Some advice please?

[sassy]

I have an 18 month old desexed male who I rescued from a shelter about 12 months ago. He's an indoor only cat, the vet thinks he is a ragdoll mix. About a month ago, I noticed he wasn't as playful as usual, that he seemed to be going to the toilet a lot, with not much coming out. I took him to the vet, who did tests and said he had crystals. He gave me Metcam and changed his diet to Hills C/D canned and dry.
We went home and a week later, my little friend was licking his penis, huddled in a corner hissing. He's never done this, I knew he was in pain. It was a Sunday so I had to get the home vet out. She gave him some Loxicom and pills to reduce the acid in the urine, as well as the Hills C/D - canned only.

A week later my poor little boy was hunched over crying in pain again. I took him
straight to the vet, they inserted a catheter and he stayed in 4 days. He's been home about a week and is still on Temgesic for his pain and the vet days the crystals are going. He's now on Hills s/d

Since he's been home he's been spraying. He never did this before and I don't understand why he would do it in front of me now? Because of his illness, it's so pungent! Ive bought Feliway, its not helping. Please how can I stop him? I've spent $2000 in a month (which I have had to borrow) on him and am finding this very stressful. Please help.

[Crewella]

Dealing with feline UTI/cystitis is very stressful for both cat and owner, I'm so sorry you're both going through this. It is quite common for cats with this condition to spray - the Cat Chat info page on litter box problems says this:

One of the main causes for many litter tray avoidance problems is due to physical conditions such as Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUDT) or Cystitis, therefore it is advisable to have the cat checked over by a vet first.
Cystitis can cause a cat to urinate in small quantities frequently, and a urinary tract infection can cause irritation and may make the cat favour standing up to urinate, and either condition can cause the cat to urinate outside the litter tray.

My boy Daz had cystitis problems and several blockages last year, though he didn't spray and just did little tiny wees everywhere. The most helpful thing was increasing the amount of water he takes in. The C/D and S/D wet food will help, but I also added extra water to his wet food to flush through and dilute the irritants in his urine. I gave him up to two tablespoons of water in each meal, and a year later I'm still adding a tablespoon as a preventative. As well as the pain relief, he was also on Cystophan (Cystaid is similar) to help the bladder wall and also help reduce stress, which I also still give him as a preventative.

I found these website very helpful in getting some understanding of the problem:

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_fe ... t_dis.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.catinfo.org/?link=urinarytracthealth" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.icatcare.org/advice/feline-l ... ease-flutd" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I really hope your poor boy is feeling better soon. xx

[Grace56]

First....welcome to Cat Chat, Sassy.
It may be that your boy is associating his litter tray with the pain he felt/feels when urinating due to the infection. So, he may be avoiding using his loo because of that, and urinating/spraying inappropriately.
I don't know how you can help him here, but maybe your vet can advise you. Hopefully, too someone on here may be able to offer some ideas.
He may start using his loo again once the infection completely clears up. I hope he does.

Good luck to you and your poorly boy. I hope he feels better soon. Keep us updated.

[sassy]

Thank you... I bought him one of those water fountains. I hope it helps, he's sprayed my curtains, couch, tv cabinet and my leg, all in 4 days! I put his scratching pole in front of the tv, or food near the couch but he just finds another spot. He's never done this before and it's obvious to me something is really wrong! Vet isn't very interested

[Crewella]

I think it is because it hurt when they peed in one spot, so they try another. It is classic behaviour for a cat with UTI/cystitis and should stop when he's no longer in pain. Daz has only ever done it when he was suffering, as soon as the pain went he used the tray again.

[sassy]

Thank you. It is so good to be able to speak to some people who understand! Wish I had found this site sooner xx

[Baggypants]

In my limited experience with cystitis putting extra water in the food, cutting out dry food and a maintenance dose of something such as cystease really helps long term.

Also, and something that vets don't look at straight away, is that urinary problems are sometimes associated with the cat experiencing stress - they might not appear stressed but if something in the home has changed recently it might have unsettled him?

Fingers crossed he is better soon xx

[Kay]

this is absolutely the case with my Tiffany - after years of keeping her cystitis at bay on a Cystease every other day, she had another bout of cystitis when a farm cat kept coming close to the enclosure - upping the Cystease to two a day for a fortnight saw her over it in a couple of days

I have her on one a day now, because I found out the dose is weight related, and she is a big girl