Help with recovery from crystal blockage

Hi All -

My cat Wesley (shown in picture so you can see how wonderful he is) has been having some trouble recovering from a blockage caused by crystals.  He's a domestic shorthair about 1.5 years old.

We had to take him with us on Christmas vacation (just drives, no flights) and we noticed him having the problem just before New Years (likely stress from travel I guess).  We took him to the local vet (in a rather remote area with limited lab resources) and she said he wasn't blocked, but had crystals.  He was put on IV fluids for two days, given some Urinary SO food and given a shot of Convenia (anti-biotic).

He was OK for a while but about a week later (we came home right away) he was having a lot of trouble peeing and we took him to our local vet.  At that point he was put on IV and catheterized for a day, given a 10 day corse of muscle relaxants to help him pee, given another shot of Convenia and a 7 day course of another anti-biotic (can't remember off the top of my head).

Now we are on the 8th day since then (25 days since the initial infection) and he's still having a lot of trouble peeing.  He manages to empty his bladder but it can take a long time (this morning it was 8 times!).  

He's eating nothing but RC Urinary SO wet with a little Urinary SO dry for snacking during the day.  Prior to this he was on all natural balance foods - primarily wet but he ate a little dry.  (So I was at least trying to give him high quality foods from the start.)  I'll probably get him switched back to a high quality wet once this is over and cut off the dry, but I don't want to mess with him too much during recovery.

We've taken him in for a checkup a few days ago and the vet agreed it was concerning but said that he would be less stressed out and more able to recover if at home (since there was no blood, his bladder was not full, and he was still eating / drinking).

Anyway - I'll probably take him in again today to get some advice from the vet, but is there any advice you can give on helping a cat to recover?  We set him up with a water fountain (which he likes but isn't drinking as much as I'd like to see).  I also trick him into drinking by mixing warm water into his wet food and that works most of the time.

So he is seeing the vet for checkup and I'm prepared to give him whatever care he needs - but I am looking for some general advice on helping him get through this!

He's a very loving, happy cat.  Even during this difficult time he still is perfectly behaved.  He's a member of our family and we will do what it takes to make him better.

You should google holistic care for uti cat. One of mine had a UTI so we took him to the vet. They gave him antibiotics and a week later he was fine. That was in December. He started showing signs again (straining, ect.) And after much research we put him on two doses a day of cranberry powder. You just buy capsules for humans and when you open them they have powder in them. We give him about 250mg in the morning then again in the evening. He started peeing larger amounts the next day! We also ordered him some mercurius vivus, and cantharis. All of which holistic vets would recommend! My baby is doing well and will not need to be switched to the hills prescription food. Also we use to only feed dry but now feed wet twice a day along with dry for nibbles during the day. You can ask your vet about all of the products I listed above but also do some research and maybe even try finding a holistic vet to call and ask yourself! You can read here what works and what each thing is for: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/holistic-treatement-for-your-cats-bladder-infection.html This article has listed reasons why these holistic items work and what they are for.

So far it's working wonders for my kitty! If you are in fear of a complete blockage take him in ASAP! But if he is urinating and you can get these items I would give them a try! Also research more articles and you will find tons of treatments with cranberry and the cantharis, ect. Good luck to you and your kitty!

He manages to get some out but it takes him a long time.  This morning he emptied his bladder but it took 8 tries! (I was checking the volume of each one).

He's going back in tonight for at least an assessment.  3 hours from now.  He's in good spirits but he's good at coving up his pain unfortunately!

Thanks for the tips though - I'll try the cranberry powder. Do you just mix it in with his food?  He doesn't mind the taste?

I have mixed it in and tilt his head back and poured it in. He didn't mind it at all in his food!

My cat was straining and passing small frequent amounts, due to the pain. he is doing good now though! The next day on the cranberry alone he started passing larger less frequent amounts. Also you can place a bowl of water in each room he is allowed in, and of course feed wet (and you can add more water to the wet to raise his PH levels.)

I hope your kitty recovers quickly! Please update! I know how worrisome it can be!

Ester c is also good for them! (You can find it on amazon, too.)

Took him into the vet again last night.  The vet said he was in good shape, wasn't dehydrated, no temperature, no blockage.  He was concerned that he was still straining and put him on a small short course of anti-inflamitories.

That seemed to do the trick!  This morning he was peeing with no problems.  Must have been the first time in weeks, the poor guy.

Anyway, fingers crossed but it seems like he may have turned a corner.  I think with these things it helps a lot just making sure he is drinking water and flushing out his system.

Once we are off all the meds I'll look into some of those alternatives you mentioned for ongoing preventative care.  Just don't want to introduce too many variables at the moment.

Thanks!

Sounds like your kitty is on the mend.  I was going to suggest anti-inflammatories and/or pain medication so I'm glad your vet got you that.  One thing you can do to help is to add water to the canned food, usually a tablespoon or two helps.  It adds more moisture in the diet which in turn helps flush out the bladder.  This is an excellent website with lots of good information on urinary issues in cats: http://catinfo.org/?link=urinarytracthealth  It helped me with my 2 bladder kitties.  I give them cosequin daily which also helps with inflammation in the bladder.

I'm really glad there wasn't a blockage! Please keep us updated!

I think the anti-inflammatories really helped with the bladder inflammation. Just watch for signs of reoccurrence as they wear off though.

