Interstitial cystitis support

My 4 year old male cat currently has an inflamed bladder.... His urinalysis showed a moderate amount of red blood cells in the urine. I believe it was triggered when he broke his foot about 4 weeks ago. He has been on medical urinary SO food, wet and dry, and a powder glucosamine supplement for cats twice daily (apparently the bladder lining is made of the same material as their joints and the vet has seen it help in some cats). He has NOT had a blockage; he's drinking a lot from his cat fountain and the tap. He's peeing probably 3 decent sized pees per day.

He also has a sensitive bowel, possibly food allergy or IBD, and has in the past used an inhaler for asthma symptoms (he usually does the cough only when after drinking now, and only once in a while..)

My question is, what can I do to support the cystitis? I'm terrified of a blockage. I've added another litter box where I can watch and make sure he's peeing, adding water to his wet food, bought a new window perch and Feliway spray to reduce stress...

What else can I do at this time? I've done a lot of reading about it but I'm looking for people to speak from experience.

Additionally, I haven't been giving his Flovent inhaler because he has been asymptomatic, but I have noticed a few attacks after drinking and am wondering if he maybe needs it again. The Flovent i have is majorly expired though, like 2 years. Is it safe to give?

AND to add to this, it's a bit TMI but still, his bowel movements are strange... They're formed but a weird texture; not diarrhea, but almost a weird spongy consistency,

I am no expert on urinary issues.  Mainly I'm hoping by bumping this up, someone else will see it.  BUT, I thought S/O food was for crystals, and from what I've read, cystitis in inflammation of the bladder, NOT crystals, so wondering if he has a history of crystals too?

How long has he been on the S/O, and have his "odd" bowels only started since he started on the S/O?  If so, I would definitely attribute them to the food.  Obviously the prescription foods aren't the best for IBD, but here you have to pick your poison, so to speak. 

From what I've read on the cystitis (again, I'm no expert), wet food and tons of water are the best thing for it, along with trying to reduce stress.  Does he love his dry S/O, or could you easily wean him off it.  You did say he drinks lots, so that's good.  Do you have decent water where you live?  Our water is awful....so hard.  We have had 3 cats get kidney disease, and I'm thinking it might actually be partially from our water, so now I only use filtered water for them (and feed only wet food with lots of water added to it). 

On that inhaler, I think 2 years is too old.  If he really does have an asthma attack and needs it, I would hate to find out that it's so out of date that it doesn't work .  It's great that he's asymptomatic though .  That's really interesting.  I didn't know asthma worked that way .  What I DO know, however, is that I also have a cat who coughs when he drinks.  It scared me enough that I took him in to be checked, thinking he might have a heart condition.  The Vet checked him inside out and upside down at my insistence, but he got a clean bill of health since the only time he does this is right after he drinks.  Luckily I put so much water in his canned food that he rarely takes a drink out of the water bowl. 

The odd bowels started before the S/O food. He was on a hypoallergenic food before that. Ideally I would like to transition to raw to try and see how they fare, against the advice of my vet however. I don't want to transition to raw when these issues are going on. Are there any Heath conditions that would be worsened by a raw diet? The X-ray showed no crystals. Could the cystitis be a result of the stress from his broken foot?? I've since added another window perch, using Feliway spray, added a third litter box (I have two cats). He has a Whisker City fountain with a filter in it... We don't have a water softener and I find the water is a bit hard, but I'm not sure I've never heard of this being an issue around here.

I am afraid that by cutting out dry food altogether they will have dental issues, other wise I would totally just do wet food.

IMHO, and I don't think I am along on this, feeding kibble as a dental aid is a myth, UNLESS you feed giant kibble that they actually bite into and it scrapes against their teeth. 

As to feeding raw, I am unaware of any condition that is worsened by feeding raw.  IF they had kidney disease, then you would probably NOT want to feed bones, but want to find a substitute for the bones like egg shell powder, and this is because of the amount of calcium in the bones vs the egg shells.  But that's not an issue for you at the moment.  (I used to feed raw and did have a kidney cat, that's why I speak about the bones vs egg shell powder.  I no longer feed raw simply because two of my cats went on a raw strike and so since I had to feed them wet food, I just started feeding the 3rd one wet also )  If you feed raw, giving them chicken wings is really GREAT for their teeth   BTW, MOST Vets will advise against feeding raw.  They simply don't know that much about it.  If you talk to a holistic Vet, they are usually all for it. 

OH, and I do indeed think the stress from the broken foot could have brought on the cystitis

I was looking into pre made raw options in my area, as opposed to making it myself. If I do intend to go raw I would get a full work up done on them first to make sure there's no hidden underlying issues. I'm also not sure there's a holistic vet in my area.

