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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

Help - cystitis

30 replies

miccoops · 03/05/2023 11:50

Hi All,
Hoping for some advice as I am worrying.. my 2 year old cat was on the littertray constantly yesterday and I noticed her pee was pinkish so took her to emergency vet. They think its cystitis and gave her an anti-inflammatory shot and same capsules to help calm her. Plus follow on anti-inflmmatory liquid. There is no improvement yet.. she is constantly on littertray and won't settle for a sleep, she seems very restless. She is eating and I have put a little water in her wet food to keep her hydrated. Should she be improving by now or can it take time for symptoms to improve?
Thanks for any advice.

OP posts:
coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 04/05/2023 07:47

How is she now?

I've had two male cats with urinary issues - one always improved very rapidly after seeing a vet but the other took a lot longer.

You may find you have to switch things up for her for long-term - a new diet and supplements, for example.

Was she given any painkillers?

OhhhhhhhhBiscuits · 04/05/2023 07:52

We had this last year and we had to go back to the vet in the end for antibiotics as it just wouldn't clear. This then gave her the shits so poor cat was suffering. A course of prokillen sorted the shits though and the antibiotics cleared up the cystitis. We did have to take a urine sample in to the vets the 2nd time.

Hope she feels better soon.

Roselilly36 · 04/05/2023 07:55

My ginger female cat, used to have this, I bought some homeopathic medicine from the pet shop that solved it.

Original poster
miccoops · 04/05/2023 16:02

Thanks for replies. I took her back to the vet as she was still constantly on the littertray. Vet said her bladder was empty so there is no blockage and he did bloods and kidney function was fine. He gave stronger pain meds and antibiotics.

She's now on 2 capsules of cystaid a day for 2 weeks plus an anti-inflammatory liquid for 1 week.

I'm also encouraging more wet food and reducing dry, and adding water..

Sadly no change yet, its been 48 hours since starting cystaind and still weeing all the time and little pinkish wees. Vet told me to give it to Monday and he is convinced its cystitis.

We've had no changes at home. She does live with another cat and their relationship hasn't changed, she's been with him since she was a kitten.

I'm really hoping she perks up.. I hate seeing her like this :-(

OP posts:
Kyse · 04/05/2023 16:33

Random but I've heard fish based food can irritate so might be worth checking no fish in her food
Cat soup are decent for getting liquids in them, cosma do the best ones. Applaws or thrive wet food has a lot of liquid too
Cystophan (Amazon) is similar but cheaper usually

Original poster
miccoops · 04/05/2023 16:41

Kyse · 04/05/2023 16:33

Random but I've heard fish based food can irritate so might be worth checking no fish in her food
Cat soup are decent for getting liquids in them, cosma do the best ones. Applaws or thrive wet food has a lot of liquid too
Cystophan (Amazon) is similar but cheaper usually

Thank you. I think I'm managing to get a decent amount of liquid in her as she's eating her wet food with added water. I'll look into the soups too.

How long does it take to settle usually? With cystaid.. it been 48 hours, is that too soon to expect much change? She's only 2 and never been unwell before.

OP posts:
Kyse · 04/05/2023 16:46

Mine has idiopathic cystitis and usually has a steroid injection and settles after 12hrs
They always say his bladder is soft and empty and no injection

Resilience · 04/05/2023 17:00

I have a cat with recurring idiopathic cystitis. Vet thought it was stress related. My house is now like a crack den for cats with Feliway plugged in everywhere. Seems to have done the trick though and that cat is much more relaxed and confident! Worth a try? Also switched to wet food only.

weegiemum · 04/05/2023 17:00

I came on here to sympathise as I have cystitis, then I realised it was the cat section! Still going to the loo for nothing much like your poor pussycat, give her a cuddle from me!

Original poster
miccoops · 04/05/2023 17:20

Resilience · 04/05/2023 17:00

I have a cat with recurring idiopathic cystitis. Vet thought it was stress related. My house is now like a crack den for cats with Feliway plugged in everywhere. Seems to have done the trick though and that cat is much more relaxed and confident! Worth a try? Also switched to wet food only.

I literally just ordered a feliway friends diffuser! Not used one since we got her in 2020. She’s always rubbed along ok with our other cat. They’re not bonded but don’t fight. Thought it was worth trying. I’m working on upping her wet food too..

OP posts:
Original poster
miccoops · 04/05/2023 17:21

Here’s a pic of the little love

Help - cystitis
OP posts:
coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 04/05/2023 18:35

It might be worth seeing if you can get hold of some D-Mannose for her.

It's a natural supplement that aids bladder health - mine takes two tablets a day alongside Cystease (one per day) and special urinary food. It's expensive but we've never had another re-occurrence since starting it all.

He didn't have a blockage either but he did have struvite crystals in his wee - if she doesn't improve I would be asking them to get a urine sample that they can send off for testing, as if she does have a medical condition, you won't get it under control with just cystease.

Laffinalltheway · 05/05/2023 12:22

My lad is on Cystaid, one capsule twice a day sprinkled on his food. It took about 2 days to kick in. Been told he'll probably be on the Cystaid permanently.

