# Resolved: It was Chronic Cystitis



## lupinfarm (Sep 28, 2009)

A few weeks ago Accio went to the vet with bloody urine, he was peeing the size of a quarter and he seemed strained. The vet told me he had Urinary Crystals/Stones and the blood was from the crystals agitating his urinary tract creating the blood when he peed (he wasn't blocked). The vet gave him some antibiotics that would be effective for 2 weeks and sent him home because he had an empty bladder so the vet couldn't take a sample. 

I changed Accio's food from a raw-food diet to Hills Science Diet and his bloody urine cleared up and he was back to normal. Over the past week he has been having bloody urine again, however this time it is not small and he has normal urine in between episodes as well. 

My mum suggested that this was perhaps stones/crystals passing and agitating the urinary walls. What do you guys think? Is there anything else I can do for him?


----------



## ksalvagno (Sep 28, 2009)

It does sound like stones passing to me too. Of course how do you make a cat drink more water!  Is the Science Diet the one for urinary tract? Maybe a cat food specifically for the urinary tract would help.


----------



## lupinfarm (Sep 28, 2009)

I don't believe it is specifically for urinary tract/stones ... I believe the vet sells Medi-Cal which I think comes in a formula for urinary stones. I did some reading before I bought the Science Diet and found a number of sources that suggested it.


----------



## Sara (Sep 29, 2009)

My male cat had problems with that.  Along with then meds The vet put him on a special feed, but it was very costly.  I switched to the Purina One Urinary Tract Health, and he has not had a problem since, that was probably 5 years ago.


----------



## lupinfarm (Sep 29, 2009)

I'll look into the Purina One... I don't know if I'll be able to find that around here but I'll check Petsmart for it tomorrow.


----------



## cmjust0 (Oct 1, 2009)

We use Purina One urinary tract, as we had a female with "struvite stones" or MAP stones...magnesium ammonium phosphate.  Urinary care food is really low in magnesium and higher in calcium, I believe..

Something to consider here...you're basically looking at urinary calculi, but instead of it being in a goat, it's in a cat.  Same thing, though....most UC stones in goats are also MAP/struvite stones in chemical composition.

Something we tried with my UC buckling was a drug called Phenoxybenzamine...which was actually made for UC in cats!!  Problem with it, though, was that they were directed to give it after meals, but cats eat like 268 times a day...or 10 times, somewhere thereabout.  Anyway, I'm not sure it _has_ to be taken with a meal, though, as we just gave it to our buck 2x/day.  Either way, it's a big long drug name you might throw at your vet just to watch the look on his face.

_Definitely_ ask your vet about anti-inflammatories, too, as that's why my buck is STILL dribbly...a urethra is a urethra, right, so I'd hate to see your cat clear the stones and then clog up on scar tissue from inflammation like my buck did..

Good luck with him.


----------



## lupinfarm (Oct 1, 2009)

Accio eats once a day now.. He was picking at whatever we ate all day long beforehand but when I found out he had crystals, we limited his feeding to the specified feeding by the food, once a day. I've actually now changed his food from the Science Diet because it contains Pork Fat and we have purchased a bag of Royal Canin which says on the back that it is meant for Urinary Health (it's rated at .9 magnesium) ... I looked into Technical Urinary Tract Health BUT it's being discontinued as they are merging with Royal Canin unfortunately. The nice thing is that my local pet shop offers a money back guarantee. If you aren't satisfied with the bag of feed, you finish it and then bring the bag back and they will give you your money back. 

The bloody urine is sporadic now, he'll have some normal urination and then he'll have bloody urine and that just isn't cutting it for me. I want him to be comfortable and happy and not have that bloody urine so we're going to keep trying food until we find a good fit. 

If it doesn't clear up, we'll go back to the vet and he will have to spend the night there so the vet can get a urine sample and prescribe some medication for him.


