Cat UTI what to do?

[Chocolatecustardcreamsrule]

My cat has been having problems since before Christmas with peeing. On and off he seems to be in pain and making a funny noise and hissing when he pees. I’ve had him to the vets twice and had a video call with a vet. They say he has stress cystitis (no testing just feeling him) he miraculously is fine and dandy every time he sees a vet. I have a painkiller for him but it doesn’t really help his pain.

He has just peed on my bed and was hissing and crying as he did it. Absolutely loads of pee. Bedding thrown out as I didn’t know where to even start with it.

Hes back at the vets Friday morning anyway for this but is there anything I can do to help get him better medicine/ make it go away? Would I be a crazy cat lady to bring a sample of his pee with me? He’s seems absolutely fine now and chasing his brother round.

Ive tried switching his food to UTI friendly food (biscuits as he points blank refuses wet food) I have 2 fountains and bowls of water everywhere.

I agree.
I think I would be switching vets.

At the very least I’d be complaining

I’d switch vets too they missed a red flag there.

@Chocolatecustardcreamsrule

How is your kitty doing now?

He’s still at the vets, his catheter came out last night but the strain on him has made his back muscles spasm so they are waiting for that to calm before he comes home. The vet said that last night he was lovely and purry and head butting for strokes, hopefully that means he is back to his usual self and has stopped hissing. Can’t wait for him to be home.

I'm glad he seems to be doing better.

Hope he can come home soon , poor boy .

He’s home! I’m so relieved. The receptionist had pictures on her phone of him as he had been a little love all day sleeping belly up and purring at everyone. Worlds away from the hissy ‘untouchable’ cat from before. £1084 in total- I really hope the insurance pays out.

My cat had recurring utis with blood. It is awful to watch. After being told it was stress multiple times I did some online research and completely stopped dry food. She hasn't had a UTI since. Also no longer need to give her cystaid daily. She has her wet food and fountain - but barely touches the fountain.

So glad your boy is home

My female cat had struvite bladder stones a couple of years ago, and kept getting UTIs every few months. She was displaying similar symptoms to your cat, having trouble peeing and peeing in places that she shouldn't. Eventually she ended up needing an operation to remove them. She is now on a special diet that helps dissolve the stones,plus doesn't cause any more to build up. Touch wood,she's been fine since then.

@Chocolatecustardcreamsrule glad he's home. Just wanted to share how I'm treating my cat that suffered recurrent utis. I read that if a cat eats the jelly from wet food but leaves the meat then it's probably the texture they don't like. So I use a hand blender to blend wet food and a splash of water together. Seems to be working at keeping him hydrated. There's also gravies etc you can get. From what I've researched a dry food only diet is bad for cats that suffer from utis even if its the urinary health brands.

I think £1084 is very reasonable but I hope your insurance pays it .

I’ve had this with my cat numerous times. Not so much since we lost ddog a year ago so I think stress was a big part of it, but older male, overweight, neutered cats are prone to urinary problems.
I would try a few different varieties of urinary food from somewhere like Zooplus. Mine likes Almo Nature, Smilla and will eat Concept for Life although I don’t think he’s as keen on that. He didn’t really like Hills. As he eats urinary food most of the time I’m not bothered when he finishes off his sister’s supper. He will usually have a bit of ham or chicken most days but not too much.
He’s on one Cystaid a day but the vet said he could - and probably should - have two.
I sneak fluid into him by adding a bit of water from a just boiled kettle to some of his meals, and letting him drink the milk left over from my cornflakes - milk doesn’t affect him like it does some cats.
And finally I use a Feliway diffuser. Feliway Optimum was the one recommended by the vet.
It’s such a worry. I watch (or listen) to him using the litter tray and breath a sign of relief when he does a big wee.

Thank you all for the tips I’m going to try a mixture of them all going forward. He’s got a whole bag of medication, cystaid is one of them. Weirdly he had also eaten the wet food that he stuck his nose up to so im hoping he will keep on it. He is however peeing everywhere but I’m blaming the medication and soreness for now.

Honestly our house is currently cursed, my other cat came in unable to put weight on his back paw within an hour of us being at the vets. We went back and after anaesthesia and an x ray he has fractured his back leg.

You really are not having any luck @Chocolatecustardcreamsrule , has the other one had to stay in .

I'm sorry to read all these stories but thanks for sharing, it's really helpful to know about these things.

How do you get a sample using KatKor? I bought this but didn't expect such a tiny bag, so it will be hit or miss if he manages to get it in the tub. Any tips? Also how quickly do you need to get the sample to the vet?

My cat is not a big fan of wet food but he loves the cat soup (can't remember the brand) and Lily's in gravy is always eaten.

So glad to read he's on the mend.

I have a male cat who cost us a fortune and a lot of anxiety with recurrent UTIs but fortunately seems to be ok now. The biggest difference for us was switching to wet food. Cats don't seem to like drinking water so need to absorb a lot from food. Feliway also helped (he's a rescue cat and ridiculously affectionate but also very jumpy).

Both cats home. One in a big dog crate in the living room with a little cast on his leg (pink with little sheep on it, actually heartbreaking). The other in the kitchen. Me and DP doing shifts and swapping between the two.

Touch wood it’s going well with the UTI he’s having cystease morning and night, gabopentin 3 times a day and I’ve only been giving wet food, felliways also plugged in. He is NOT happy with this offering though and grumbles at me non stop but he is rejecting it for a bit then going back and eating it so fingers crossed. He’s had a couple of episodes where he’s peed on the floor but poor things been sedated so much the last few days that I think it was more being drugged than sore and no more hissing and yowling when peeing. Very needy and meowing to tell me about his ordeal but I’m just so glad to have him home he can have as many cuddles as he wants. Thank you so much for all of the help and advice.

Following and reading with interest as my cat has weed a couple of times outside of the litter tray.

A rare breed of vets nowadays - RIP Dr. F., you were a cranky old guy but the best vet we ever had.

Glad he's home OP, and the other one too. Sorry about your wallet 😂. I really think the wet food will be the breakthrough for you, if he's been on an only-dry diet before. They aren't evolved to drink much. In the wild they'd get something like 80% of their hydration from whole prey.