How on earth are the crystals worse AFTER antibiotics & Rx food?!?!

My vet, Shirley, just called. Apparently the white blood cells & crystals in Ophelia's urine are worse now than they were before putting her on Baytril & SD s/d. How is that possible?!?!

I am definately going to get some canned s/d today, if they don't have any, I will get some from another vet. I'm going to ask what type of crystals she has, too. I have to start her on antibiotics again & continue to feed her Sd s/d. Hopefully, I can give her a can of wet s/d tonight.

Another question, regarding removal of urine stains. I cleaned them with Nature's Miracle, but they are still there. I even left it on for an hour & then wiped the spots, just like the bottle said!! How can I get rid of them?? I can't pull up the carpet as..well...dad says no. I have her in my bedroom as she was re-spraying in areas she sprayed before. I don't care of she sprays in my bedroom. The carpet's shot & I'm getting tile or linoleum in there at the end of this year. I can understand that she's spraying because she still has crystals....I have to treat the crystals to stop the spraying.

As far as the stains go, my understanding was to saturate the stained area and let the natures miracle dry naturally, which can take several days depending on what was peed on. If you do this make sure she has no access to that area again until the stain and smell have gone or she's going to just keep "refreshing" it and make you waste the NM (and it's pricey!)

I needed two rounds of antibiotics as well for my cat. The second time he was on Baytril, which i believe is stronger than the Clavamox he was on before.

I hope she feels better soon!

~Julia

I heard somewhere there are actually 2 differnt types of crystals & each one is formed by the Ph balance of the urine being off one way or the other, and that there are two types of C/D food depending on which crystals the cat has. Is it possible it's the wrong food? (I have no idea I've never had a cat with crystals, knock on wood, that's just what someone told me)

The vet got called into emergency surgery. Someone's Yorkie ate rubberbands. I got to talk to a vet tech, though. The tech said she was 90% sure they were struvite crystals. I got 2 weeks worth of Baytril, again. I also got canned s/d. I have 1/4 bag dry s/d left, but I hope to be able to feed all wet s/d. Those cans cost me $3.35 each!!! Ophelia's vet bills, just for the crystals, are now up to $250. Poor girl. I'm just praying she doesn't get blocked. I don't want her to go through surgery & face setbacks with her taming down.


I just sprayed the spots with Nature's Miracle & I'll leave them be & check again in a few days.

My jeeves is going through the same problem right now. He was on the medication treatment of Baytril and another drug ( I can't remember the name) for 2 week and the issue seemed to cease for about 1 month. He totally blocked up last week and needed emergency catheter surgery. I hope he will be ok now -- meds and surgery = 900 dollars. He is also on the Urinary S/O food made by Royal Canin now.

Does anyone know the prognosis after the cat has the surgury - are re-occurances rare, provided he stays on the strict diet?

I had trouble with my (RB) cat with crystals and Hill's s/d.
We switched him to Purina UR canned and they cleared up.

i am sorry to hear that - my vet says that most cats have crystals, and just suggests wet food only, cystaid and no stress, and it has worked for Tom - but the two girls who had cystitis needed 2 courses of antibiotics to clear it up. I wouldn't worry too much about her getting blocked though, it is incredibly rare for it to happen to female cats.

Originally Posted by booktigger

i am sorry to hear that - my vet says that most cats have crystals, and just suggests wet food only, cystaid and no stress, and it has worked for Tom - but the two girls who had cystitis needed 2 courses of antibiotics to clear it up. I wouldn't worry too much about her getting blocked though, it is incredibly rare for it to happen to female cats.

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Keeping Ophelia stress free is going to be next to impossible. This is the cat who dislikes dogs(doesn't attack) & hates all other cats, except Chico(will attack other cats). I guess I'll treat her & see what happens in 2 weeks.

Arlyn, the purina UR...I think I saw something like that. Is that something you have to get from a vet? I saw some Purina ONE Urinary Tract Health Formula in the grocery store. Is that the same stuff?

Of course, I cannot forget that my SIL has apparently developed allergies to cat pee, but not in the litterbox, only when they spray. She wants me to "get rid of Ophelia" while she is here from July 27-30! I told her she could go stay in a hotel if it bothered her.

Purina UR is an Rx food, you have to get it from the vet.
My vet was an s/d guy, but he ordered the Purina UR when the s/d did not work.

Originally Posted by Arlyn

Purina UR is an Rx food, you have to get it from the vet.
My vet was an s/d guy, but he ordered the Purina UR when the s/d did not work.

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Thanks Arlyn!

I talked to my mom about me paying for the vet bills. I simply cannot afford to anymore. I work for my dad, getting paid about $150 a month & I already spent half of this check. She agreed to have me pay for as much as possible & that she would cover the rest. She is actually amazed at how happy Ophelia is in my bedroom. I haven't seen her this happy since I got her in Feb. She seems to be flourishing being locked in my bedroom. She snuggles with me all night...I'm getting all sappy now. Anyways, I talked mom into getting some Feliway. Now I need to search the forums for Feliway again & try to decide if I should get the spray or the diffuser. The spray would be good to spray on the urine stains, but the diffuser would be nice for my bedroom.... Any input?