Treatment for Cat Urinary Infection

My rescued FIV cat came to us in 2009 as an adult unaltered tomcat.  When we rescued Sam he was suffering from urinary and bladder infections. After several trips to the veterinarians, my cat, Sam was diagnosed with a urinary condition that required him to eat a special prescription diet.

We were told that it was common for unaltered tomcats to suffer stress when they are rescued and from this stress develops urinary/bladder infections.

The veterinarian prescribed Hills CD for urinary care and we were told that we could not feed our cat any other food for the rest of his life.

The veterinarian said "Hills CD for urinary care is formulated with the right balance of nutrients which enables your cat's bladder to be healthy. " We were told that Sam would be feeling better and back to using his litter box within a month's time. 

Our veterinarian assured us that feeding our cat this special diet would remove harmful minerals and this meant that the formation of urinary crystals and bladder inflammation would cease.

 So when Sam was feeling better we did neuter him.  Know that it was a long road to recovery.  I needed to watch Sam's bathroom habits to make sure he was urinating, as we were told if he strains to pee and cannot pee that he may have a blockage and that was a serious condition. 

We feared that we would have to put him down if he could not urinate due to a blockage. 

It is important that your cat is hydrated and this was a problem because Sam is not a fan of water we tried everything to keep him hydrated, and even got him a waterfall.He was not impressed with the waterfall for drinking, for playing with the water with his paws, yes...the waterfall was entertainment. 

We mixed his prescription canned food with water and this was the best way to keep him hydrated. 

Sam has been eating this special diet for three weeks now and he is back to his happy self, his energy has improved, and he is using his litter box, (sometimes) and playing with his toys.  Even though we had him neutered he is occasionally marking the sofa and noticed his pee is a little cloudy. Okay, Sam is not 100% his old self, but he is now playing with his toys and he wasn't before. The veterinarian said to keep feeding him the prescription food and in a month it will be in his system and we will see an improvement.

I feed Sam a half can of Hills CD in the morning mixed with the dry kibble and the same portion at night. I also give him purified bottled water. A fresh bowl of water twice a day.

Know that this special urinary prescription diet will prevent the reoccurrence of urinary crystals and stones and as long as we keep feeding our cat the diet food as it is the only food that will manage our cat's conditions so that he will not suffer and there will be no need for urinary / bladder surgery.

Other information about Hills Prescription cat food

Note I kept our other cats away from Sam due to this special prescription food.  I thought the medication in the food would not be good for my other cats.  

My one cat Lucy got into the room and was eating the prescription food with Sam.  I went into a panic I thought his food would harm her.

We have two other FIV cats and now they are all eating the Hills CD urinary diet food. My veterinarian said to not worry about my other cats eating the prescription food because it would prevent the cats from getting a urinary / bladder infection.

The veterinarian said the Hills prescription C/D food is good preventative food for multiple cat homes, it is not recommended for kittens.

** UPDATE Sam refused to eat the prescription food. We tried everything even other brands for prescription food but Sam would rather lose weight than eat it.   Due to his refusal to eat the food I was told to feed him whatever he likes and that the weight loss was a problem for an FIV cat.

About False Positive FIV Kitten

Many times when a kitten is tested for feline immunodeficiency virus the test results will show a false positive. This is why it is important that pet owners wait 60 days before getting their kitten retested. 

All cats that test positive should be retested because of the false positive.


Know that a year ago I took in an FIV feline immunodeficiency virus kitten because the woman who owned it did not want the cat, she did not want to learn more about the feline disease she told me to take the kitten or she would take it to the humane society. I knew that our area shelter would euthanize the kitten so I said I would take it and find it a forever home.


Finding homes for FIV kittens is difficult because, like the cat owner, people think FIV is a death sentence or an indication that the cat is sickly. Not one person wanted to learn more they just said no to me and would not adopt the kitten.


I ended up socializing the kitten with my adult FIV cat named Sam. This was not hard at all, Sam was one happy cat and the two became best of friends.


Know that the kitten had been to the veterinarian a few times, had gotten her spay and her rabies shot and all was well. But the following year when I was told that she need her annual shots I asked if it was necessary since she was FIV positive.  My veterinarian had no record of her being tested, so I told them of her history. I did not have the paperwork but the former owner was adamant about the cat's disease. I agreed to have her tested for feline leukemia and feline immunodeficiency virus. 

Both tests came back negative.


The kitten when she was tested showed a positive but it was false. I have no reason not to believe the former owner, as she was upset about the diagnosis of the cat and called me immediately when she had gotten the test results. Learn more about kittens with FIV and false positives here.

About False Positive FIV Tests

Quote: “Because few, if any, cats ever eliminate infection, the presence of antibody indicates that a cat is infected with FIV. This test can be performed by most veterinary diagnostic laboratories and also is available in kit form for use in veterinary clinics. Since false-positive results may occur, veterinarians recommend that positive results be confirmed using a test with a different format.  

