I have a 4 year old male cat who has had one previous bout of feline cystitis. He has been fine for about two years. However, tonight, in the past hour he has shown signs of it again. Straining to urinate, crying, urinating only a very small amount, and he also seems warm etc. I was petting him about two hours ago for quite awhile and he seemed fine then, this is sudden. I know prompt vet care is critical but I can not get him to the vet until the morning. Does anyone have any advice to keep him comfortable until the morning?
Sorry, I didn’t mean to post here – I was posting to the pet forum. I know he’s in pain. That’s why I was looking for suggestions of what to do for him until morning.

Thanks

You need to post in pet’s forum.

Really nothing you can do. Some cats are prone to this. Are you feeding no ash cat food?

The cat is in terrible pain. Can you not do anything to-night?

I have a 4 year old male cat who has had one previous bout of feline cystitis. He has been fine for about two years. However, tonight, in the past hour he has shown signs of it again. Straining to urinate, crying, urinating only a very small amount, and he also seems warm etc. I was petting him about two hours ago for quite awhile and he seemed fine then, this is sudden. I know prompt vet care is critical but I can not get him to the vet until the morning. Does anyone have any advice to keep him comfortable until the morning?

for now i would make him comfortable and keep an eye on him.. give him lots of attention. i hope he feels better..have his favorite things around him.. goodluck at the vet!

My question is not about how to treat FIC and nor do I want any suggestions on what to feed her.

My question is, does anyone have experience with a cat that cries (meows) constantly?

See my cat has always been a bit of an attention seeker, and she gets A LOT of it, but she cries in the morning when she wants us out of bed (sometimes at 5am), she cries while sitting on our backs or shoulders, she cries when she wants food at non feeding times, she cries when she uses the litter (yes, she has been tested for UTI, she does not have that she has FIC), she cries when you take a shower and don’t let her in, she cries when you are watching tv and she wants you to go into the basement, she cries when I don’t go to bed, she cries when my husband goes to work. If you say her name, she gets excited but if you do not play with her or pick her up or rub her, she immediately starts to cry again. I know cats need attention, but this is very constant, like we would need to pay someone full time to give this cat the attention she wants…also, our other cat wont play with her, she is too laid back and wants nothing to do with the whiny one.

I think that her inflamed bladder might be stress induced and think my cat just might have a imbalanced stress level or have some neurotic issue.

Any experience with an overly whiny cat?

Dear Jill, first of all, God bless you for being an Angel for this poor kitty. As you already know she is in pain & it’s causing her to cry more. As you probably also know, please provide extra water for her throughout the house (which will encourage her to drink.) Perhaps a site http://catfaeries.com/ may help. There is a product called Feliway that might help reduce some fussing. Also, they carry other homeopathic herbal products that may provide some calming comfort for her. You might try locating a veterinarian in your area that specializes in treating cats only for more advice (which over the phone would be free of charge.) Also, a local cat rescue organization may provide some information. Do try to provide as much calm attention right now as you are able. When she is feeling better, please try to provide more interactive play, which will be good physical & mental exercise. I would not recommend it but a last option might be to ask your vet (or one that specializes in cats) about kitty "Prozac" and see how they feel about it. I hope this has helped or at least given you some direction and/or options. I truly hope she feels all better soon!

She has never had crystals in her urine. For about 7 months she was being treated for UTI on and off, because on occasion bacteria was in the urine.

She has recently had another urine analysis and it has shown blood in the urine, no bacteria, normal PH level, normal levels of sugar, no crystals, normal white blood cell count, normal kidney function as well.
We have had an X-Ray done, where it shows her bladder wall is thick and recently had an ultra sound done, there are no stones, and everything looks great (kidneys, bladder and spleen), although it confirmed she has an inflamed bladder lining. (this led to the diagnosis of FIC)

We have made many changes over the last 7 months since she had her first UTI (although her concern is FIC). We have provided a water fountain, another litter box, wet/dry food diet, with water added to the wet food, the vet has approved her food, it is Wellness brand. We have provided her with lots of toys and scratching posts.

Her biggest symptoms has been consistent meowing (cries over everything) and increased urination (never had any accidents though) and increased licking of the stomach and genitals at times. She has been fixed 3 years ago and does not go outdoors (although has access to lots of windows)

The vet said the best way to try and treat FIC (this will be her first attempt to treat it), would be to hit it from all possible angles. 4 weeks antibiotics, 1 x week for 4 weeks of an injection to repair her bladder wall (I forget the name of this injection), and a round of cortisone to relive the inflammation to encourage healing.

Has anyone had any experience with FIC?
I am not looking for website, strictly experience.

Thanks

I have a cat who struggles with cystitis. It is a bear to get over and keep over. I keep her on a homeopathic remedy to help keep the pH level proper in her urinary tract. It took about 12 weeks of antibiotics and steroids along with this remedy to get her back in sync. I continue to give her the uti remedy everyday as I don’t need another round of FIC. I wrote an article on the topic below. I also sell the remedy. Best, Kater

That said, I worked as a Certified Veterinary Technician/Internal Medicine Technician for 13 years. The internist I worked with saw quite a few cats with Interstitial Cystitis. I assume your cat has blood in the urine constantly? I have not heard of Flurinaid before, but I have been out of the business for 5 years now. I will contact the Internist I used to work with and ask what she used to use for Interstitial Cystitis. There were many different treatments but no cures. They all had varying degrees of usefulness. None ever really eradicated the problem.

One thing I would like to address with you is the water your cat drinks. Do you give your cat tap water and is it hard water? It would leave mineral deposits around the faucets and stain the sinks and tub.
If so, you may want to try bottled water on your cat.
I have no scientific proof to back this up, but I firmly believe that the water a cat drinks can have a lot to do with cystitis. If the water is hard, those minerals that clog up the plumbing can also clog up the cat’s ‘plumbing’. Those minerals in the water can cause irritation and stone/crystal formation in the bladder and kidneys. Don’t use softened water, the salt content is not good either.
I have only ever given my cat bottled water. In all her 13 years, she has only had 1 UTI, when she was 2.
Again, I have no scientific proof to back this up.

I will find out what other things we tried and get back to you.

Edit: Have not heard back yet from the Internist. But the bottled water here in the US has no salt in it. It will have some minerals in it, but not so much that it will cause problems. Otherwise you can try distilled water. That has no minerals, but because of that it doesn’t taste as good. Now thinking about it, you might try distilled water. I would use it for at least 2 months to see if there is improvement.

Edit 2: Ok, just heard back from Internist. Since you don’t allow e-mail this will get long.
interstitial cystitis and Idiopathic Cystitis are basically the same thing. So we’re on the same page there.
According to most recent studies, this is NOT solely a bladder problem. It is likely that it has a concurrent sensory, nerve, possibly endocrine problem. It could be damage to the endothelium of the bladder wall, which can then cause the nerves to become ‘angry’ from the constant stimulation.
One thing she said to try DEFINITELY, is Feliway. It can help calm the cat and alleviate some of the problems. Get the plug in diffuser so it is disseminating constantly.

Some of the drugs that have been tried are:
Amitriptylline
Clomicalm
Prozac
Buspar
Lysine
Hydroxyzine
Cosequin

Cosequin is a brand name for glucosamine. It comes in pill form. See if you can find it where you are. Otherwise I don’t think there would be any harm to using human glucosamine, you will have to check with your vet for the dosage though. I’m sure you’ll have to cut one up for your cat.
Ask your vet about any of these drugs. They have all been tried with varying degrees of success, but again, no cures. Lysine, I know; is an alternative medicine. This can be gotten from a natural health store. Again, ask your vet for proper dosing.