Cat had struvite crystals, now bacteria in his urine

[LaFramboise]

My 10 year old cat had struvite crystals about a month ago. This has hapened or the first time so we were really shocked when he couldn't pee. The vet had to insert a catheter 4 times, which was really a lot for my cat to handle... After that he was ok, there were no crystals in his urine, his urine ph was 6,5.

After a few weeks we brought his urine to the vet for a check up and they said now he has a bacteria in his urine. I just don't understand how he could get the bacteria. He was straining to pee that day so we were really scared, but he started to pee normally the next day. We have him on antibiotics now for 14 days, so hopefully he gets better.

My question is what else can I do so that won't happen again? He is 10 and he never had any problems (he is an indoor cat).

I give him royal canin moderate calorie S/O dry kibbles and different wet foods. He is very picky so he only eats wet food from hills urinary c/d, purina urinary, alma nature hollistic urinary and lilly's kitchen (grain free). I read that it's best to give cats with urinary problems only wet food, but he really loves both. Right now he gets 44g of royal canin kibbles and 1 can of wet food (he is overweight so the vet said this is the amount he can get). I would rather give him more wet food, like 2 cans and maybe a little less kibbles...what amount of dry kibbles should I give him? Is the wet food mentioned above good enough?

I also bought him a water fountain, which he loves. I give him 1 urinovet capsule with cranberries per day, which he absolutely hates. The vet said we have to give him that for the rest of his life. And we also bought feliway, because the vet said it could be stress, because everything else is ok( his blood, kidneys, he doesn't have diabetes).

I'm sorry for the lenghty post, I just don't know what else to do. Has anyone had similar problems? I would really appreciate some advice.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. A couple of questions for you, if you don't mind.

When they had to catheter him and said he had crystals, was he tested for bacteria then (urinalysis)? Did they give him antibiotics at that time?

And this time with the bacteria check/urinalysis - was there sediment to suggest he has more crystals? Did they follow-up the urinalysis with a urine culture to determine what kind of bacteria is involved? Urine can be contaminated in a hundred different ways, so the bacteria may not have really been in his urine but introduced via the method you used to collect it.

Answers to those questions could be helpful. There are actually non-pathogenic bacteria that can show up in urine, and they don't always require an antibiotic. And, sometimes if the bacteria are from an infection, the urine culture is done to find out the most effective antibiotic for that kind of bacteria. While most any antibiotic will help, if not the most effective it may not entirely eradicate the infection.

In the meantime, more wet food and less dry is always a good thing due to the moisture/hydration factor. I would give him more wet food, and perhaps use some dry food as a 'snack' in case he gets hungry between meals. Wet food is most always less calorically dense than dry foods too, from a dietary perspective. The foods you have him on, if he likes them, are OK - they seem to be keeping his urine PH right about where it ought to be.

Also, try pure D-Mannose (powder) instead of what the vet recommended. It is based on the same premise as Urinovet, but I don't think it has any taste to it and is easier to administer. I use it with Feeby and can place it in her food or mix it with a lickable treat and she does not seem to have any issues with it. I would give him 1/4 tsp. daily. Similarly, to Urinovet, the molecules in D-Mannose adhere to bladder bacteria and help to flush it out of the bladder.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HQOLTUS/?tag=thecatsite

My post is lengthy too!! So, I'll stop now, and we can address the stress factor after more information is provided!

 

[LaFramboise]

Hi. A couple of questions for you, if you don't mind.

When they had to catheter him and said he had crystals, was he tested for bacteria then (urinalysis)? Did they give him antibiotics at that time?

And this time with the bacteria check/urinalysis - was there sediment to suggest he has more crystals? Did they follow-up the urinalysis with a urine culture to determine what kind of bacteria is involved? Urine can be contaminated in a hundred different ways, so the bacteria may not have really been in his urine but introduced via the method you used to collect it.

Answers to those questions could be helpful. There are actually non-pathogenic bacteria that can show up in urine, and they don't always require an antibiotic. And, sometimes if the bacteria are from an infection, the urine culture is done to find out the most effective antibiotic for that kind of bacteria. While most any antibiotic will help, if not the most effective it may not entirely eradicate the infection.