Original poster
miccoops · 08/05/2023 09:36

It’s been 6 days and she’s no better :-(
We’ve tried cystaid, anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, pain killers and switching to wet food mainly with added water. I’ve also brought a Feliway plugin. It seemed she was improving and then went backwards again. I’m going to contact the vet tomorrow and ask them to take a urine sample. Any one else have any thoughts? They’ve done her bloods to check kidney function and they came back clear.

OP posts:
Kyse · 08/05/2023 10:07

Has she had a longer acting steroid injection?

Original poster
miccoops · 08/05/2023 10:22

No she hasn’t.. it started last Tues so vet so far has given cystaid, anti inflammation meds, pain meds and antibiotics. I’m going to call when they open tomorrow… he wanted to give it to today and see how she’s going. I thought it was improving but seems to have gone back to the original symptoms.

OP posts:
WyldeSwan · 08/05/2023 19:35

Poor thing. My cat used to get reoccurring bouts of it (stress from neighbourhood cat(s) I think). It's always awful to see them like that, but she always came right in a matter of hours after a dose of Loxicom (melioxicam). Hope the vet can get to the bottom of it tomorrow.

coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 08/05/2023 19:43

Definitely ask for a urine sample - if she does have crystals, she will need to be switched onto a special urinary food - you won't fix it by antibiotics and Cystaid alone, unfortunately.

My 3yo male cat has bladder crystals and we had to tackle it from multiple different angles:

1 x Cystease and 2 x D-Mannose tablets every single day - he'll likely have to take those for life.
A urinary food specifically formulated to break down the kind of crystals he tested positive for. He won't eat the urinary wet food but he gets unlimited access to the dry.
Extra wet food each day - we also add water to his bowl and added extra water bowls around the house.
We added an extra litter tray as well, just in case it was partially caused by stress.

He was diagnosed about 18 months ago (after multiple vet visits) and that seems to have solved the problem - he's not had another reoccurrence anyway and the vet was happy with him at his check up recently too.

Original poster
miccoops · 09/05/2023 12:22

She seems to be doing better today.. I’m keeping everything crossed that we’ve turned the corner.

OP posts:
Original poster
miccoops · 15/05/2023 15:58

Very frustrating.. she was doing so much better and pretty back to her normal self, since last Tuesday. I am still giving cystaid and largely keeping on wet food. We have feliway plugged in over a week and also brought some calming drops. Then, out of nowhere, its flared back up with a vengeance today! Literally non-stop on the littertray again, with some little pink wees too :-( I am going to cut the dry food completely and also ordered some D-mannose supplement, and some more cystaid. I'll give it another day and if she's the same then I'll have to take her back to the vet. It's very odd, it stopped suddenly, and then started back suddenly and I cannot work out a trigger at all. Poor Pepper 😢

OP posts:
coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 15/05/2023 16:01

It's often triggered by stress - has anything changed at home? Is she generally happy?

Original poster
miccoops · 15/05/2023 16:08

coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 15/05/2023 16:01

It's often triggered by stress - has anything changed at home? Is she generally happy?

Literally nothing changed. She had it for a week, then it stopped for a 6 days completely and now its back and I cannot figure out what's causing it. I am at such a loss.. her routine is unchanged, there is no new cats in the area, she is getting along ok with our other cat. I did restrict her dry food, slowly, but that seemed to be helping and I thought might be why she was improving. Not its just back like it was at the start :-(

OP posts:
Elfy11 · 15/05/2023 16:20

@miccoops hope she's doing better now. Our cat gets cystitis at least once a year (normally when the weather warms up) and does lots of tiny pink wees like you're describing. We cut out the dry food and gave her applaws wet food (got lots of juice on it which she liked) with a bit of apple cider vinegar in it. It seems to work like magic for her! Just half a teaspoon mixed in her food once a day and at the end of the day she was much better. Now any time she flares up we go straight for the vinegar. Maybe worth a try? 😊

Original poster
miccoops · 15/05/2023 16:37

Elfy11 · 15/05/2023 16:20

@miccoops hope she's doing better now. Our cat gets cystitis at least once a year (normally when the weather warms up) and does lots of tiny pink wees like you're describing. We cut out the dry food and gave her applaws wet food (got lots of juice on it which she liked) with a bit of apple cider vinegar in it. It seems to work like magic for her! Just half a teaspoon mixed in her food once a day and at the end of the day she was much better. Now any time she flares up we go straight for the vinegar. Maybe worth a try? 😊

Thanks for that tip - that wasn't one that had been mentioned before! A quick search shows it can be helpful, I'll pick some up.

OP posts:
Elfy11 · 15/05/2023 19:17

@miccoops Our vet wasn't convinced when I told them what we'd used to treat her, but it certainly worked in our case so really hope it's helpful for you too! There also seemed to be no real cause for our cats cystitis- she's super laid back, there had been no changes etc apart from the weather getting warmer... keep us posted on how you get on.