Trouble Urinating

I'm so stressed out!! I feed my 11 year old cat natures variety grain free which got rid of his nasty skin allergies and gave him a beautiful coat. Unfortunately he has recently had some issues with cystitis every few weeks but no complete blockages. He is under a vets care and we have a recheck today but he is still having trouble urinating (only gets a tbsp or so out) last time we saw the vet she showed me how to check his bladder to make sure it wasnt blocked so I check it daily. Vet recommended some crappy prescription food and I mentioned my concerns of it being low quality and not grain free, she semi agreed and said we could just add water to his current food or feed more wet food. The process to get him to like the moist dry food or canned food is slow, he is very picky even chicken broth ice cubes in his water didn't make him drink more. My husband is sold on the food because an acquaintance told him how it healed her cat with the same issue. When is it ok to feed crappy food just to avoid worse sickness or maybe death which can happen if he is ever fully blocked? My other thought is to just take him in for IV fluids every few weeks when I notice his urine output decreasing. We were at the vet 2 weeks ago and he got fluids then within a day or so he was urinating normally but yesterday the problem started again. Any other ideas I can bring up to the vet to stop this?

Did they find bacteria and/or crystals in his urine?  If they found crystals what type were they?  There are two types calcium oxalate and struvite.  

Keep working on transitioning him to wet food.  Have you tried a pet water fountain?   Some kitties will  drink more with a fountain, not all kitties but some will.  You can also put bowls of  water for him throughout the house.  I think that helps with getting kitties to drink more.

The whole thing with prescription foods is a little controversial.  I personally believe that some kitties do need them  but many don't.

Denice said:

Did they find bacteria and/or crystals in his urine?  If they found crystals what type were they?  There are two types calcium oxalate and struvite.  

Keep working on transitioning him to wet food.  Have you tried a pet water fountain?

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No the urine was normal, vet said it was bladder/penile spasms and inflammation.

I thought about trying a water fountain but he is scared of the faucet so I thought it might look the same to him.

I don't think the prescription food would really help.  The prescription food usually has something added that changes the pH of the urine so it can help with a kitty that is prone to crystals.

Did the vet give anything for the pain and the spasms?

Often stress is a contributing factor you could try running Feliway diffusers.  They help some kitties and not others, there really is no way of knowing unless you try it.  There is a condition called Feline Idiopathic Cystitis which may be what your kitty has.   Here is an article explaining it  http://www.thecatsite.com/a/feline-idiopathic-cystitis-how-to-improve-your-cats-life-quality   

You could also ask your vet about Cosequin.  It can help heal the bladder lining.

Here is an article on transitioning a kitty to wet food http://www.thecatsite.com/a/transit...-to-a-new-type-of-food-canned-raw-or-homemade

If your kitty is used to free fed kibble  this article has tips on transitioning to timed meals http://www.thecatsite.com/a/transitioning-free-fed-kibble-kitties-to-timed-meals

Yes 2 weeks ago pain reliever/light sedative and yesterday she did another round of sub q fluids and gave the same pain reliever and prednisone which we are giving the first dose this morning. The vet actually suggested cosequin and ordered it but have not started yet. He has had an ear infection that would not go away since April, we finally got a culture a few weeks ago to see exactly what kind of infection and turned out to be resistant to the drops the vet had first given us so now its finally cleared on the right medication. He is super spoiled, he is the only pet no young children, the only stress he has is recently when we have to medicate him or take him to the vet. We moved in January but he seemed to adjust well within a month. We do live near a theme park which has fireworks every weekend but he is indoors only and I don't notice him hide or seem bothered by them.