Lucy peeing everywhere for weeks, constant vet visits, no answers

[hellolucy]

Hello everyone - longtime user of the other forum. Sorry for the wall of text, just desperate.

A few weeks ago, Lucy (my senior diabetic arthritic gal) started going to/from both of her litter boxes trying to pee, in addition to peeing in small amounts all over the house. This goes on for a couple of hours and then she settles down/gets exhausted. She has never done anything like this before. The first vet we went to did a non-sterile urine capture, said she had a UTI, and gave her a shot of Convenia which lasts 2 weeks. I was worried about her and wish I had known better to do a sterile capture/start with oral antibiotics. They then did a sterile capture urinalysis 3 days later which I now know was likely pointless due to the antibiotic shot. They did an x-ray and said she was not constipated. She also had an abdominal ultrasound done a week after the shot due to no improvement and found basically nothing - mild case of pancreatitis (which she has had severe cases before and never done this), very mild inflammation of bladder lining, but nothing else. She continued the litter box episodes and then just stopped completely for a couple of days. A few days ago, the back and forth and peeing all over the house started up again. I have noticed the back and forth seems to coincide with her having bowel movements. She will poop small amounts between the cat boxes multiple times and then tends to vomit once or twice during these as well.

We went to another vet (internist) 4 days ago who said the decision to prescribe an antibiotic shot that lasts 2 weeks off of a non-sterile urine capture was not a good one by the previous vet. At that point, it had been 13 days since Convenia, they said the shot would have almost entirely worn off at that point, and to do another sterile urinalysis to see if this was indeed a UTI. We are hoping to get those culture results tomorrow. They reviewed the ultrasound from the prior vet and said the bladder lining inflammation was so minor that they would not even lean towards cystitis yet unless it is not a UTI. They said they could feel small pieces of poop along her colon (but no megacolon or extreme constipation) and prescribed 2.5mg Cisapride every 8 - 12 hours and daily fluids. We have also been giving her daily Cerenia and Gabapentin since the first vet visit. She received an NSAID shot at the internist which seemed to have helped for the past two days but it all started up again this morning.

We have been to two different vets, spent thousands of dollars, put Lucy through the ringer, and feel like we have no answers. The ONLY other thing I can think of while awaiting this third culture result is we have been slowly switching her food from Royal Canin Rabbit to Rayne Rabbit. However, that has been done so slowly and this seemed to start out of absolutely nowhere. We have pee pads all over the house and Lucy is miserable.

 

[Marje and Gracie]

Hello everyone - longtime user of the other forum. Sorry for the wall of text, just desperate.

A few weeks ago, Lucy (my senior diabetic arthritic gal) started going to/from both of her litter boxes trying to pee, in addition to peeing in small amounts all over the house. This goes on for a couple of hours and then she settles down/gets exhausted. She has never done anything like this before. The first vet we went to did a non-sterile urine capture, said she had a UTI, and gave her a shot of Convenia which lasts 2 weeks. I was worried about her and wish I had known better to do a sterile capture/start with oral antibiotics. They then did a sterile capture urinalysis 3 days later which I now know was likely pointless due to the antibiotic shot. They did an x-ray and said she was not constipated. She also had an abdominal ultrasound done a week after the shot due to no improvement and found basically nothing - mild case of pancreatitis (which she has had severe cases before and never done this), very mild inflammation of bladder lining, but nothing else. She continued the litter box episodes and then just stopped completely for a couple of days. A few days ago, the back and forth and peeing all over the house started up again. I have noticed the back and forth seems to coincide with her having bowel movements. She will poop small amounts between the cat boxes multiple times and then tends to vomit once or twice during these as well.

