tips on reocurring uti's? what to look for...

neko7

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
9
Purraise
0
Location
Texas
Hello,
I posted a thread a few days ago on the weekend here ( http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...58#post2939958 )

My cat, Rivers, had gotten a UTI this past February and today we dropped him off at the vet and they told us he has another UTI. They aren't sure if it's stress related or heriditary. Anyway, the vet said since he's on Science Diet c/d for his urinary problems he needs to speak with them about what to do when the diet isn't working anymore... if we need to add something to the food or so forth.

I was just wondering if anyone had their cats on this food and saw it not working after awhile too? My cat has a water fountain but I don't think he drinks as much water as he probably should. He also doesn't like canned food so he only eats the dry c/d food.

Advice from cat mom's and dad's on tips and signs from reoccuring UTI problems would be helpful. The first time he got one there was blood in his urine so I knew without a doubt it was a UTI but this time around his urine was normal-no blood and not in little drops just peeing on beds! I feel like the more info from other cat owners the more it could help if and when he gets another occurence.
 

strange_wings

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
13,498
Purraise
39
Just now seeing this over here. You can ignore my post on the other thread since you answered all of my question with this one.


C/D has worked for my cat so far, so I can't speak from experience with it not working for one of my cat. But I have read that others have had problems with it not controlling crystals in their cats. Some have luck with Royal Canine, others prefer Purina's script food. Royal Canine actually has the SO formula for struvite crystals, Purina has their St/Ox, so you may want to discuss those specifically with your vet.

Try to get some wet food into him. Some cats are picky and some cats may not like it when they're younger but will like it when they try it later on. Don't give up. You're only spending $1-2 per can to try them, which is a lot cheaper than a vet visit.
 

nerdrock

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Jan 3, 2010
Messages
971
Purraise
34
I have a dog with recurring UTIs, so I've learned a lot about them.

One thing with dogs, I'm almost positive it's different with cats, but I don't know for sure. Once they go into heat their vulva pops out, if they are spayed before they have a heat sometimes it's not popped out enough and bacteria and whatnot can get caught up in the moat type thing around it. This is one of the problems that my dog has. Like I said, not sure if the same thing occurs in cats, in dogs it's just being realized that that's one of the causes, it's referred to as an innie vulva.

If he's not drinking enough you can try adding a little bit of organic broth to his water so that he'll be more likely to drink more. You absolutely MUST change it frequently though, because of the broth.

You can also try watering down some wet food a lot, then warming it up a bit in the microwave. Heating it will make it more stinky, he'll be more likely to eat it and the extra water will make it easier to lap up if he just doesn't like the texture of the wet food.

Talk to your vet about adding apple cider vinegar to his food, it's great for urinary health. Cranberries are also very good for urinary health, you can get the capsules from any health food store, break them open and sprinkle the powder over the food. But again, check with your vet for the dose and if it's alright for your cat.

Are you sure that the infection was actually completely gone after the first occurrence? If you have a urinalysis and a culture done of the urine then you'll know exactly which kind of bacteria you're dealing with and an antibiotic specific for that strain, have another round done after you've finished meds as well to make sure that it's gone, or talk to your vet about continuing the antibiotics a little longer than normal to see if that will take care of the problem.

If there are crystals in the urine talk to your vet about ways to raise the ph of your cats urine, depending on the type of crystals actually raising the ph can help break them down and prevent them from reoccurring.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4

neko7

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
9
Purraise
0
Location
Texas
nerdrock- my cat was neutered at about 4 months old.

I will ask the vet about the apple cider vinegar. maybe just a few drops might help if I get the ok.

In February when they told us he had struvite crystals he had gotten tested three times 2 weeks apart. It wasn't until the last urinalysis that the vet said that she didn't see anymore crystals BUT during that time he had gotten crystals AND some kind of bacteria forming on the lining of his bladder she said it looked like gunk(kind like a greasy looking thing just clinging to the walls of his bladder) and some small particles of that bacteria was on some of the crystals. But yes, he was cleared in March with having no more crystals and the bacterial infection was gone too. He was on antibiotics 2 different type because it was that bacteria that hung around longer than the crystals and it was hard to get rid of. He needed stronger doses.

My cat use to be on Natural Balance, which I loved because he wasn't getting all of those by products and added ingredients. I even spoke to someone from Natural Balance about their ph level of the food. i can't remember what it was off the top of my head but I do know the vet strongly suggested he be switched to c/d. He was very sick looking that day when I saw him peeing blood so I just agreed to whatever would get him back to normal

Rivers is my first cat I've ever had, he's three and he's very much apart of my family now I would hate to see him get a reoccurence and I not notice the signs fast enough and have him be blocked and have to leave us so soon. I had NO idea when we got him that cats have just as many problems as dogs!! I thought they were easier to care for. lol. Wrong!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5

neko7

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
9
Purraise
0
Location
Texas
I'll try and stop by to pick up a can or two. He was very little under 7 months old when we got him a few cans of canned food. Maybe he might be up for it this time around.
 

strange_wings

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
13,498
Purraise
39
Originally Posted by neko7

I had NO idea when we got him that cats have just as many problems as dogs!! I thought they were easier to care for. lol. Wrong!
Really?
I wonder if a lot of people think that...
IMO, dogs are a little easier, health wise, because they're more likely to let you know when they're ill and they can metabolize some drugs that can kill cats.

Talk to your vet about other brands of script food. They can either order it for you, write the script for you to pick up the food elsewhere, or fax it to an online supplier like petfood direct.


