Apple Cider Vinegar Treatment for Cats with Cystitis

No dry food. Mixing one to two table spoons of ACV in to the food. Day 1. He started to seem sprightlier and 18 hours after the first dose urinated more than he had in several days.

Day 2. Still made a few trips to the litter tray trying to urinate but unable. But passing significant amounts again.

Day 3. Seemed to be back to almost normal urination routines.

Day 4. All seems normal, happy as ever, no trips to the litter tray with no results. I can't thank everyone who posted here enough. You may well have saved my cats life and I felt compelled to tell my story. Thanks again from one inconceivably grateful cat lover.

This week my husband was home on vacation and I got to sleep in each morning (he fed the critters dry food instead of my vinegar wet/canned mix). By the third day I found the large wet spot, like spilled tea, on my bedroom end table. I didn't remember leaving a water glass there, and could only think it had to have been one of our three cats. All of them always use the litter boxes (we have three boxes) so this was a warning. While I was using the bathroom I noticed Patrick used the litter box in there three times in ten minutes. I then knew that missing the wet vinegar mix food in the morning had allowed his UTI infection to get out of hand. I immediatedly started him back on the vinegar, upping his dosing to three times a day. It's day four and he's playing with his 'brother' and out hiding atop the hamper in the bathroom. I've been monitoring his reststops, and his wet spots have gotten much bigger, and farther apart. All three cats are going to stay on natural vinegar in their morning wet food as maintenance for the rest of their lives. The balance of their food is high quality dry food with probiotics, cranberry, and no grains. We lost our dear cat, Chan, two years ago to liver failure caused by the cat food additive mess. A little caution saves a lot of useless vet treatments. Nature cider vinegar works wonders with cats. I'd recommend mixing it with a high quality wet cat food, plas added water, so easy you're certain they are getting that extra water they need without a daily fight.

Crossing my fingers here - but so far so good.

My cat Ripper (7 year old, neutered male domestic short hair cat) had just had a 400.00 vet bill for a blockage about two weeks ago.

With that bill, I don't have the money for another go around (not to mention 400.00 gelding for two horses and a 1000.00 bill for other problems in my rescue horses earlier in the year).

So I came looking for another solution. I found your site. My mom and I are both big believers in natural remedies for problems. Ripper isn't in huge distress but was wandering around crying occasionally and I saw him straining and only producing a drop or two of urine. I gave him the ACV (organic from Health Food Store - mixed 1/2 tsp to 2 tbsp spring water) from a plastic syringe. He didn't like it and I have a couple of big scratches *but* I got it all down him.

I've got some more diluted in his water bowl and some added to some nummy wet cat food. Right now I can hear him scratching in his litter box and there's no crying going on.

Cross your fingers for me - but I think you may have saved me another 400.00 bill.

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04/08/2010 Update

It's been 12 hours give or take later since Ripper's first dose and in that time he's had two more. (Once in wet food and once in another syringe of water). First off he's stopped crying, he's sleeping comfortably on my bed (not lethargic - just his normal lazy kitty self), and lastly and most importantly - he's used his litter box to pee.

The only thing I'm not sure of is how much he pee'd. That is because I use a silica crystal cat litter and the moisture is pretty much immediately sucked up (especially when the crystals are brand new - which they are since I changed it last night when all this started). However there is a good amount of the crystals that are discolored to a bright-ish yellow with no trace of blood. And he's not going in and out of the box continuously and he's not hiding under my bed - so it looks like *tentatively* that the ACV has done the trick.

Thank you so much... I am going to continue to update. Cross your fingers for me and Ripper.

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04/28/2010 Update

Ripper is completely normal now.

I am astounded at how *fast* he was given relief by the ACV (organic complete with mother). He's right now sleeping comfortably beside his 'girlfriend' Hecate after Elishiva gave him a bath.

He's been eating, dreaming and doing all sorts of good stuff quite happily since his his last dose in his wet food. I am going to be switching him and his companions to a wet food/raw food diet complete with ACV to keep the urinary issues away. Also going to keep a little ACV in the water they drink (Ripper's not sold on that, but Hecate and Elishiva are. Not sure on Indy's verdict. Gus the pug and Flea and Gwin the ferrets are good with it.)

Vet bill - 460.00 dollars
Apple Cider Vinegar - 10.00 for the big jug
Ripper's health - Priceless.

Thanks Earth Clinic! I'll be back for more info when I need it again.

Apple cider vinegar saved the day for my 3 year old neutered male kitty. He was going to the litter box every 5 minutes and producing only a few drops of urine. I called my vet who said to take away his dry food, and just give him wet food to increase the amount of water he is talking in. Later that evening, kitty was producing NO urine.

I used the suggestions on this site - 1/4 tsp. of ACV added to 2 tsp.of canned food - he ate it right up ! Then I gave him a few syringes of 1/4 tsp. ACV and 1 tsp. water. He took it without much fuss. And then I added ACV to the cats' drinking bowls ( I have two cats.) - 1/2 tsp ACV added to 2 cups of water. I was pleasantly surprised that he ate the food and drank the water that contained ACV. Actually BOTH cats liked it ! This morning - THREE normal pee-pees ! Tomorrow, a vet visit to make sure he is OK. Thanks for the advice - it is much appreciated. It got us safely through the weekend.

I recommend if you give this to your pets, not to give them a strong mix or too much at once. A few drops at a time only. Otherwise they cough and foam at the mouth. I dont know why this happens but it can be very scary for you and your pet. That happened once when I tried to give him a whole syringe at once. Be patient and administer it a little at a time. It may take 20 minutes to get them to take the while syringe but its well worth it. Also if its too strong they will have the same reaction.

Thank you everyone for posting how you used it.. I couldnt find a precription on the site on how to administer it.. it only said AVC. It didnt even mention it was the natural kind (I used organic raw Apple cider vinegar.)

I must pause here to say that we do not bring our cats to the vet other than when they were young to have them spayed. (We do not believe in vaccinating -- and medicating, if at all possible -- and we do not have money in our budget for vets.) At the time of their spaying, we brought Sasha and Sophie to a vet who was a cat specialist. He strongly instructed us to always feed the cats ONLY dry food, never any wet at all. He felt that wet food would rot their teeth. And so we never had fed our two cats (ages 3 1/2 and 4 1/2) wet food [except for a brief spell when we were treating them for chronic diarrhea and needing to get fresh squeezed garlic into them, but that is another (successful!) story....!]

At any rate, when Sashi was not able to urinate, I consulted a friend of mine who has owned many cats. She immediately suspected "cystitis", and explained the causes (only a dry food diet, the cat did not drink enough water, etc.). She recommended apple cider vinegar and adding wet food to the cat's diet. After getting off the phone with her, I googled for more info., and came across your most excellent site -- in particular, information about this condition.

We immediately began the cat on a "wet food only" diet for the first 2-3 days, mixing in apple cider vinegar. The cat loved being able to have wet food (an inexpensive brand, by the way, with only a generic brand of acv). Sashi could handle pretty good sized portions of vinegar without any objections at all. I am not sure how much I used, but certainly she was getting AT LEAST 2 tsp. per day those first few days in a few feedings of wet food per day. For perhaps 3 or 4 days, however, she still would not drink her usual amount of water, including drinking from the tap, which normally she loves.

The long and the short of this story is, like many others have noted on this site, that her cure was almost immediate. She urinated a little shortly after the first treatment(s), and the next day began frisking about in high spirits -- and urinating small amounts regularly. As stated by others, the coats of both cats shine now and they have much more energy. On the third day her urinating was totally normal.

I would say the maintenance dose we have recently been administering is almost 1 tsp. per day for Sasha, and perhaps 1/2 tsp. for Sophie (who drinks a lot of water already, and who gets less wet food because of a weight problem). We now give wet food for both breakfast and supper, as well as dry food at noon and to supplement. I do not let Sasha "free feed" on dry food anymore. She happily drinks out of the tap once again, and also her water bowl (but not as much as she probably should).