We went to another vet (internist) 4 days ago who said the decision to prescribe an antibiotic shot that lasts 2 weeks off of a non-sterile urine capture was not a good one by the previous vet. At that point, it had been 13 days since Convenia, they said the shot would have almost entirely worn off at that point, and to do another sterile urinalysis to see if this was indeed a UTI. We are hoping to get those culture results tomorrow. They reviewed the ultrasound from the prior vet and said the bladder lining inflammation was so minor that they would not even lean towards cystitis yet unless it is not a UTI. They said they could feel small pieces of poop along her colon (but no megacolon or extreme constipation) and prescribed 2.5mg Cisapride every 8 - 12 hours and daily fluids. We have also been giving her daily Cerenia and Gabapentin since the first vet visit. She received an NSAID shot at the internist which seemed to have helped for the past two days but it all started up again this morning.

We have been to two different vets, spent thousands of dollars, put Lucy through the wringer, and feel like we have no answers. The ONLY other thing I can think of while awaiting this third culture result is we have been slowly switching her food from Royal Canin Rabbit to Rayne Rabbit. However, that has been done so slowly and this seemed to start out of absolutely nowhere. We have pee pads all over the house and Lucy is miserable.

I empathize with you 100% as my Gracie did this when she was younger. She never had a UTI but it’s smart they did a sterile culture to be sure as they are common in diabetic cats.

Most often, the cause is sterile interstitial cystic (IC). It can be caused by stress and is quite common in all cats. The bladder can get inflamed enough to cause blood in the urine. Dr. Lisa discusses it here under “Cystitis”.

A few things might help. Lots of extra water to dilute the urine. Another is giving her D-Mannose which helps soothe the bladder. Also, I like “Anxiety” and “Flow Free” flower essences from Green Hope Farms. I’m really picky about what I give my cats and I find their flower essences to be super high quality and they do not use alcohol.

Slippery Elm can also help. You can buy NOW pure powder and make a syrup of it. Some people use Feliway plugins but that never helped us.

Because it is painful, a small dose of a pain relief med like buprenorphine helps. I only had to give Gracie, at 8 lbs, 0.03ml. Note that is three hundredths of a ml, not three-tenths.

There might also be newer recommendations so you could google sterile interstitial cystitis in cats or see if there is a FB group. I hope this helps. I know, firsthand, the anxiety of your baby going through this.

 

[Mary & Jude]

It will be helpful when you get the results back from the culture--please let us know what you learn. If bacteria is present, they should also do a sensitivity test to determine which antibiotic to use in treatment.

Question: is blood and/or protein present in the urine? The presence of blood with the absence of bacteria can signal FIC (as Marje mentioned).

It is possible she is in pain, and perhaps the gaba isn't quite knocking that out. Bupe might work better for her. Check with the vet.

If this is FIC, Marje offers excellent advice. FIC mimics a UTI, but there is no bacteria present (sterile). They do not know the cause of FIC, but it is believed to be tied to stress. There is also no agreed upon treatment protocol--my vet says that people need to find what works for their cat. One of the treatment protocols is steroids, but, of course, you will want to avoid them as Lucy is diabetic. FIC presents with flares which are painful and need to be managed with pain-relieving drugs. As a maintenance (between flares and to prevent flares) the supplements Marje mentions are helpful. I would add to her list that Cosequin is often prescribed; it's typically prescribed for joint disorders, but has the added benefit of healing the bladder's lining (I use a brand called Cystease). Also, you'll want to talk to the vet about something ongoing for relaxation (some use Prozac or other types of medications). Again, this is if Lucy has cystitis.

There are a few groups on FB if you search Feline Interstitial Cystitis, and they offer excellent information.

@Angela & Cleo also has a cat with FIC.

 

[Marje and Gracie]

It will be helpful when you get the results back from the culture--please let us know what you learn. If bacteria is present, they should also do a sensitivity test to determine which antibiotic to use in treatment.

Question: is blood and/or protein present in the urine? The presence of blood with the absence of bacteria can signal FIC (as Marje mentioned).

It is possible she is in pain, and perhaps the gaba isn't quite knocking that out. Bupe might work better for her. Check with the vet.

