Miko did not have an infection. There was inflammation and a lot of red blood cells, but very few white blood cells. The vet put her on a mild antibiotic anyway (amoxicillin), plus a steroid (prednisone) to reduce the inflammation.

Still no sign of crystals, or stones, or an out-of-whack pH, however, just because the pH is “normal” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s normal for my cats. My precious, sickly little cats.

The vet’s diagnosis: Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD)

About 2/3 of LUTDs are classified as “idiopathic cystitis”, meaning “bladder inflammation of unknown cause.” It is rare for bacteria to be involved–most are “sterile” inflammations. Less common causes of these signs include behavior disorders, kidney stones, anatomical defects in the bladder wall, other systemic diseases, and bladder cancer.Urinary Tract Disorders in Cats

He is now recommending that we change the diet, and sent us home with a bag of Royal Canin SO. To be perfectly honest, I’m not crazy about the idea.

Apparently they added extra salt so the cats would drink more. If fluid intake is so important, why don’t they just feed them canned food? (this brand does come as a wet food, though I think I’d need the vet to special order it). He did we could return the food if we weren’t satisfied with it.

My first thought: well, at least it’s not Science Diet (the vet doesn’t like C/D because he said it tends to make cats gain weight). And there’s no beef or turkey, which means that Steph and Scully could eat it. I’m sure there are worse things that I could feed my cats, but I’m still a little wary of switching them to an all-dry diet.

*grrrrrrr*

So I just don’t know what to do at this point. I’m going to be buying a fountain to hopefully encourage more drinking, which I know is important. But what should I do about the food?

It just doesn’t make sense to me that cats who need to be flushing out their bladders should eat a dry diet. Am I missing something?

Dropped Miko off at the vet this morning. As soon as I said “straining in the litterbox”, the receptionist said, “I don’t even need to ask who this is.”

Here’s the deal: all three cats seem to be prone to urinary tract infections. No signs of crystals, or stones, or any pH issues. We looked at the things they share in common, namely, environment and diet.

Since stress seemed to be a key factor last time, we changed things around. Moved one litterbox to a quieter location, bought a Feliway plug-in, and even started adding flower essences to one of their water dishes. Their diet is near optimal; high-quality, high-moisture, and they drink a fair amount of water.

Environment and diet: check.

But there is one thing that hasn’t been considered: the cats are related, mother and daughters. An inherited susceptibility is starting to look more and more likely. Oy vei.

So this is something I’ll be talking over with the vet. I’m sick of banging my head against a brick wall. I want my babies to be better.