----------



## MrsCountryChick (Oct 1, 2009)

Sorry to hear of your cat.  Unfortunately my 11 yr old cat has had the same problem over the years. He has his 1st episode with the typical straining to pee & blood tinge. Our vet treated him with antibiotics. But what my original vet never told us was it would keep reoccurring if his diet was not changed. The second time it happened our vet was retired so we took him to another vet & they explained how it was prone in male cats, Especially neutered male cats because of a constricted uretha. Our vet explained how our cat needed to be on Urinary Tract dry cat food, she had us try some expensive canned cat food & my poor cat went on a hunger strike!......but she also explained we can get over the counter Urinary Tract cat food for him & to get more moisture in his diet it's better to feed him moist canned cat food or atleast suppliment his Urinary Tract dry cat food with a can or 2 a wk of moist cat food so he gets the extra moisture. Of course the typical keeping fresh water available (who doesn't, that's a given). & to try to keep the litterbox as clean as possible so he will be more likely to urinate frequently. We changed to the Tidy Cat Litter box system. It's great with the ceramic stones no litter to track onto the carpet.  Which is a BIG plus in our house. Many cat food brands have Urinary Tract cat foods. Brands like 9-Lives, Purina One, even Special Kitty Brand from Wal-mart has a Urinary Tract verison of cat foods. And it's very important that your cat is treated for his straining to pee & his bloody pee, that means he Actively Has urinary stones or small crystals passing....you have to be careful, the longer his has a Urinary Tract Infection or the More Times he gets them the larger the stones will be & they can possibly obstruct him & his urine will back up causing him to become toxic & killing him. A surgeon will be his only hope to save him & of him surviving. Our vet said if he 'does' get a full Obstruction he has to be Immediately rushed to the nearest vet (no matter what time it is) to give him the Best survival rate, so get your cat help now to save him from full Obstruction. He should be back to normal when he's all cleared up. Tell your vet so they can prescribe you more meds. My cat does fine on 9-Lives Urinary Tract dry cat food & the occasional Moist canned cat food & the Tidy Cat Litter System.
Good Luck with your Beloved kitty.


----------



## Beekissed (Oct 1, 2009)

I had a cat with this problem also.  He was spending too much time in the house and eating cat food instead of out hunting, like normal.  We just stopped feeding him and forced him to hunt for his diet.  Cleared it right up.  We made sure to limit his cat food consumption after that.  I don't think I've ever heard of an outside, barn cat having any of these kinds of problems with urinary health....maybe it's all diet induced and a natural diet is best?  

Actually, this worked for two cats.  The other cat, someone gave me and told me he had to have the low ash food or he would have urinary trouble.  That cat went out one day and rarely came home again but I kept seeing him in my old neighborhood for years, so his health must have been excellent.


----------



## lupinfarm (Oct 2, 2009)

Well we switched his food to Royal Canin ... Technical which would have been our first choice unfortunately is discontinueing the Urinary Tract Health line as they are merging with Royal Canin (a very high quality and spendy food). Accio is an indoor cat that hunts mice in the winter inside. Beforehand he was eating raw and because we weren't supplementing him (he'll eat anything and everything, we have to lock him up at dinner time!) the vet said the raw food was the likely culprit because as humans we can't know exactly what is in a food, and so the mineral levels could be off or he just isn't getting the minerals he needs. Plus we're on a well with hard water (we have a softener). We switched Accio and the dogs to bottled water from a spring in town and they are on a waterer that flows so they get fresh water all the time. 

Accio's bloody pee is sporadic, and for the most part he has a clean urination. We are lucky because our local pet shop has the money back guarantee, so I can try all the foods until I find one that works well. We cannot buy Purina 1 in stores.


----------



## no nonsense (Oct 22, 2009)

lupinfarm said:
			
		

> Accio eats once a day now.. He was picking at whatever we ate all day long beforehand but when I found out he had crystals, we limited his feeding to the specified feeding by the food, once a day. I've actually now changed his food from the Science Diet because it contains Pork Fat and we have purchased a bag of Royal Canin which says on the back that it is meant for Urinary Health (it's rated at .9 magnesium) ... I looked into Technical Urinary Tract Health BUT it's being discontinued as they are merging with Royal Canin unfortunately. The nice thing is that my local pet shop offers a money back guarantee. If you aren't satisfied with the bag of feed, you finish it and then bring the bag back and they will give you your money back.
> 
> The bloody urine is sporadic now, he'll have some normal urination and then he'll have bloody urine and that just isn't cutting it for me. I want him to be comfortable and happy and not have that bloody urine so we're going to keep trying food until we find a good fit.
> 
> If it doesn't clear up, we'll go back to the vet and he will have to spend the night there so the vet can get a urine sample and prescribe some medication for him.