If this is FIC, Marje offers excellent advice. FIC mimics a UTI, but there is no bacteria present (sterile). They do not know the cause of FIC, but it is believed to be tied to stress. There is also no agreed upon treatment protocol--my vet says that people need to find what works for their cat. One of the treatment protocols is steroids, but, of course, you will want to avoid them as Lucy is diabetic. FIC presents with flares which are painful and need to be managed with pain-relieving drugs. As a maintenance (between flares and to prevent flares) the supplements Marje mentions are helpful. I would add to her list that Cosequin is often prescribed; it's typically prescribed for joint disorders, but has the added benefit of healing the bladder's lining (I use a brand called Cystease). Also, you'll want to talk to the vet about something ongoing for relaxation (some use Prozac or other types of medications). Again, this is if Lucy has cystitis.

There are a few groups on FB if you search Feline Interstitial Cystitis, and they offer excellent information.

@Angela & Cleo also has a cat with FIC.

Does the glucosamine/chondroitin work for your kitty? I did not see any good result with Gracie when I tried it but ECID.

I didn’t mention steroids because I, personally, feel the potential negative side effects are not worth it. And I feel there are many natural ways to approach stress that I wouldn’t give Prozac but, again, that’s a personal decision. I would just advise thoroughly checking out side effects, etc, for one’s specific cat first.

 

[Mary & Jude]

Does the glucosamine/chondroitin work for your kitty? I did not see any good result with Gracie when I tried it but ECID.

I didn’t mention steroids because I, personally, feel the potential negative side effects are not worth it. And I feel there are many natural ways to approach stress that I wouldn’t give Prozac but, again, that’s a personal decision. I would just advise thoroughly checking out side effects, etc, for one’s specific cat first.

We’ve not been on the cosequin that long, so I can’t say 100% if I’m seeing results or not. His bg numbers have improved, and that has been the only symptom of FIC (his numbers go up in a flare). I only mentioned steroids as a caution to avoid them in case the OP isn’t aware that diabetic kitties should do so (and they are often prescribed). In terms of relaxation drugs, I’m just mentioning drugs often prescribed, and Prozac is one. We are currently using Cystease, which has l-tryptophan as a natural relaxant. I have a prescription for Prozac, but I’m waiting to see how the l-tryptophan works. Gaba is also an alternative.

 

[Marje and Gracie]

We’ve not been on the cosequin that long, so I can’t say 100% if I’m seeing results or not. His big numbers have improved, and that has been the only symptom of FIC (his numbers go up in a flare). I only mentioned steroids as a caution to avoid them in case the OP isn’t aware that diabetic kitties should do so (and they are often prescribed). In terms of relaxation drugs, I’m just mentioning drugs often prescribed, and Prozac is one. We are currently using Cystease, which has l-tryptophan as a natural relaxant. I have a prescription for Prozac, but I’m waiting to see how the l-tryptophan works. Gaba is also an alternative.

Thank you. I hope what you are using works.

Once a cat is already diabetic, then using steroids is not a big issue insofar as the diabetes. Yes, the dose might have to go up (most likely will). But we’ve had many members who have had to use steroids as treatment for IBD, chronic pancreatitis, and other medical issues. My concern with steroids is they can negatively affect the heart especially if there is some underlying and unknown heart condition. One of my kitties has a congenital mitral valve issue and his cardiologist said, “no steroids” and explained how they can negatively affect the heart.

I know the pain drug du jour is gabapentin but it comes with risks, primarily respiratory distress which did happen to a member’s cat about a year ago. My vet will not prescribe it for cats for pain and we’ve always used buprenorphine at a low dose with no issues.

 

[Mary & Jude]

Thank you. I hope what you are using works.

Once a cat is already diabetic, then using steroids is not a big issue insofar as the diabetes. Yes, the dose might have to go up (most likely will). But we’ve had many members who have had to use steroids as treatment for IBD, chronic pancreatitis, and other medical issues. My concern with steroids is they can negatively affect the heart especially if there is some underlying and unknown heart condition. One of my kitties has a congenital mitral valve issue and his cardiologist said, “no steroids” and explained how they can negatively affect the heart.

