UTI won't go away... please help.

Hi,

My 8 month old female cat has had a UTI/Cystitis for 2+ months. I noticed her straining to go to the bathroom and assumed she had a UTI so I took her to the vet and after taking a urine sample, he confirmed she had cystitis and sent me home with Val Torb and Clavamox. They did not work, it just got worse. She began to pee on the floors, the couches, my bed (even on me) and was also dribbling. She'd pee in her sleep and became angry, I guess because of the pain. There was also blood the first time around.
 

She has gone back to the vet 2-3 times since then and has tried 3 other medications, 5 in total. They gave her Metacam & also gave her a Convenia shot. After the shot, she was going potty normally again but that only lasted 1-2 weeks. The vet wanted to try Val Torb & Clavamox again even though I knew they wouldn't help and after two weeks, they haven't. She is again straining and peeing outside of the litter box. I am worried this will only get worse like before.

I stopped giving her dry food, I add water to her wet food and I play with her for at least 45 minutes a day. I've tried giving her urinary tract health chews with cranberry in it but it did nothing.

I'm not sure what to do anymore. I try my best but cannot afford to buy her medicine all of the time especially when they don't even help. It just won't go away no matter what I try. I'm so frustrated and completely out of ideas. I love her and I don't want her to be in pain. Please help.

Thanks,

S.

 It sounds like your kitty is extremely sensitive to grains and she is not getting enough meat in her diet. A cat's diet should be 40' - 50% meat.   Many commercial cat foods are species inappropriate.  All those therapies from the vet are basically band aids, and they do not address the cause. Put kitty on a grain-free wet diet high in animal protein. Even better, cook for her. It's not that hard. You can use chicken, beef, and turkey--fish is too toxic.  Cook meat, pour off fat. Put the fat in the refrigerator to cool. Add lentils to the meat and cook well--at least one and a half hours. Add iodized salt. You can add a rich variety of veggies that have been chopped in a processor. You can use a variety of the following veggies: green beans, peas, carrots, broccoli, lima beans, small amount of sweet potato, pumpkin, spinach and other greens. No corn, onions, or garlic. When the lentils are cooked, add the veggies and cook lightly. When the fat is hardened, remove it and add the broth back into the pot or save it in the freezer for a special need or for next cooking. Add 200 mg of calcium citrate w/vitamin D at first feeding. You can cook enough food to last for two months at a time. I use roasters.              

I would be careful with home cooked food for cats as their main diet - a lot of research should be done before you go ahead. Taurine for example is often low in home cooked food, so a supplement should be given.  A lot of people are starting to feed their cats a raw diet, which may also be worth considering as it seems to have a good impact on health.

My cat is also suffering a UTI - at least the symptoms. They couldn't find a cause. After nearly a month now of zero dried food or treats (he will not drink and dried food/treats were only offered occasionally before the UTI anyway) and water added to wet food, it seems to be slowing down a little. It's still there but other than licking his privates after a piddle (no matter where he is, indoor or out), it doesn't seem to irritate as long.  Before he was jumpy, over-grooming and fairly miserable. He was also on antibiotics (2 courses) which were supposed to calm irritation on the bladder lining.  Oh, I also gave him more food than strictly allowed and occasionally chicken broth to encourage more water intake, via his food and flush it all out. He's put on nearly a couple of pounds, but will go back to normal with the amount of food when he feels better, but it did seem work - he would have a very long piddle a few times a day. Luckily he was skinny anyway, and I'd rather have a cat a pound overweight for a few months than keep suffering stinging piddles.

What is your cat like with water? Will she play with ice cubes etc to encourage more water intake? Was your cat offered a cause? Was in an infection, or did they find crystals? I wonder what the results were from an urinalysis if you had one done. Some cats do not have a cause tho, which makes things harder to solve.

Hey -- Hopefully someone who has more knowledge about reoccurring UTIs can chime in, as I have very little experience. 

From what I've been told - a raw (meaty!) diet is naturally acidifying, carbs promote alkaline urine. Many users on TCS have had some luck on a raw diet, but some cases a dietary change alone can not solve the issue. If you are interested this forum has a Raw/Home-cooked section where you can get a lot of good info. Dr. Pierson's site - http://www.catinfo.org/?link=urinarytracthealth  also has good information. 

If you do take the approach of making your own food, please ask questions and do research first. Veggies for the most part are not necessary, and spinach is high in Calcium Oxalate - which can promote the formation of CaO stones, which only can be removed via surgery.

