Urinary issue?

Hi all, I need your advice on something please.

Recently, my cat Kiki has had some blood in her pee. I'll start by saying that yes, I am bringing her to the vet with my dad on Saturday or Sunday. The downside is that veterinary care is super expensive in Ireland. A check up visit on its own is €42! With other procedures and prescription food the bill could be over a hundred euro. So I need your help do be sure that the vet doesn't address a pointless issue, just to make you come back and spend more money (it has happened before in a different clinic) . I know that the vets have the most experience and would know best, but I would still like some advice on what to expect.

So here's whats going on with Kiki;
-she is a somewhat overweight, neutered, female three year old outdoor cat. She is fed either a mix of wet and dry food, just dry food, or fresh raw meat three times a day with no treats. (when theres meat it tends to be that all day so it won't go bad, but usually its the processed foods)

-two weeks ago I noticed that she was drinking quite a lot of water. I didn't think it unusual as we had just gone from meat to mostly dry food.

- last Friday morning, Kiki used the litter box after eating. I had just changed the litter so it was nice and clean for her to use. Usually the cats go outside to do their business, but they are both litter trained. Anyways, Kiki peed in three different spots, but it seems like only a few drops came out each time, with a large amount of blood mixed with the urine (it looked bright red/orange and absorbed easily into the litter).

-I told my dad and we decided to wait a few days to see if it cleared up. Midweek, nothing improved, so we decided to bring her to the vet at the weekend. Kiki's appetite is just as normal and her drinking seems to have gone down a tad. A few more spots of pee are in the litter box now.

-However, this morning something happened. Kiki jumped up on my desk, crouched on the edge and peed a few drops onto the floor. The pee looked less red now, though the white litter might have made it look more red before. This is a clear sign of distress and discomfort.

So we are taking her to the vet tomorrow to find out what's going on. I'd really appreciate any advice you can give me. I love my two cats very much and I want to keep them healthy and happy.

Thanks very much,
Berb

I'm sorry no one answered your question before now.  It seems you have probably taken Kiki to the vet already so I'm afraid we weren't much help in offering advice about the visit.  How did it go? It sounds like Kiki has a urinary tract infection and/or crystals in her urine.  Hopefully the vet gave Kiki an antibiotic and something for the discomfort, like an antispasmodic, although not all vets give the latter.  (S)he should have examined the urine for crystals and, if they are present,  might have prescribed a prescription cat food such as Hills Science Diet to dissolve the crystals.  The most important thing you can do is to increase Kiki's water intake.  If she's not drinking from her bowl, try adding a bit to her canned food.  It would probably also help to discontinue the dry food, at least until she's better. 

Thanks, it all went well. It seems that she has an infection so the vet prescribed antibiotics. We were told that prescription food wasn't necessary and I'll make sure to cut down on dry food for now/ from now on.   

Thank you,

Berb