My husband also rigged up a pump and filter (from the fish tank dept. at the dept. store) and a tub of water for the cats to drink from. We had hoped this would encourage them to drink more, but this trick has not been hugely successful in its goal.

When we first began administering the acv and feeding Sashi only wet food, she did begin to be a little constipated. Some dry food is necessary to move the bowels, apparently. Once the initial crisis of not being able to urinate had passed, we began to phase limited amounts of dry food back into Sashi's diet. Around the end of Day #3 we began to reintroduce some into her diet. FYI.

I give prayer and a big YEA on acv as having been a huge success for us re: cystitis in cats! Unlike my husband, I hate the taste and smell of all vinegars. Nevertheless, I'm beginning to think everyone in our household should go on acv! I'll have to hold my nose, though! :)

she also has feline herpes in remmission. so please use l lysine for upper respiratory infections. anyone who is having problems please let me know what you use.

Finally I came across this website and decided to give ACV a shot. The first day I gave him 1/2 teaspoon of AVC to 2 teaspoons of filtered water with a oral syringe (this is a very strong dosage from what I can tell). He Hated it and I had to give it to him in several small doses over the course of the day. I didn't notice to much difference the first day. The second day (following advice from this site) I put 1/2 teaspoon to 2 CUPS of Filtered water in his normall water dish to allow him to drink it as he would. Doesn't seem to notice the taste. This is the third day and he is running all over the house like a kitten again! I also gave him Cantahris pelts for the pain (find in a natural food store)and those all seemed to help for the first two days. The first day I gave him 3 doses of 2 pelts each. I have been told to give him only filitered water so that the he gets the cleanest water, which means that there are fewer chemicals entering his system that can block him back up.

I recommend reading as many posts as possible, they each offer different ideas, information, and remedies that fit different cats.

I plan on continuing to put ACV in my cats water dish for a long while.

Later in morning, I decided to take her in to the vet as a precaution. I was worried about the potential of blockage being fatal, not knowing blockage was a problem mainly for the male cats. The vet wanted me to leave her to get a urine sample. I was okay with that, as long as I could pick her up before the end of the day. Well, the urinalysis didn't come in, so the vet wanted me to keep her overnight so they could administer the medication after the test results. They told me, otherwise, I would have to bring her in.

I don't like to keep my cat away from home, so I picked her up. Plus, the clinic would be unattended during off hours. At home, I could monitor her constantly.

I knew about cranberry juice as a home remedy for people with urinary tract infection. But I didn't have any cranberry juice around. Then I had this idea of apple cider vinegar as a possible remedy since it was acidic and many people attested to its curative powers.

After deciding I would try out apple cider vinegar (cause if it didn't work, I would have taken my cat in the next day for her medication), I researched online for personal testimonies. I was more convinced after reading the personal anecdotes on this site. And I learned the exact dosage used. (Initially, I just poured less than a capful into the cat's water bowl.)

I did decide already upon noticing the urinary problems to switch from the dry food to canned food. So, with the first dosage of ACV, I added 1/2 teaspoon to little bit of tuna, along with some water from her water bowl. Because she had a bit of diarrhea, I sprinkled some oat bran to the mix.

I wasn't supposed to feed her so soon after coming home, as she was sedated for the urine sample. But she was hungry and sat in protest by her food bowl. I caved in and served her just a bit.

Over the next 12 hours, the improvements were subtle. She didn't frequent the litter box as much. But she was still hanging out underneath the dining table (which my previous cat did when her health was deteriorating in her last days). And she was sensitive to being touched or held up. Several hours later, she was still squatting in the litter box longer than usual. But her urine output was slightly more. That was a good sign.

Other improvement was her sleeping more the next morning rather than trying to pee. By the next day, she became more playful (though still not running around). I continued to feed her the same food mix with the 1/4 teaspoon of ACV and additional water. And I also included sardines packed in water to blend with the canned tuna for cats. I wanted a source of omega 3 acids as an anti-inflammatory to help reduce any internal inflammation.

