Concerned about Licky

Hi - I could really use some advice, if anyone has any.

History: Licky has had chronic urinary tract inflammation for years.
When he was first diagnosed, the vet prescribed a special canned food
for him, which I bought right there. This was several years ago, so I
don't remember the specific results, but at some point I was talking
about it here, and several people insisted that the prescription food
was mostly junk, it just had (low pH? I don't remember what it was
that made it better for his UTI), and I should feed him high-quality,
grain-free food, and supplement it with Cosequin (which contains
glucosamine and chondroitin). So I did this, and it did appear that
he got a little better - for a while.

Then, maybe 6 months later, the little blood spots started to appear
again on the bathroom floor (where the litterbox is). I kept him on
the Cosequin for quite a while longer, but after a while there didn't
seem to be a point, since he continued to have blood in his urine. So
I stopped giving it to him (but kept him on the grain-free diet), and
he neither improved nor got worse. It's been this way ever since.

I've never seen any evidence of him straining to pee, or being unable
to pee. Whenever he's gone to the vet for a flare-up, they've checked
for blockage and there never is any. That has never been an issue,
although I always keep an eye out for unusual behavior related to
urination.

Current situation: It's been most OK, some blood spots, but nothing
unusual. But lately, I've started noticing that there are more blood
spots, and I'm afraid it might be getting worse. I'm going to call
the vet tomorrow to get an opinion about that and see if I should
bring him in. The thing is, I know that the vet is going to prescribe
the special low-pH (or whatever it is) diet and I don't want to give
him that.

It's hard to get decent advice, because opinions about Western vs.
holistic medicine are so polarized. It's worse when you're talking
about human healthcare, but even veterinary care has its little war
over modality. I really wish I could get good advice from a
knowledgeable person who is open to both Western *and* holistic and
can give me suggestions based on *considering all the options*, and
not just based on prejudices or negative attitudes about the "enemy
camp". I just want my boy to feel better!

Thanks,
--
Joyce

A clean house is a sign of a broken computer.

My cat kim had Feline idiopathic cystitis for years. Stress was one of the
main factors , I used to havea feliway plug in and fed her wet food and
encouraged her to drink . She also had cystease supplement,
She had blood in her urine but she also strained to wee. One of the first
symptoms was her wees getting smaller and then straining .
Has the vet done any scans or investigations ?

Alison

"Bastette" wrote in message
...
Hi - I could really use some advice, if anyone has any.

History: Licky has had chronic urinary tract inflammation for years.
When he was first diagnosed, the vet prescribed a special canned food
for him, which I bought right there. This was several years ago, so I
don't remember the specific results, but at some point I was talking
about it here, and several people insisted that the prescription food
was mostly junk, it just had (low pH? I don't remember what it was
that made it better for his UTI), and I should feed him high-quality,
grain-free food, and supplement it with Cosequin (which contains
glucosamine and chondroitin). So I did this, and it did appear that
he got a little better - for a while.

Then, maybe 6 months later, the little blood spots started to appear
again on the bathroom floor (where the litterbox is). I kept him on
the Cosequin for quite a while longer, but after a while there didn't
seem to be a point, since he continued to have blood in his urine. So
I stopped giving it to him (but kept him on the grain-free diet), and
he neither improved nor got worse. It's been this way ever since.

I've never seen any evidence of him straining to pee, or being unable
to pee. Whenever he's gone to the vet for a flare-up, they've checked
for blockage and there never is any. That has never been an issue,
although I always keep an eye out for unusual behavior related to
urination.

Current situation: It's been most OK, some blood spots, but nothing
unusual. But lately, I've started noticing that there are more blood
spots, and I'm afraid it might be getting worse. I'm going to call
the vet tomorrow to get an opinion about that and see if I should
bring him in. The thing is, I know that the vet is going to prescribe
the special low-pH (or whatever it is) diet and I don't want to give
him that.

It's hard to get decent advice, because opinions about Western vs.
holistic medicine are so polarized. It's worse when you're talking
about human healthcare, but even veterinary care has its little war
over modality. I really wish I could get good advice from a
knowledgeable person who is open to both Western *and* holistic and
can give me suggestions based on *considering all the options*, and
not just based on prejudices or negative attitudes about the "enemy
camp". I just want my boy to feel better!

Thanks,
--
Joyce

A clean house is a sign of a broken computer.

On 7/21/2013 7:32 PM, Bastette wrote:
Hi - I could really use some advice, if anyone has any.

