Cat owners: UTIs

If your cat eats only dry food, she's not getting enough water. Start her on canned cat food, a good brand such as Fancy Feast. Most cats love Fancy Feast and she will be getting more water in her diet.

Dry food is hard on cats and dogs because they don't drink enough water, especially cats. When cats start drinking lots of water it usually means they are diabetic.

Antifreeze will kill the UTI

Thanks, this what the vet told me many times as well, but she won't eat wet food at all, even when she's starving. I've spent a lot of money on all sorts of wet food and human food (both cooked and raw) and she won't touch it, even when it's the only option for several days.

That's my mistake being a new cat owner 12 years ago and getting her addicted to dry food I guess.

I think I may have to gently force-feed her wet/raw food until she likes it. I've read that some finicky cats need it physically put in their mouths a few times before they accept that it tastes great, basically re-programming their taste buds.

Last Edited by STAX on 07/12/2017 07:29 AM

sorry OP, cats stop eating when it's time for them to pass on. just comfort the animal best you can.

((((( hugs ))))))

lol, we can always count on BRIEF for the obligatory "heartless comment of the day", can't we?

Hahaha, love you BRIEF. :)

Last Edited by STAX on 07/12/2017 07:40 AM

Thanks MissCleo, she's eating just fine. Probably has at least a few years left. She just likes to eat cat potato chips (dry food) over a nice salmon steak (wet food). That's her biggest problem I think.


((((( cat huggies ))))))

Last Edited by STAX on 07/12/2017 07:39 AM

D-mannos is a sugar that helps E. coli based UTIs. I have read that it is safe for pets.

ETA:

Here is one on Amazon geared towards pets:

WellnessPartners
UTI Pets Pure D-Mannose Non GMO Organic Source Powder 65gram

Last Edited by MisSpelt Rebbal on 07/12/2017 07:36 AM

Oooh, thanks, I'm gonna research this.

You're welcome.

See my edit. There is some specifically for pets.

Good luck.

Last Edited by MisSpelt Rebbal on 07/12/2017 07:38 AM

Jackpot! Thank you!

This is true. Canned wet food is a better option than dry, or even if paired in a hybrid diet with dry food. Sometimes the ash, or other stuff, in the particular dry food they are being fed can cause an issue when their digestive systems are unable to properly process particular ingredients or fillers. Many cats will only drink more water when they have access to a recirculating fountain. Getting one of these is the best way to get more water into many cats.

Separately, if the pathogen causing the UTI is E. coli then there is a very good chance that d-mannose powder will help eradicate it (if you can get it into your cat). This stuff is a cousin to glucose (so not dangerous to ingest) and is the actual active substance in cranberry juice that helps fight UTI. In the direct powder form, though, it is a hundred times more concentrated and available than in the juice. Most of the d-mannose powder actually makes it through the gut downstream to where the infection is and then presents a preferable molecular binding site where E.coli will attach/adhere in huge numbers. Then the E.coli can be flushed out with the normal urine stream. Other infection pathogens will not bind to d-mannose, however, and neither will certain rare mutations of E.coli. But since E.coli represents about 80-90%+ of all UTI infections and the mutation referenced above is rare there is a good chance d-mannose will work. This is well known among alternative medical practitioners and d-mannose is extremely effective for treating people with non-mutated E.coli UTI infection. Typical dosages for a person would be 1 to 2 teaspoons the powder mixed in a glass of water or juice. All d-mannose information provided here relates to people, not animals, but there is no reason to believe that it would work any differently for a cat if dosage is adjusted for size/weight and if you can actually get them to eat/drink it alongside appropriate water intake.

You have to find creative ways to get a cat to drink more water, that's the solution I'm sure. Mine never have UTI's. Even cats w/previous history of UTI didn't have after I got them.

Cats like to drink from a higher container such as a tall full to the brim glass of water, a bathtub or sink faucet, a large size bowl rather than a low saucer or dish. It's easier for them.
Have different sources in different areas. If it jumps on the bathroom counter while you are there, turn on the faucet to a low stream for a few minutes to let it drink. I keep a tall filled glass of water on the bathroom sink which one cat prefers. My other cat uses the large mixing size bowl and meows for the running faucet. And of course refill every day so the water is fresh, not stale and coated with dust on the surface.

