My poor Ace has a UTI, home remedy experiences or suggestions please?

Another thing you need to consider is stress....

Most UTI, both with and without crystals, are caused, induced or at least aggrevated by stress.

So if there is any reason for your cat to be stressed, battle it.

Feliway diffusers can also help reduce stress.

and please don't give him milk, cats cannot digest cow milk.

OK, so no canned cat food yet, only "people food"? Skip the tuna and milk, buy some raw chicken. Bone-in thighs or quarters are ideal for this, and added bonus is they're cheap, too. Boil the chicken, don't add any salt or spices. Once it's cooked, shred the chicken (don't give him cooked bones), and give him the chicken and the broth. My kitties love homemade chicken broth, and it'll really help his fluid intake. And the chicken is better for him than tuna. Of course this isn't a balanced diet so he can't eat only chicken long-term, but for now it'll work.

You have received a lot of advice here, the best being that nobody can tell you what you really need to know except a vet.  You are on the right track to keep asking until somebody agrees to help your cat.  Find a vet who will let you bring in the cat, pay some now and some more later when you hubby gets paid.  Waiting too long might be a really bad thing for your cat. I am sorry you are in such a tight spot with your fur baby and understand fully what it is like not to have money to do things.  Best wishes for you and your sweet kitty.
 

I feel for you and Ace. Financially, I cant afford to feed wet either. Even Friskies (wet) costs more a month than a dry decent food does. I live on a fixed income so I do the best I can.

One thing I did was find a good caring country vet. His prices are low and he is great with my cats. It only cost me $18.50 when my kitten broke his leg (exam, cast, 2 folowups and remove cast). Mac has surgery Monday for 2 things. With that and pain meds it will cost $110 and I will pay half now and half the third of next month when I get my SSD. He helps me out that way alot!

There is also a program that works through the Humane Society in the city (I have never used it but heard of it and its helpfulness). They have a weekly food pantry for dogs and cats. Low and no income people can get food, dry and wet for free for their animals. If your pet would need something special they would try to get it  At the 2 Pet stores people buy and put in food in a barrel by the door as they go out. Other stores in town have drop offs too. The pet stores themselves give food that has just expired, which is actually still good for a few more months, they just cant sell it. Their name is Paw Pals and they also fund low/no cost spaying/nuetering and vaccinations also emergency care in some instances. Maybe there is something around you like that.

Continue to let us know how Ace is doing. I'd like to follow and help if I can. Sending healing veibes your way! 

I was in the exact same situation as you a couple years back with my cat. Apple cider vinegar in wet food did the trick. We've been feeding him wet food and a cap full of ACV ever since. I wrote an article for my blog on the subject, so I'll just copy and paste it here, so I don't have to re-write it. http://ecatbehaviors.blogspot.com/2010/10/feline-uti-and-home-remedy.html

Since wet food is crucial in this situation, I looked up pet food banks in your area and came up with this-
https://wildandwonderfulpetpantry.org/Home_Page.php

I really hope that ACV works Ace like it did for my cat Wessie. It happened to Wessie twice, and worked within a couple of days each time. The second time he got a "UTI" was after we re-started feeding him dry food, but after switching completely to wet, he has been fine for the past two years. Many vibes for Ace (and you)!

ETA: I also wanted to let you know that I feed very cheap store brand wet food (no hate, please), and I do believe that it's a lot better than dry. Under dire circumstances, would you rather feed your cat a hot dog or popcorn? (If you can't afford the quality grain free dry foods.)

I know you said to not mention the word vet, but if you would just hear me out; if you took the money you are spending on tuna, Vitamin C, vinegar, purified water and flea collars and saved it, I bet you could find a cheap vet that would take you. Maybe even cancel the cable and not eat out for a week. I just know that I would feel terrible letting my cat sit around, just hoping he doesn't block and die. I'm sorry that sounds harsh, but it has happened to many people here on TCS.

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 I agree with the above, but also want to add to it.  Crystals are serious and cats can die from it.  Crystals need to be ruled out regardless of the food you are feeding or preventive measures you are taking so it doesn't occur again.  The cat needs an ultrasound.  Crystals are extremely PAINFUL for the animal.  Extremely.  Think of a kidney stone being stuck in a bile duct -- That kind of pain.  You need to get it ruled out.  Sounds like your kitty is exhibiting some of the symptoms below.  You cannot just get rid of crystals.  The vet had in my situation had to insert an instrument  up my cat's uretha to remove the blockage so he could urinate.  It saved his life.  When crystals form, and blockage occurs, all the poisons in the urine build up in the system and the animal can die very fast. 

Another option for payment is using a personal check.  Most checking accounts now days have over draft protection.  Might cost you an extra 25-30 bucks, but it's work it.  

