I think Asbo has another water infection.

[Fluffycloudland77]

What can I do? I water his food down so he gets more fluid and he eats it.

He won't drink any milk so lacto free milk is no use.

Rarely see him drink, even his water fountain went in the bin.

I'll buy a sample bottle tomorrow and get a sample off him but we can't have that every 3 weeks.

Would feliway work if I plug it in the room he sleeps in? he's so territorial and isn't calming down with age.

[cozietoesie]

Poor ASBO. How long has this been going on for, Fluffy and does his vet have any views?

[Fluffycloudland77]

Well he had treatment August 11th, I got a sample by getting him to wee in the bath. He showed no sign of being unwell. He didn't even have a temperature.

Saturday he started grizzling and backed up to a wall but yesterday he wee'd copiously in the downstairs loo.

He won't use his tray at all but will at the cattery. I'll buy some wood pellet litter later to see if he uses it.

Writing it down it makes me wonder if he is holding it in for too long?.

Vet not interested as he's a single cat with enough trays. I did say he gets very stressed about local cats hoping she might take the hint that he needs to be calmer but it went over her head. She said to bring a sample every time he does it. Next time I'll ask for the young male vet, he loves bengals and has his own rescue cats. I can understand vets not being keen on cats, they make rubbish patients.

It took me well over a year to get a sample off him. He's not an easy cat to manage, I can't imagine he would take kindly to a catheter either. The white non absorbing litter is out. He refuses to use it.

He still fights most days and is covered in scabs and scars from fighting.

The only thing holding me back with feliway is that we bought the spray for his carrier and it made him more anxious.

If I can get a sample and it's positive I'm going to refuse the injections. He takes tablets well in food and it saves me £20. I have some loxicam from August so he had some last night.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Well he just sprayed the bedroom wall so I've drawn it up into a syringe (thank god I damp dusted recently) and hopefully the 1.5ml collected is enough to dip.

[cozietoesie]

Is there any type of ltter that you haven't tried? (It's sounding like a bit of a protest vote to me and he's given to those if I recall correctly?)

[Fluffycloudland77]

Another infection. £32 for antibiotics and more painkillers. If it happens again then they want to do a urinalysis.

We have tried all litters. Even chick feed has been used as litter. He's due for his jabs too but he can't have them while this is going on.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Have they done microscopy for crystals? If not this really needs to be checked.
The posh arrogant boy suffers from stress cystitis ( what he gets stressed about I have no idea maybe he spends time worrying how to maintain his ultra nasty front). We have not have a single incident since I started feeding him hills c/d urinary stress with L-tryptophan. I don't rush to prescription diets, but this one I really think is good and he loves it.
I am going to shout this CATS MAKE FABULOUS PATIENTS I would rather have 10 cat inpatients than one dog.

[Fluffycloudland77]

I saw the nice cat loving vet take in a bull terrier who was growling and on two leads. Rather him than me.

How much urine is needed for a microscopy? I can syringe a few ml off the skirting board. More than that and they'd have to admit him I suppose.

I will look at the hills. I think it's stress too, I keep hinting as much. She said the sample had white cells in it again.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

In needs to be from clean surface, a couple mls fresh into tube and then stored in fridge till looked at.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Thank you. I can do that if it happens again.

The Hills food all has wheat/maize/gluten in it and asbo reacts badly to gluten (as do a lot of Bengals if Bengal cat forum is anything to go by), Zylkene is Tryptophan though from what I remember.

He reacts quickly to it if that's the case.

[Corygal]

Poor little ASBO! And poor you and your walls, too.

The only thing I can think of to help that might work is what I do when Mr C gets stressed - take a day off and potter about, lying down at intervals. Sooner or later they come over and hang out with you.

At least pee is coming out, that's better than nothing, altho I bet it doesn't seem like it. Could another cat be hassling him? Maybe you could tour the Fluffy Estate at night to look for intruders?

[Fluffycloudland77]

He has a long running dispute with the black and white cat over the road. It's a new road and virtually every other house has at least one cat.

I suspect he needs a urinary diet. If I can find a cereal free one.

The wood litter has not gone down well and he has wee'd all over dhs towel instead.

[Corygal]

At least towels are meant to be washed (struggling to find silver lining for Fluffycloud.)

Grim for you both. I note ASBO is taking care to piss on DH's personal items, however. Some standards never slip.

Shall I call Mr C's vet (massive practice) and ask if anyone knows of the diet you want? Might be worth casting about.

[Fluffycloudland77]

www.viovet.co.uk/Feliway_Cystease/c645/

I've ordered these for him, I am going to assume all prescription diets apart from sensitive have flipping gluten in them.

Zylkene doesnt have tryptophan in it, it's casein. I was wrong.

Thank you for offering. If his food has anymore water in it I'm going to have to serve it with a bread roll and a little pat of butter.

I think he's the only cat who gets a chew stick as a reward for weeing.