Good luck.

animal voice said:

:bicolor:  It sounds like your kitty is extremely sensitive to grains and she is not getting enough meat in her diet. A cat's diet should be 40' - 50% meat.   Many commercial cat foods are species inappropriate.  All those therapies from the vet are basically band aids, and they do not address the cause. Put kitty on a grain-free wet diet high in animal protein. Even better, cook for her. It's not that hard. You can use chicken, beef, and turkey--fish is too toxic.  Cook meat, pour off fat. Put the fat in the refrigerator to cool. Add lentils to the meat and cook well--at least one and a half hours. Add iodized salt. You can add a rich variety of veggies that have been chopped in a processor. You can use a variety of the following veggies: green beans, peas, carrots, broccoli, lima beans, small amount of sweet potato, pumpkin, spinach and other greens. No corn, onions, or garlic. When the lentils are cooked, add the veggies and cook lightly. When the fat is hardened, remove it and add the broth back into the pot or save it in the freezer for a special need or for next cooking. Add 200 mg of calcium citrate w/vitamin D at first feeding. You can cook enough food to last for two months at a time. I use roasters.        

Click to expand...

A cat is an obligate carnivore and has no need for any vegetables. Broccoli, carrots, spinach and any dark leafy greens are high in oxalates, and particularly poor suggestions for a cat suffering from cystitis. This diet you've suggested is also very high in starches, which again, are not healthy choices for an obligate carnivore. Sweet potatoes contain goitrogens, which are indicated in contributing to the development of hyperthyroidism. We have a dedicated raw feeding and home-cooked forum with resources to help people that are interested in making their own cat food. But it is definitely dangerous to feed homemade without knowing how to properly balance it.

Fleabags Mom said:

I would be careful with home cooked food for cats as their main diet - a lot of research should be done before you go ahead. Taurine for example is often low in home cooked food, so a supplement should be given.  A lot of people are starting to feed their cats a raw diet, which may also be worth considering as it seems to have a good impact on health.

Click to expand...

Yes, and this site has a great forum to help anyone interested in providing a proper, nutritionally balanced homemade diet, whether cooked or raw.

As fleabags' mom points out, the key to controlling cystitis is WATER. The other two most important components are urine pH, which is controlled by diet (no grains, high protein, low carbohydrate), and controlling stress (environmental enrichment, anti-stress steps, like Bach's Flower remedies, or Spirit Essences: http://store.jacksongalaxy.com/

For diet, there is no better site than this one: http://www.catinfo.org and we can help identify proper foods you can afford in the Nutrition Forum.

Apart from switching to an appropriate wet food diet, there are other tips to help increasing your cat's water intake: http://www.thecatsite.com/a/tips-to-increase-your-cat-s-water-intake

Questions: was your cat's urine cultured? If an infection is present, this would reveal that. If a culture wasn't done, there is no reason to keep throwing antibiotics at the problem.

Was a urinalysis performed? Are there crystals in her urine? What was her urine pH?

The links already provided will help address the pH and crystals, if they were struvite and her pH was high.

If this is "sterile" cystitis with no crystals or actual infection, then water, and steps to reduce her stress are your tools.

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/02/17/dry-food-wrong-for-cats.aspx

http://www.hillscampus.it/files/sim...ors in feline lower urinary tract disease.pdf

http://vetgrad.co.uk/show10MinuteTopUp.php?type=&Entity=10MinuteTopUps&ID=36

One thing you can do right away to help soothe her bladder is to make corn silk tea. To do this, buy a corn silk herbal supplement. I'm in the U.S. and I buy Nature's Way Corn Silk. Empty about a tablespoon of the capsules into a container, and pour a large cup of boiling water in there. Let it steep for 20 minutes. Strain. Give your kitty one tablespoon of the mixture 2 to 3 times a day. Mine won't just drink it, I have to mix it into her wet food. This is very soothing to the bladder. Use this amount daily for a week or two, until things start to settle down.

I'm really sorry you and your kitty are going through this.  I have no real words of wisdom, but would highly encourage you to join the Yahoo! FLUTD group.  Great group of folks with lots of knowledge and very helpful.  http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/FLUTD/info

Oh, I just thought of a few more things.

