Kitty With Urinary Infection + Struvite Crystals... And Maybe Kidney Disease?

[DougG]

I'm on an emotional roller-coaster right now..

Early last week I brought one of my three Himalayan cats, Silky, to the vet as I noticed she had begun acting a bit quiet. Not in obvious distress, but just a bit mopey and quieter than she usually is. Silky is a seven year old female who is normally a very active & happy little scamp so I noticed her change in behaviour immediately.

The vet did blood tests which revealed slightly elevated creatinine - the result was 204. The vet told me they've seen much higher numbers than that in other peoples' pets. As for urea the number was 18.6. Again, while the number is higher than normal, the vet said that it isn't dramatically high. Even so, the elevations are cause for concern and they've kept her at the clinic.

All other aspects of Silky's blood test revealed very good, normal numbers.

As for the urine test, it revealed a ph of 6, a strong presence of struvite crystals and bacteria, some protein, and some white blood cells. Due to the presence of bacteria, Silky obviously has a urinary infection - so she has been put on a course of antibiotics which will last at least three weeks, and I imagine the vet will re-test her urine and possibly her blood after the antibiotic course has finished. Silky's urine concentration seems a little low at 1.026, but then again I was informed that this isn't a dramatically low number. She is able to urinate freely, there's no obstruction.

The vet gave me a copy of Silky's blood & urine test results, and have gone over everything thoroughly.

Since the creatinine & urea numbers are higher than normal, and since her urine is slightly dilute, the vet is proceeding cautiously and treating Silky as though she has kidney insufficiency / the early stages of kidney failure. Since Silky was checked in at the clinic she's been on her antibiotics, an IV drip, and also eating Prescription k/d or something similar. They've been monitoring her and are satisfied with her response since she was admitted.

So far the vet hasn't been able to evaluate the size / condition of her kidneys through an x-ray. They did take a couple of x-rays but Silky's kidneys are impossible to see clearly as she's holding on to her poop, which is blocking the view (I saw the x-rays for myself, and yup - she's definitely holding back). She's not constipated however, she has had a few smallish bowel movements, but she's just been very reluctant to finally let it all go. I imagine this is because she's in a strange environment and not a happy camper over it. Tomorrow morning the vet will give her a laxative to clear her out, then the second x-ray will be done.

I've visited Silky a few times since she went to the clinic, and she's doing very well - she's not acting droopy at all now, and seems completely normal. Vocal, lots of purrs, good appetite, bright clear eyes. She's obviously not happy over not being at home, but this is normal.

At home Silky's main food has been Eagle Pack kibble, with some Science Diet Nature's Best mixed in, for the sake of variety and interest. But... normally every evening she and the other cats have been given some canned food, normally Fancy Feast, which they love as a treat. Silky also loves Whiskas Temptations snacks, and has eaten anywhere from half a dozen to maybe twenty per day. The vet is certain that Silky's struvite crystals are from the Fancy Feast and the Whiskas treats, even though they didn't form the majority of her diet. Some cats are just prone. And now I can kick myself for ever giving her that stuff to begin with...

In any case, the vet is pretty sure I'll be able to bring Silky home tomorrow (I can't wait!). Of course I'll continue the antibiotics and Silky will be put on a restricted diet - likely k/d, but I'll go with whatever the vet prescribes at check-out time. Just as important, I'll cut out the Fancy Feast and Whiskas treats immediately. No more, no way. Silky's restricted diet will be tricky as my two other healthy Himmies can stay on normal food (but I'll definitely cut out their canned Fancy Feast & snacks too). I know I'll manage, but I wonder if anyone else out there has experience with managing restricted- and unrestricted-diet cats simultaneously.

Without a clear x-ray of her kidneys (so far) the vet is not sure if Silky really has kidney failure, or if the creatinine & urea numbers are off simply because of the struvite & infection. I too am wondering if the struvite & bacterial infection might be making it seem as though she's in the early stages of kidney failure, when she really might not be. Any ideas anyone?

