computer crash...) They were incredibly helpful. They have dry, wet and raw food, as well as different probiotics and supplements. Their Au Jus diets contain no grain what-so-ever, but do need their "Call Of The Wild" supplement added for complete nutrition. For me, it was a moot question, as most of their food has too much protein/phosphorus for a CRF cat. However, they were just SO helpful with their information.

http://www.wysong.net/healthy-natura...upplements.php

Just noticed that you opened up this thread in February. How is he doing these days?