History: Licky has had chronic urinary tract inflammation for years.
When he was first diagnosed, the vet prescribed a special canned food
for him, which I bought right there. This was several years ago, so I
don't remember the specific results, but at some point I was talking
about it here, and several people insisted that the prescription food
was mostly junk, it just had (low pH? I don't remember what it was
that made it better for his UTI), and I should feed him high-quality,
grain-free food, and supplement it with Cosequin (which contains
glucosamine and chondroitin). So I did this, and it did appear that
he got a little better - for a while.

Then, maybe 6 months later, the little blood spots started to appear
again on the bathroom floor (where the litterbox is). I kept him on
the Cosequin for quite a while longer, but after a while there didn't
seem to be a point, since he continued to have blood in his urine. So
I stopped giving it to him (but kept him on the grain-free diet), and
he neither improved nor got worse. It's been this way ever since.

I've never seen any evidence of him straining to pee, or being unable
to pee. Whenever he's gone to the vet for a flare-up, they've checked
for blockage and there never is any. That has never been an issue,
although I always keep an eye out for unusual behavior related to
urination.

Current situation: It's been most OK, some blood spots, but nothing
unusual. But lately, I've started noticing that there are more blood
spots, and I'm afraid it might be getting worse. I'm going to call
the vet tomorrow to get an opinion about that and see if I should
bring him in. The thing is, I know that the vet is going to prescribe
the special low-pH (or whatever it is) diet and I don't want to give
him that.

It's hard to get decent advice, because opinions about Western vs.
holistic medicine are so polarized. It's worse when you're talking
about human healthcare, but even veterinary care has its little war
over modality. I really wish I could get good advice from a
knowledgeable person who is open to both Western *and* holistic and
can give me suggestions based on *considering all the options*, and
not just based on prejudices or negative attitudes about the "enemy
camp". I just want my boy to feel better!

Thanks,

I have no advice about holistic medicine. Purrs are on the way for
Licky (and for you).

I'd go with the prescription food only because it has served Persia so
well. When she was about 3 or 4 she had recurrent bladder infections.
She didn't seem to be straining but there was blood in her urine. That
alarmed me. Then the vet became concerned about the frequency of her
infections. X-rays finally showed a small mass in her bladder. It
turned out to be a (thankfully benign) tumor.

I wish you both the best of luck.

Jill

"The Other Guy" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 21 Jul 2013 23:32:26 +0000 (UTC), Bastette
wrote:

It's hard to get decent advice, because opinions about Western vs.
holistic medicine are so polarized.

It should be evident pretty quickly whether holistic is working,
and if NOT (as usually the case), get traditional help quickly.

Blood in the urine that's NOT helped by treatment as a simple
infection often means something MUCH more serious, and likely
costly (like cancer). A good Vet should be able to diagnose
such a thing fairly easily.


It must be very frustrating for Joyce to have taken Licky to the vet on
numerous occasions for a resolution and not getting one.

If it was something serious like you suggest her vets would have found it by
now surely. She might like to take a second opinion to be certain, of
course.
Sometimes cats have things wrong that no vet seems to be able to solve.
I certainly struggled with Kitty Farmcat's nose running with green stuff for
the last few months of her life and so did the vet. She had every treatment
known to mankind and nothing seemed to work.
It isn't always as easy as you seem to think i.e. to vet - treatment -
cured.

Tweed

"Bastette" wrote in message
...
Hi - I could really use some advice, if anyone has any.

History: Licky has had chronic urinary tract inflammation for years.
When he was first diagnosed, the vet prescribed a special canned food
for him, which I bought right there. This was several years ago, so I
don't remember the specific results, but at some point I was talking
about it here, and several people insisted that the prescription food
was mostly junk, it just had (low pH? I don't remember what it was
that made it better for his UTI), and I should feed him high-quality,
grain-free food, and supplement it with Cosequin (which contains
glucosamine and chondroitin). So I did this, and it did appear that
he got a little better - for a while.

Then, maybe 6 months later, the little blood spots started to appear
again on the bathroom floor (where the litterbox is). I kept him on
the Cosequin for quite a while longer, but after a while there didn't
seem to be a point, since he continued to have blood in his urine. So
I stopped giving it to him (but kept him on the grain-free diet), and
he neither improved nor got worse. It's been this way ever since.

I've never seen any evidence of him straining to pee, or being unable
to pee. Whenever he's gone to the vet for a flare-up, they've checked
for blockage and there never is any. That has never been an issue,
although I always keep an eye out for unusual behavior related to
urination.

Current situation: It's been most OK, some blood spots, but nothing
unusual. But lately, I've started noticing that there are more blood
spots, and I'm afraid it might be getting worse. I'm going to call
the vet tomorrow to get an opinion about that and see if I should
bring him in. The thing is, I know that the vet is going to prescribe
the special low-pH (or whatever it is) diet and I don't want to give
him that.

