chronic cystitis in 18 yr old cat

[Bendy Kitty]

ok folks, i need some ideas.
i am providing hospice care for an 18 yr old cat belonging to a friend of mine
he is in renal failure, i give him fluids 3x a week.
he gets periodic UTIs, and injectable penicillin works very well for that (and is easy and cheap for the humans)
he has been getting blood in his urine, even w/out infection.

so, we need some ideas here.
what have people here had success with in ancient kitties with chronic cystitis???????

bendy

[Billieswango]

if theres no infection, why is there blood in the urine? Did the vet give you an explanation for that? Ive had success in feeding Hills prescription diet c/d canned for chronic cyctitis cats - it at least helps prevent the formation of more crystals in the urine and therefore helps prevent the UTIs. But with old kitties i find that its more important to keep the weight on and treat the UTIs (because a lot of cats turn their nose up at c/d - but theres no reason you cant flavor it up a bit with Tuna or baby food ). Has the cat ever had an abdominal ultrasound? The blood in the urine w/o infection leads me to think that your ancient kitty's bladder has been run through the mill and that you might have a bigger problem on your hands. Maybe check it out with your vet.

[Jane Scott]

Don't know if this will help but then again perhaps it might?! Our 12 year old was just diagnosed with Interstitial Cystitis, all of the test come back good, no crystals, blood work good but she has bouts of this cystitis. Vet says the lining is inflammed and perscribed glucosamine, which has anti-inflammatory properties to it. He provided Nutriscience NutriAid GCM which contains glucosamine, chondroitin & MSM - a liquid in a pump which we are to give her one pump per day for one month. Perhaps this will work. Cheers, Jane

[Bendy Kitty]

RedBeans&Rice is doing amazingly well.
he is getting a tiny dose of Metacam every day, some Urinary tract suppliments, eating his kidney food as long as it is mixed with water (he is in renal failure) and getting 100mls of sq fluids 3 x a week.

he has put on weight, no longer has blood in urine and is active and happy!!!!!
His owner (good friend of mom's) is convinced that mom has brought him back to life. mom says no, she just does what she knows how and finds out all she can about what else to do. we are going to keep up with what we are doing since it is clearly working. we think the metacam is helping keep the inflammation down in the bladder but mom stressed to her friend to be very careful with the dose as too much will crash his already strained kidneys.

we have to get some new picts of him and post picts. he is amazing.
oh, he is also hyperthyroid so it is even more exciting that he is gaining weight!

thanks for the replies!

bendy