[Corygal]

ASBO is a very lucky lad Fluffy, chewsticks the bees' knees.

Is he doing all right this morning? Does he still fight when he's ill? It must be stressful for you, let alone him. Although he is The Litter Tray's very own action hero with all his vigorous territorial work.

[ifonly4]

Has the vet already tested the urine and able to confirm it's an infection? Urine infections have very similar symptoms to crystals in urine and cystitis. We had to take my girl in three times within three months for treatment. Vet advised we put her under GA and have an xray done (to rule out any build up of crystals/cancer) and she took a urine sample which was tested immediately in house. Turns out she had cystitis (which can be caused by stress). Unfortunately she got it three more times in the same year, which was very stressful for all of us. The vet advised she had a course of Cystease as well as antibiotics each time until it went. In the end, she was kept on one Cystease a day - it's four years later and she hasn't had cystitis since - I still give her Cystease which seems to have no side effects.

It's awful to watch they go through this, but you may have to let it run it's course - if the problem keeps returning then you do need to press for more tests. Once you are sure of the cause, you will then be able to get further advice on how to manage, sometimes diet helps, sometimes cystease.

[Fluffycloudland77]

The vet dipped it and said the test shows white cells are present but I think it's stress cystitis.

That's my gut feeling, he is highly territorial and the black and white cat over the road winds him up on purpose.

I keep hinting it's stress but it's going over their heads. It would be stressful for us if we knew that every day would mean a fist fight with the neighbours.

Luckily I have all of you to talk to about it, thanks to Lone he has cystease on the way. I'm still hopeful I can sort it out myself.

The wood chip litter hasn't been used and it making the utility room smell like a woodyard.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Cystesae is GAGs it is great for cats whose cystitis is partly due to low GAG layer in the bladder works for some and not for others.
Nutracalm is the tablet with L-tryptophan in it, but I can not be bought on line only from distributor practices.
I previously have been anti-grain for my cats ( the other one gets Arden grange salmon and potato), but the hills food was such an improvement I was converted ( I rarely prescribe prescription diets). I may be worth trying a small bag if the cystease doesn't help.
You had a dipstick, but have they done microscopy for crystals this is really, really important in male cats.

[Fluffycloudland77]

He cant have cereals at all, he starts to vomit, then he gets a runny bottom and becomes listless, he looks very dehydrated while it's happening.

Eventually he has to have that injection that stings, he's had it three times and is now used to the pain of it.

It seems to be a common problem with bengals, bengal cat forum is full of people with cats whose digestion doesn't cope well with cat food. A lot of them raw feed but I'm not confident enough to do it.

Shall I try the tablets and if he gets it again insist on microscopy?. It said it had L-tryptophan in it.

Poor little sod cant live like this forever. It must be so miserable for him.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

I always do microscopy in male cats with the second UTI the possible consequences of crystals in a male cat are so serious we should find them as soon as possible.

[Corygal]

That black and white yob is the root of it, I'm sure. Poor little ASBO.

Can you go and talk to Yobbocat's owners? I mean, I wouldn't fancy doing it myself, but could you ask them if they could keep an eye on him as ASBO keeps ending up at the vet?

What about cat prozac? I know nowt about it, I hasten to add, but it might be an idea.

Last resort: keep a hose handy when you see Yobbocat. I wince at saying this but anything is worth it for poor ASBO and his urethra.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Their both as bad as each other. Both kept in overnight and out during the day.

Our cat stalks him and their cat stalks mine. Hopefully the cystease will calm him down.

[Corygal]

It's the Crips v the Hoods in postcode wars, Fluffy. My money is on ASBO, as it happens, but stuff that beastly thug in the other gang.

Cystease is definitely the way forward.

[DrTinkle]

Get microscopy of urine fluffy, they can take a sample directly from the bladder with a small needle. You need to be sure where this cystitis is coming from (crystals/stress etc) to know how best to manage it. My boys had stress induced cystitis on and off, it's not returned since they started going out a few times a day. Luckily they are sociable with other cats (even the grumpiest of cats seems to tolerate them). If it's stress from fighting for his territory would ASBO respond to being a house cat with on lead walks or an enclosure?

[DrTinkle]

...or could you broker a timeshare with the neighbours cat? Can't be fun for either cat keep fighting.

[Fluffycloudland77]

That sounds painful DrTinkle, he wouldn't be happy as a housecat at all and the harness we bought wasn't tolerated.

B&W boys owners and I are on the same schedule ie out all day and in all night.

B&W boy gets on with all the other cats but is a bit of a wind up merchant. They are evenly matched when it comes to fights so a hierarchy cannot be established. One of them needs to win the fight.

I am pinning my hopes on cystease, possibly combined with a feliway if he doesn't calm down. If that doesn't work it's needle in the bladder time.

You wouldn't believe how many people have said to re home him or put him to sleep.