I know the pain drug du jour is gabapentin but it comes with risks, primarily respiratory distress which did happen to a member’s cat about a year ago. My vet will not prescribe it for cats for pain and we’ve always used buprenorphine at a low dose with no issues.

Marje, I did not know that about diabetic cats and steroids. That's good to know. I do believe that Jude's FD was steroid induced, so we've avoided steroids as much as possible.

I also wanted to mention to you (and I posted about this on my condo) that this morning Jude's numbers dropped from an AMPS of 91 to 43 at +3.5! I'm not sure if I'm correct about this, but I think it might be the l-tryptopan in the Cystease that I give him at his a.m. feeding. Jude is normally a really good grazer, but after the +3.5 test, I noticed he had not eaten much of his food, which is very unusual for him. I think the l-tryptophan is relaxing him so much that he is not getting up to eat. So, I'm going to switch back to the Cosequin for now and see if that makes a difference.

 

[hellolucy]

After reading a bunch yesterday, although we switched it over incredibly slowly (weeks and weeks), am wondering if the food may have been part of this. It is apparently high in phosphorus (1.7 DMB) and came across some articles/misc. that phosphorus and magnesium levels can play a part in cystitis. Just strange that this all came out of nowhere though with no previous episodes ever - is that normal for cystitis?

Most often, the cause is sterile interstitial cystic (IC). It can be caused by stress and is quite common in all cats. The bladder can get inflamed enough to cause blood in the urine.

It will be helpful when you get the results back from the culture--please let us know what you learn. If bacteria is present, they should also do a sensitivity test to determine which antibiotic to use in treatment.

Question: is blood and/or protein present in the urine? The presence of blood with the absence of bacteria can signal FIC (as Marje mentioned).

We had not noticed blood the past 2 weeks - could have been missed in a carpet/blanket somewhere if it blended in - but I did notice a small amount in one spot in the kitchen yesterday when I was cleaning up pee pee palace.

The vet replied today with the following which I find slightly confusing (so...no UTI?): "There is so far no evidence of a urinary tract infection, but there was lots of inflammation evident on her urinalysis. Initially, there was no bacteria on the urine sample, but there was suspicion of growth on the culture. After giving the pathologist an additional 24 hours, they confirmed that there was no bacterial growth observed. The final results will be released tomorrow." I sent back in lots of questions but ah, something new to learn just when I thought I had kind of gotten the hang of things!

It is possible she is in pain, and perhaps the gaba isn't quite knocking that out. Bupe might work better for her. Check with the vet.

She had another back and forth episode today trying to get into the weirdest of places and that was well after the gabapentin kicked in so am not sure if it is working well for her in this case. I asked the vet for bupe to try out instead in my reply to them.

I only mentioned steroids as a caution to avoid them in case the OP isn’t aware that diabetic kitties should do so (and they are often prescribed).

Thank you for the warning! We avoid steroids as much as possible and I also believe Lucy's was steroid induced ~10 years ago for 'asthma' which were likely just hairballs. She is currently on a small amount (.35mL) of budesonide daily to help with her IBD. The internist says the budesonide is not a whole system steroid so should not have the same type of effect.

 

[Mary & Jude]

After reading a bunch yesterday, although we switched it over incredibly slowly (weeks and weeks), am wondering if the food may have been part of this. It is apparently high in phosphorus (1.7 DMB) and came across some articles/misc. that phosphorus and magnesium levels can play a part in cystitis. Just strange that this all came out of nowhere though with no previous episodes ever - is that normal for cystitis?



We had not noticed blood the past 2 weeks - could have been missed in a carpet/blanket somewhere if it blended in - but I did notice a small amount in one spot in the kitchen yesterday when I was cleaning up pee pee palace.

