Kang's UTI Support

"Kang, our healthy, young neutered male began showing signs of obstruction which landed him in the emergency clinic. He responded well to catherized flush, and was found to have struvites, no UTI. The new year brought a new Rx diet formulated for struvites and oxalates and lots of ph testing. (He’s a pro at urinating on a test strip!)

A year went by trouble free, then almost on the same date, he began having problems: two days he’d urinate outside of the box, five days he was fine. Three days he would microdot when he sat, two weeks he was fine. One day his urine stream was strong and normal, the next he would strain. Two and a half months of sub-q fluids, on and off use of anti inflammatories, and spasm blockers kept another blockage at bay (until it didn’t).

This time his ultrasound showed stones, and he had a UTI. After surgery to remove the stones, he was sent home with antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. The lab results came back - urates (rare for cats), which resulted in another food change. Once again, Kang recovered well and was back to his bouncy self.

Fast forward another trouble-free year, and he began walking with his pelvis tilted down, a sign we recognized as a precursor to blockage symptoms. While making an appointment, the vet tech mentioned that “cold snaps really brought in ‘blocked toms.’” She advised this was not scientific but just something she had noticed in her 30 years of working with cats. Kang’s ultrasound and urinalysis, showed no stones, no UTI. Only severe inflammation. Not excited about more anti-inflammatories, I asked about turmeric. With my vet’s blessing, we ordered the Cystitus Kit for Bladder Relief (Tripsy, Turmeric, and Milk Thistle).

Kang loves the Turmeric and Tripsy. He will lick them straight from the dropper if I don’t get them into his food fast enough to please him. He refuses Milk Thistle, won’t touch food it’s hidden in, spits it out if we give it orally. Within a week of taking Turmeric and Tripsy, he was completely back to normal.

Recalling the cold snap/blocked tom comment and knowing that lower air pressure pushes less against the body, allowing tissues to expand (inflammation), I compared the calendar I kept of Kang’s symptoms, partial blocks, and full blockages to a local weather calendar. All of Kang’s “problems” occurred in winter months when a 15-degree drop in temperature was accompanied by barometric pressure falling below 30
or there were three days of steady temp (40 or below) with barometric pressures below 30.

Although correlation does not imply causation, we’ve had a few “cold snaps” this winter. The latest was last week when our balmy 73 degrees New Year’s eve turned into a snowy 36 degrees New Year’s Day. The 37-degree drop in temp and the three-day falling barometric pressure didn’t seem to affect Kang at all, so I have great hope." - Helen