Suddenly, without warning, Phil P. exclaimed (25-Nov-06 6:35 PM):

Phil gives very good advice.  I went through the same thing with Meep,
except with a decent vet.  She had the exact same symptoms you describe
for your cat.  Here's Meep's regime, hopefully it'll help you:

Although I agree your cat should be on 100% wet food, Meep's on wet in
the evening and dry otherwise...  There's two reasons for this: she
refuses to eat any good-quality wet/canned food; her dry food is a mix
of senior food and a veterinary urinary control formula.  Junk food
junkie, she is.  Also, she gets pretty serious tartar buildup on her
teeth, so I prefer to keep feeding some dry for her dental health.

So she gets high-quality dry in the morning, and a small can of wet food
in the evening (she won't eat more than that).  To her wet food, I add a
glucosamine supplement - I use Joint Care from Drs Foster and Smith
(http://tinyurl.com/yjnw4p - she's on JC2).  (Glucosamine supplements
specifically for urinary problems are a lot more expensive, and my vet
said it's pretty much the same). I also add a bit of extra water to her
wet food (she's up to about a tablespoon).  If she's showing signs of
possibly getting uncomfortable - digging in her box a lot, or peeing
more frequently than normal - I add a supplement to her food for a few
days (http://tinyurl.com/mvvbw).

In addition,  I've put water all over the house.  At first, I tried
water bowls in different locations, to determine where she prefers her
water.  Turns out, she completely does not like her water next to her
food!  Her favorite water dish for a while was in the bedroom, but
that's recently shifted to the one in the living room, next to her tree.
 I also purchased a Drinkwell, a pet fountain, as many cats prefer
moving water to drink.  I'm told some cats can be induced to drink more
by the addition of a touch of tuna-water to their regular water, but
though Meep Loves tuna water, she doesn't want it in her drinking water...

Oh, and because the water here is extremely hard, I have a big Britta
filter for her water...

This sounds like a lot, but it's really not.  Before this, she had two
serious attacks within 6 months of each other; the second she had blood
in her urine.  With the new regime, it's been I think over a year now,
and a high-stress year it's been - she's moved to a new foreign country,
and spent a couple months in catteries/quarantine.

So, here's what I'd suggest:

Get her on wet food immediately.  Add a tiny bit of water, increasing
the amount if you can.  Get a glucosamine supplement, and add it to her
food per package instructions.  If you can afford it and she'll eat it,
get better quality stuff.  You don't have to go to the vet for this, try
 pet stores, feed stores or online (petsmart.com if you're in the US)

Get more water bowls, put them everywhere, pay attention to which ones
she's drinking from, and how much.  If she doesn't drink out of them,
try filtered water - or if you can, bottled, at least until you can get
the problem under control.  Try ice cubes, or a little flavoring.

If you can afford it, buy a Drinkwell or other pet fountain.  Keep it
clean, full and running.

Oh, and find yourself a decent vet.  This isn't a deadly disease, but
it's terribly painful for her, as I'm sure you realize.

Good luck, and hope this helps!

jmc

Not just veterinarians but M.D.'s as well. My ENT is making me crazy - I
have what is obviously an inner ear infection. Thus far I've been given
diuretics, tranqs, steroids, had a head MRI, etc. I can't wait to see
him again in a couple weeks because he's going to get an earful.

I don't  feel like  re-opening some rather  fresh wounds  with the
details...but I have a similar  story with the same outcome, which
is why I'll  be taking my next  cat (whenever she and  I find each
other) back to Dr. Hummel...even though  Joanie died in my arms by
her hand.

(Well, to be fair, Dr. Hummel /did/ pull out some extra stops that
last weekend...but,  up until late  on the last afternoon,  we had
good reason to think that it was worth it.)

Cheers,

b&

I snipped the story a bit to tell you my new practice with vets. I know
my cat better than anyone and when it's time for him, I'll know it. The
last remaining cat is 17, in good health, energetic, vocal as usual,
eats well, etc.

But I know in a couple years I'm going to have to make the decision. I
won't let a vet milk it for what it's worth. I've had Randy since I was
25 years old, he's a special cat to me, but after putting one cat down
and having one die in the SO's arms, I now know when a cat is ready to
go.

By the way, I do plan on finding another vet. But my father mentioned
something this afternoon about HIS mother feeding scrambled eggs w/
hamburger to their pug, Didi (this was in the 1950's) and this dog had
a similar problem with dry food. Granted, it was a dog, but there seems
to be quite a bit of info online which says cats love scrambled eggs
too. Is this something that could help my cat?
Bryan

Yes I brought some yesterday in the UK it is only sold through vets
though- don't know about over in the USA

I hope she gets better soon- . I had an episode of cystitis once many
years ago and I can sure as Hell appreciate how she must feel. You want
to go every 5 minutes even through you know you don't need to and  boy
it hurts!! It must be all of 15 years ago and I still wince at the
memory! As a Human I can understand that where I go doesn't matter but
she's trying places to find somewhere where it doesn't hurt. Believe me
if I'd found peeing on the carpet was less painful the carpet would
have had to be replaced!

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs