Posted by Mollie (Cambridge, Ma) on 01/23/2011
My male cat developed a urinary tract infection--he kept going back and forth to the litter box straining to urinate and constantly meowing. I had been putting 2 or 3 drops of organic apple cider vinegar in my cats' water bowls for years. When my male cat's problem developed I started To put a couple of drops of organic apple cider vinegar on his lips for him to lick a couple of times a day. It didn't help. I took him to the vet, who gave him antibiotics and pain medication. It worked only for a few days. I had to bring my cat back to the vet two more times for stronger antibiotics and more pain medication, which cost me about $700. Once more, the urinary problem arose after a few days. The vet said my cat needed to drink more water. I remembered reading about and hearing from a friend who puts water in her cat's canned cat food bowl. To keep my cats' weight down, I had recently started giving my cats canned cat food only once a day and dry twice a day. But now I give the cats canned cat food (high quality) twice a day with about a quarter of a cup of distilled water mixed into each bowl. I also put 2 or 3 small drops of high quality olive oil in the canned cat food for hair balls. And I put in 2 drops of organic apple cider vinegar in my male cat's canned cat food bowl once daily. In addition, I give each cat 2 chewable cat vitamins daily. My female cat loves the vitamins and gladly eats them. But for my male cat, I press the vitamins into a powder and mix it with a very small amount of canned cat food, which I give him before His regular bowl of canned cat food which is mixed with water, etc. Also, I had been using a clumping cat litter. Remembering back 25 Years or so when clumping litter came onto the market, a kindly veterinarian told me he thought that the clumping litter might cause urinary tract problems in male cats. So just in case, I have now gone back to using a non-clumping litter. I don't have much problems now with litter tracking, so I like the non-clumping litter, as well. The good news is that my male cat has not had any urination problems for about a month now. I still also put 2 or 3 drops of organic apple cider vinegar in their water bowls daily--I use mostly distilled water. I still give them some good quality dry food daily, but a small amount twice a day. I'd rather do all this than pay hundreds of dollars for medication for my cat that doesn't work longer than a few days.
Posted by Gerald (Columbus, Ohio Usa) on 12/25/2010
★★★★★
WARNING! If you try this and don't see fast results, you cat probably has 100% blockage and needs to go to the vet immediately!! Don't waste any Time! To those who are coming looking to find relief for a male cat with Urinary blockage. I thought I would pass on what I have learned with my 14 year old male cat. He has had these problems all his life, so in the past we had to deal with it on a regular basis. First, to get a immediate results most people are not using a strong enough Apple Cider Vinegar solution, it should be either 1/3 AVC to 2/3 water or A 50/50 Ratio (A Warning about the 50% ratio, at this strength, many cats will throw it up, so try the 1/3 ratio first) So if you are going to mix it up for use, put 1 teaspoon ACV to 2 teaspoons water. You should give this directly to your cat via dropper or syringe. Every pet owner should have a pet syringe, they are not expensive and every pet store carrys them. At this level of AVC you should see immediate results with your cat. You need a higher level, because you want to dissolve the crystals quickly. Put the AVC in the wet food as well, but if you have a cat in distress, you need to take a more direct approach.
As to how much to give at one time or how often..... As much as they will let you and as often as you can get away with. If I give this level of ACV to my cat, I get immediate results. Now as to why this is happening.... The quick answer is dry food. Male cats that eat only wet food rarely have these problems. Grains are NOT a cats natural diet (you don't see wild cats attacking corn fields do you?) Cats, unlike Dogs are obligate carnivores, the majority of there natural diet is made up of meat. While your cat is having these problems, it is especially important NOT to feed them any dry food. Keep it wet, and add the AVC to it.
What finally worked for my cat was wet food only and we switched him to a raw food diet. That means he eats raw meat that I make for him. When he went off commercial food and on raw, his skin problems quit, his allergies also (he was allergic to the grains, his coat got glossy, his energy level went up. After he went on a raw wet food diet, he never had another urinary problem and it's been years. My vet can't believe the change in our animals, he knows I feed a raw food diet, but as his practice sells commercial pet food, I doubt he will tell his other customers about it. Do not just start feeding your cat raw meat, do your research... Things need to be added to make sure our friends stay healthy.
Posted by Emew (Seattle, WA) on 08/22/2008
Hi. My kitty has been having crystals recently, and the methioform chewables seem to help, and she takes them like a treat. This week she had a relapse, and I adjusted her dosage, then took her in so the vet could check the urine. She was feeling better, and the pH was good. Anyway, I was asking him about cranberry supplements, and he said that was probably a good idea, but to be sure there was not added vitamin C, because it could contribute to the oxalate crystals, that occur in urine that is too acidic. There are so many different opinions out there on this topic, its hard to say what's right for our kitties. I just thought I'd let you know what my vet said today. Good luck!
Posted by Nicole (San Diego, CA) on 07/26/2008
★★★★★
re: Urinary Tract Infection in Cats - Pau D'Arco
A couple years ago my cat had a urinary tract infection (I assumed - he was peeing all around the house right in front of me and there would be little if any urine and blood in it). I took him off of dry food and put some drops of Pau D'Arco Herbal Glycerite Extract into his water bowl. Within a day his behaviour changed and his kitty litter box was put to good use. He went back to being the happy crazy cat he was before - and I no longer get cheap dry food! He's never had another infection in the past couple years and he has a preference for dry food. I probably put about 10 drops or so of the extract (mine was alcohol free and from Herb Pharm) into his bowl and kept him inside to make sure he wouldn't get water from another source.... but that was about 2 years ago so I'm not sure on the exact amount.
Posted by Marion (Renton, Washington) on 02/17/2008
★★★★★
My female cat had multiple UTI's over a year. After several episodes of expensive antibiotics I decided to take a holistic approach. She has been taking 250mg. of vitamin C added to a tsp. of canned cat food for the past 3 months, and so far no UTI's.