Although I'm glad to see that Silky is acting like her normal perky & sweet self again, of course I'm upset that she has these problems, and I do worry about her long-term health - especially her kidneys of course. But I am determined to do everything right, and give her the best care possible every step of the way.

Sorry for the length of my post; I thought it would be better to give as many details as possible.

Thanks for reading, and for any tips / info / advice you might be able to share!

[TBOBINA]

I so feel for you right now, I went through the same thing with my 7 yr old last year in August I think it was.  She had struvite crystals really bad.  I was feeding my cats dry food (wont say the brand) but it was an expensive food.  The vet told me my cat would have to be on prescription food for the rest of her life.  My cat was put on antibiotics for 2 weeks, and I refused the prescription food and put her on a grain free wet food only, no more dry.  She is now cured and a very happy cat.  When you do take your cat into a vet their numbers will show higher than normal as this happens when they get stressed,(being in a strange place)  I did alot of reading if you go to this site it may give you some insight into all of this. I think that dry food that is full of grain will only make matters worse for your kitty in the long run.  Here is the link to the web site.
http://www.catinfo.org/
Hope your kitty gets better
Here is another site that is full of info and more links in it
http://felineoutreach.org/EducationDetail.asp?cat=KidneyDisease

[DougG]

Thanks - it's so good to know that there are other people who have gone through this before and know what it's been like for Silky and us.

A little update...

We finally brought Silky home last evening. She's very happy to be back, and all I can say is WOW what a difference in her. She acting so much better than when she went in last Thursday morning. Very bright, alert, clear-eyed, sweetly vocal as usual, and happy-scampy. She has a great appetite too, and has been eating with gusto (which is a polite way of saying "like a little piggy" I think).

I switched all three cats to Wellness grain-free canned food, and I add a bit of water to it before putting the bowls down for the cats. Smooth sailing so far, they all love it and are eating well. I'm going to check out a number of pet stores near work today to see if anyone carries Fromm's canned food - one store near home carries Fromm's canned food for dogs only. I'd like to give the cats a bit of Fromm's once in a while as a treat, and for the sake of variety. No more kibble, period.

While checking Silky out of the clinic I explained to my vet that I have explored our food options, and that I had settled on Wellness. My vet had never heard of it before but she agreed that the important thing is top-quality nutrition, especially highly digestible protein.

Just to reassure her that I have made a the best possible choice, one that will be the best for all three of my Himalayan cats, when I pick up a copy of the latest blood & urine test results this evening after work I'll bring a can of Wellness so she can look at the ingredients & content ratings and compare it to Medi-Cal kidney & similar formulas they use at the clinic.

All in all I know we're not out of the woods, Silky will require our keen observation and blood & urine testing for a while, but she definitely hit the ground running as soon as we got her home, she looks terrific and is acting normal, and that's just what I was hoping for.

[TBOBINA]

That is great that your kitty's doing better 
I cannot get the Fromm food where I live, so I stick with the Wellness
I also only buy Turkey, Chicken, Chicken and Beef, and Turkey and Salmon.
The other ones have seafood, Tuna and such is not good for cats with struvite crytals, you want a clean fish, salmon is ok, but not too much.
Also I give them a bit of chicken when I have some for myself, as this ups the protein a bit, as being on strictly canned they may not get enough protein.

[DougG]

Also I give them a bit of chicken when I have some for myself...

I'm going to boil some turkey & chicken breasts, cut them into small cubes, and freeze them in little batches that can be defrosted every couple of days. I'll give that to them as treats. I'm sure they'll love it - whenever we have turkey for dinner all three of my Himalayans gang up on me and I have to give them bits of cooled turkey to eat OR ELSE (I make sure what they get is without skin, fat, gravy or any fixings of course). They love it. So I'm sure they'll enjoy the treats I'll make for them. Best of all, I'll know I'm not giving them junk to eat.

Silky continues to do fine. She's eating very well indeed, and just being her happy little self. I got the results from the blood test that the veterinarian did before Silky was discharged from the clinic, and to my relief the creatinine & urea numbers now fall well within the normal range. That's a huge relief. But I will have a full blood & urine work-up done in a couple of weeks, to see if the numbers are remaining stable and within the "safe" range. But so far so good!

