UTIs

[Donna & Buddha]

Is this the proper way to carry over a thread that began with Ele talking about lowering Blackie's dose, but digressed into musings about UTIs?

But I've been wondering about Buddha too. He's had recurrent bouts of UTIs even before he was diagnosed (and maybe he was spilling sugar into his urine even before we knew he had dm). I think for a while the expensive vet in town had him on a special Science Diet diet for it. It was a UTI that messed his regulation before his dka episode.

In people, I know you can acidify your urine by drinking cranberry juice. What would work for cats?

Also, is there a way to home test for UTIs? Do human test strips work for cats?

 

[Sarah and Buzz]

Is this the proper way to carry over a thread that began with Ele talking about lowering Blackie's dose, but digressed into musings about UTIs?

I don't know if it's the proper way, but it will certainly do!

In people, I know you can acidify your urine by drinking cranberry juice. What would work for cats?

I'm sure a vet would tell you that c/d is the only thing which will work. I don't know if there are any homeopathic remedies for kitties. Water should help to flush them out, it seems, so maybe tuna or chicken water by itself or added to the food? Or if you are going to add it to the food, just regular water would work. I don't know if you already do that or not. If so, sorry for the duplicate advice.

Also, is there a way to home test for UTIs? Do human test strips work for cats?

Hmmm, I've never thought of that, but I wonder if they would! That would be handy. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

 

[Ele & Blackie (GA)]

Thanks for posting this, Donna. Maybe we'll get some expert opinions.

Friskies Special Diets are supposed to promote urinary tract health by lowering the ph. They are also low in magnesium and phosphorus. I haven't tried Blackie on it, but my civies get it. I suppose it might be worth a try. I don't think you can give cranberries to a cat. I already put extra water (filtered) in Blackie's food. I do it to prevent dehydration since he is early CRF, but I haven't noticed that it's helped prevent UTI's.

I know that I used to have frequent UTI's and at one time I took an antibiotic for several months. I rarely get them anymore, but I don't know why. I think my vet talked about putting Blackie on abs for an extended time if he continues to get UTI's. The last time he had one we rechecked the U/A a week after stopping the abs and he was clear.

I have never heard of a home test, but it's a great idea. Maybe you just use a ph strip? I know it's not the preferred method, but I capture Blackie's urine in the litter box and take it into the vet. It costs about $35 for the u/a.

 

[Kira & Max]

Don't know how well it works, but my vet just sold me a tube of Methigel to raise the acidity of my old kitty's urine. We've been using it for a little over a month and no problems so far.

 

[Ele & Blackie (GA)]

Thanks for the info, Kira. I had never heard of that. Here's the link: http://www.millpledge.com/Products_Rang ... HIGEL.html
Unfortunately, it can't be used in cats that have kidney disease. So I wonder if the food shouldn't be used in cats with kidney disease. Except I know there are a lot of FDMB members who feed the Friskies Special Diet to their CRF kitties. I guess I need to do more research.

 

[Donna & Buddha]

Hmm. The first ingredient is corn syrup and it also has molasses. Probably not a good idea for Buddha either.

(Then again, isn't Max's dm diet-controlled now?)

 

[Kira & Max]

Hmm. The first ingredient is corn syrup and it also has molasses. Probably not a good idea for Buddha either.

(Then again, isn't Max's dm diet-controlled now?)

Max is, but he doesn't get the Methigel.

 

[Larry and Kitties]

There is no urine strips for a UTI in cats. Urine pH strips work well in cats but pH is not a good indicator of a UTI. There are strips that detect while blood cells in urine. However, in cats, you get a 99% false positive indication of while blood cells in feline urine.

 

[Joanna & Bix (GA)]

For years I kept an eye on my kitties' urine pH with reagent strips from 911 health shop: http://www.911healthshop.com/phstrip5580b.html

It doesn't tell you if there is an infection, but generally I found when my cats' urine was in the 6.0 - 6.5 range, they did not have problems. Of course it's a bit of a chicken & egg thing as infections will raise the pH & raised pH promotes infection. In any case mine never had confirmed infections, rather struvite crystals, so I don't know that the approach is necessarily the same. For myself, I have always found that hitting acidifying foods/drinks pretty hard heads off developing problems extremely well, so I have figured the same approach seems reasonable with cats. The reagent paper helps too to be sure you don't overdo it and go too acidic.

We used Methigel at one point, there is also a product called Methio-Form that is a chewable thing rather than a gel so wouldn't have the molasses kind of ingredients, though I don't know what all is in it. Both work by raising the DL-Methionine level in the diet, which ... ? Well, all I can say is it worked. I think the foods that keep the pH balance are better because it's more controlled than with a supplement, but sometimes the foods don't work for a particular cat, or there are other reasons to avoid them.

I also used a homeopathic thingy with one cat where the diet and/or acidifiers and/or ABs never seemed to quite do the trick. It seemed to help, though my vet was never convinced. It was called Bladder Irritation or something like that, for a while I found it at GNC and for a while I ordered it from somewhere on-line. I don't know that I'd really recommend it to anyone - I always felt a little weird about giving something that I had basically no clue about (and alcohol-based to boot), but it seemed to work so well for him that I used it anyway. I put that in the "if all else fails" category.

I tried a cranberry supplement once with one cat. That did NOT go over well! Hard to figure out how to mix the stuff in a palatable way, etc. I think there are a couple supplements on the market geared towards pets, but I doubt I would try that route again. Cats & cranberries don't really mix IMHO.

 

[Gator & H (GA)]

Hard to figure out how to mix the stuff in a palatable way, etc.

Mix 'er like Miralax: x amount in the syringe + water, shake well [like a margarita straight up] and down the hatch. drinking09

Is Vitamin C an urine acidifier?