Stress is a definite factor is urinary tract issues. For struvite crystals, I would recommend two things, an all wet diet to keep Wesley's system flushed out which you are already doing and a low carb diet to keep his urine pH more acidic. Crystals tend to form in urine pH that is too alkaline. What was his urine pH on the urinalysis? If you are not going to stay with the SO, you may want to consider keeping methionine on hand and monitoring his urine pH at home. Methionine is the urine acidifying active ingredient in the Rx foods.

I would suggest you do more research before using cranberry power. Cranberries contain benzoic acid which is toxic to cats.

Thanks for the info!  I do indeed add water to their wet food.  For the poor guy affected it is the only way he will eat his wet food - he seems to like it soupy and warm.  I'll do some reading about cosequin and check out the site you've provided.

For now just breathing a sigh of relief that he's having a somewhat normal day.  Still keeping a close eye on him though.

His PH was 7 when I brought him in so I guess it should be slightly lower.  I will definitely research the cranberry solution before making any moves.  Once I'm sure he's past this rough spot I'll probably phase in other wet foods again but may keep a certain amount of his diet as SO (we feed wet twice a day so maybe I'll do SO in the morning and Natural Balance at night - I'll avoid the fish flavours as I've heard they can cause this problem.  Fortunately he likes the venison stuff.)

I guess I can monitor his PH myself if I'm willing to get in there  Glad to know I can just use the additive as I may prefer to use other kinds of food (for variety if nothing else).

I do agree. The cranberry powder is not something to use as a everyday solution. It's okay (from what I've read, and from what holistic vets approve) for a UTI to help clear it up. So def don't use cranberry powder as a daily supplement or anything!

Just do your research and wait and see how your kitty does and go from there.

Good to know - for some reason I thought you were using it as a preventative supplement.  I'll do some reading but maybe if I see this happen again (not a full block but difficulty peeing) I'll give a dose of the cranberry stuff a try.  ...after some research and all.

Really happy to get this advice from the community!

I've made my "introduction" post if you want to see more about my cats

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/271841/wesley-and-dune

A cat's urine pH should be in the 6.0 - 6.5 range. 7.0 and higher is where crystals are more likely to form. Stress and high carb foods can raise urine pH.

Oh no. The best prevention is keeping them hydrated. I'm new to the whole UTI thing. But I've done tons of research.

Along with the wet food I've read and heard adding a water bowl to more rooms than one may help their water intake, and a fountain.

I'll check out your introduction!

vball91 said:

A cat's urine pH should be in the 6.0 - 6.5 range. 7.0 and higher is where crystals are more likely to form. Stress and high carb foods can raise urine pH.

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Yeah - it came on when we traveled for Christmas to a few strange places and I think it stressed him out.  We have a family cabin we go to sometimes and he loves it there (lays by the fire all day long purring) but Christmas involved 3 different venues and he was clearly not happy about the 2 he was less familiar with.  We did that thinking he would be less stressed than the alternatives, but we won't do that to him again.

I don't think the food was a big problem - Natural Balance Ultra dry and a variety of their wet foods.  They seem to be well reviewed for health online, but maybe he was eating too much of the dry.

In any case - certainly I'm aware of the PH needs now.  I have learned a lot in the past little while and will make sure I watch this aspect of his health.

furmom101 said:

Along with the wet food I've read and heard adding a water bowl to more rooms than one may help their water intake, and a fountain.

 

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We've got water in bowls and glasses all over the place in different venues, different sizes, even a water fountain now.  They basically decided we weren't allowed to have bed side water glasses anymore so now they get glasses of water on our bedside tables and we use travel mugs so we aren't drinking the cat water.  

Saying that out loud makes me feel just a little crazy

Hey! You got to do what you got to do! lol

...hmmm - so while the first day on anti-inflamitories really seemed to help him, after that he has kind of backslid.  On the first day he was basically back to normal - could pee in a normal amount of time (less than a minute) and empty his bladder.  

After that he's back to having to pee for a long time (multiple minutes) and it usually takes 2 goes for him to empty his bladder.  Not as bad as he was, and I suppose not an "emergency" but still, now 4 days after having started him on the new meds, I'm not seeing continual improvement.  That being said he doesn't seem to be in a lot of pain while urinating (prior to the anti-inflamitories his ears would go back while he peed and now they do not - he just takes a long time.)

I think I might take him back in and get an Xray to see if he's got stones or some other issue.  He's happier now, eating well, and - as I say - he's able to empty his bladder but he's not turning the final corner to recovery.

...a side issue I'm having is that the Urinary SO food seems to be giving both of my cats mild constipation.  I'm doing my best to shift their diet to be made up mostly of the wet SO stuff, and for the dry SO stuff I've started to mix in about 25% Natural Balance Ultra (which has fixed constipation in them in the past).  Hopefully that little bit of non-SO food isn't going to work against me - especially since now Wesley is definitely getting most of his calories from the wet SO.

Any advice or things I should talk to my vet about for next steps?

My guess is that bladder inflammation is returning as the antiinflammatories wear off. It could be caused by the crystals which are definitely irritating and painful.

Two suggestions for you to discuss with your vet. One maybe another antiinflammatory shot to keep him comfortable while he's recovering? Two, a higher dose of methionine temporarily to help dissolve crystals more quickly, either in Hill's s/d formula or adding extra methionine to food. While an x-ray or ultrasound is not a bad idea, the urinalysis should have showed some sign of stones other than crystals. It would be rare to have two kinds of stones at the same time.