was an actual infection ever actually diagnosed? I had several vets tell me my cats had urinary infections when they actually had crystal issues.
I had two cats deal with urinary issues. First Eli, who was peeing around the house in secret, and sometimes it was bloody, until one day he finally peed in front of us (in the bed while we were in it). i was just at the point of trotting all of the cats down to the vet to figure it out so I was kinda thankful (DH wasn't though, it was his side of the bed) He had crystals, and was just about blocked. antibiotics were given (standard routine) and he was flushed. Put on "prescription" foods, then went on regular canned food (low carb) and did fine.
Jack then had issues. He is a little more sensitive then Eli is. He blocked. Twice. We realized he was having issues, and got him on the "prescription" food, but he blocked over the weekend anyway. Flushed, more ABs, more heartache. Put him on the "strong" stuff, then on the "regular" stuff, and then I tried to get him on the same food Eli was eating and he blocked again. Another round. At that point I had Em who was eating her diabetic diet. Jack and Eli eating their urinary diet, and the rest on dry. Which is when I read
http://www.catinfo.org and asked if a raw diet would be ok for a cat with urinary issues. Dr. Lisa said of course (I was so naive at the time believing my vet who said food didn't matter - which if that was the case why was I feeding prescription foods??)
Got everyone on a raw diet, and the transformation was amazing. Em's numbers were ideal. Jack and Eli didn't have another issue.
Unfortunately Em decided she didn't want raw after a few weeks, but she was old and I wasn't going to fight it..
Anyway.. after a couple years of making my own food I didn't want to do it any more, so I started buying it. Well it was higher in carbs, and after a while Jack started showing issues. and finally started peeing in the tub. I took him to the vet and he had a very high urinary PH (it was 8.0 it should be between 6.0-6.5) and the vet gave me ABs even though no infection was detected, and she told me there was "no other option" then prescription food which I just couldn't believe.
So I read up more on holistic options. I am a member the yahoo group wholecathealth who are very versed in alternatives, and I bought some L Methionine* to help acidify Jack's urinary PH That helped him for a while, but I felt bad fixing an issue the food was causing, so I found a new brand of food. He seems to be doing fine on that (it's Bravo in case you are about to ask. I was feeding Oma's Pride, but I can't even come close to recommending that after what happened a while back and their pathetic reaction over my problems - another long story)
If it is an infection, It would be a good idea for the vet to do a culture and sensitivity to find out what kind of infection and get the right antibiotic to kill it off.
For inflammation, cornsilk or marshmallow will help there. Lots of reports say Glucosamine-chondroitin also helps (cosequin)
I've found that plant material is very alkalizing (a big health movement for humans) and will lead to a higher PH, so that needs to be as minimal as possible - even plant based protein sources. I've also found that the more water you can get the cat to drink the better to keep things flushed out and to keep crystals from concentrating and forming a blockage.
Connie
*Methionine is often used in cat foods to over come the alkalizing effects of plant material. Often they use a lower grade version of it, the dl which isn't as helpful. I recently read a bag of OTC dry food and it had it listed and I couldn't help but laugh. If you are going to use L Methionine, I would recommend you get some PH strips to test the urine of the kitty frequently so you don't over dose. Cats with severely acidic urine can form oxolate crystals / stones, which are much more difficult to deal with.
