Question:
We have a 6 year old male cat and he keeps getting UTIs. We've had his urine checked 4 times at the vet and the same thing every time with crystals. I'm afraid he'll be totally blocked one day and we don't know what to do anymore. He's been urinating on wet towels and clothing at every chance and it's pretty disgusting even being a small amount. He's been on antibiotics every time for this and it goes away but then about a week later it's back again. Meds were taken once daily for 10 days at a time. He does not take them well either. What should we do? ... we're running out of patience and money.

BTW, I don't know if this info is needed but he's fixed, self feeding along with 3 other cats, 1 male 2 female. Dry food, occasional wet food and treats.

Answer:
Not sure what you can do.

But,I give my cats canned food.....It's very good in controling crystals in male cats especially...And of all the male cats I have had,they never had this problem.

Sorry I wasn't of any help.But there will be others to help you....

Answer:
We just took our one year old neuter to the vet for urinary problems. He stated looking droopy a bit, then he laid on the bathroom counter for days and let his frequent little drops of blood-tinged pee drop into the sink. At first we thought it was grime because the men had been working outside and using that sink when indoors. But after cleaning the sink over and over, it was definately blood from the cat. Quite neat and tidy really (he's part Siamese and I may be prejudiced but all my life I have found them to be the smartest breed). Anyway, we took him to the vet and the vet said he couldn't find anything. I do have an RN degree and I insisted that the cat be further checked. Sure enough, "Geo" was found to have a temp and was given inj.s and antibiotic liquid to be given at home. We also had him wormed again and put him on Frontline as he had just started to get a few fleas. We have chaged his diet to a dry food from the vet, but I think wet food would be better, and I have put him on goats milk. I live on a farm and I have goats milk available now that was not available earlier. 90 bucks! Ultimately, I think it was our fault. We had been cutting corners and buying cheap cat food. Here we have him with all his shots up to date since he was a kitten and neutered and then we give him snacks and toys, but his basic diet was poor. Urinary tract problems generally don't show up until a male cat is around 4, and ours is 1!

Answer:
Crystals in the urine can sometimes be eliminated with diet. There is prescription food for this. Canned food is definitely better for neutered tomcats. Try the prescription food until the crystals are excreted and hopefully he won't form any more.

If he won't eat this food permanently - my cat wouldn't - you may also feed Friskie's Turkey and Giblet Buffet. (canned)

Answer:
wow, i never realized canned was better than dry for neutered tomcats!

i know the ash is lower... thanx for that info, LR!

Answer:
Thank you guys for your input, now here's my thing... I called the vet and she said (of course) to bring him in and have an exam and do a urine test to confirm what I already know. Do I do that and spend the same 150 bucks again for them to give me the same $10 pills? Or do I try to fix this myself? Which I don't know how to do... Will the food change actually get rid of the UTI/Crystals? Or does better food just keep him from getting it again once it's gone?
Also I saw Snooky go in the litter box yesterday and I saw that it was only one drop of urine... Now today I saw an actual puddle. I'm not saying he's healed or anything but atleast he's not as blocked as I thought he was. So what should I do?

Answer:
well, if all the symptoms (100%) equal what u believe (100%) then it's GOTTA be the diagnosis right?

I remember doing that once when i KNEW choco had flees, instead of wasting $$ on the test, i went to pick up Advantage.

use ur OWN discression. if ur not 100% SURE that ALL the symptoms match the facts, research it... and then bring him in.



Answer:
I truely believe that's what he has, but what do I do about it? Well so far I've gotten UTI Food and a bunch of wet food too, for Snooky and Stormy (our other male)
And something made by Vet's Best, Feline Urinary Support. It's no actual medicine it's all herbs. I don't know if it's going to cure it or if it just helps keep it away if it's gone already, but we're going to see. I've currently got the 2 boys confined together because at the same time Snooky was peeing small amounts everywhere because of the UTI, Stormy was starting to spray (he's getting fixed the 24th). I'd still like info if anyone has ever gotten rid of something like this before without the testing and meds from the vets.

Answer:
Ok, the wet food isn't going to work for Snooky, I just remembered (after seeing vomit all over the floor) that he can't eat wet food. We tried a few times with him in the past. I believe it's only regular tuna he can eat as far as anything wet goes. So now what?

Wet food for fixed males, for no UTIs, and I have Snooky who vomits wet food... Ughhh

Even if I go to the vets for testing and meds, I know he'll get it back again and without wet food??

Thanks to all for responding and putting up with my confusion. I just don't know what to do

Answer:
It seems to me that if in doubt, the vet is the best bet. He's hurting now. After he's recovered, research and try to prevent recurrences. But he needs to be treated now.

Answer:
Hi Sneaky 2006

Don't despair! My 16 old male neutered cat has had FUS all his life (magnesium crystals).

What we did was radically reduce the magnesium in his food (.2 % in wet food is good) and go for "low magnesim/low ash" dry food. As I say he is 16 now and hasn't (touch wood) had a flare up for quite a few years. I don't believe it ever goes away but whenever he did have a flare up it was due to a build-up of "bad food".

PS I see you are worried about this being an ongoing problem. This is a horrible remedy but I had a friend who had an FUS male cat and it kept reoccuring and finally - brace yourself - they cut the tip of the cat's penis off - this makes the opening to the uretha larger and so while the crystals build up, they just pass right through. The cat seemed happy afterward ie no pain so .......... but I just thought you should know that this procedure is available if the situation becomes chronic - sounds horrible I know, but then so is not being able to pee!!! Take care.

Answer:
Vicki, I had a friend who had to have her cat's penis removed due to recurring blockages. This is not an uncommon operation and is sometimes necessary to save the cat's life.

If the cat merely has some crystals in the urine, it's possible to eliminate them with diet. If your cat will eat the prescription food made especially for this problem, that may be all that is needed.

We recently had a cat come to us. His owners dumped him because of crystals. A few weeks of meds and prescription food eliminated the problem.

If the cat has stones, only surgery will remedy this. If the cat gets a blockage from a stone, and is not taken immediately to the vet, he will die.

Try the food with your cat (NO tuna) and watch to make sure he is urinating.

Just curious - why can't your cat have wet food?

Answer:
Snooky can't (or I should say couldn't) have wet food because no matter what kind it was he would throw it all up so we stopped giving it to him except for real tuna. Once everyone said wet food was better for males I gave him some again and of course he threw it up, but I am giving a bit each day and now he's been eating it and keeping it down, I've also been sprinkling it with a little bit of cranberry powder from cranberry capsules. He seems a little better, not really straining to go and he hasn't gone outside the box again either. I think this is working.

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