Cystitis won't go away

Our 2 year old tom has starting having trouble peeing and when he does
manage it he seems to use anywhere but the tray. He's constantly
trying go and wondering around the house crying.

He was previously diagnosed with cystitis (he was passing small
amounts of blood in his urine) and given anti-inflamitories,
antibiotics and food to alter the PH of his urine. He was also tested
for crystals, and none showed up. After his last course of the above
finished the same problem reoccured after a couple of weeks, and he
was given the same drugs. Now these have finished and its all started
again, and he's also looking bloated now and having problems doing a
dump as well. As of his last urine test he's showing as having white
blood cells in his urine which suggests the infection has not gone
away (or has come back)

Any suggestions (and yes he's going back to the vet ASAP)

thanks

S

"DrLargePants" wrote in message
om...
Our 2 year old tom has starting having trouble peeing and when he does
manage it he seems to use anywhere but the tray. He's constantly
trying go and wondering around the house crying.

He's probably associating painful urination with the litter box, and
everywhere else that he tries to pee.


He was previously diagnosed with cystitis


Cystis is basically inflammation of the bladder wall (mucosa). Inflammation
in the bladder and urethra causes a nervous sensation that's the same as if
he had a full bladder. The nervous impulses that control urination are
constantly stimulated so that he has the urge to urinate whether the bladder
is full or empty.


(he was passing small
amounts of blood in his urine)

If no crystals were found in his urine, the blood was probably caused by
tearing the bladder mucosa from straining to pee or from overdistention of
the bladder if he's obstructed or partially obstructed by a urethral mucus
plug. Urethral plugs are more common in male cats than uroliths (stones).



and given anti-inflamitories,
antibiotics and food to alter the PH of his urine. He was also tested
for crystals, and none showed up.


You might want to have him x-rayed to rule out or locate a urethral plug.
Urethral plugs differ from uroliths in that they're composed of mostly
mucus. Most of the obstructions caused by plugs occur at the tip of the
penis is where the urethra is the smallest.


After his last course of the above
finished the same problem reoccured after a couple of weeks, and he
was given the same drugs. Now these have finished and its all started
again, and he's also looking bloated now and having problems doing a
dump as well.

Its possible that the pain from straining to urinate is extending to the
perianal area causing voluntary inhibition of defecation. This can lead to
self-perpuating constipation. The longer feces remain in the colon the
drier and harder they become and the more difficult they are to evacuate.


As of his last urine test he's showing as having white
blood cells in his urine which suggests the infection has not gone
away (or has come back)

How was the urine sample obtained? Its very important collect urine samples
directly from the bladder via cystocentesis to virtually eliminate the
possibility of contamination with WBCs and bacteria that normally inhabit
the distal urinary tract or from outside the urinary tract.



Any suggestions (and yes he's going back to the vet ASAP)

Speak to your vet about Cosequin (glycosaminoglycan). Cystitis in cats may
be caused by a defect in the glycosaminoglycan (GAG) layer that coats the
bladder wall (epithelium). Such a defect might allow urine to penetrate the
bladdler wall and induce inflammation.

You might also want to speak to your vet about amitriptyline. One of the
benefits of amitriptyline for cats with IC is analgesia - which should
reduce the pain and allow him to urinate easier - providing he doesn't have
a plug.

If you're feeding him dry food - switch to canned. Dry foods whether
prescription or commercial are less efficacious than canned foods for
treating cystitis (and for better health in general). Cats fed canned food
have a higher water intake and water turnover than cats fed dry food even
though dry-fed cats drink more water. Increased water intake and turnover
result in dilution of any noxious substances in urine, more frequent
urination to decrease bladder contact time with urine, and removal of any
excess crystals that could irritate and inflame the bladder wall or
aggregate or accrete into larger crystals and stones.

Good luck.

Phil

My cat Sushi (1.5 yr old female) just went through a succession of UTIs
- four in two months. I won't bore you with all the details, but I did a
lot of reading on the internet about it.

You know there are two kinds of crystals, right? Struvite and calcium
oxylate (?); one is when the urine pH is too high, the other when it's
too low (I don't remember which is which).

From everything I've read, once a cat shows a susceptibility to UTIs,
you shouldn't give them dry food ever again. Dry food sucks moisture
from their bodies, but canned foods contain a lot of liquid. I often add
a tablespoon of water to 1/2 can, so Sushi gets even more liquid. The
more liquid they get, the better - it keeps the system flushed.

A friend told me her cat responded well to amitriptyline (it's a human
antidepressant) for recurring UTIs, so I researched it. I found a lot of
info about it on line, but I always want to back it up with a reputable
web site, and I found this: http://snipurl.com/bcw3

So, after trying four rounds of antibiotics, what seems to have worked
for Sushi is Science Diet S/D (struvite dissolving, I think) for one
month and 5 mg of amitriptyline daily. Oh, also the last dose of
antibiotics was somewhat long term - 21 days of half doses instead of a
week of regular doses; the vet said sometimes a stubborn infection needs
a longer time on antibiotics. She's been weaned off the S/D and is now
on the maintenance version, C/D. The next step will be to wean her off
the amitriptyline and cross our fingers.

We don't know what caused the UTIs, and we don't know what has cleared
them up, but she hasn't had a problem for almost two months.

It concerns me that your cat is bloated and having trouble with #2, too.
I have read that males tend to have more problems with UTIs because
their urethra is smaller in diameter.

I don't know if any of this will prove helpful, but having been through
something similar recently, I know how distressing it can be. Good luck,
Irene



DrLargePants wrote:

Our 2 year old tom has starting having trouble peeing and when he does
manage it he seems to use anywhere but the tray. He's constantly
trying go and wondering around the house crying.