Look at the symptoms below.   Good luck.  I sincerely hope your kitty feels better and gets better.

Formation of crystals in cat urine is known as Urolithiasis. It falls under the Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD). Earlier known as Feline Urinary Syndrome (FUS), FLUTD is a serious cat illness affecting about 1% of cats. It is more common in males because they have a urethra that is narrower than that of the female cats. It is a very painful disorder to suffer from. The symptoms and formation of cat urine crystals include these change in cat behavior.

Straining while urinating.
Urinating only 2-3 drops at one time.
Finding traces of blood in urine.
Suddenly discontinuing the usage of the litter box.
Licking the genital region more than necessary.
Urinating rather frequently.
Crying around the litter box (which indicates that the cat wants to pass urine, but cannot.)
Urinating in other places.

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Toe Man (my crystal cat) is still going strong.  That's him in my profile picture.  I took that the other day.

This is his crystal story and what happened to him and demonstrates how fast it can occur.  I think this happened in 2007.

I can't believe I thought SD was great in those days.  This incident is the single thing that made me research cat food so this would not happen again. I remember Sharky helping me on that nutrition path.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/112360/need-suggestions-till-monday

Jen

Have your cat's urine checked for oxalate and struvite. One forms in acidic urine, the other in alkaline urine. So a diet/treatment that is appropriate for the one is detrimental for the other.

So DO find out what you are up against and base his treatment on that.

If there ARE crystals, he needs careful monitoring to prevent blockage, and if he keeps forming crystals and he does getrepeated  blockages, penis amputation may be the only option. This is where the urethra is narrowest, so bklockage is most likely to occur. Amputation will leave him with a wider urethra, and it will mean that he can pass crystals more easily.

But, of course, it is best to prevent things from getting as bad as that by finding out exactly what you are up against and adapt his diet accordingly.

If there are no elevated struvite or oxalate levels and no bacteria, it is pure stress, and you will need stress control pheromones and pain killers to ease the cramped, painful bladder.

And in ALL cases: sufficient water intake, so wet food, chicken broth etc.

Many cats will drink more when offered flowing water, i.e. a running tap or a water fountain.

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+2142&aid=2729

I just got denied care credit, so this isn't an option for people who apply and get denied.

I think the takeaway here is that the crystals are so serious that you need a plan of what you are going to do if he's blocked, he would die in agony so there has to be a plan to prevent this.

So does anyone have some suggestions for that?  I'm not sure, does taking him to the shelter and claiming you found him work (I doubt it) you'd have to do that before it was an emergency.   Orll  can you take him and tell them if he isn't adopted in a few weeks you'll adopt him yourself?  Tell them you noticed he isn't peeing so they look for that? 

Also as far as getting water down him, if you go to your local pharmacy and explain the situation, then the pharmacist will probably give you a few of those small plastic syringes.  I found they work great for getting water into cats.    Plus even the cheapest wet food for a few weeks would be better than the dry.   Frankly I would make the wet food my number one priority as it is the one sure way you have of getting fluid in him.  That and getting enough money together for a vet visit.  The cost of all those home remedies/alternative treatments can sneak up on you and before you know it you've spent as much as the vet visit would have cost you. 

It's too bad there has yet to be an endowment fund for low-cost, sliding scale vet care clinics - it's heartbreaking to read all the posts here from people who can't afford basic vet care.  It's 60 bucks to even walk into the vets office where I live. 

You do realize this is from 2012?

Nope, but glad you had the time to point that out.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Dry food is the culprit, no matter what no more dry food, you defeating your purpose!! Take it from me my cat is at the moment fighting for his life just dont do it and contact a group called for the love of alex you can find them on facebook, they will help you if its not too late

hi

im so sorry to hear your problem. having the money today to keep a pet healthy is almost impossible without a lot of money unless you do preventative methods.

Ive found this to be true with humans too.

Ive had 3 cats with this probem. my present one has been operated on twice.  I have used perscription diet because until recently you could not get much info online. so one would give ma recipe or even tell me the secret ingredient. now there is lots more info. not all correct, even a vet got it wrong. she said to use hills s/o diet. thats not right. hills so is for sick cats with any other probem. its the C/D that addresses the urine problem.  so double check everything.

ive been told that an all raw diet will clear up the problem. now this vet says its all about water.  about 4 years ago  we moved inland from the beach. the cats were faced with temps in the 90's for the first time. they were scared and started to hide during the day. after 3 days of this, i started dragging them out of hiding every 4 hours and pouring water into them. if they were badly over heated, i dunked them in water. (i keep my cats hair clipped short beuse it cleared up skin infection and kept them cool.)

after about 5 days of me hydrating them all day, they suddenly started drinking lots of water on their own. i can only assume that they noticed that they felt way better after i poured water inot them.  I had to clean the litter box sometimes twice a day because they peed so much.  they still drink lots of water. i have found that putting the water dish in different places in your home helps. places that they like out of the way of people or animal traffic. they like to replicate their old wild tradidion of hiking out to the water hole. ive found that moving it to different places now and then helps. they like their water drinking to be an adventure. so do not put the water dish nest to the food dish in the kitchen. move it aound youll see the cat loves it. also, give them purified water. they prefer it and will drink more.  I had the neighbors cat coming over and sneaking in to steal my cats water, not their food.

