Does my Cat have a UTI, stones, or other kidney problem? if so… what diet?
My cat’s pee has a little blood in it, i noticed it outside of her litter box. she was frequently urinating, and only producing a small amount each time, I suspected UTI. the blood was only a little bit in the begining, now it’s just urine
i took her to the vet, and they put her on Clavamox (broad spectrum anti-biotic) for an infection. they also want to do a urinealysis & bladder scan for stones/bacteria. Yet when i inquired about this they told me change of diet is appropirate. my question is…What should a kitty with this be eating?
I have not done the testing yet, due to financial reasons. the vet bill alone was 0.
she seems better today, but she is a little fatigued. does any know if this is a side effects of this antibiotic? or if this is a sign of something more serious than i thought.
hope someone can help.
-Thanks
p.s. her pee patteren is normal now, she is not constantly going potty, but she is producing, but i’m worried she is a little tired.
Tagged with: amp • Bacteria • begining • Bladder Scan • Broad Spectrum • Cat Pee • Kidney Diet • Kidney Problem • Litter Box • urinating • Uti • vet
Filed under: Kidney Stones Treatment
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You do not want to feed the vet’s diet. You want to stop feeding dry foods. The system needs water.
http://www.catinfo.org/#Common_Feline_Health_Problems_and_Their_Ties_to_Diet_
More nutrtiuonal info
Nutrition since there are so many bad things out there is very important to your cat’s health
Contrary to what you may have heard; dry foods are not a great thing to feed a cat.
Please read the label on what you are feeding? What are the ingredients? Do you know what they mean? Is the first ingrdiant a muscle meat like chicken or meal or other things?
http://www.catinfo.org/#Learn_How_To_Read_a_Pet_Food_Ingredient_Label
Dry foods are the number 1 cause of diabetes in cats as well as being a huge contributing factor to kidney disease, obesity, crystals, u.t.i’s and a host of other problems. Food allergies are very common when feeding dry foods. Rashes, scabs behind the tail and on the chin are all symptoms
The problems associated with Dry food is that they are loaded with carbohydrates which many cats (carnivores) cannot process them. Also, Most of the moisture a cat needs is suppose to be in the food but in
Dry, 95% of it is zapped out of dry foods in the processing. Another thing, most use horrible ingredients and don’t use a muscle meat as the primary ingredient and use vegetable based protein versus animal. Not good for an animal that has to eat meat to survive.
You want to pick a canned food w/o gravy (gravy=carbs) that uses a muscle meat as the first ingredient and doesn’t have corn at least in the first 3 ingredients if at all. Fancy feast is a middle grade food with 9lives, friskies whiskas lower grade canned and wellness and merrick upper grade human quality foods. Also, dry food is not proven to be better for teeth. Does a hard pretzel clean your teeth or do pieces of it get stuck? http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/bpo_ch4a.php
Please read about cat nutrition.
http://www.newdestiny.us/nutritionbasics.html
http://www.catinfo.org/feline_obesity.htm
http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm#Dry_Food_vs_Canned_Food.__Which_is_reall
go to pet food aisle in any pet shop or even local supermarket.u will see both wet and dry cat food that says "for urinary health" or similar title on the label.buy that,its gr8!keep on that for life.its same price as other cat foods.purina is one brand that makes it.fatigue is an effect of having had any kind of infection,the antibiotic does not cause it.its just like when u have been sick for any reason-even when u begin meds,its a week or so till u feel like ur regular self.
try giving her hills c/d diet – it is designed specifically for urinary disorders. im not familiar with the antibiotic clavamox – but i might know it by a different name.
most cats do get fatigued by vet trips and antibiotics, but if she becomes very lethargic, i would take her back to the vets to make sure there is no underlying problem.
hope this helps!!
My male cat went through a bad time w/urinary problems,crystal formation and the vet put him on Hill’s Science DIet C/D and he lived to be 17 yrs old. It is 20.00 for 10 lbs, but worth it. Saved my cat.
I’m surprised your vet didn’t suggest a diet for her. Ask them what they would suggest and keep saving your $ as vets can be pretty pricey and if you can’t afford them when your cat is sick, ask them about payment plans. Most vets will work w/you. Good luck and hope your kitty gets better.
http://www.animalsdr.com/articles/info/fus.html
Urinary tract issues are common in cats fed dry food. You should change your cat to a quality meat canned (or raw) food without gravy, and avoiding grains, fruits and vegetables. She’ll feel much better on a more appropriate diet, and her urinary tract issues should resolve permanently. She likely still doesn’t feel the best, and Clavamox often causes some mild stomach upset. Offer her a little real yogurt (live culture) or the commercial product Benebac to benefit her stomach.
Contrary to what you may hear, dry food is NOT the cause of diabetes or urinary tract problems. That said,most cats with cystitis, crystals, or recurrent infections are better on a diet of mainly canned food ( or all, if that’s what you choose to do). My own has been fine on Hill’s C/D dry and Friskies special diet canned for almost 8 years now, after two blockages in his younger years. Prescription diets are not evil, do not cause cancer, or any of the other stuff you hear on the internet. Do make sure your cat has access to fresh water all the time. Get a fountain, or have several water dishes. (Mine like me to leave some water in the tub every morning and they drink it).
I have never heard of fatigue being a side effect of Clavamox, but I’m sure it’s not impossible. Check with your vet. The main side effect is generally stomach upset.
At the very least, you should have a urinalysis done. An in-house UA shouldn’t cost you more than about $20.