In the meantime, more wet food and less dry is always a good thing due to the moisture/hydration factor. I would give him more wet food, and perhaps use some dry food as a 'snack' in case he gets hungry between meals. Wet food is most always less calorically dense than dry foods too, from a dietary perspective. The foods you have him on, if he likes them, are OK - they seem to be keeping his urine PH right about where it ought to be.

Also, try pure D-Mannose (powder) instead of what the vet recommended. It is based on the same premise as Urinovet, but I don't think it has any taste to it and is easier to administer. I use it with Feeby and can place it in her food or mix it with a lickable treat and she does not seem to have any issues with it. I would give him 1/4 tsp. daily. Similarly, to Urinovet, the molecules in D-Mannose adhere to bladder bacteria and help to flush it out of the bladder.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HQOLTUS/?tag=thecatsite

My post is lengthy too!! So, I'll stop now, and we can address the stress factor after more information is provided!

Thank you, I really appreciate you took the time to answer my questions.

When they put the cathether they didn't do the urinalysis, but they gave me some antibiotics for him along with a bunch of other pills.

This time they didn't find any crystals and urine ph was normal, they just found some bacteria. They said it could be possible that the toilet was dirty, but because he was straining to pee that day, they believed the bacteria was in his urine.
My cat gets really stressed when we take him to the vet, so we decided to give him the same antibiotics than the first time (veraflox) for 14 days and then we will check his urine again. If they find any bacteria again, the vet said we will do urinalysis and change antibiotics... We will take the urine sample to the vet on monday.

The problem is just that it is quite expensive and we already paid so much money and it's hard to keep up with the bills.

He is peeing normally now, almost like before any of this happened, so I am trying to be optimistic. I'm just afraid it will happen again, because they said when a cat has had a blockage it can happen again.

Right now I'm giving him aproximately 30-35g of dry kibbles and 2 cans of wet food. I hope thats not to much dry kibbles.

Thank you for the recommendation of dry powder, I will buy it as soon as possible, because it's really hard to administer urinovet. He hates the taste and I really don't want to stress him.

About the stress factor, I really don't believe he is stressed, we moved a lot during his 10 years and he never had any problems, he is really a chill cat. But I bought felliway anyway. Frankly I don't see any difference in his behaviour.

Thank you again and I'm sorry for my english (it's not my first language). I just don't have anybody to talk to about this kind of stuff and I'm constantly scared that it will happen again.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I understand that a lot of vets want to try to minimize costs, but when they do so, it tends to create additional costs in the long run, because things they likely should have done in the first place leads to it being done later anyway. Now, you are taking yet another urine sample to them, and I am sure they are not analyzing it each time for free. The vet really needs to understand what kind of bacteria is involved (urine culture), and to delay doing so, IMO, means you will be repeating this 'he has bacteria in his urine' over and over again.

I don't know how you are collecting his urine, but if it isn't free catch with a sterile utensil, there is so much of a chance to have bacteria in it. Again, moot point now, but they should have tested his urine when you took him in for the catheterization.

Since this could be an ongoing issue, learn what pills they gave him and what they are for. You may likely need to understand it down the road if the situation continues to progress. I feel pretty confident to say that this occurrence is likely not a one-time event. I am not a vet, but I am going to guess that he has been collecting crystals in his bladder for some time before all of this happened, ultimately leading to the blockage. So, it could take some more time for enough crystals to collect again and cause the same/similar issue.

Sometimes, as cats age, things they used to have no problem dealing with become issues - just like with humans. He is older, maybe he is not feeling as good as he once did, maybe he has some arthritis - those kinds of things can affect a cat's stress level. So, stress cannot be ruled out entirely.

As far as the Feliway diffusers, they don't always work on all cats. So, no surprise you haven't seen any difference.

Maybe reading up on some data pertaining to things like urinary issues/stress in cats would be helpful to start with.
Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (flutd) – TheCatSite Articles
Stress in Cats – The Ultimate Guide – TheCatSite Articles