Just saw MisSpelt Rebbal's post after I posted my response. Right on the money with d-mannose!

Having water for them to drink in several areas of the house, not just one place also helps

Your cat has diabetes. The antibiotics didn't make her blind the diabetes did.
Please have her checked at a vet, the UTI's and everything else you said is called a clue.

really Queef?

maybe you should drink some huh Queef?

If the litter box is flooded and clumping cat litter won't clump I'm 100% sure she has it. Less than $35 a month to treat it.

Have you tried natures logic raw food? never met a cat that does not love it. its not cheap but cats love it. Even our picky 3 leg cat who hates everything.

Fish.

Simple.

This - and if the cat must eat dry food due to cost, OP should at least mix it with canned and also use a urinary food. OPs cat is a female and I don't know how much issues the female cats have, but fixed male cats are very susceptible to bladder crystals which in turn can present like (and likely cause) UTIs. We had one cat that had a lot of issues until the vet explained the issue and we switched to a urinary food - never had issues since. Same with my son's male cat - didn't matter the expensive food he was feeding it - it still started to have trouble and he had to switch.

Apple cider vinegar added to the cat's water (in very small doses at first - 3 to 5 drops into a few cups of water for a couple of days, then double the amount for another couple of days - to acclimate the cat to the taste) absolutely works from personal experience. You want to work up to one mL of vinegar per cup of water. It also keeps fleas off of the cat.

Giving your cat bottled or filtered water can help A LOT with the issue of cats not drinking enough water or looking for alternate sources (toilet, sink, etc).

Between tap water vs. reverse osmosis filtered water that I keep a 5-gallon dispenser of for the family, the cats will empty the water bowl in half the amount of time when given the filtered water and never turn to sinks or toilets for water, which will either have plenty of microbial life or plenty of detergent/chemicals no matter how dirty/clean they are kept - both of which have risks.


Coconut oil is also a good anti-microbial treatment. Easily given (to some cats) by just setting in a small dish and letting them lap it up. If the cat does not like the oil, you can probably sneak it in by putting a teaspoon in the dry food bowl and stirring it up. It also is a flea repellent.


Last but not least, diatomaceous earth is also a good antimicrobial that is easily added to a dry food diet - just add one tablespoon to the cat's daily food amount and stir it up. It adds no flavor at all, just a bit of grittiness. Might need to work up to a full tablespoon as with the apple cider vinegar in the water. Works to get rid of worms too. Can also be used to kill fleas in the cat's environment by dusting common sleeping areas for a couple of hours and wiping up the excess. Too much on the animal's skin can irritate them, but taken internally is completely harmless.

Our vet told us to avoid any cat food that has fish meal as an ingredient.

Awesome info, gonna try it, thanks AC!

Water intake is not an issue, BELIEVE ME. I monitor her water intake, and, if anything, she drinks more water than the average cat.

Last Edited by STAX on 07/12/2017 09:37 AM

He should bring a keg of it to his next trash family reunion.

No, she's just dribbling a few drops of piss per box-visit. Right now, that's every 10 minutes.

I've dealt with this since she was 3 years old (she's 12 now) and antibiotics usually did the trick. She's not responding to them now. I think she's getting UTIs because she doesn't clean her butthole good enough (she's a lazy, inbred purebreed).

This works for humans, and is completely non-toxic to all mammals, as it is just a sugar;

Put a tablespoon of D-Mannose in your cat's water bowl every day.

If the infection is caused by e. coli, and 98% of all human uti's are (not sure about cats), this will bind to the bacteria and carry it out, thereby preventing infection.

I'm definitely going to try this. I think it's bacteria creeping down from her butthole.

Cooked? Raw? Any suggestions on what type of fish to get?

I've tried dehydrated raw foods. Is that what it is? Won't eat it. But, like I said, I'll try some gentle force-feeding because that'll help teach her that she enjoys it.

Will give it a try!

Last Edited by STAX on 07/12/2017 09:44 AM