Luca Z- Clavamox is also known as augmentin.
My cat was diagnosed with a UTI last May. I feed a high quality diet (Wellness) and at the time fed canned food two to three times a week as a treat. Since that event, my cats are still on Wellness and they get canned food on a daily basis as part of their evening meal. Invest in a high quality canned food. Cat foods ARE not created equally! My cats will rotate between canned Wellness, Innova, Solid Gold, Merrick and Natural Balance
I also added another bowl of water that only my cats could reach. Funny how cats refuse to drink out of a dish the dog has slobbered in.
I also put both my cats on Cosequin for Cats to help with the one’s bladder. It helped relieve the irritation and is supposed to help support the bladder wall. I sprinkle a capsule once a day on top of their canned food. It can be purchased through your vet (OTC), in some pet stores and through catalogs or online petstores such as Drs Foster and Smith.
Good luck with your cat and I hope she is feeling better soon!
Your vet is most likely to suggest Hills prescription diet for urinary problems. That’s the most common one, although there are other "prescription diets" in use like Royal Canin.
If your vet tries to sell you a bag of dry food, take a pass. That’s not good for cats with urinary problems. At the very least get the canned version of whatever they offer.
It’s ok if you use this food for a short period of time. It’s really really bad food, but it will do what it’s designed to. It’s just NOT appropriate for long-term use.
What you should do, after that supply has dried up, is switch your cat to a good quality canned food, or investigate raw feeding.
From my blog:
CATS AND URINARY ISSUES
This is not my area of expertise, but this has been my experience: As a kitten, Poppy developed both a weight problem and a UTI. My vet told me to start feeding her special food which he happily sold me *gulp*. Poppy refused to eat it. Back then I was less aware of how to get cats to eat new foods, so I just said the hell with it and bought Purina One’s urinary health food, mixed with weight management. She ate that from then until she was 2 years old. She never had another UTI. Does this mean that this food is as good as the overpriced prescription food, or did I just get lucky? I don’t know the answer, although I suspect the former statement is probably true.
For various reasons, I soon thereafter began researching cat nutrition. I learned about the benefits of wet food, and found that in many cases, that’s all that’s required to prevent future UTI’s. Even the crappy brands like Friskies would be better than dry food!
I don’t claim to be a vet, vet tech, vet student or anything like that. But I know how to research and examine results. I’ve read a bit on this topic which is how I’ve reached the conclusions I have.
At the very least, were I to have another cat with urinary problems, I’d sooner try them on a GOOD QUALITY canned food before shelling out the dough for a "prescription" dry food (or even their canned varieties). That’s because I believe that good nutrition and species appropriate food is much more likely to keep a cat healthy than inferior ingredients which have been tweaked to change their chemical composition.
What should YOU do? If your vet recommends a prescription diet, I can safely recommend that at the very least you get the canned version of that food. That way your cat will get the extra hydration it needs. And don’t feel bad about giving your cat this food – temporarily. It will do what it’s designed to do, so you can be sure that your cat will do well while you do more research. And I would encourage you to do so. Don’t take my word for it – read up on these things for yourself. Stabilize your cat with the prescription food while you look for something better. If canned food (or raw) alone is not helping enough, there are other supplements you could research. I have not done so, but I know that Wysong makes a supplement for urinary issues. "Biotic pH- is designed for cats or dogs needing assistance generating and maintaining an acidic urine to help prevent struvite crystal formulation."
I can’t endorse this particular product, but know that it’s out there. And if it is, there are sure to be others. Again, I would sooner feed good food, with a supplement such as this, than the crappy prescription foods.
UPDATE: I wanted to quote some info I ran across this morning (3.8.08). This info is taken from discussions in WholeCatHealth. While in and of itself it may not answer any questions, it can at least demonstrate that this group would be an excellent resource for anyone whose cat has a urinary problem.
"S/D and C/D are acidifying diets – meant for short-term use to bring down the urinary pH. There are risks associated with long-term use of these diets….." (see the last paragraph for more info on this).
"Feeding a high-quality, low-carbohydrate, meat-based, high-moisture diet reduces risk of urinary problems, incl crystals. Meat proteins provide the amino acids that naturally keep the urine slightly acidic (desirable for cats is 6.0-6.5 pH)…and the moisture (about 78%
for canned and 68% for the premade raw) helps promote urine volume and pee
frequency, which reduces risk of crystal formation. But some cats, even on a species-appropriate diet, can’t maintain pH…so it’s important to monitor the urine, which you can do at home with pH paper or urine dipsticks. If the pH consistently stays about 7.0, then you can add an acidifier such as L-methionine or ammonium chloride to the meat-based
food…and then still monitor to see how the pH is doing."
This last bit is from http://vetsites.vin.com/Kidney/FLUTD.doc:
"Chronic use of acidifying diets leads to metabolic acidosis, which can lead
to decreased bone formation and detrimental effects on calcium, phosphorus,
potassium, and magnesium balance. Potassium depletion, hypokalemia, and chronic
renal failure can result from feeding acidifying diets which have a marginal
potassium content. The use of acidifying diets is also contraindicated in cats
with chronic renal failure as these animals are often already acidotic. The
use of diets high in NaCl should also be avoided in animals with congestive
cardiac failure. Finally, as indicated above, the use of diets designed to
dissolve struvite may lead to a higher risk of calcium oxalate urolithiasis."
cat foods should be high protein and should be soft to with lots of dieatary fiber’`.
cat foods should always be high in protein and also in dietary fibers so that they are always healthy *~’