[TBOBINA]

Hey just wondering how your kitties are doing?  Its been a while since Ive been on this board.
Hope all is well.
purrs!!!!

[DougG]

Hi,

Thanks for asking. I forgot to come back and post an update. 

I'll try to make a long story short. Since I posted in April, it was a bit of a roller-coaster for Silky. She was on Clavamox for weeks and weeks but the infection just wouldn't go away. She was finally put on a three-week course of Baytril. It was very, very hard on her, she barely ate and I had to force-feed her, and I was going to take her off the medication after week one. We managed to hang in for two weeks.

At the beginning of July, one evening after I got home from work I immediately noticed that she was woozy and stumbling  around with her head tilted. At first I thought she had a stroke but I soon found out that she had a vestibular episode. There's no way to confirm it but I am convinced that it was caused by the Baytril. Anyway I brought her to the vet - they took her off the Baytril immediately and kept her for a couple of days for observation.

Since Silky didn't make it through three weeks of Baytril I was worried that the infection was still there, and that we'd have to try something else - however while she was in the vet did a urine culture (urine drawn directly from the bladder) and it revealed that the infection was finally gone. Phew. Her blood panel & urinalysis results were totally normal too. Phew again.

Anyway, since I brought her home it's been nothing but good news - she is totally back to her old self, she has put all her weight back on (and then some!!!). All the vestibular symptoms are completely gone. Happy days are here again!

I still intend to have her blood & urine re-tested later in August just to make sure that the infection isn't recurring but since she's been acting just fine for a month now, it would seem that it hasn't come back.

All three cats are doing so great on Wellness grain-free canned (with a bit of Eagle Pack, Merrick, or Fromm once in a while for variety) that I know I'll never ever put them on kibble of any kind again.

Best,

Doug

[TBOBINA]

Im so sorry you had to go through that with those side effects from the meds.  I am so glad now that your kitties are all doing well, that is great news.

[Geff]

From my past experience Cats with any tendency towards uti's should not eat Hill's Science Diet. We were able to isolate Hills as the cause of my kitty's rcurring uti's many years ago. Since he stopped eating Hills, not 1 uti.

[Perseus]

Just wondering if you ever got your kitty re-tested again?  So glad to hear she's doing better.  I had cats with UTI's which I all contribute to feeding kibble (and cwap canned).  Now I'm feeding Wellness canned grainless and a raw diet, and my 3 have never been doing better.  I love the name Silky, too.  Hope she continues to do well.

[GreyGhost]

Which brand of raw are you using? Curious...

[Perseus]

Which brand of raw are you using? Curious...

I'm using both Aunt Jeni's and Felines Pride, and we love both.  I just posted on the Aunt Jeni topic, and I'll make my way over to Felines Pride next.  But both really are excellent foods for my crew.

[DougG]

Just wondering if you ever got your kitty re-tested again?

Thanks for asking. In the end I decided not to test, as Silky is doing so amazingly well and there's no signs of any problems at all. When I bring her in for a routine check-up in November I'll discuss with the vet.

Since we adopted Silky a few years ago her weight was always stable at around 5.2 pounds - she's really not a big girl under all that fur - she's fine-framed and quite lithe. When she was sick last Spring, her weight had dropped to 4.7. 

Well, last week I weighed her at the clinic for the first time since August, and I was astounded to see her weight has reached 5.8 pounds - her heaviest ever! I'm sure she will eventually hit 6. She LOVES the Wellness food, as do my other two Himalayans (Molly and Kobi) and I'm so glad I switched them all over. Top quality food, delicious and nutritious, cats are thriving - I couldn't ask for anything more.

Here's a little picture of Silky, taken in August. She looks even better nowadays. 

[GreyGhost]

How beautiful. So glad she is doing well. That is great news. wellness is a great  food.

[Perseus]

Hey Doug, Wow, how beautiful she is!  I'm so glad she's doing great, there's nothing better than healthy kitties gaining weight!
Just have to show you a pic of my two new Siberian kittens, Athena and Prometheus.  They are about 4.5 months old now.