Cat urinary infection and treatment..

Hello all,

I have 3 cats, and since mid-May, I discovered they were peeing outside of one of the litterboxes (there are 3 in the house.) It took a while to figure out which one was doing it, and it turns out that so far 2 of the 3 are peeing outside the box. I've brought both to the vet and the male, Tripper has infected anal glands, and was discovered on the follow-up visit to have crystals in his urine. The 2nd cat, Putz, has blood and bacteria in her urine. Now, all 3 are being fed Purina Pro Plan for Urinary support. I also supplement their food with a can of Wellness canned turkey. Both Tripper and Putz were given antibiotics and painkillers. It took longer to figure out that Putz was having trouble until I discovered more pee puddles outside the box later, when Tripper was already medicated and no longer peeing outside the box.


So here are some questions..

1. They will have to be on the pro plan food for some time until they get well. Do you supplement with other foods or is this not advisable? I know on the Purina website, they do warn not to mix with other foods. But I feel they should have some proper nutrition, since the food ingredients in the Purina food is not the greatest. What are your thoughts on this?

2. Has anyone switched to all canned foods after their cats had urinary issues? If so, has their urinary issues returned? I would like to switch all 3 to canned (and possibly raw eventually) after the treatment.

3. Does anyone know what can cause UTI/urinary issues? My cats have always eaten premium food, such as Blue Buffalo, Nature's Variety and Halo brand kibbles, and always with lots of fresh water in their bowls. VERY recently, I did add some Science diet oral care to their diet since they were having quite a lot of calculus on their teeth. Would that addition cause the issues? Other than that, I've been out of town twice since mid-May, could the stress from my absence cause this? I find that hard to understand since I did that previously without problems? (no improper elimination of any sort..) Or has an all-kibble diet finally caught up to cause problems?


Thoughts? I am just not sure what is the best thing to do for my cat's nutrition and well-being. Taking them back to the vet numerous times this month probably caused more stress than all the times I've been out of town. Tripper takes 5 days to calm down from the stress of a vet visit. I can't imagine it being good for his health?

Thanks much for reading!

- Grace

Could be stress, could be genetic inclination, could be anything - sometimes you just won't know. My boy had struvite crystals. Based on my experience, I would strongly suggest following your vet's dietary recommendations and do not mix prescription food with anything else. What doesn't look good to a lay person may, indeed, be just the proper 'medicine' to treat a health condition.

My guy is on Hills C/D wet and dry (because he really doesn't like wet food all that much and I'm not going to stress him out by insisting he eat something he doesn't like) and, knock wood, no crystals have returned. I would suggest checking with the vet on portion control - some of the prescription lines are quite calorie dense.

Whatever you choose to do, I really would suggest keeping your vet in the loop.

I guess I can try putting them on the wet version of Purina Pro for urinary care. At least they'll have more liquids in their system than the dry version?

Thanks for your response. Tis difficult to figure out what is best for your fuzzy monsters.