Tips For Dealing With Idiopathic Cystosis? Or Just Stress In General?

[kara2013]

This is a long story but I'm at the end of my road. I don't know what to do anymore.

I have a 3 year old cat who is super friendly and she's always been the "mother figure" to my other two cats. She's taken stress pretty well over her lifetime. We've moved three times since taking her home and she's been the one who comforts our other two cats in the car and once we arrive.

Well in November, we moved from a small house, to a house about 2x the size so there's a lot more room for them to have their own areas.

The day we moved, she was soo grumpy towards me, our guests and the other cats. She's never ever batted at us but she did that day. So we gave her some room and she stopped batting at me and my husband after a few days and she seemed okay for a little while. She was batting at the other two cats every so often which was still really odd.

In January, I noticed she was Awfully skinny and she was peeing outside of the litterbox. There was no rhyme or reason other than she would pee on the baseboards. I assumed she had a UTI and took her to the vet.

The vet said she had a little high white blood cell count but they weren't for sure it was a UTI. They treated her for a UTI but were more concerned about her weight. She was only 5 pounds! We changed her food, added another litterbox and crossed our fingers.

In April, she hadn't really improved so I took her back to the vet. They didn't address her peeing on things but once again panicked about her weight. We switched food again and she started gaining weight slowly.

About two weeks later in May, she peed blood and was having trouble urinating so I took her back to the vet who once again, was only worried about her weight. They treated her for worms (even after testing negative) and sent me on my way.

I wanted a second opinion so I took her to a different vet who told me she has idiopathic cystosis. From my understanding, when she is stressed out, she struggles to control her bladder because it swells. She's on a prescription food and when she starts peeing on things I have to give her a dose of calming meds. Also, they told me she's just a small cat so her weight is normal for her.

With all that being said, my cat is still peeing on things. I don't know what her stresser is other than moving 7 months ago. It's really upsetting because we have brand new carpet we're considering ripping up because she keeps peeing on it. Does anyone else have experience with this diagnosis? What are some tips to keep her calm and get her to stop peeing on things?

 

[AbbysMom]

Hello! I'm so sorry you are dealing with this. Unfortunately I don't have much to offer in the way of advice. Have you tried Feliway?

 

[Columbine]

My girl has suspected FIC, though far less severely than your girl does. I've got my girl on this feline cystitis supplement, and it does seem to help her. I don't know if it's available where you are, but it might be worth talking to your vet about something similar. Taking extra steps to keep her hydrated helps too as it keeps the urine dilute, which can lessen the chances (or at least the degree) of irritation. I add a little extra water to my girl's food. Many members here use water fountains to encourage their cats to drink more, as cats often prefer drinking from running water. Flavoured water (such as leftover liquid from poaching plain chicken) is always a bit hit too. There are more ideas here - Tips To Increase Your Cat’s Water Intake This article explains more about the condition, including treatment and management options Feline Idiopathic Cystitis - How To Improve Your Cat's Quality Of Life

I really hope you find a way to get this under control soon - it's so frustrating and heart-breaking to know they're in pain and not know how to help (not to mention dealing with all the cleanup from her 'accidents')

 

[tarasgirl06]

This is a long story but I'm at the end of my road. I don't know what to do anymore.

I have a 3 year old cat who is super friendly and she's always been the "mother figure" to my other two cats. She's taken stress pretty well over her lifetime. We've moved three times since taking her home and she's been the one who comforts our other two cats in the car and once we arrive.

Well in November, we moved from a small house, to a house about 2x the size so there's a lot more room for them to have their own areas.

The day we moved, she was soo grumpy towards me, our guests and the other cats. She's never ever batted at us but she did that day. So we gave her some room and she stopped batting at me and my husband after a few days and she seemed okay for a little while. She was batting at the other two cats every so often which was still really odd.

In January, I noticed she was Awfully skinny and she was peeing outside of the litterbox. There was no rhyme or reason other than she would pee on the baseboards. I assumed she had a UTI and took her to the vet.

The vet said she had a little high white blood cell count but they weren't for sure it was a UTI. They treated her for a UTI but were more concerned about her weight. She was only 5 pounds! We changed her food, added another litterbox and crossed our fingers.

In April, she hadn't really improved so I took her back to the vet. They didn't address her peeing on things but once again panicked about her weight. We switched food again and she started gaining weight slowly.

About two weeks later in May, she peed blood and was having trouble urinating so I took her back to the vet who once again, was only worried about her weight. They treated her for worms (even after testing negative) and sent me on my way.

I wanted a second opinion so I took her to a different vet who told me she has idiopathic cystosis. From my understanding, when she is stressed out, she struggles to control her bladder because it swells. She's on a prescription food and when she starts peeing on things I have to give her a dose of calming meds. Also, they told me she's just a small cat so her weight is normal for her.

With all that being said, my cat is still peeing on things. I don't know what her stresser is other than moving 7 months ago. It's really upsetting because we have brand new carpet we're considering ripping up because she keeps peeing on it. Does anyone else have experience with this diagnosis? What are some tips to keep her calm and get her to stop peeing on things?

I'm so sorry your cat is having these issues! Cats are very much creatures of pattern and many of them react to changes such as moving. A well-maintained cat water fountain would be a good addition -- it doesn't have to be fancy, just well cleaned and the filters changed as per instructions -- and depending on her health, the vet might suggest Sub-Q fluids (vets can teach you how to administer.). I always put my little girl in her top-loading cat carrier on the bathroom countertop to give the fluids -- this worked really well for us. I suspended the bag from a coat hanger and hooked that onto the shower frame across the room. We had a routine that worked really well for us. Hoping your cat will not need this, however.
It's too bad your new home is carpeted, because it would of course be a lot easier if you had laminate or tile flooring. For cleaning, a lot of us rely on Nature's Miracle "JUST FOR CATS" enzymatic cleaner because it really works. It's widely available at the big-box 'pet' stores and a lot of the independent ones as well. Please keep us informed, and all the best to your cat and to you!

 

[maggie101]

Curious if the jg spirit of essence stress stopper would help. It has helped my cat for a different reason

 

[amysuen]

I'm so sorry you're going through this! We're going through a similar thing with my daughter's cat, Snickers. I add extra water to his wet food and bought this supplement that's supposed to help with urinary tract irritation. Snickers doesn't drink much water (that I can see) so I add a couple of drops to each of his meals.

Good luck!