[moehler]

My cat, Aries, is three and 1/2 years old. He weighs 19 lbs, but he is just a big cat... he really is not that over weight (when he stands he reaches my waist with his paws), although he could loose one or two pounds (its hard to go on a diet for one cat when you have two).
Three months ago he urinated on my bed which is something he has never done before (he has always urinated in the ltter box). I noticed he whined when I put pressure on his belly so I took him to the vet. She said that he had some mineral build up in his bladder (she suspected) and after x-rays and the works she said he was o.k. she gave me some pills to give to him (not sure what they were-- one I think was an antibiotic). She said it was not a bladder infection. Ever since then, he's been urinating in miscelanious places around the house, and he goes to the litter box every 10 to 30 minutes. He usulally urinates a very small amount every time, but it's clear that something is wrong.
This is the second time he has been "seriously" ill and both times the vet could not find what was wrong. The vet is an extremely reputable place (VCA cat hospital of Philadelphia). Basically I can't afford another vet bill when the vet is not helping my cat. Has anyone experienced this before? Any ideas what could be wrong with my kitty?
By the way his brother has NO health problems whatsoever, so I do not think it is a parasite or anything like that...

Thanks for any help you can give me.

-Matt

 

[Jeanie]

Since the vet has already examined him, I would call and ask for advice. It certainly sounds like a urinary tract infection or the crystal buildup she mentioned.

 

[moehler]

well after more tests from the vet it turns out my kitty has a chronic illness that (from what I'm told) is common in male cats... I forgot the exact name of the illness, but tiny "cystals" form in the bladder if the cat. These lead to discomfort and infection (kind of like a bladder infection) that causes the cat to feel like he has to urinate all the time. It seems that de-flamitories and antibiotics help, but the only solutiuon is to have the kitty drink a lot of water. If he/she wont drink, feed them wet foot (b/c it has a lot of water in it). The point it to flush out the crystals before they clog up the urinary track (which is very serious). I fed Aries wet food for a week and he is 10 time better... he's acting like his old self and urinating at a normal pace now . The problem is that this can come about any time for the rest of his life and it is not know what causes it .

Anyways, in case anybody else has this problem, they may want to ask their doctor about this...

 

[queen of the nile]

I'm glad to hear kitty is doing better, but it is so unfortunate that it could recur. Keep feeding him the wet food, this is actually a preventative measure that decreases the risk of crystals in male cats. You may want to try one of those water fountain things, apparently cats like it so much that they drink more water! They are expensive, but it might prevent the recurrence of the crystals. Again, it's good to here that your baby is doing better.

 

[Jeanie]

They're called Stuvite or Struvite crystals, if you want to check Google.com.

 

[Catloverof6]

My shadow has that problem. Although it doesn't recur very often in his 6 year life it has only happened about maybe 4 times. Each time i take him to the vet and he is put on antibiotics and it clears up.

Catherine

 

[dinkers]

cat urinating

Watch him really good! One of my males had blockage from struvite crystals and had to have the surgery. He was urinating everywhere & growling so I rushed him to the vet and if I hadn't done that he would have died. My vet had been treating him with diet & antibiotics for a month or so prior to the blockage and that didn't work for him. He had the surgery 7 years ago and has periodic cystitis & I spoke to a vet a week or so about it and he said put him on canned food because of the moisture content.

 

[Sebassie]

You should get your cat to a vet and ask him/her whether it's a good idea to put him on to a diet.

My cat suffered from the Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (Struvite crystals in his bladder) and got blocked up three weeks in a row (and every time on a Sunday ... when my regular vet has a day off). The first week I got my cat to vet A, he put a catheder in his urine tube, got it out immediately and he was able to wee again (he got some blood in his urine as well). I got some antibiotics to take home and feed him (for two weeks twice a day) because my cat had a pretty heavy inflammation of the bladder (due to the crystals and perhaps cold). I also got some diet food, but the cat refused to eat, so I mixed it with his old food. The second week he was blocked again, I took him to vet B but he did not much, but he sold me some food which my cat perhaps would like (a different brand). My cat was still not able to do his usual amount of urinating and he got some blood in his urine as well. The third week he was blocked again and I went to my 'own' vet; she gave him a catheter for five days; he had to stay at the vet for two days; after that he could go back home, but because of the dripping from the catheter, my cat had to stay in a rabbit-cage for three days with a collar around his neck and his feet at the back tied together because he would otherwise tear out the catheter (he did so at the vet's when they let him eat; a painful job because in this case, it was stitched to keep it in place). This time I got the diet food that (luckily, it was the last option) that he does like and after the catheter was removed, he didn't get blocked again. He is still on the diet and he's fine and healthy!

I am not trying to scare you with my story, but this is a bad case that could happen. Ofcourse every cat is different, but I think it's best to put your cat on a stuvite-diet (but ask your vet first). In Holland there are four different brands available: Hill's S/D, VetCat, Royal Canin and Trovet ASD (the last is the one my cat likes). Trovet recently put 'All Purpose Treats' on the market, which can be given in case of diet, also struvite. Anti-struvite diet food is also available as 'wet' food in cans.

Good luck with your kitty!