Idiopathic Subglottic Stenosis

Took my cat into the vet because he had red blood in his urine. They did an xray and culture of his pee and weren't' able to find anything in either. They concluded he has Idiopathic Subglottic Stenosis  and didn't really have a sure fire method to help him other than recommending things we could do to make him more comfortable and he had some pain medication at the beginning but it has worn off now and he is back to having small spots of urine outside of his litter box.

Is there any holistic things we can give him to try and stop the irritation in his bladder?

Hi b00t !

To say that this "diagnosis" is bizarre would be an understatement.

I have two recommendations for you

1. Find a competent feline Veterinarian....many of the best are cat-only, so you could start by looking for a cat-only clinic in your area. The AAFP has a search page here AAFP - Find Veterinarians and Practices   DON'T check the red "Cat-Friendly" bar at the bottom. Membership in the association does not guarantee competency, but it can be a good starting point. I wouldn't choose anyone with less than ten years of experience.
2. Get yourself a good basic grounding in feline urinary tract disease....a very good place to start is the website of a well-respected Veterinarian where you'll find several in-depth articles - one of which you must read immediately (because I believe you'll begin to see the light from the very first urinary condition she describes....pay careful attention and you'll realize the need for pain control with this condition) [hopefully that will spur you to seek a competent, second opinion - quickly]: Feline Urinary Tract Health - Lisa A. Pierson DVM

Hope that helps.....most importantly that it brings some relief to the suffering your cat is undoubtedly experiencing.

Thanks for the reply.

Unfortunately that site you linked only shows Vets in the US, we are located near Toronto Ontario. I have read the article you linked and was trying to find meds I could buy over the counter but didn't seem like any were available here.

We have him on Hills brand UT wet food. We are wondering if there are better ones out there to help him? He seems to be steady that there are only a few drops outside his litter box but its constant, he doesn't seem to get to the point where it is fully cleared just steady. I have suppliments I have bought for him that deal with UT but they don't seem to do much.

Problem with going to other vets is they will all want to run their own tests. As much as I love my cat, the last bill was $900 to run some tests only to say they couldn't really mind much wrong with him and diagnosed him with the above.

I agree that that diagnosis is totally bizarre. I'm wondering if someone on staff just picked out the wrong code when they wrote that down?  I'm thinking they probably meant idiopathic interstitial cystitis, which would make a whole lot more sense.

Is he under any undo stress at the moment?  Is anything happening around the house that is different?  Stress can cause this...even a change in diet can do it. 

As far as holistic things, you can try using a Feliway Diffuser, any type of calming devices (Rescue Remedy for Pets, Calming Sprays, chews, collars, harp music), play with him more, try to figure out what is causing him stress and reduce it.  Check out Jackson Galaxy's website for different oils that he salls for different things cat-related.  I know he has things in all categories. 

Different urinary diets work on different issues.  If he has stones, one product works better than another.  But he doesn't have stones, apparently.  Without a surefire diagnosis, not sure any urinary food is the right food, honestly.   But lots of calm, lots of water and plenty of litter boxes should help.

Maybe this article will give you more needed information:

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/FHC/health_information/UrinaryConcerns.cfm

mrsgreenjeens said:

 
I agree that that diagnosis is totally bizarre. I'm wondering if someone on staff just picked out the wrong code when they wrote that down?  I'm thinking they probably meant idiopathic interstitial cystitis, which would make a whole lot more sense.

Is he under any undo stress at the moment?  Is anything happening around the house that is different?  Stress can cause this...even a change in diet can do it. 

As far as holistic things, you can try using a Feliway Diffuser, any type of calming devices (Rescue Remedy for Pets, Calming Sprays, chews, collars, harp music), play with him more, try to figure out what is causing him stress and reduce it.  Check out Jackson Galaxy's website for different oils that he salls for different things cat-related.  I know he has things in all categories. 

Different urinary diets work on different issues.  If he has stones, one product works better than another.  But he doesn't have stones, apparently.  Without a surefire diagnosis, not sure any urinary food is the right food, honestly.   But lots of calm, lots of water and plenty of litter boxes should help.

Maybe this article will give you more needed information:

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/FHC/health_information/UrinaryConcerns.cfm

Click to expand...

Sorry, now that I re-read what I posted I think it should have been the diagnoses you mentioned not what I said.

He lives with another cat, and they have for over a year now without issues, they share the same bed, groom each other etc. The only new addition is our new baby, but he is 8 months old now and I haven't seen a change until recently. 

Originally we had them on a mix of wet and dry (I know it's bad now after reading more online, but we bought him the good brand dry food because he was a dry food junkie). When his first bout of pee drops were spotted around his litter box I removed the dry completely and have been only on wet from then on (about a month now). We also gave them lots of treats which we stopped too, so not sure if the stress of no dry food and treats is also compounding the underlying issue that started.

I just ordered some Feliway as I noticed he is trying to pee on our floor vents, and also in the same area my shoes are (he will come over and stand in my shoes and sniff for awhile then pee near them). Not sure if he is jealous that we are spending more time with the baby now and he isn't the main attention anymore, but were not ignoring him, we still cuddle him when the baby is sleeping etc

For food, should we just switch him back to his old regular one of Natural Balance he was on before the vet switched to the Hills one? 

Sorry now that I re-read what I posted I think I meant the diagnoses you put down.

As for changes, only thing different would be the addition of our baby, but he is 8 months old now and we don't ignore our cats, but the focus has definitely shifted a bit towards the baby for sure. He also has a sibling who he is really close with (shares a bed, grooms, etc)

I bought some Feliway as I also noticed he is peeing on floor vents and near my shoes. He will walk to where my shoes are, step in them, smell a bit then squat down to pee.

I'm wondering if he is jealous of the changes going on, even though we still do cuddles with him when the baby is sleeping and try to play with him when we get free time but its definitely more challenging now.

Thanks for the suggestions, I will most likely switch him back to a high protein food again like Natural Balance that he was on before and not feed him the UT specific one the vet gave.

Now that we think your Vet is not coo-coo (with that strange diagnosis), I would probably NOT switch back his food right away, but wait and see if it helps  BUT, I would call my Vet, if I were you, and tell him he did get better for awhile,and now he's back to inappropriate peeing, and see if maybe he needs more pain meds. 

Did you implement all the suggestions the Vet made?  Just out of curiosity...what were they?

I've been keeping the vet informed of his condition both up and down. I just went back today for another case of the urinary cat food they had him on. I also asked for more pain med after reading online that its needed as they only gave us enough for the first couple of days after he was taken home.

We did do all the suggestions, it was basically use the wet food mixed with water, make sure he has enough to drink and give him the pain med and the antibiotic. Nothing much after that besides letting them know how he was doing.

They said we could bring him in again if he wasn't getting better and they would put fluid under his skin to help him flush out his bladder again.

Hopefully the additional pain meds will help him out for now, And maybe with the addition of the Feliway all will be good.  .  Did you get enough to cover your entire house.  Each diffuser only covers a certain amount of space.  I know when I was using them, I had 3 going in my house, and be sure not to let them go dry...I think each vial is supposed to last around 30 days, if I'm remembering correctly.

You might still check into the Jackson Galaxy  Spirit Essences, or Rescue Remedy or some sort of calming device.  Your baby MIGHT by part of the issue....hard to say with cats .  Here is a link:  https://store.jacksongalaxy.com/sto...alaxy-spirit-essences-ur-fine?source=4-3341-1

Here is a thread on Spirit Essences:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/300644/your-experience-with-spirit-essences