The vet replied today with the following which I find slightly confusing (so...no UTI?): "There is so far no evidence of a urinary tract infection, but there was lots of inflammation evident on her urinalysis. Initially, there was no bacteria on the urine sample, but there was suspicion of growth on the culture. After giving the pathologist an additional 24 hours, they confirmed that there was no bacterial growth observed. The final results will be released tomorrow." I sent back in lots of questions but ah, something new to learn just when I thought I had kind of gotten the hang of things!

She had another back and forth episode today trying to get into the weirdest of places and that was well after the gabapentin kicked in so am not sure if it is working well for her in this case. I asked the vet for bupe to try out instead in my reply to them.

Thank you for the warning! We avoid steroids as much as possible and I also believe Lucy's was steroid induced ~10 years ago for 'asthma' which were likely just hairballs. She is currently on a small amount (.35mL) of budesonide daily to help with her IBD. The internist says the budesonide is not a whole system steroid so should not have the same type of effect.

So this appears to be Feline Interstitial Cystitis.

As Marje said, FIC is fairly common in cats, and there is going to be a first presentation of it, though it's possible that it was 'brewing' for some time. You'll need to keep an eye on her and look for symptoms--you can look these up online (or in the FB groups). It is believed to be caused by stress. The stress causes inflammation in the bladder; the inflammation causes pain; the pain causes stress; so it's a cycle. This is why it's important to find something to help Lucy relax and something to treat the pain while she's in a flare.

Cats are notoriously good at hiding their pain. In the information that Marje shared, I think there is a link to FDMB which shows the feline grimace scale. This is important in showing how cats look when they are experiencing pain. There are other scales, but this is one: Google Search

Jude is VERY good at hiding his FIC flares--I typically only know that he is having one because his bg numbers go up. He doesn't pee outside the box (ANTI-JINX!!!), and I don't see blood in his urine. In the past, the vet has alerted me that there is blood/protein in the urine (by performing a cystocentesis). Also in the past, we thought he was having UTIs, which we WRONGLY treated by not always getting a culture/sensitivity test and by throwing antibiotics at it. He would feel better in a week or two on the antibiotics, but I've also read that the course of a flare runs about a week or two, and then they get better.

Again, Cosequin (glucosamine) helps to heal the inflammation in the bladder + d-Mannose (1/8 tsp daily) + Cornsilk Extract (alcohol-free) (Jude is put off by the taste of Cornsilk Extract, so we aren't using it--but here is the place I ordered it from https://www.iherb.com/pr/nature-s-a...Ma8SmGL4gtclLtIIT-tpZA7eE5J1r_kRoCUbEQAvD_BwE).

Then talk to the vet about something to help her relax--Marje mentioned some natural options--and you see my comment above about the Cystease, which isn't working for us because it's making Jude too relaxed. Like Marje said, I'd prefer to try something natural rather than Prozac, but if I can't find anything, I'll resort to at least trying it. Then you need something for her pain.

Go to the FB groups--they are helpful.

And, yes, it's another thing to learn *sigh*. The good news is that it's not quite as complicated as FD.

Oh, and also try Feliway dispensers--I'm not sure if we mentioned that.

 

[Marje and Gracie]

Marje, I did not know that about diabetic cats and steroids. That's good to know. I do believe that Jude's FD was steroid induced, so we've avoided steroids as much as possible.

I also wanted to mention to you (and I posted about this on my condo) that this morning Jude's numbers dropped from an AMPS of 91 to 43 at +3.5! I'm not sure if I'm correct about this, but I think it might be the l-tryptopan in the Cystease that I give him at his a.m. feeding. Jude is normally a really good grazer, but after the +3.5 test, I noticed he had not eaten much of his food, which is very unusual for him. I think the l-tryptophan is relaxing him so much that he is not getting up to eat. So, I'm going to switch back to the Cosequin for now and see if that makes a difference.

While steroids can be a panacea for many things, I view it as something vets give when they don’t know what’s going on just because it can help with inflammation. And there might be cases where it is necessary but I have a “no steroids” black box on our cats’ records because I (1) don’t want another FD cat and (2) other potential side effects.

Interesting about the Cystease. Please update after you think it’s out of his system as to whether he’s eating normal again. There can be so many reasons why the BG suddenly drops that I am careful with the causation = correlation.

 

[Marje and Gracie]

Just strange that this all came out of nowhere though with no previous episodes ever - is that normal for cystitis?

Yes, it can come out of nowhere especially if stress-induced and cats are so sensitive that what we would never see as stressful (e.g. change in food), they might.

It sounds like no UTI and that doesn’t surprise me. Gracie also never went anywhere but her litter box but that’s more atypical than most cats with FIC. Because they might associate the box with pain, they will look for other places to go. If you have a blacklight, you can find those places because they will show up with the blacklight.

The internist says the budesonide is not a whole system steroid so should not have the same type of effect.

Current knowledge is that budesonide does have some systemic effect but likely not as much as prednisilone. But, since she is already diabetic, I’d stick with what is working for her IBD.

 

[Mary & Jude]

Interesting about the Cystease. Please update after you think it’s out of his system as to whether he’s eating normal again. There can be so many reasons why the BG suddenly drops that I am careful with the causation = correlation.

He is eating normally again. He’s waking and going to his food bowl. His numbers have somewhat returned to normal, but he had some higher numbers yesterday, after that drop to the 40s—perhaps a bounce. Tonight he’s back in the high greens.

 

[Marje and Gracie]

He is eating normally again. He’s waking and going to his food bowl. His numbers have somewhat returned to normal, but he had some higher numbers yesterday, after that drop to the 40s—perhaps a bounce. Tonight he’s back in the high greens.

I’m glad for that but that’s just odd about the Cystease.

 

[hellolucy]

Woke up this morning to Lucy running back and forth between cat boxes again. This time, she had stepped in her poop and tracked it all over the house. Poor girl. We are now coming up on 3 weeks of this - is it typical for flares to last this long? Also, this only seems to be happen (or get really bad) when she is trying to poop. Does her having a bowel movement 'kick' off the cystitis?

The vet replied and does say it seems to be cystitis and the most effective way to treat this is with NSAIDs. Lucy had an NSAID shot when she was there just to calm things down and it seemed to help for ~3 days. The vet brought up the note that Lucy is stage 2 kidney disease so we would need to be extra cautious with NSAIDs - use for short term only, and one day on/one day off. Is this a dangerous plan? The vet said at some point, we need to put Lucy's pain before her kidneys for short-term.

The vet also said to add in Dasaquin (is this similar to Cosequin? was getting ready to purchase that per recommendations above) but that will take longer to see effects. Lastly, they indicated the longest lasting influence would be diet but did not specify more than that. I am going to ask for more details but any idea what she means by diet? Lucy is currently on all wet food only and has been for ~10 years now.

They did not address my question about switching from Gabapentin to bupe so will bring that up again.

I also plan to pick up some of the Feliway diffusers & d-mannose.

 

[Mary & Jude]

While steroids can be a panacea for many things, I view it as something vets give when they don’t know what’s going on just because it can help with inflammation. And there might be cases where it is necessary but I have a “no steroids” black box on our cats’ records because I (1) don’t want another FD cat and (2) other potential side effects.

Interesting about the Cystease. Please update after you think it’s out of his system as to whether he’s eating normal again. There can be so many reasons why the BG suddenly drops that I am careful with the causation = correlation.

His bg is dropping (unusually) again today, so maybe there was more to the day-before-yesterday's low than just the l-tryptophan. We'll see.

 

[Marje and Gracie]

His bg is dropping (unusually) again today, so maybe there was more to the day-before-yesterday's low than just the l-tryptophan. We'll see.

I wondered but you are with him all the time so….