And no, nerdrock, cats are not like dogs. In any case this is a male cat - which unfortunately is part of the problem. Male cats can be a bit more prone to urinary issues.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #7

neko7

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
9
Purraise
0
Location
Texas
strange_wings : I had a few friends with cats(2 were male cats and 2 were female) and they were very gentle, I never saw them get night crazies that bad, spraying the wall or get any UTI's. They were just sit around, purr and I would play with them with those little feather on a stick toys. I've always had only dogs, birds or turtles but never a cat. One of my dogs was VERY anti cat and it wasn't until she had passed away that we felt it was safe enough to get a cat finally.

We had originally thought my cat was a girl but at his 2nd check up at 4 months old his uhh testes were dropping and I had seen it but was like NO its a girl! I was wrong. I was holding "her" and the vet saw me move him a certain way and she was like wait a second! give me that cat. Yep, a boy! He got his FIV and some other vaccines all at once that day and when we got home he started throwing up bad, looked weak and lethargic. We rushed back and it turns out he was having anaphylactic shock. Now he needs to get every vaccine 3 weeks apart(i think) and they can't be comined on a single visit! The vet said its like one in 10,000 and of course it happens to me! I guess I'm glad it is me because I don't know how attentive other people might be if that happened... he could have died that day.
 

strange_wings

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
13,498
Purraise
39
Originally Posted by neko7

strange_wings : I had a few friends with cats(2 were male cats and 2 were female) and they were very gentle, I never saw them get night crazies that bad, spraying the wall or get any UTI's.
That's just like how only being around someone else's kids for a short period that they can seem a lot easier to care for than they really are.
Some cats never have anything go wrong, but just like people not all cats have perfect health.

FIV vaccines are largely useless. They've been shown (in studies) to not provide much protection. If you actually did have him vaccinated for FIV he needs to be microchipped if he hasn't been already. If he were to ever slip outside and be taken to a shelter he would be euthanized if he didn't have a microchip - the reason for this is that they can't tell the difference between a cat that has FIV and a cat vaccinated against it. The antibodies from both make the snap ELISA test say positive.

And that vaccination reaction is not that uncommon. I've had more mild ones happen in a couple of mine - usually it's the FeLv vaccine that is the cause of it. Whether you choose to do extra non-core vaccinations like FIV or FeLv or skip them, they need to be spaced out for every single cat - and this holds true for dogs, too. It's just not safe to gamble at a pet having a reaction or not.
 

nerdrock

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Jan 3, 2010
Messages
971
Purraise
34
Originally Posted by strange_wings

Really?
I wonder if a lot of people think that...
IMO, dogs are a little easier, health wise, because they're more likely to let you know when they're ill and they can metabolize some drugs that can kill cats.

Talk to your vet about other brands of script food. They can either order it for you, write the script for you to pick up the food elsewhere, or fax it to an online supplier like petfood direct.


And no, nerdrock, cats are not like dogs. In any case this is a male cat - which unfortunately is part of the problem. Male cats can be a bit more prone to urinary issues.
Thanks, I did realize it was a male cat but wasn't sure if the anything could be the same that way in cats, in terms of bacteria being able to get trapped and make infections occur more frequently. With my dog, we can either have surgery to fix her vulva, or I can do what we've been doing and just wipe her with a baby wipe a couple of times a day. She has quite a few other issues going on so we don't want to have her go through surgery - but that's for another forum


I also didn't realize that males were more likely to get UTIs. We had female cats growing up, one of them had a few UTIs over her 18 years and near the end we started giving her ACV and cranberry caps because I give them both to my one dog (with vet's OK) - it seemed to help.

I always thought cats were easier too - you don't have to walk them, they aren't (generally) as needy, etc. My dogs are a huge pain in my butt half the time
but I love everyone here and I'm so happy everyone gets along. Poor Fynn, my youngest dachshund (2) just loves cats but for some reason they tend to HATE him. Before he came to me he was attacked by the resident Maine Coon at his breeders house, he's my show by so I was told about it right away. We decided that it shouldn't hurt his show career because it's an honourable wound which is allowed
No judge has every mentioned it so maybe they agree!

Back to the point - definitely talk to your vet about diet. Assuming that the crystals develop and are fixed in relatively the same way (not talking medication right now) the principle should be the same. However, if your vet has not taken a nutrition course outside of what is offered at vet school, I would seek the advice of an animal nutritionist. My vet took Sadie off her raw to treat her crystals (same kind, but again, she's a dog), I was telling a friend that specializes in animal nutrition about it because I was thinking something was off, she offered some advice, I contacted an animal nutritionist and he confirmed what my friend had said regarding PH in the urine and foods to feed to keep the PH at the right level. Just something to think about.
 

strange_wings

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
13,498
Purraise
39
Originally Posted by nerdrock

My vet took Sadie off her raw to treat her crystals (same kind, but again, she's a dog), I was telling a friend that specializes in animal nutrition about it because I was thinking something was off, she offered some advice, I contacted an animal nutritionist and he confirmed what my friend had said regarding PH in the urine and foods to feed to keep the PH at the right level. Just something to think about.
That's precisely why the script diets (should) work. Having the urine at the correct pH dissolves then keeps crystals from forming. But sometimes an owner needs to try a couple script foods before the perfect one for their cat (or dog) is found.

I bet the problem Fynn has is his body language. Cats can be rather touchy about it, and while some body language works between the species a lot gets lost in translation.
 
Top