Ok so, my cystitis kitty is drinking a lot of water from his fountain and the tap. He's eating normally, has had a couple of normal sized pees today. He's been resting a lot but also up and about, not seemingly lethargic. He takes Cosequin supplements twice daily. Should I be concerned that he's drinking more?

Dry food doesn't help with dental care at all, despite what you may hear from the vet and other pet owners. You may want to read this: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/314993/diet-for-healthy-teeth Only regular home dental care and the occasional dental cleaning will keep teeth healthy and clean, just like it does for your own teeth.

You don't necessarily need a holistic vet in order to feed your cat raw. While many regular vets advise against feding raw, there are some who are supportive of raw diets or just don't really care about what the cat is fed as long as it's a complete balanced diet.

There's a raw diet forum here on TCS if you want more info n feeding raw: http://www.thecatsite.com/f/65/raw-amp-home-cooked-cat-food

jlgagne said:

Ok so, my cystitis kitty is drinking a lot of water from his fountain and the tap. He's eating normally, has had a couple of normal sized pees today. He's been resting a lot but also up and about, not seemingly lethargic. He takes Cosequin supplements twice daily. Should I be concerned that he's drinking more?

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Any time a cat starts drinking MORE, I think it's concerning.  Cats just don't normally drink much as it is, so an increase is telling.  The Cosequin shouldn't have anything to do with it, that I can tell.  I used to give that to one of my arthritic cats with no change in his drinking habits.  But having had 3 kidney cats, and watching them suddenly hit the water bowls and fountains much more, I would think this might be a reason for another checkup.  Could be kidney issues, could be diabetes, could be something else, or could be nothing, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.  Would your Vet be open to a phone call about this first?  Might be worth a try before taking him in, although they can't diagnose anything with a phone call.Is it MEASURABLY more?

I phoned, she said the SO food is higher salt to make them drink more. I can't measure cause it's in a fountain unfortunately .

jlgagne said:

I phoned, she said the SO food is higher salt to make them drink more. I can't measure cause it's in a fountain unfortunately .

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OK, so is he drinking more just since he's been on the S/O, or more recently.  I thought you meant he just recently started drinking more...like within the past few days.  So...if that's not the case, then I guess you're ok there

BTW, if you are looking for a holistic vet, this website can help:  http://www.ahvma.org/find-a-holistic-veterinarian/.  AND, even if you feed commercial raw like Primal or Stella and Chewy's or whatever that's already  mixed up and 100 nutritionally complete, it's still ok to toss them a chicken wing every now and then for them to gnaw on for their teeth.  (They might not really know what to do with it though, but it's worth a try.)

N

mrsgreenjeens said:

OK, so is he drinking more just since he's been on the S/O, or more recently.  I thought you meant he just recently started drinking more...like within the past few days.  So...if that's not the case, then I guess you're ok there

BTW, if you are looking for a holistic vet, this website can help:  http://www.ahvma.org/find-a-holistic-veterinarian/.  AND, even if you feed commercial raw like Primal or Stella and Chewy's or whatever that's already  mixed up and 100 nutritionally complete, it's still ok to toss them a chicken wing every now and then for them to gnaw on for their teeth.  (They might not really know what to do with it though, but it's worth a try.)

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No it's been in the past few days that I've noticed it since he's been off the Metacam.

I'd call the Vet again then and see if going OFF Metacam can cause increase in thirst.

mrsgreenjeens said:

OK, so is he drinking more just since he's been on the S/O, or more recently.  I thought you meant he just recently started drinking more...like within the past few days.  So...if that's not the case, then I guess you're ok there

BTW, if you are looking for a holistic vet, this website can help:  http://www.ahvma.org/find-a-holistic-veterinarian/.  AND, even if you feed commercial raw like Primal or Stella and Chewy's or whatever that's already  mixed up and 100 nutritionally complete, it's still ok to toss them a chicken wing every now and then for them to gnaw on for their teeth.  (They might not really know what to do with it though, but it's worth a try.)

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I'm going to try transitioning them to raw once I figure out what's going on with both cats and have them stabilized. I've got to get his urinary issues under control, and figure out the reasoning behind my little girls abdominal breathing first... Praying it's not heart related.

I'm g

mrsgreenjeens said:

I'd call the Vet again then and see if going OFF Metacam can cause increase in thirst.

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I'm going in this evening to grab some meds for my other kitty so I will ask then, they're likely getting annoyed with my incessant phoning haha.

Well, he had about 3 decent sized pees today but has been drinking a lot tonight. I got a urine sample collection kit from the vet tonight; she's going to test it and if he's concentrating his urine were all good, if not we have issues. I will likely collect tomorrow and bring it to the vets in the evening.

Hoping everything is AOK with him.  Have you got a separate thread going for your girl and her breathing issues?

mrsgreenjeens said:

Hoping everything is AOK with him.  Have you got a separate thread going for your girl and her breathing issues?

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Yes two separate threads.