Help!!! My Cats Health Problem...

[ioana]

My cat, a pretty healthy 5 year old boy, started having some health problems about 2 months ago.
It all started with diarrhea, I tried to fix it at home but about 3 days into it I called the vet. After a poop test, he concluded that my cat has coccidia and he gave him 5 days of antibiotics.
My cat got better but imidiatly after he finished with that he had an UTI. I went to the vet again, 10 more days of antibiotics, pain medications and he is on a prescribed food for crystals. The vet said it can be because of stress and because he might have gotten some poop near his penis that he didnt clean, some bacteria got in there and that' s how the UTI started.
After all the antibiotics were done my vet did more urine tests and they came back clear. No more infection and no trace of crystals.
Everything was fine until 4 days ago when my cat started peeing a lot and with blood. Because my regular vet was closed I run to the emergency vet where they said he doesn't have an infection but he does have a inflammtion, again, and they sent him home with pain medication.
I called my regular vet when they opened and after a urine test they said that everything came back ok, he doesn't have an infection and crystals are not present but he does have an inflammation and some blood present. Now the vet said this might be something caused by stress or maybe allergies so we should try and help him with that.
Now I don' know what to do anymore.
1. This inflammation keeps coming back and I' m not sure of the causes.
2. His poop doesn't want to get hard, It might be that the food is bad quality and he isn't used to it but I'm giving him probiotics and nothing is helping.
3. I'm trying my best to not get him stressed, I gave him new toys, I play with him hours per day, I let him explore, I let him on the balcony for fresh air...I am running out of ideas here.
Can someone help me with this? Did anyone else go through this and fixed the problem?
Do you think it can be something worse then stress that can cause this? I want to try everything before I make my vet do blood work and all kind of tests that are not only stressful but cost a lot of money too.
Anybody has any idea of what I can try next? I hate to see him in pain and I don't want him to go through this every couple of weeks.

 

[denice]

What you are describing with his bladder is often referred to as Idiopathic Cystitis and does happen with cats. I wouldn't call it common but it isn't rare either. CVC Highlight: How to think outside the litter box: Managing cats with nonobstructive idiopathic interstitial cystitis

The stress from the digestive issues could have triggered this. Was he ever diagnosed crystals? If not I see no reason for him to be on a prescription diet. I think if you can get the digestive issues completely resolved then this may resolve as well. Really you are doing everything to keep him stress free. There is a medication called amitriptyline that is sometimes used. It is usually a last resort after everything else fails. There is also a surgery that scrapes the lining of the bladder but again that is a last resort.

Some people have had good results with Glucosamine and Chondroitin. It is sold to help with arthritis. There is evidence that it also helps repair and keep the bladder lining healthy.

 

[carebare]

Maybe if you can address the diarrhea, it will help find the source of his GI upset. Monitor him for dehydration. If he has an intolerance to one of the food ingredients, the probiotics will not fix it. When the vet could not determine my cats' GI issues, we tried a prescription diet to see if it was a food allergy.

 

[ioana]

What you are describing with his bladder is often referred to as Idiopathic Cystitis and does happen with cats. I wouldn't call it common but it isn't rare either. CVC Highlight: How to think outside the litter box: Managing cats with nonobstructive idiopathic interstitial cystitis

The stress from the digestive issues could have triggered this. Was he ever diagnosed crystals? If not I see no reason for him to be on a prescription diet. I think if you can get the digestive issues completely resolved then this may resolve as well. Really you are doing everything to keep him stress free. There is a medication called amitriptyline that is sometimes used. It is usually a last resort after everything else fails. There is also a surgery that scrapes the lining of the bladder but again that is a last resort.

Some people have had good results with Glucosamine and Chondroitin. It is sold to help with arthritis. There is evidence that it also helps repair and keep the bladder lining healthy.

Yes, when he first got his UTI the vet did find crystals in his bladder and he was very scared that they can block him so he put him on the special food for 3 months. This last pee test it didn't have crystals anymore but the doctor still wants him on special food for now. I'm trying to fix his poop issue but I' also running out of ideas, I have to call the vet again.

 

[ioana]

Maybe if you can address the diarrhea, it will help find the source of his GI upset. Monitor him for dehydration. If he has an intolerance to one of the food ingredients, the probiotics will not fix it. When the vet could not determine my cats' GI issues, we tried a prescription diet to see if it was a food allergy.

He doesn' have diarrha anymore, he does poop every 2 days BUT his poop is not solid, it was become solid when before his last incident 4 days ago but now is back to being soft
I know the antibiotics do make their stomach upset and I started giving him the probiotics a bit late so I' trying to help him as much as I can.

 

[carebare]

Did you try a special diet? There is Hills ID and other prescription diets, which you can buy from the vet as single cans. It may or may not help his GI depending on his issue, but trying it for a few days should be pretty cheap. For my cat that had kidney issues, I had to ensure he stayed hydrated. He ate hills which helped his poop become solid, but he had to have a drip to get hydrated.

 

[ioana]

Did you try a special diet? There is Hills ID and other prescription diets, which you can buy from the vet as single cans. It may or may not help his GI depending on his issue, but trying it for a few days should be pretty cheap. For my cat that had kidney issues, I had to ensure he stayed hydrated. He ate hills which helped his poop become solid, but he had to have a drip to get hydrated.

He is on a special diet...I buy it from the vet and it' for urinary problems but the food is so bad, full of corn and by products so it might be that. He didn't like Hills.

 

[carebare]

What is the food name? My cat rejects Hills, too. I am trying different things but it is hard finding a food he will eat that will not make him sick.

Hematuria is not something I am familiar with but there seems to be a lot of possible causes based on what I read online.

 

[ioana]

What is the food name? My cat rejects Hills, too. I am trying different things but it is hard finding a food he will eat that will not make him sick.

Hematuria is not something I am familiar with but there seems to be a lot of possible causes based on what I read online.

The only one he actually ate, I tried every single one that the vet had, is PURINA PRO PLAN UR...its specially formulated for urinary problems, specially for crystals and I 98% give him only wet food, they have turkey and salmon in gravy.