You can try adding more litter boxes and using cat attract litter. This would fall into the category of "environmental enrichment." Even though your cat is simply telling you she's in pain with this behavior, the cat attract litter and more options may help lure her back to the box. :rub:

Also, was one of the medications tried amitriptyline? (Elavil). This is an old-line human anti-depressant that never worked very well. But it has a very interesting side-effect: urine retention. This drug is gentle enough that it is used for children that wet their beds, and is often given as an anti-spasmodic. Depending on the dose, it can make some cats really loopy. But when Spooky was having a flare that went on for months, we decided to use this medication. The vet warned us it takes 14 days to reach proper blood serum levels, and it is not a drug you can just stop, you have to taper down. But on day 1 (ok, maybe day 2) of the elavil, she started using the box again, peeing one HUGE pee, once a day. Though it's not something we wanted to use long term, it can give your kitty much needed relief, and give you some breathing room while you get your home properly cleaned up of kitty pee, and give everyone a needed break and some relief. :heart2: Spooky weighs 11.5 pounds, and her dose was 10mg daily. It did make her sleep most of the time for three weeks, and then her body adjusted to it, and she became "normal" again - just WAY less stressed and much happier.

Also, I give Spooky sub-q fluids at home. If your cat likes to be loved on and brushed, it's probably not hard to do. Spooky loves it, actually - I don't think she really notices the fluids (other than the poke of the needle at first), but I have a brush immediately handy, and she forgets about the poke right away. She loves it so much, giving her brushes in the bathroom once a day is now part of our routine, even if I'm not giving her fluids. :lol3:

Also, if this is sterile cystitis, and the problem is that your cat feels stress (for whatever reason - who knows the mind of a cat?!), you can try a calming collar. I can't speak to the effectiveness of this one, because I just ordered it. But I ordered it because a number of friends have tried it and seen a dramatic improvement in their kitties. They're expensive: but if it works, it's worth it. The double-channel collars are really bulky, so I ordered a single channel one. I'll report back - it should be here in a day or two.

animal voice said:

 

 It sounds like your kitty is extremely sensitive to grains and she is not getting enough meat in her diet. A cat's diet should be 40' - 50% meat.   Many commercial cat foods are species inappropriate.  All those therapies from the vet are basically band aids, and they do not address the cause. Put kitty on a grain-free wet diet high in animal protein. Even better, cook for her. It's not that hard. You can use chicken, beef, and turkey--fish is too toxic.  Cook meat, pour off fat. Put the fat in the refrigerator to cool. Add lentils to the meat and cook well--at least one and a half hours. Add iodized salt. You can add a rich variety of veggies that have been chopped in a processor. You can use a variety of the following veggies: green beans, peas, carrots, broccoli, lima beans, small amount of sweet potato, pumpkin, spinach and other greens. No corn, onions, or garlic. When the lentils are cooked, add the veggies and cook lightly. When the fat is hardened, remove it and add the broth back into the pot or save it in the freezer for a special need or for next cooking. Add 200 mg of calcium citrate w/vitamin D at first feeding. You can cook enough food to last for two months at a time. I use roasters.              

Click to expand...

I figured the commercial brands weren't the best she could be getting. I didn't know grains could be an issue. Thank you for explaining what I can cook for her and how to do it. When you're done cooking the meat, do you just place it in the fridge? And it lasts for 2 months? Sorry if that sounds like a silly question. I don't eat meat & haven't cooked any in 10 years so I'm unsure of the basics. lol.

Fleabags Mom said:

 
I would be careful with home cooked food for cats as their main diet - a lot of research should be done before you go ahead. Taurine for example is often low in home cooked food, so a supplement should be given.  A lot of people are starting to feed their cats a raw diet, which may also be worth considering as it seems to have a good impact on health.

My cat is also suffering a UTI - at least the symptoms. They couldn't find a cause. After nearly a month now of zero dried food or treats (he will not drink and dried food/treats were only offered occasionally before the UTI anyway) and water added to wet food, it seems to be slowing down a little. It's still there but other than licking his privates after a piddle (no matter where he is, indoor or out), it doesn't seem to irritate as long.  Before he was jumpy, over-grooming and fairly miserable. He was also on antibiotics (2 courses) which were supposed to calm irritation on the bladder lining.  Oh, I also gave him more food than strictly allowed and occasionally chicken broth to encourage more water intake, via his food and flush it all out. He's put on nearly a couple of pounds, but will go back to normal with the amount of food when he feels better, but it did seem work - he would have a very long piddle a few times a day. Luckily he was skinny anyway, and I'd rather have a cat a pound overweight for a few months than keep suffering stinging piddles.