It's hard to get decent advice, because opinions about Western vs.
holistic medicine are so polarized. It's worse when you're talking
about human healthcare, but even veterinary care has its little war
over modality. I really wish I could get good advice from a
knowledgeable person who is open to both Western *and* holistic and
can give me suggestions based on *considering all the options*, and
not just based on prejudices or negative attitudes about the "enemy
camp". I just want my boy to feel better!

Thanks,


Sorry that KFC's beloved has a poorly bladder and hope you find something to
help him.
I have no advice to offer you as neither of mine ever had this problem. You
are taking him to the vet's again, I know. BTW have you asked Megan? that
might be worth it if she is still around.

Tweed

Christina Websell wrote:

Sorry that KFC's beloved has a poorly bladder and hope you find something to
help him.
I have no advice to offer you as neither of mine ever had this problem. You
are taking him to the vet's again, I know. BTW have you asked Megan? that
might be worth it if she is still around.

I was hoping that MaryL might have some thoughts. She often has good ideas
about feline health and treatments. I haven't heard from Megan in a long time.
I guess she goes by Catlady now?

Thanks,
--
Joyce

Something you'll never hear an 8-year-old say:

"Nana, will you spit on your hankie and wipe the gravy off my face?"

Alison wrote:

My cat kim had Feline idiopathic cystitis for years. Stress was one of the
main factors , I used to havea feliway plug in and fed her wet food and
encouraged her to drink . She also had cystease supplement,

I've always suspected that stress was the cause in Licky's case, too. He's
a very nervous kitty, always on alert, suspicious, ready to head for the
hills any second.

Several months ago I bought him a Feliway collar, because the diffusers are
only good if the cat is in the same room where it's plugged in. I don't have
a very big apartment, but it does have 4 small rooms, so if I wanted him to
have the benefits all the time, I'd have to buy 4 of them a month. And just
one per month is pretty costly.

But I haven't had the heart to put the collar on him - I'm afraid that
would be traumatic in itself! It's still in the package, unopened. I wonder
how long it lasts when it's still sealed?

She had blood in her urine but she also strained to wee. One of the first
symptoms was her wees getting smaller and then straining .
Has the vet done any scans or investigations ?

I don't think radiology was ever involved, but she (the vet) definitely
checked for blockage. Can blood in the urine be caused by inflammation, or
does it always indicate an infection? Because if it does, then he's had
an infection forever. And yet he never seems ill. He has lots of energy,
is alert and often very affectionate, his appetite is very healthy, and as
I said, I've never noticed him straining to pee. His main problem in life
is anxiety. I like the Feliway idea, thanks for reminding me.

--
Joyce

The sun rose slowly, like a fiery furball coughed up uneasily onto a
sky-blue carpet by a giant unseen cat. -- Michael McGarel

Judith Latham wrote:

Sophie (RB) was prone to bladder infections but we always managed to clear
them up although the last one took a hell of a lot of antibiotics. The vet
recommended Hills science diet and that seemed to help but she still had
trouble occasionally. Sorry I can't be of more help.

Purrs and prayers for Licky to get better soon.

Thanks, Judith!

--
Joyce

"Riveting reading that keeps readers reading."
-- The Midwest Book Review

jmcquown wrote:

I have no advice about holistic medicine. Purrs are on the way for
Licky (and for you).

I'd go with the prescription food only because it has served Persia so
well. When she was about 3 or 4 she had recurrent bladder infections.
She didn't seem to be straining but there was blood in her urine. That
alarmed me. Then the vet became concerned about the frequency of her
infections. X-rays finally showed a small mass in her bladder. It
turned out to be a (thankfully benign) tumor.

I wish you both the best of luck.

Thanks! It seems like for most people, if their cats get blood in the urine,
that means an infection. It's just hard for me to believe he's had the same
infection for ages, without it either getting better or worse. I'm going to
have to take him back - that's going to be fun! :-O

--
Joyce

"Riveting reading that keeps readers reading."
-- The Midwest Book Review

I wish you both the best of luck.

Me too...

Thanks! It seems like for most people, if their cats get blood in the urine,
that means an infection. It's just hard for me to believe he's had the same
infection for ages, without it either getting better or worse. I'm going to
have to take him back - that's going to be fun! :-O

....but to me that doesn't look good. With no pain on peeing, bladder
cancer looks the most likely explanation.

Seems like there are a few very different types of bladder cancer in cats
and great differences of opinion about how to treat them, though treatment
can be effective.

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