3 cats ALL having UTI at the same time?

So far, 2 of my 3 cats have urinary issues, one with crystals and the other with blood and bacteria in the urine. Both are doing better with the antibiotic and painkiller treatment. All 3 are eating the Purina Pro plan with urinary support. The last time I brought the cat with the crystals to the vet, he was deemed crystal free. And since then, there hasn't been a peeing outside the box issue.. until this morning..

I've always seen the 3rd cat, Smokey, pee in the box. This morning, she pee'd outside the box. A day ago, I was inspecting her pelvis area and she was crying when I was checking anal regions, so much so that her anal glands were shooting out the brownish-yellow substance. Now I'm wondering if she too has UTI. I've made an appointment to get her seen by the vet, but this is really puzzling at this point. How could ALL 3 cats have UTI at the same time? I can't believe it's related to my absence since I've gone on short 1-2 day trips previously without problems. The ONLY change in their life is the addition of Science diet oral care to their food. Has anyone else experienced issues with their cats with that food?

I am at a loss at to what to do for my cats.. They've always been really good with their litterboxes, so it's unusual to see this happen out of the blue. The boxes (3 for 3 of them) are scooped 2x a day, they are very clean, so I can't imagine it being a litterbox issue?

Thoughts??

- Grace

Has anything changed in your house recently? People moved in/out, new kitty, new routine, new food, or new litter? It could be stress induced, as stress can manifest itself in kitties in a lot of ways such as upper respiratory infections and urinary tract infections. I'd get the third kitty to the vet to be treated and add a 4th box. Ideally, you want one more box than you have kitties.

Welcome to TCS, Peeka!!!

Perhaps it's a combination of factors? Maybe your absence AND the new food? Cats don't like any kind of change, and Science Diet is notorious for having a poor quality ingredient list; if these are the only two changes, it makes sense that together, they were too much.

Are you feeding any canned food at all? If not, would it be possible to add a few varieties of canned to their diet, or even switch over to a completely wet diet? (Natural Balance, Evo, Felidae, Go! Natural, and many more all make some high-quality grain-free foods.) Cats evolved to get their moisture from their food - not free-flowing water - and don't have a very strong "thirst" drive; those who eat only kibble are sometimes perpetually dehydrated and that can lead to chronic urinary tract issues. If you're interested in more info, either catinfo.org or feline-nutrition.org would be a good place to start.

Whatever the cause, I'm sending many thoughts for a speedy recovery your way! I can only imagine what you're going through with THREE sick kitties.

AC

AFAIK, UTI's are not contagious, so it has to be some other shared phenomenon.

If they share water, perhaps it was "off"(something fell in it that made it taste bad) and they all avoided drinking it much or at all, which is of prime importance if they eat dry.

Could it be that the heat made their urine more concentrated? I assume in heat cats are giving away more moisture through their skin, so since they're on dry diet their urine became more concentrated and started irritating the bladder.

Really, whatever the cause of your cats' cystitis, getting more water into their system is the most important part of solution. Whether they have crystals, bacteria, or the cause is unknown, getting the bladder flushed as often as possible is the first line of defense. For more information I would recommend these two Hill's papers (whatever we think about the company, it's a fact they spend a lot of money on research):

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...Ed7kng&cad=rja

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...S_bX6g&cad=rja


And these two pages

http://www.catinfo.org/?link=urinarytracthealth

http://catfood.tribe.net/thread/8db3...6-e57c0e1e5f29

Just brought kitty (Smokey) back from the vet. Turns out she has inflamed anal glands. The vet helped expressed it for her and she was definitely in pain. The vet says that it may be related to the stress of the other cats being unhappy from vet visits, causing her stress in return. It is true that ever since kitty #1 came back from the vet visit, things weren't entirely peaceful at home, there is a bit of tension. Will be giving her antibiotics, so here's to hoping this will fix her issue.

stephanietx: Apparently the stress of the cats going to and from the vet is causing a bit of unease in the house.. so most likely her issue erupted from that. I'm just surprised really.. I've had my house on the market a few years back, and was constantly sticking them in a closed room the moment I got note of a buyer's visit, and none of the cats had any physical issues. I'm not sure what changed? I live alone, and when I'm out of town, a good friend comes by to feed and check on them. She's not a stranger to them? I'll look into getting another litterbox.

Auntie Crazy: The addition of Science diet oral started last fall, it isn't recent. Unless the problems from eating that food is cumulative?? I just started feeding canned food. I'm adding 1 can of Wellness turkey to their Purina Pro Plan for urinary health every day. I also add extra water to each meal, they get about a cup and half between 3 cats? Prior to adding the canned food, they were eating these brands: Blue buffalo, Nature's Variety, and Halo Spot's Stew. They were doing fine until recently? I'd like to move them to all canned foods after they are all well, and supplementing dried foods as occasional treats, perhaps?

Ducman69: The only thing that changed for them is the addition of the Science diet oral care food about 9 months back? They drink the same amount of water. So puzzling!

def kitty: My house has central AC, and it is set at a constant 75, so I don't think it's heat related? Yup! I've started adding extra water to their meals, and moving them over to wet food. Thanks for the links.

Thanks for the responses. Such fragile, loveable, and bratty creatures!

Originally Posted by peeka73

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Auntie Crazy: The addition of Science diet oral started last fall, it isn't recent. Unless the problems from eating that food is cumulative?? I just started feeding canned food. I'm adding 1 can of Wellness turkey to their Purina Pro Plan for urinary health every day. I also add extra water to each meal, they get about a cup and half between 3 cats? Prior to adding the canned food, they were eating these brands: Blue buffalo, Nature's Variety, and Halo Spot's Stew. They were doing fine until recently? I'd like to move them to all canned foods after they are all well, and supplementing dried foods as occasional treats, perhaps?

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Sounds like a good plan to me. Here's a whole slew of vibes that everyone gets healthy real quick and stays that way for a long time!





AC

Thank you, thank you!