What is your cat like with water? Will she play with ice cubes etc to encourage more water intake? Was your cat offered a cause? Was in an infection, or did they find crystals? I wonder what the results were from an urinalysis if you had one done. Some cats do not have a cause tho, which makes things harder to solve.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up. I will do more research on home cooked food.

I'm sorry your cat is suffering from a UTI. It's wonderful that he's doing a little better, though! Hopefully he will be 100% soon The chicken broth sounds like a good idea.
My cat doesn't drink much water. When she does, it's from the dog bowl. lol. That's why I add fresh water to her food. And she does enjoy ice cubes if they're floating around in water but doesn't seem too interested in actually biting/licking them. lol

She did have a urinalysis and they said the lining of her bladder was inflamed. She saw another vet when her primary wasn't in and she said there was a fair amount of blood so it was hard to tell what bacteria was present. I don't think they said it was crystals but I will have to double check.

pinkman said:

 
Hey -- Hopefully someone who has more knowledge about reoccurring UTIs can chime in, as I have very little experience. 

From what I've been told - a raw (meaty!) diet is naturally acidifying, carbs promote alkaline urine. Many users on TCS have had some luck on a raw diet, but some cases a dietary change alone can not solve the issue. If you are interested this forum has a Raw/Home-cooked section where you can get a lot of good info. Dr. Pierson's site - http://www.catinfo.org/?link=urinarytracthealth  also has good information. 

If you do take the approach of making your own food, please ask questions and do research first. Veggies for the most part are not necessary, and spinach is high in Calcium Oxalate - which can promote the formation of CaO stones, which only can be removed via surgery.

Good luck.

Click to expand...

I've been hearing a lot about the benefits of a raw diet for cats. Thank you for the link. I will search around on this forum, too I've been looking everywhere for information about this subject so I'll be sure to do more research on anything. I definitely don't want her getting stones! Thank you

LDG said:

Oh, I just thought of a few more things.

You can try adding more litter boxes and using cat attract litter. This would fall into the category of "environmental enrichment." Even though your cat is simply telling you she's in pain with this behavior, the cat attract litter and more options may help lure her back to the box.

Also, was one of the medications tried amitriptyline? (Elavil). This is an old-line human anti-depressant that never worked very well. But it has a very interesting side-effect: urine retention. This drug is gentle enough that it is used for children that wet their beds, and is often given as an anti-spasmodic. Depending on the dose, it can make some cats really loopy. But when Spooky was having a flare that went on for months, we decided to use this medication. The vet warned us it takes 14 days to reach proper blood serum levels, and it is not a drug you can just stop, you have to taper down. But on day 1 (ok, maybe day 2) of the elavil, she started using the box again, peeing one HUGE pee, once a day. Though it's not something we wanted to use long term, it can give your kitty much needed relief, and give you some breathing room while you get your home properly cleaned up of kitty pee, and give everyone a needed break and some relief.

Spooky weighs 11.5 pounds, and her dose was 10mg daily. It did make her sleep most of the time for three weeks, and then her body adjusted to it, and she became "normal" again - just WAY less stressed and much happier.

Also, I give Spooky sub-q fluids at home. If your cat likes to be loved on and brushed, it's probably not hard to do. Spooky loves it, actually - I don't think she really notices the fluids (other than the poke of the needle at first), but I have a brush immediately handy, and she forgets about the poke right away. She loves it so much, giving her brushes in the bathroom once a day is now part of our routine, even if I'm not giving her fluids.

Also, if this is sterile cystitis, and the problem is that your cat feels stress (for whatever reason - who knows the mind of a cat?!), you can try a calming collar. I can't speak to the effectiveness of this one, because I just ordered it. But I ordered it because a number of friends have tried it and seen a dramatic improvement in their kitties. They're expensive: but if it works, it's worth it. The double-channel collars are really bulky, so I ordered a single channel one. I'll report back - it should be here in a day or two.

Click to expand...

I used cat attract with her when she was a tiny kitten and it worked welll. That's a very good idea!
 

