Preventing FIC (Feline Idiopathic Cystitis)?

[jazee]

10-yo American Shorthair. Caught him peeing outside the litter box. Urine sent to vet lab tested negative for crystals and bacteria culture, but positive for blood (red/white cells) but urine usually looks normal yellow to a bit orange. Have spotted a few minute drops of pink in his urine. I have test strips and periodically put in non-absorbing litter to collect his urine. All other markers except blood tested normal or very close, normal glucose, protein maybe slightly high, normal specific gravity, and 5 or 6 other things were normal (10-test strip.) PH is hard to dial in precisely but looks normal to slightly high 6.4-6.7. His eating and urinating frequency and quantity is normal as is his behavior except for peeing on the carpet. No changes in the household. He has a baseline high stress personality and I've not played with him much at all in the past year. Feed him both wet and dry. He's finicky though about wet food. I think he's been eating too much dry, not enough attention/playing/exercise and the combination of it all has given him FIC. Trying some special diets for urinary issues and homeopathic food supplements, encouraging increased water intake, a little CBD oil for stress and inflammation. If he still test positive for blood in urine in a week or two, ultrasound for bladder stones will be the next step. (With COVID hitting my budget hard, I need to resort to the expensive diagnostics/treatments/surgery only after I've ruled out other simpler solutions.) He doesn't cry when urinating and he's not peeing anywhere else now that I have the corner I'm treating with enzyme cleaner barricaded off. So whatever it really is, it's not extremely acute at this point as he's still going in the box regularly and has good urine quantity.

Right now I'm taking away the dry food for part of the day when putting wet out and feeding him the Hills Urinary (not the expensive C/D prescription) both dry and wet, extra water bowl out, and just started UroMAXX supplement (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00198SSMO/?tag=thecatsite). I figure if that works, I'll stop the UroMaxx and see how the Hills Urinary does on it's own for long term prevention. Playing with him more also.

I have read FIC can be fairly common so if anyone has recommendations.

 

[verna davies]

You may get varying opinions on this but as an owner of a stress related cat, this is what I have experienced. The blood in the urine could be from debris in the urine hitting against the bladder wall. I fed Royal Canin Urinary SO for a few months to disperse the debris now my cat is on only ordinary wet food. I removed 95% of the dry and add a tablespoon of water to his wet to give him extra liquid. Last 2 scans showed a clear bladder with no issues.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Additional water intake would be a good idea - to help keep the bladder flushed out more frequently. Perhaps, try a water fountain or two to see if that peaks his interest to drink more. Otherwise, from a stress standpoint, you could also try cat calming music (Cat In My Arms on Spotify and elsewhere, RelaxMyCat and also MusicForCats), for relaxation. Additional cat trees/perches, especially ones in front of windows, help to entertain a cat which also helps with stress reduction. A bird feeder outside the window can be entertaining too. Some cats enjoy bird/squirrel videos as well.

Cat calming products might be an other option. Not all of them work on all cats, so you might have to experiment a bit too see if you can find one that makes a difference for him.

Although it is possible, I would be surprised about finding any stones in his bladder via an ultrasound, as I thought that the urinalysis would have found sediment (typically called 'casts' on a urinalysis report), which is a potential indicator of the existence of stones. You might just check with your vet to make sure I am correct on this one.