Crystals and an unbalanced PH..cat peeing in all of our beda.

I noticed a couple weeks ago, my cat was straining to owe and taking 5 minutes in her box. She kept going back and fourth into it, so I made an appointment..in the mean time, She has gone on every pillow and bed in the house. I have laid on it twice...and cannot get the smell out of my home. We went to the vet and they tested her blood, urine and general health. They found crystals and an unbalanced PH, but no infection. Cystitis was her diagnosis. The blood work has yet to return. I changed over to hills urinary health food..which the vet say may be permanent.they gave her antibiotics just in case. I feel awful, but she is now holed up in the bathroom. I can't afford new beds. She was an emaciated stray that was so sick she was dying when I got her..she has been through 4 antibiotics in 4 months, gained 3 pounds, got rid of a throat, eye and URI, and now this. She also needs her teeth pulled. Is there anything I can give her OTC to help? She is still straining so bad... I want her to have the life she deserves. I saw a PH over the counter and cranberry..as well as one that states it helps with straining and irritation. Anyone else tried these?

Did your Vet give her anything for pain?  How about an anti-spasmotic?  Did he talk to you about trying to increase her water intake, and keeping her stress levels down?  Could she have gotten stressed out over the holidays because of extra activities or anything like that?  Here, check out this article.  You may find it very helpful:  http://www.thecatsite.com/a/feline-idiopathic-cystitis-how-to-improve-your-cats-life-quality

since your entire house smells like urine, that sounds like you haven't cleaned up with a good enzymatic cleaner like Nok-Out or something similar.  That's the key.  Soak any areas she has peed on and let let them dry well to get rid of the smell.  Regular cleaning won't work. 

Thank you for your reply. My vet gave her nothing for pain, that'swhy I was asking about the supplements at the pet store, they had one for urinary pain, straining and frequency. She only gave her an antibioyic shot, said to mix some water in her food, and gave me Hills urinary wet cat food. She had been on nulos dry food before. I received a call after my original post, that her bloodwork came back with high white blood cells. She said they were the type often seen in parasytic infections. I gave her a dewormer 4 months ago..perhaps it wasn't enough. I asked her if this could be a possible reason for crystals..she said there could be parasite in the urinary tract..however that, nor infection was found in her urinalysis. I put the dewormer on her two nights ago, and she is on her third day of this glucosimine medicine..which is more for inflamed joints, but the vet said it would help with her bladder. She has eaten all of her urinary food and the joint medicine right up very well. We had a dog soend the night 4 weeks ago, she hid under my sons bed for 2 days straight.. And the urinary symptoms started shortly after...making me wonder if thats what stressed her out.

I found the cause of the smell....my pillow cases, that had been washed 3 times, just had the awful smell locked in. I powderedmy living room floor and got the smell out of there...threw away my pillow cases which was unfortunate, as it matched my bedspread..but figured i would rather sleep in peace without the smell than have my bed look pretty..lol.

She is on my lap, on a break from the bathroom. She has a heated bed in there and its a large bathroom..but I am sure she is lonely. I have not seen her in her litter box to see if she is getting better yet. She was in there so much for a while..so something has to be better. I would like to see if she is still straining..taking 5 minutes and getting nothing out. Keeping an eye out.

If your pillowcases were urinated on....what about the pillows?  If they have urine soaked into them, they may still cause your furbaby to be drawn to them.  If so, then you may need to toss them too. You may not even be able to smell it,but SHE might    (you really didn't need to toss the pillow cases, however, you could have washed them with an enzymatic cleaner to get the smell out, as suggested above.  Too late now, i guess. 

Here's hoping she is feeling better.  Are you finding urine in her litter box in the bathroom?  Good sized amounts?  That's what you're looking for, which will show she's going "normally". 

I have no idea whether or not those OTC products work or not.  Honestly, I've never heard of a Vet NOT giving pain meds in instances like this. 

Thanks again for your reply... Its okay about the pillowcases, they were stitched in an uncomfortable pattern so its been better with these cotton ones anyway i tossed the pillows..that was the first thing i did.. So is it better for her to have no smell of her urine, so she wont keep continuing to pee there? I don't think the bed can take another hit. I got lucky with her going on the pillows. I noticed that her pee clump was bigger, opposed to the 20 little clumps she had in the beginning, from the trips back and fourth. So i really do think the inflammation is going down. Like i said though, really want to catch her peeing to see if she is still straining. I am a little upset that the vet didnt give her sometging for pain as well. For gumans we have stuff like uricalm...and i actually suffer from a autoimmine disorder (intersticial cystitis) which funny enough, is pretty close to what Kiara is dealing with. I cant imagine not getting anything to help with it. My quality of life would be non existant. The vet wants more blood work in a couple of weeks..but i just spent 365 on all this (plus a lot of $$ for new pillows, bed covers) so i dont know how im going to manage that. I planned on opening up the living room and kitchen area when i see her no longer straining (of course plastic bagging the couch..cheapest way to do it..large black garbage bags i get from work.)

You definitely want to get rid of all her urine scent from every where she went outside of the litter box.  You can find those spots by using a black light.  Then use an enzyme cleaner on all those spots.  the directions would be whichever enzyme cleaner you use.  I usually soak the areas pretty well, myself. 

It's a good sign that her pee clump appears large .  I guess the only way to catch her "in the act" is to spend lots of time with her in the bathroom. 

Did you ASK your Vet why no pain meds?  If it happens again, I would certainly make sure she gets them, unless there is a vary good reason for not giving them. 

I'm not sure I understand why they would need more bloodwork in a couple of weeks?  I can see doing another urine check to look for crystals and check her PH, but why bloodwork?  Plus, if you can catch her in "the act", you can actually check her PH with human strips, something you may want to start doing anyway, on a go-forward basis