He was previously diagnosed with cystitis (he was passing small
amounts of blood in his urine) and given anti-inflamitories,
antibiotics and food to alter the PH of his urine. He was also tested
for crystals, and none showed up. After his last course of the above
finished the same problem reoccured after a couple of weeks, and he
was given the same drugs. Now these have finished and its all started
again, and he's also looking bloated now and having problems doing a
dump as well. As of his last urine test he's showing as having white
blood cells in his urine which suggests the infection has not gone
away (or has come back)

Any suggestions (and yes he's going back to the vet ASAP)

thanks

S

in article , DrLargePants at
wrote on 12/14/04 7:16AM:

Our 2 year old tom has starting having trouble peeing and when he does
manage it he seems to use anywhere but the tray. He's constantly
trying go and wondering around the house crying.

He was previously diagnosed with cystitis (he was passing small
amounts of blood in his urine) and given anti-inflamitories,
antibiotics and food to alter the PH of his urine. He was also tested
for crystals, and none showed up. After his last course of the above
finished the same problem reoccured after a couple of weeks, and he
was given the same drugs. Now these have finished and its all started
again, and he's also looking bloated now and having problems doing a
dump as well. As of his last urine test he's showing as having white
blood cells in his urine which suggests the infection has not gone
away (or has come back)

Any suggestions (and yes he's going back to the vet ASAP)

thanks

S

What do you feed him?

Our 2 year old tom has starting having trouble peeing and when he does
manage it he seems to use anywhere but the tray. He's constantly
trying go and wondering around the house crying.


Well we got him back from the Vet, and as well as having trouble peeing he
was *seriously* constipated (I saw the x-ray, not nice!). That's all been
sorted now, and we're waiting on the results of a 'clean' urine sample to
try and find out what is the cause of his urine problems.

Good thing is though the vet (a new one) seems to take the whole thing more
seriously and actually wants to solve the root problem rather than stuffing
him full of antibiotics every two weeks. Apparently he has a small urethra,
poor cat !

Anyway thanks for all your help and support, its much appreciated

Séan

Our 2 year old tom has starting having trouble peeing and when he does
manage it he seems to use anywhere but the tray. He's constantly
trying go and wondering around the house crying.

He was previously diagnosed with cystitis (he was passing small
amounts of blood in his urine) and given anti-inflamitories,
antibiotics and food to alter the PH of his urine. He was also tested
for crystals, and none showed up. After his last course of the above
finished the same problem reoccured after a couple of weeks, and he
was given the same drugs. Now these have finished and its all started
again, and he's also looking bloated now and having problems doing a
dump as well. As of his last urine test he's showing as having white
blood cells in his urine which suggests the infection has not gone
away (or has come back)

Any suggestions (and yes he's going back to the vet ASAP)

thanks

S

What do you feed him?


Wet anti struvite food at the moment. He's a little sod though and has a
habit of ripping biscuits and crackers from their packing and eating them.
(I find biscuits with crescent shaped holes in them on the kitchen floor)
We need to be really carefull about what he's got access to even more so
now.

"DrLargePants" wrote in message
om...
Our 2 year old tom has starting having trouble peeing and when he does
manage it he seems to use anywhere but the tray. He's constantly
trying go and wondering around the house crying.

He was previously diagnosed with cystitis (he was passing small
amounts of blood in his urine) and given anti-inflamitories,
antibiotics and food to alter the PH of his urine. He was also tested
for crystals, and none showed up. After his last course of the above
finished the same problem reoccured after a couple of weeks, and he
was given the same drugs. Now these have finished and its all started
again, and he's also looking bloated now and having problems doing a
dump as well. As of his last urine test he's showing as having white
blood cells in his urine which suggests the infection has not gone
away (or has come back)

Any suggestions (and yes he's going back to the vet ASAP)

thanks

S

I had this problem many years ago with one of my cats -- constant round of
treatments, with the inflammation getting progressively worse despite
treatment. He was also on canned prescription cat food. Then, one vet
recommended that I give Vitamin C on a daily basis, as a supplement to the
other measures we were taking. It was like a miracle! Before Vitamin C, he
had UTI every few weeks. However, he never had another UTI for the rest of
his life after starting the Vit C regimen, and he lived to be almost 20.
The vet said to give him 250mg morning and evening, and that is what I did
for his entire life. I realize that 500mg per day is a massive dose for a
cat (intended to acidify the urine), and I asked the vet about it. Just
like people, the excess is flushed out of the system. I looked very
carefully at all the Vitamin C bottles I could find and selected the one
with the smallest (diameter) 250mg pills to make it easier for him to
swallow. Some Vit C pills are very large. Above all, *do not* get the
chewable type.

MaryL
Holiday safety tips for cats:
http://community-2.webtv.net/getcathelp/holidaysafety/

"Séan Connolly" wrote in message
...

What do you feed him?


Wet anti struvite food at the moment. He's a little sod though and has a
habit of ripping biscuits and crackers from their packing and eating them.
(I find biscuits with crescent shaped holes in them on the kitchen floor)

Hee! Aren't biscuits what we in the US call "cookies?" You have a
Cookie Monster! No wonder he is bound up, poor boy!

Hee! Aren't biscuits what we in the US call "cookies?" You have a
Cookie Monster! No wonder he is bound up, poor boy!


Yeah pretty much I think. Aren't your biscuits gravy and a bun ?

Sean,

I'm so glad you went to a new vet and that the problem doesn't look too
serious. Wishing your boy a speedy recovery!


Thanks

He seems much better now although he's still struggling to 'go' although he
does manage in the end. Hopefully this is the remnants of what was backed
up and not the problem starting again. He's back at the vet next week so
hopefully he'll have a clean bill of health then