Ongoing cystitis?

Hi, everyone!  I'm a longtime member and an even longer-time lurker, and can't tell you how much help I've had over the years with my boys... :-) 

One of the boys, Indie, started having blood in his pee about two months ago... We have been doing the vet visits with urinalysis and cultures... So far there has been no bacteria, so the treatment has been two rounds of antibiotics, and some anti-inflammatories... We were told to start him on Royal Canin S/O both wet and dry, which was a disaster with constant vomiting that only stopped when we discontinued the food entirely... I did some research online, and started to push the wet food (no problem there) and to water it down to increase his fluids... I was able to restart the Royal Canin S/O wet food, but only as an add-on to the other (Nutromax), and again it's watered down...  But this is where I have some questions... Some of what I read said that both chicken and fish can inflame the bladder wall and can be a source of cystitis... I switched his dry food to lamb-based, and stopped the wet food with fish and have tried to limit the chicken... I have also started feeding him boiled turkey breast in addition because he keeps losing blood... Do any of you know whether the chicken/fish thing is true?  Also, we're at the two month mark for the blood showing up... Some of what I've read suggested things should resolve after a couple of weeks... I suggested to the vet that maybe there may be a mass (possibly cancer?) happening, but she wasn't too interested in hearing about this (not sure if she was having a bad day, and she was upset with me that I wasn't willing to continue the RC S/O dry food)... after his last visit, she sent lab work in, and we haven't heard back about results yet, and no follow-up appointment is booked yet... The vet did tell me that he wouldn't get better unless he was on the prescription food... He seems ok with the wet S/O, so I'm hoping for some good to come from that...

For Indie's history, he will be 11 years old in March, is 23.6 pounds of love... He had massive struvite crystals when we rescued him from a horse barn at 9 weeks, but he's been ok for them since...  We're working on the weight (he's down about two pounds from last year), but it's a struggle when he starts hustling the other cats for their food... He's an artist at it... We're on an acreage where they are out when it's nice, and in when it's not... He's got good energy, and is in a pretty good mood these days.. I know cats can mask pain very well, so I'm not saying there's nothing going on, but he's good with letting me know when something is up...

I'm not sure what direction to go in now... I wonder if there's something else here I'm missing... The other two boys are fine, so this is an "Indie only" thing... I would appreciate any help or advice on where else I can go for nutrition or supplements that might help things out...

Thanks in advance, Monica :-)

I adopted an adult 3 yr old male last fall with a history of crystals and FLUD. Between my wonderful vet and the advice of the folks here this is what I've found and have done. For these cats it is imperative, no kibble and no fish products. My vet gave me script for both the RC Feline Urinary and the Purina version. I got some of each, he threw up the Purina yet has done fine on the RC. Your cat may possibly handle the Purina FU SO better, it's worth a try. I only fed the RC canned until his urine showed barely a trace of blood and no crystals, that took a month. Since then I've spent the next month feeding 1/2 & 1/2 of the RC canned and Dave's Pet Food, Restricted Diet, low magnesium and phosphorous which has pork as the protein. I also feed as the 3rd meal of the day, Natures Variety Instinct, flavors are rabbit and chicken, they have other flavors such as duck, turkey ect.  Treats are freeze dried, one ingredient, Purely Bites Chicken or Duck. I am doing a recheck on his urine at end of Feb to make sure the new foods are agreeing with him and keeping his bladder healthy. I also add 1-2 TBSP of warm water to each serving and add a bit more water and sometimes food, in between meal times. Doing this I'm getting an extra 1/3 to 1/2 cup into him along with the moisture that is in his canned food. His urine is pale, almost clear, slightly darker first pee of the day. When I first got him it was dark yellow/orange with a strong smell. So I think with everyone's helpful advice, we are on the right track.

There are other low phosphorous and magnesium foods available, I choose these two as they are made in US, have no soy and no carrageenan. There is valuable information that you should read on: www.catinfo.org    I also order thru Chewy.com, they have the best prices on both the script foods and the brands I'm feeding. Hope all this helps.

If you have multiple cats, it will probably be easiest on you to feed them all the same foods. If you do nothing else, please don't feed kibble of any kind, including the 'script kind. Paws crossed that your little one is healthy again before long.

Thank you so much for writing back with what's worked for you and the reasoning behind.... Indie is doing ok with the RC SO, so I will move that to his primary wet food... we started that this morning and he ate his "soup" just fine...[emoji]9786[/emoji] he's also on Cosequin and lysine, and I know they're helping... he's also had the freeze-dried chicken as a treat, and I won't worry about giving him that now... he had a bit better pee this morning, so hopefully we're on the right track... I'm glad you were able to get your boy feeling so much better...[emoji]9786[/emoji][emoji]9786[/emoji]

The link to the cat nutrition site was a gold mine of information, and I'm still reeling over how much work went into all the analysis and research... I will try and sort things out there to find a suitable low mag and low phos food in The meantime... We don't seem to get Dave's food here in Canada, but will check around some more... i find it's a real struggle when pet store owners tell you their food is the best because it's been developed by cat nutrition experts, but the list of ingredients shows there are a lot of things that shouldn't be there... it's good to have the collective wisdom to bounce things off of...[emoji]9786[/emoji]

Thanks again for your help... it's very much appreciated... Take care, Monica [emoji]9786[/emoji]

Check out this thread, it has links to purchase food in Canada, maybe this can be helpful once you figure out which foods available to you has the low phosphorous and magnesium levels you need to keep the bladder healthy? I know I'm spoiled in the US with all the options we have available.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/323058/website-to-buy-cat-food-in-canada

Your earlier question, chicken is approved by my vet, fish & fish by products are off limits. According to the cat info.org site, the bone meal that ends up in canned foods, listed usually as by products, is what makes that food high in P&M. It is best if you choose pates and stay away from gravies. There is no perfect commercial food to feed a kitty with cystitis unless you feed raw and can control ingredient source. That said, when it comes to canned you need to pick your battles. If you find something that has the correct low values of P&M that you can afford, you may need to look past some other ingredient that ordinarily you may not choose to feed. Do your best to keep protein up, carbs at 3% or less and P&M within acceptable limits.

Unfortunately, both obesity and dry food are big contributions to urinary issues in cats. There is some studies that suggest fish may contribute to urinary issues in some cats, but nothing about turkey or chicken. Likely, the biggest issue with him is his weight and dry food. If you can get him on a all wet food diet, and work out feeding him smaller more frequent wet meals to help keep him full, he should be able to drop some weight and hopefully that will help. Here are some tips

http://catinfo.org/feline-obesity-an-epidemic-of-fat-cats/

http://catinfo.org/feline-urinary-tract-diseases/