Cystitis - Editor's Choice

My cat is 7 yrs old and recently taken to the vet for a very expensive procedure about $1300.00 to insert a catheter and allow him to pee. It was successful but exactly 6 days later he couldn't pee again, luckily I started to research homeopathic remedies, I dipped his two front paws in Apple Cider Vinegar ( about 1/4 teaspoon) and a dash of water and held each paw in for about 1 minute, I did this twice. It was about 8:00pm when we did this and when I woke at 6:00am he peed, alot, Yes!

I will continue to dip his paws every few hours today. I did put a tiny bit in his wet food but he did not eat it. But he is miserable so he may not be eating because of this as well. I also removed his litter box completly, with all of his extra licking I think the litter is irritating the matter, I am only using puppy pads in a wide and low basket and he has stopped trying to pee in other areas ( a symptom of this affliction, not his normal behavior) I do use Organic, raw Apple Cider Vinegar with "The Mother" inside.

Thank you so much for creating this website!

I took Tigger to the vet and found out he had struvite cystals - this meant he needed Cranberry juice. Was administering 3ml of undiluted cranberry juice to him every hour, and as he couldn't pee much initially, by the evening (after many hours), he could pee. He was peeing significant puddles :)

I urge you to find out exactly what type of crystals your cat has and then administer the proper treatment! Hope this helps.

My male cat Samson has cystitis. He has been going to the vet off and on for a year now with occasional occurrences of cystitis. About a month ago, he started to have a more frequent occurrences so we took him in for a check up. The vet did the whole check up and helped him pass his stones ( cause I know my wife and I could not). They gave him a prescription of Orbax and Dasuquin which is just and anti-inflammatory and a joint health supplument for 120 dollars. My wife and I religiously gave him his dosages for 2 weeks then he had a major flare up. He was trying to pee running back and forth box to box (5 separate boxes). We would let him outside to be comfortable and try to pee out there and not much help.

One morning he and I had had enough. Started doing research online about home remedies for cats with cystitis (since these beautiful animals have been around since the Egyptian days). I came across this website and started to read these testimonials from all of these fellow cat lovers. So I had my wife call the vet to get him in to make sure it wasn't more than cystitis. It wasn't. He stayed all day and got shots and blood work.

Once he came home I started this regimen of Apple Cider Vinegar and I swear this stuff is amazing. I haven't given him his other medications only ACV for 6 days and he has made major improvements. He is peeing a lot more, not spending long in box, not going back and forth, not scratching then squatting, nothing like he was before. His eyes have cleared up and he is more energetic. He has made a 180° turnaround. He actually drinks more wate now. He doesn't seem to mind the taste. ACV is inexpensive, healthy, organic, non gmo, and has been around for thousands of years. I drink it for health and so does Samson, Coal, Stonie, and Dott. His siblings. I truly cannot express my gratitude for this website and this product. Saved my cats life from misery and pain.

His dosage is:

Am. ACV 1/8 teaspoon to 4 parts filter water..5ml

2 -3 hours later another .5ml

I repeat this all day. Feeding as normal.

This routine continues for big flare ups when I notice issues with urination. Then we reduce to just three times daily.

I use a 5ml push syringe and slowly but surely get it into his mouth. He is NOT a fan. After he begins showing improvement with urinating. Usually day 3 after seeing consistent urine amounts, I feel confident that he is definitely going without a problem. No more small pea size drops. I dose him 1/2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar w/ 2 tsp filtered water once a day for 2 days. Then 1/4 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar w/ 1 1/2 tsp filtered water once a day for 2 days. I do a full 7 day course of treatment. First to alleviate symptoms and provide him relief from pain, second to get him urinating back to normal amounts again, and third to give his urinary system a good week of getting the ph back on track. Currently we are on day 6 today. He was yowling all the time and I noticed he was off when it came to eating. Then it dawned on me that there wasn't much pee in his litter box and no poop. After the 1st dose his yowling was less and after the 2nd dose he was no longer yowling and crying in pain. I also now feed him Purina Pro Plan Focus, Urinary Tract Health Formula. It helps reduce the ph in urine and adds low dietary magnesium. I have to spoon mash it until it is like pt which is the only type of canned food he will eat. Sigh

I add filtered water to it (he loves it with water). The cans are small and depending on his mood I feed 1-2 cans a day. I can only feed a decent size soup spoonful at a time otherwise he sucks it all down and in a few minutes vomits it back up. He is a gluten when it comes to eating canned food. No problem with dry food. He just goes bonkers eating the wet too fast. After his UTI is cleared up he returns to his normal diet. However I think going forward I will continue to give some of the canned food as "treats" during the week. Found a homeopathic additive for his water. 1/2 capful to his filtered water everyday. I actually measured out how much water goes into his bowl and put it into a small Tupperware then added 1/2 capful. I use this as the water used to add to the acv. It's by Natrual Pet Parmaceuticals and it's called Urinary Tract Infections. Also found cat treats for urinary tract health. He hasn't had a uti in several years, at least 4. This is by far the fastest he has felt better, his symptoms went away and he was back to peeing normal.

Hope this helps. I have always done the 7 day treatment, always with success. My daughter had to do this recently for her kitten. The amount of Apple Cider Vinegar was adjusted due to age and weight. Again, successful. This time I added the new canned food and the additive to his water.

I noticed one morning my Somalian cat had difficulty urinating and would try to go several times with traces of blood increasing as she kept trying. I then noticed there were droplets of blood on the floor as she walked around the house though no signs of her peeing outside her litter tray. I tried the following steps:

- Wet food only (in this case, she eats canned tuna)

- 1 teaspoon of Apple Cider Vinegar spread over the day mixed well into her meals (and a little in her water on day 1 & 2)...

(Note. After getting the ACV I tried the dropper approach others have used and as I suspected, she hated it and is now afraid of the dropper and the noise it makes when it releases liquid...)

Day 1 when I noticed the blood she had 1/4 teaspoon in 4 different mini meals (she usually eats twice per day so fed her early and more frequently to get the ACV working and ensure she ate it).

Day 2 (i. E. About 18 hours later) she was able to pee fully in one go. I couldn't see any blood (so there might have been a little) though there definitely wasn't any blood on the floor again.

Day 3 again she was able to pee fully though I noticed she had constipation from the meat only diet so in the evening I gave her dry food.

Day 4 she was able to pee fully and the constipation had gone and I'd returned to 2 normal sized meals with the 1/2 a teaspoon of ACV in each meal mixed in well.

On about day 6 I started to reduce the dosage of ACV to 1 teaspoon one day, 1/2 teaspoon the following day. It's now day 8 and I'm still giving her 1/2 teaspoon per day and I'll do this for perhaps 2 or 3 more days. I'm so pleased - My cat Lily & I thank everyone who posted!

Note of caution: A few times I didn't mix the ACV in well enough to her food and she had a coughing fit as she inhaled the smell or couldn't handle the flavour. Thankfully when it was mixed in well, she ate all her food like normal.

Cats can get blocked and apple cider vinegar is not going to work fast enough to save its life. A cat can die in 24 hrs after becoming blocked.

I had a cat that became blocked and had not shown any signs of it before I saw a little blood on the back side and when I did I took him to the vets and was told he would have died within 4 hrs.

Cats hide the pain.