Im working on a solutioon t the food problem. please emul me and ill keep you informed.

I wish i could go back and proof this but dont have time. please contact me. id love to share our info, experiences. thats how we fix this. for now im sticing with the perscription food, but im goin to start experimenting. ill try and find a way to get urine samples so i can tell if the male is getting too much alkaline in him . i think this will take time but i do not want to relie oN  perscription food. what if we had an emergency AND THEIR WAS NO FOOD TO BE FOUND? I NEED SOMETHING I CAN FIX MYSELF. 

iMM OLD AND TIRED SO PLEASE EMAIL ME.

LEE

I've used a few vets, and when things get tight I usually ask them to hold a written check for days to up to a month at a time. If you call up and explain your situation, just ask if they will hold a check. Also, from my experience going to a private vet compared to a multi practice saves quite a bit!

My handsome Birman male, 3 y.o., developed crystals.  I did not realize it then, but I think he had stopped frequenting his water dish.  I had been feeding him a mixture of wet and dry store bought food. When he started peeing little amounts all over the house, I researched on the internet and took him to the emergency vet.  At first they said they would have to catheterize him and keep him for several days but then he peed on the floor and they decided he was not blocked. (-:  They let me take him home, as long as I gave him drugs to relax him and for pain, and special food, which they said could be dry or canned--I chose canned.  I fed him the canned food with a little water and gave him the drugs.  He mainly hid under the bed in between feedings.  Then about two weeks later, he started peeing blood all over the house.  I took him to another vet, who gave him slightly different drugs and different food, which he did not like. I went back to the other special food and while he would eat it, his appetite was not very good.  About a week later he had stopped peeing all over the house and started using his litter box, and I hoped he was getting better.  The vet gave me another drug to give him on a regular basis.  Another week went by and then he began peeing blood again.  He was not eating his new food very well, and since he was still peeing, I decided to try something else.  I gave him the store-bought food, but I added a lot of water: like a few chunks of food in the bottom of a shallow bowl, surrounded by a soup of water.  At first he seemed unsure of it, but then eating, and drinking all the water.  He stopped peeing blood. He started using his litter box and peeing copiously.  He has been doing great now for several weeks.  

I really think my cat was dehydrated, and that the way to get him to stop forming crystals was to get A LOT more water into his system. I read an article on the internet that said water was key and I really believe it now.  They say the special food makes them want to drink more and the first vet suggested a cat fountain; my cat would have nothing to do with it. What worked for me was to give my cat what he liked to eat, in a moat of water.  I also feed him more often, 3 times a day instead of 2 times a day, to ensure that he is fully hydrated.  As an added bonus, his coat no longer tangles and I no longer have problems with matting.  And I am not giving my cat any drugs.  I do not know if this will work forever or if it will work for you, but I wanted to share in case it might work for someone else's little one.                 

Hello- my male cat gets recurring cysitis and urinary problems. I took him to the vet and he was put on antibiotics and I was told he could not have regular cat food anymore cause of the high ash content which is what is causing the irritation and blockages. I put my cat on proplan urinary tract formula and it goes away, the minute i give him the ash regular cat food the irritation comes back, but the problem i have is my cat gets tired of that food so I mix an indoor dry cat food in it to make him eat it cause he likes the greens in it, or i feed him wet food with Epaktin in it which helps support the kidneys and bladder, if you look on Chewy.com they also have some urinary tract aid that you can put in his water, i think it is 13.00 and is guaranteed to work or your money back. i am buying some next week.   Amy

AZMIRA has wonderful products -I use their kidni biotic-u can purchase it online-it is great for feline UTI-I have used it for yrs. I take care of special needs animals and do everything naturally. hope this helps

Hello,

I know this is an old feed, but I have a remedy for urinary tract issues for cats. I have been using it for my kitty for the last 3 years and it is a daily regiment I have to administer or she will have issues. I also feed her canned food only. She had a UA and C&S done almost 3 years ago and she was given a pain medication and an antibiotic which helped for about 2-3 weeks and then she had the same problem all over again.

Her urine showed no signs of an infection, yet she was given an antibiotic. She also had no crystals. 

I believe it is her kidneys shutting down or she may have stones and need an operation.  She does very well with her regiment and canned food.