You should be talking to your vet more. Despite your dislike for one ingredient in the Science Diet, your vet isn't going to sell you a food which will help one of your cat's problems, but create another. Think about it. He or she knows more about the long term affects of different foods than you. You can play around with different foods, and rely on that money back guarantee, but that may be little consolation if your cat ends up with more stones or crystals. Are they going to pay your vet bills too, if that happens? If the cat means anything to you, use your vet for what you are paying him for, his advice. If the cat is just another animal, then experiment and take your chances as you like. Be aware, if the stones and or crystals progress and cause a blockage, it's a life threatening condition. If you have to pay to have him unblocked, or can't afford it and have to put him down, think about how cheap that expensive food would have been then.


----------



## lupinfarm (Oct 22, 2009)

I bought the Royal Canin, no bloody urine so far. The issue with the Science Diet was that it didn't seem to be doing much, and I spoke to my vet when he came out to see the horse and he agreed, it works for some, not for all. 

Accio is on a food that specifically helps with the Urinary Tract.

Royal Canin is actually more expensive and higher quality then Science Diet. I love my cat very much, but with the experimentation I would have been/am willing to go right up to the very most expensive of expensive food to help him.


----------



## ksalvagno (Oct 22, 2009)

I know a lot of people don't care for herbal stuff but I was told hydrangea root powder will help with the stones. I know a few people who swear by it and have used it for goats, dogs and people. They also swear that the meds they had their animals on or they were taking weren't working and the hydrangea root did work. Can't speak from personal experience but if it is a persistent problem, I will probably try it myself. Not encouraging to not use medicine but if meds aren't working, then it is time to try something else.

I realize that herbals aren't for everyone but if someone wants to try it, why not?


----------



## lupinfarm (Oct 22, 2009)

I might try the hydraenga root..Accio actually isn't on any medications, we caught the crystals early enough thankfully.


----------



## freemotion (Oct 22, 2009)

About 7 years ago we decided to bring our cat to a FIFTH vet before putting him down.  He was on Waltham's Urinary diet and still forming crystals and suffering with infections on a regular basis.  He associated his pain with the litter box, and was constantly trying to find another place to go.  Often the bathtub, buy mostly any box or suitcase or bag that was left unattended for even a moment.

The vet was moving towards a more holistic practice, and the first thing she did was educate me about the food.  Hill's was the worst for the prescription diets, according to this vet.  Among their first ingredients are corn and soy.

I started making my own food.  Both cats began to change and thrive (both were previously silky and healthy-looking....now they trimmed down and started to PLAY....even the older one!)  and the cat in question not only was not put down, but has not pee'd outside the box nor has he had a single infection in seven years!

They are about 14-16 years old and gallop around the house many times a day.


----------



## dianneS (Nov 1, 2009)

I had a brand new kitten that had the same problem.  He was just a tiny baby and the vet was shocked he had crystals forming so young.  We did antibiotics and they worked for a while.  Then the bloody urine came back (this poor kitty would strain and scream and cry and then give up and lay down in his litter box, I thought he was a goner.)  We did another course of antibiotics along with an anti-inflammitory.  That helped, but the bloody urine came back again.  (This kitty drank water like crazy too, it didn't seem to help)  

I gave up on the vet at that point, they had already told me that there was nothing else that they could give him in an antibiotic without doing tendon damage.  I went to our local animal health food store and the owner of the store allowed me to go through all of her animal health books.  I put the cat on a carbohydrate-free diet (cats are strictly carnivores and have no use for carbs)  I also put him on a urinary tract supplement for cats.  It was all natural, contained cranberry of course among other things.