No, she hasnt' tried Elavil. It sounds wonderful that Spooky was having one good pee a day! That's so much better than little drops all throughout day lol. I will definitely look into that. Thank you very much for all the information!
That fluids/brush thing is another good idea. Priya (that's my cat's name ) gets brushed every morning as she eats her breakfast. When she eats, there's not much else that can get her attention away so she probably wouldn't notice a needle. If she did, she'd get over it quickly with food in front of her lol. Your cat sounds like a lovely one! I'm sure the routine of brushing is very nice for her, too
 

I have considered calming collars and sprays but wasn't sure how good they'd work & like you said, they are a little expensive. But it is worth a try. I hope it works for your kitty! And I hope to hear good news from you

Thank you for all the info from your previous post, too. I don't think her urine was cultured, I will have to check back. She's been going back & forth for almost 4 months so it's hard to keep track of what's been done. lol. I'm definitely going to try the corn silk tea. I hadn't heard of that before. Thanks!
 

stephanietx said:

 
I'm really sorry you and your kitty are going through this.  I have no real words of wisdom, but would highly encourage you to join the Yahoo! FLUTD group.  Great group of folks with lots of knowledge and very helpful.  http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/FLUTD/info

Click to expand...

Thank you for the support. I will check that out x

Thank you to everyone for the help. It is greatly appreciated

I have a cat that got his first UTI at 7 years old. Since then, I've taken precautions. Firstly, he is a water cat. I used to let him drink out of the faucet. No more. I bought a cat fountain and I only used distilled water with it. I do not trust the water in this town. My kettle is white with minerals after a week!! I Don't trust the water on the insides of my furry buddy. I also fed him purina urinary tract health formula. He's been on it for 4 years now with no problem. However!!!! Wet food, as much as I read into it, is the way to go. So, within the last couple weeks, I've been adding wet food to his diet. He is the most stubborn cat that I thought would never eat wet food. I sprinkled some of his dry food on top and, with some coaxing, he started eating it. He is 11 now and has not had another bout with a UTI. When he first got it, he had a complete blockage. So, I highly recommend a cat fountain with distilled water only. Plus, either wet food or a urinary tract formula food. Also, LOTS of playtime!! It de-stresses a cat. Plus, a cats natural cycle is hunt, eat, groom, sleep. Playtime before feeding is a great idea. Also, only feed twice a day. Leaving food out constantly is no good. 4 years later, my cat is doing great after his UTI. And I'm psyched I have FINALLY got him eating wet food. I still think distilled water and a fountain is one of the major keys. So, I thought I'd just share with what has worked for me and my fur ball. Good luck!!

Did she ever recover? I'm having such a hard time with my boy peeing all over his litter box! He had a uti and now nothing is back to normal. I've taken him to the vet countless times. I'm losing all hope

achristine said:

Did she ever recover? I'm having such a hard time with my boy peeing all over his litter box! He had a uti and now nothing is back to normal. I've taken him to the vet countless times. I'm losing all hope.

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I am sorry you are going through this.  Perhaps adding another litter box would be helpful.  Another thing you could try is using a larger litterbox to give her more room.  Some people use large rubber maid type containers and cut their own holes in them. 

You mentioned that you have been to the vets multiple times. Did the vet actually do a follow-up Urinalysis to make sure the UTI is gone completely and there are no crystals in his urine?  The reason I am asking this is my cat sitter went through something similar with one of her cats.  It turned out the UTI was gone but the cat still had Sturvite Crystals in his urine.  Her vet put him on prescription food to help break up the crystals and he is doing great now.  Her vet thought he may have to have surgery but the special food was enough to help fix the problem.

I absolutely agree on getting the urine cultured.  It's expensive but it helps to pin point the exact strain of bacteria and what is best to treat that.  I would also suggest once you have completed the course of treatment that you re culture to make sure it's really gone.  I had a kitty who had renal issues and towards her last 3 years, she was getting UTI's almost every other month.  We ended up putting her on antibiotic pulse therapy where I was giving her 1 week of antibiotics per month and that helped a lot.  I also only gave her bottled water - never tap water.    When she got really bad with UTi's I seem to recall we were giving antibiotics every 3rd day.  My vet also gave me a 10 day supply to keep on hand at home incase it was the weekend and I saw she was displaying signs of a UTI, so that I could quickly start her on treatment until I the clinic was open the next day.

Yeah, three days after the he was off the orbax they did a follow up visit and found no crystals and no blood. But if it's a true infection then he wouldn't be showing signs three days off the orbax. I'm just so concerned.