Help please! Max has crystals in his urine

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Max

706012

Purred: Sun Feb 3, '08 2:22pm PST


	My poor Max, the glue that holds our pet family together, has been urinating blood. First he did it on a magazine, then several times in the bath tub. The first time was 8 days ago, and I took him to the vet immediately. $250 and new food later, they told us he had a UTI, and that those are common in young, neutered male cats. Five days and a course of Amoxicillin later, he is still peeing blood and visiting the litterbox frequently. He's acting like his normal self, just peeing often. The vet wants to see him again to culture his urine. I want to do anything that will make him better. Does anyone have experience with urinary crystals in their cats? What helps? What doesn't help? Do they go away? Can this kind of thing be cured? What causes this? Any advice anyone can offer is appreciated. This is the first health problem any of my furkids has had (besides Alice's C-section, but she was still technically a foster at that time) and I'm terribly worried. I just want my best bud to feel better!

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Tommy

Beloved

Purred: Sun Feb 3, '08 2:33pm PST


	Max, I am so very sorry you are going through this. We have experience with this in our house, I myself, have had crystals and full blockage in the past, and so has my brother, Felix. You are doing the right thing, returning to the vet right away and taking care of this ASAP, I am proud of you! It becomes very serious, very, very quickly. I am going to pmail you, too, with more info, but your vet will probably tell you that you need to eat special, prescription food (trust me on this, DO IT!), that will help keep this condition away for you. I'm sorry you are going through this, I know it is painful.

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Leaf

Must kick and- shred!

Purred: Sun Feb 3, '08 8:49pm PST


	Hi Max. I have also had crystals in my urine. One of the most important things you can do is drink PLENTY of water. We have 2 water fountains going at all times, and mom also puts bowls of water around the house, hoping I may stop and take a few sips. Mom has switched me to mostly wet food (probably 90 % wet) to make sure I get more moisture in my food. Stress is also bad for crystals. Mom gives me an anti-anxiety drug that the vet prescribed too because I am very high strung and anxious. I was peeing all over the house and the drug helped that. I wish you the best of luck and pmail me if you need support. You can get through this and get better, but it takes hard work. Purrs Max!

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Momma- Patches Over- The Rainbow

I Dare You Not- To Love Me

Purred: Mon Feb 4, '08 5:11pm PST


	Hi Max, Since I'm a momma cat with lots of kittens under my belt I can tell you this. 1- drink as much water as you can, the running water fountain like the ones that are used for calming water sounds and sit on table tops are great. Nothing like drinking from flowing water. 2- if you don't want to drink water, try putting a little fish juice from an opened can of tuna packed in water. the taste and smell of the fish will sometimes make water taste better 3- you gotta change what you are eating. go with a cat food (vet prescription food ) that is created to help cats that have trouble with crystals. 4- watch for signs of no appetite and keep the litter box lined with newspapers for the mean time. that way you can see how much urine is passed and if there is blood in it. Keep those papers changed as often as possible. 5- watch for signs of squatting but nothing coming out or going to the potty for a while. 6- an acidic additive can help to reduce the formation of crystals, along with a change in diet. 7- along with change in diet --- which should help a lot -- a last resort is surgery which will turn Max into Maxine. Believe me, Max won't care what his equipment looks like as long as he doesn't have to worry about getting stopped up in the tinkle department. I've had many kittens who have gone through what you are now dealing with. You are one of the best, because you have noticed it early but you have to be vigilant and keep on top of things. Max can still live a happy and productive life for many years to come, the only thing that has changed is you have to watch him a little closer than before. All my best, Momma Patches

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Pip

Hiiiiyah!- Hoo-ha! Mrow!- Wait, what?

Purred: Tue Feb 5, '08 4:16pm PST


	Well the amoxicillin will treat bacteria in the urogenital tract, but it doesn't get rid of crystals. Diet and fluids get rid of crystals. Depending on the type of crystals you would need to switch to a perscription diet (the diets are extra acidic or very alkaline) to dissolve the crystals. You shouldn't have to get a culture sent out to diagnose crystals, those can be seen on the cytology when they do an in-house urinalysis. If there is a UTI accompanying the crystals it might be a reason to get a culture sent out, but there are always other broad spectrum antibiotics to try first before spending lots of money.

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Kiki

If I like you, I- will let you- live

Purred: Tue Feb 5, '08 5:29pm PST


	Max! I had crystals which eventually resulted in a complete blockage. I had a cystotomy where they flushed the crystals out of my bladder but the crysls came back despite the change in diet soooo, I had a periurethroscopy (they kind of gave me a sex change...ok, not so kind of, I don't have any male parts anymore). That was 8 years ago and I haven't had a single problem since.

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Max

706012

Purred: Wed Feb 6, '08 6:46am PST


	Thank you everyone for the advice. I took Max to the vet on Monday because after 9 days he was still peeing blood. The vet is a good guy and he told me he didn't want to take my money and do further tests and such just yet. He said we should finish the antibiotics, in case the problem was the UTI Max had. He also said to give it another week with the new diet and see if that would help clear things up. So, we have our paws crossed that Max just needs a little more time. He's pretty much his usual self, just a tad more vocal and probably uncomfortable (but you can't tell unless you look for it). I'm going to look into one of those fountains but I have a feeling that it could turn into a plaything. Our Alice had a litter of water-loving babies (all 6 have fallen into the toilet or bathtub at some point in their lives), and she is no different. I'm hoping more water plus special food helps Max feel much better.

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Monroe Meow

Time to make the- biscuits on the- blanket

Purred: Sat Feb 9, '08 11:27am PST


	I had cystitis twice too! I am now on CD food & I am doing OK so far. We are urring for you Max

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Moki

I will- survive!!!

Purred: Sat Feb 9, '08 12:33pm PST


	Max, I am so very sorry you are going through this. Moki recently recovered from an UTI in which he was peeing blood as well. It started back in Nov. and continued until last week. We had xrays done, ultrasound, bloodwork you name it...Anyway what we found worked for us, was a combination of antibotics in addition to a diet change. The antibotices alone where getting us no where, so the doctor recommeded changing his diet to Royal Canin S/O. I was hesitate to make the switch but finally did. In less than two weeks after making the switch of foods, Moki's UTI cleared up. Royal Canin S/O is formulated to help with cases like these and it worked for Moki. Our vet gave us a sample to try because I wasn't sure he'd actually eat it, he hates science diet, but it turned out that he really liked the food. Perhaps your vet can give you a sample of some various foods to help treat the problem, or you can ask your vet about the S/O if he carries it.

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Max

706012

Purred: Fri Feb 15, '08 2:54pm PST


	Max is on Hill's special food for urinary crystals, but after two weeks he is still occasionally peeing blood. He always poops in the litter box but pees almost exclusively in the bathtub, which is kind of gross. Sometimes it's bloody, sometimes it's not. He's been on this special food for two weeks and has finished a 10-day course of antibiotics but hasn't improved a whole lot. I'm thinking of changing his food again to that Royal Canin. Is there anything else I should feed him or supplement him with? I read somewhere that a drop of cranberry juice a day keeps his urinary tract acidic. Has anyone tried something like that? My main concern is just making him feel better. He's the most wonderful, friendly, outgoing, fluffy, jolly, happy guy, and it hurts to see him in pain.

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