That little kitten would devour those big horse-sized supplement tablets!  He would grab them out of my hand with his paws and shove them into his mouth and swallow them whole!   Well, that fixed him up.  He's been fine ever since.  He's a big white kitty with one blue eye and one green eye (see why I had to save him!)  He's so cool, his name is Mike. 

I'll see if I can find the name of that supplement for you!  But it worked!


----------



## dianneS (Nov 1, 2009)

Okay, here is the food we gave him.  It was wet food, "grain free"  Wellness brand.  Its pricey, but worth it and you don't have to keep him on it forever.

http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/products/Wellness-Canned-Cat-Food/138070.aspx

I can't find the exact product that we were giving him, but I've found some similar products:

http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/produ...m_term=999157&ne_ppc_id=860&ne_key_id=5284678

This one has similar ingredients as far as I can tell and its meant to acidify the urine when it becomes more alkaline, so it will help dissolve stones.  It seems good, and its in a powder, most cats don't swallow pills whole like Mike did!

Good luck and let us know how he does!


----------



## lupinfarm (Nov 1, 2009)

Accio is all good now. He has had blood free urine for about a month now. Accio loves taking pills if they're in meaty pill pockets!!


----------



## offdagridsoon (Jun 8, 2010)

I know I am late to this thread, but info is info, I guess. 

One of our cats had problems with crystals in his urine, and also became diabetic shortly after we took him in (my parents were looking to rehome him).  Ironically, he had been on a kibble diet prior to living with us, and was eating a mix of "premium" kibble and wet foods after getting here.  After looking into species appropriate diets, I decided to put all the animals here on a raw diet.  His health problems evaporated and he has been fine ever since.  I'm quite boggled, actually, that your cat developed the crystals while on a raw diet, given that mine have been the picture of health since the switch to raw.  Was the food premade?  I'd be curious to know what the ingredients were...

There was a comment on veterinarians knowing best when it comes to diet.  I have a comment to make on that...  Veterinarians also get paid to carry the corporate "food" products that they do.  There are good vets out there to be sure, but good luck distinguishing one from another who wants to drum up more business for themselves.  Even without ulterior motives, a lot of veterinarians have bought into what they are taught at the schools they graduated from, a lot of which receive funding from companies selling pet foods/medicines/etc.  

Of course my opinions are biased based on personal experiences I have had with veterinary clinics, but I would far and away prefer to do the research (thank heavens for the internet and for forums like this!) and educate myself on how best to take care of my animals (as well as my family and myself, come to think of it!), rather than blindly follow what self-professed "professionals" tell me is best.


----------



## lupinfarm (Jun 9, 2010)

Accio actually had a reoccurance of the bloody urine where it was just blood and he was straining to pee. Sounds like crystals right? After a urinanalysis, ultrasound, and xray it was deemed he DID NOT have crystals or stones but infact has been diagnosed with chronic cystitis! He was on medication for about a month and is now off it and doing well. We are to keep his stress levels down, his litter box is in one place forever and thats how it is. He's doing much better now.


----------



## ksalvagno (Jun 9, 2010)

Glad to hear Accio is doing ok now. At least he is finally properly diagnosed.


----------



## MrsCountryChick (Jun 9, 2010)

It's so hard to see your "buddy" suffer with an illness Glad to see he's doing much better


----------



## KrystalMarie (Jul 18, 2010)

My cat had the same thing for awhile...
She was VERY over weight that's what was causing it.
My vet didn't give me anything for her but some special cat food for it.
We tried this and it didn't work we just cut her back too half a  cup of food and day and she's all better..
Maybe is your cat is fat you should just put him on a diet.
I haven't seen bloody pee from her for quite sometime now.


----------



## lupinfarm (Jul 18, 2010)

Accio isn't overweight, he's a big cat but he's just a big cat and the right weight for his height. He was diagnosed with Chronic Cystitis which cannot be controlled by certain foods.


----------



## MsPony (Jul 18, 2010)

Love Royal Canin! And you are right, they are extremely high quality...here in the US their rejected chicken shipments go to Tyson Chicken 

So glad he is doing better!


----------