Long story short, she got progressively better, becoming more playful and frisky with normal bathroom habits. By Thursday night, she started running around and moving about with a bounce in her step. Meanwhile, she was spared of any antibiotics (which they had predicted she might need) or urine acidifier.

Also, I've noticed there have been discussions of using organic, unprocessed ACV. I bought regular ACV sold under the store label.

This is a great forum!!

I tried using organic cider vinegar on the suggestion of this site. My female cat Harry gets cystitis once or twice a year, usually when it's cold. She's very lazy and I think the cause may be related to the fact she doesn't like to go out for a wee in bad weather, holds it in and therefore gets cystitis.

The usual symptoms are grumpiness, sleepiness, lack of appetite, peeing in corners of rooms or in unusual places such as my bed or pillows, and being very very vocal.

So, I went and got some organic cider vinegar from a health food shop, and used at first 1/2 teaspoon diluted with 1/2 teaspoon water mixed in with her wet food to make a gravy. I feed her high quality biscuits but stopped these at first to give her a chance to rehydrate.

The vinegar seemd to work within 12 hrs or so. I made sure she had food available constantly with this soluton mixed in, as well as fresh water with 1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar mixed in too.

After about 12hrs she seemed much more comfortable and fell asleep for a long time. After 24hrs she was back to her perky, silly self and asking to pee outside again. No more squatting for ages, no more moaning and general discomfort. Cider vinegar is a miracle cure.

I intend to use the cider vinegar solution in her food every few days, cut down her biscuit intake and see how things go. But so far so good. Thanks for the advice.

so i went online (Thank god for computers) stumbled upon this site..and did what everyone else said to do, i already had some apple cider vinegar at home because i take it for its health benefits, so i thought..what the heck..anything to give him some relief. I mixed it up 1/4 teaspoon ACV with the "Mother" in 1/2 teaspoon of spring water, and put it in a syringe..gave it to him..he hated it..he foamed at the mouth..and vomited..i felt even worse! So i put some of the mixture in his wet cat food, and 5 hours later..he has completly stopped licking himself and peeing! I'm so excited to be writing this!! I will continue to watch him, and i will give it to him for a few more days..but honestly..its a god send!! I knew it was good for us humans..but he knew it can cure your cats UTI...wow! I'm truly amazed!!

The next day, he seems much better (started eating), so I put 1 teaspoon of the ACV in their water bowl (Dog, and two cats share a bowl that is almost a gallon of water). Plus I put some in a small can of food for him (we don't feed them can food - only dry). He's been looking much better! Thank you again.

I can't tell you how thankful I am to have found this site and the recommendation to try ACV for my cat's recurring UTIs. Kiki is 13 years old and is tormented with UTI's regularly. As others have mentioned, the vet bills become very expensive and never once was a simple home remedy suggested. Anyway, for the past week I have supsected that Kiki may be suffering from another UTI. I had confirmation of this after I found a puddle of pee on the kitchen floor. Sadly, I was seriously considering putting Kiki down because I can't stand to watch him suffer any more, and the expense of treating this is too much. I decided to do an internet search and came across this site and the ACV recommendation. I went right to my local whole foods store and purchased organic ACV (with the mother). I made a 50/50 mixture of water and ACV, put it in a dropper, and squirted it down his throat. Honestly, the first time I did it he didn't have any type of reaction. Just drank it like it was water. Second time was not so good, but I think that's because I had more ACV than water. Anyway, we're on day three of this treatment and so far so good. No sign of him peeing anywhere other than the litter box and he hasn't been crying in pain. I should also note that based on a post here, I have also supplemented his dry food with wet, and added water to the wet to encourage increased water intake. He loves the wet food and doesn't mind that it is watered down. I really hope that ACV is the home remedy I've been looking for, and so far it seems to be!! Best of luck to others with this problem!!