 

[Marje and Gracie]

Woke up this morning to Lucy running back and forth between cat boxes again. This time, she had stepped in her poop and tracked it all over the house. Poor girl. We are now coming up on 3 weeks of this - is it typical for flares to last this long? Also, this only seems to be happen (or get really bad) when she is trying to poop. Does her having a bowel movement 'kick' off the cystitis?

Usually, these clear up on their own in 7-10 days if you do nothing. Three weeks nonstop is a bit long.

Is she constipated? Sometimes Gracie would also poop when she tried to pee. I “think” they are unsure of what is going on. They don’t usually strain when peering but the strain during a bout can cause them to poop. Just a WAG after watching my girl.

The vet brought up the note that Lucy is stage 2 kidney disease so we would need to be extra cautious with NSAIDs - use for short term only, and one day on/one day off. Is this a dangerous plan?

I’ve never used NSAIDS in my cats so I’m not sure. Maybe @Mary & Jude k owns.

The vet also said to add in Dasaquin (is this similar to Cosequin?

Yes. Same, basically but dasuquin has an added ingredient for more severe cases of arthritis.

t. I am going to ask for more details but any idea what she means by diet?

Not sure but you should clarify with her. I’ve always tried to feed my cats foods that were lower in phosphorus even as healthy cats with no kidney issues.

Here’s the interesting thing with my Gracie. After four years of doing this and us trying everything you can imagine (holistic and allopathic) and then the steroids making her diabetic, I found a vet who did nutrition response testing. She found Gracie had high levels of aluminum in her system most likely from her mom having been over vaccinated as I did not vaccinate her other than kitten FVRCP. She detoxed her using some Standard Process supplements (I don’t remember which but it is cat-specific anyway) and after two weeks, Gracie never had another FIC episode. I’m a firm believer in NRT but it’s hard to find vets who do it. It does not involve any lab tests….it’s akin to energy testing just using human circuits with the cat. Sounds wonky but it worked and we’ve used it for other things as well.

 

[Mary & Jude]

I don't know much about NSAIDS. Jude's vet's approach so far has been to use the supplements I mentioned (that I researched on my own and got his blessing to use) and to prescribe Bupe and Prozac. I think that there are several treatment approaches (according to my vet), none of them are agreed upon regimens across the field. I have researched NSAIDS; two are meloxicam and robenacoxib, both only approved for short-term use (to my understanding). Cosequin (glucosamine) has anti-inflammatory properties. I've read that Omegas help with inflammation, but I'm not sure which or what or how much--I'm still exploring that. I recommend spending some time over on the FLUT/Cystitis groups on FB looking at treatment options that others have found beneficial. That's what I've tried to do.

Marje, I remember you writing about the NRT before, and Iooked to see if there is a practitioner in my area (knowing that there wouldn't be), and I was disappointed to find that there isn't one. And now I'm sad again reading about it, and wishing it was an option for us It sounds interesting!

 

[Marje and Gracie]

I have researched NSAIDS; two are meloxicam and robenacoxib, both only approved for short-term use (to my understanding).

Correct and I should have offered more input but we are still overseas and I was just trying to get to the most pressing stuff before bed.

So I should clarify that not only have I not used NASIDs but I wouldn’t. Meloxicam, also known as Metacam, has a black box warning for cats that was done after a member here lost her cat after she was given Metacam. The member had an active campaign to get the black box warning and succeeded. Having said that, some have used it in small doses for a short time but it’s another thing I have on my cats’ records that they are never to get. Each of us has to decide what we are willing to try for our cats. I try to treat my cats holistically for as much as I possibly can.

Marje, I remember you writing about the NRT before, and Iooked to see if there is a practitioner in my area (knowing that there wouldn't be), and I was disappointed to find that there isn't one. And now I'm sad again reading about it, and wishing it was an option for us It sounds interesting!

I do think its use is pretty limited and that’s sad. My vet is doing remote treatments now and Staci uses her for Ivy. If you are interested, please PM me. She’s not able to do the NRT as she did hands-on here but she has many modalities. She has moved from here so I continue to use her for Tobey & Livia.