Infected mother cats transfer FIV antibodies to nursing kittens, so kittens born to infected mothers may receive positive test results for several months after birth. However, few of these kittens actually are or will become infected. To clarify their infection status, kittens younger than six months of age receiving positive results should be retested at 60-day intervals until they are at least six months old.” End Quote Veterinarian Medicine Cornell education, health information on FIV   

Why is my Cat Vomiting - When to call Veterinarian?

It is common for cats to vomit, however not all vomiting is normal. Know that if your cat vomits when they are eating or right after they eat that this is a sign of illness and should not be overlooked. When a cat vomits when the eat it could be a stomach ailment, feline idiopathic cystitis or it could be due the muscle in the cats esophagus.

No harm is done to call your veterinarian and communicate your cat health concern. 

 I had a cat that did vomit when they were eating. I did not call my veterinarian immediately, instead I watched my FIV cat and found that when he ate he would vomit and knew that this was a red flag.  The veterinarian wanted to exam my cat and do blood-work. The diagnosis was a abscessed tooth.

One of my other cats would vomit at his food bowl, however this was due to anxiety. I was told that it might be a nervous condition, due to other cat pushing his way to eat at the bowl and not waiting his turn. It was suggested that I feed the cat in another room, that sharing the same food bowl may be causing the cat to feel anxiety and vomit. The feeding in another room was all that was needed. The vomiting stopped.

Renal Failure in FIV Cats

In November my cat's blood and urine tests indicated that he was in renal failure and I was told that this was an indication that the feline immunodeficiency virus had progressed.  That these FIV cats can live a long life but some cats will get sick when they are older.  Know that we rescued Sam in 2008, which was eight years ago and Sam is approximately 9 years old.  Everyone I know that has an FIV cat has told me that some cats will get sick in 5 to 6 years.

So when it came time for Sam's check-up to see how his kidneys were,  you bet I was worried.  Both my husband and I really love Sam our Siamese cat and feel sad that he is sick.   Sam went in for his wellness exam and lab work last Friday.  It took 4 days to get the results.

The veterinarian called for a urinalysis and blood evaluation.  Both tests came back with normal findings. Sam has been cleared of renal failure. In fact, at this time there is nothing wrong with him except that he has a diagnosis of feline immunodeficiency virus.   That is a virus he will have for the rest of his life.

I  had no idea that we could reverse the diagnosis of kidney failure but I think that before Sam was not getting enough water and now his KD canned cat food diet must be benefiting his health.  Going forward we will keep all of Sam's veterinarian appointments and will continue to feed him the KD prescription canned cat food.

Adopted Two FIV Cats

It is safe to say that I have been busy with my FIV cat's health concerns plus a few months ago I took in two FIV rescue cats.  The cats were sisters and both were a year old.  The family that asked me to take them was moving into an apartment that did not allow pets.  Had I not adopted the cats they would have been surrendered to our animal shelter and probably euthanized  

Three FIV cats are better than one

So I took the cats as a favor and in return, I was told that when their daughter got married in the spring she wanted the cats for her new home.   That sounds great but spring is a long way off and I had to socialize the new cats with Sam my FIV cat.

I had socialized Sam with a cat a few months back and that worked out well, but she was only with us a short time when my friend made arrangements for the cat to go live with her son.  Sam seemed to like the wind was taken from his sails.

My veterinarian advised me to not take in any more cats, because if Sam got into a fight that it would cause him to feel stressed and get sick.  I went against my veterinarians' recommendations and did socialize the two female cats.

Learn how I socialized these cats here  

I am not sure if Sam was lonely for a cat companion or what, but he welcomed those two girl cats like they were long-lost pals and the cats were happy to see him too.  There has never been territory marking or cat squabble.  The three of them just get along.  They sleep together, groom each other and play together. 

So how is Sam doing?  What I noticed is that Sam's overall disposition has improved.  I thought he was depressed but now he is back to his "ole self" meowing, talking to the birds in the morning from his window, and playing with the girl cats, we hear them playing with their toys and it is all good.

To tell you the truth, I think I got lucky that the cats were accepting of each other. It could have gone worse if there had been an alpha cat in the mix.

Cat with Kidney Disease Hates k/d Food

This is the follow-up post to Rushed my FIV Cat to Veterinarian as it explains how one day my FIV cat was fine and the next day he refused to eat.  

The attending veterinarian told me that my FIV cat named Sam has kidney disease and that this condition commonly occurs with late-stage cats with FIV.  Know that I am devastated because I had no idea that my cat was ill.  He had his lab work done in March 2015 and six months later he is diagnosed with kidney disease.  A real shock because he got sick out of nowhere.

Anyway, Sam is supposed to eat a special diet food for kidney disease in cats.  But Sam does not like the food and will not eat it.   Over the weekend Sam would meow for food and I would open a can of the k/d put some on the plate and mix a little water into the plate to make gravy.  Sam would be at my heels all the way into the room where I feed him, then he would sniff and walk away.  For four days he went without food. He would lick the gravy but not eat the food.

Monday we rushed him back to the veterinarian and they examined him and told me that they were going to give him a pill to stimulate his appetite and recommended that I start feeding him Royal Canin feline Renal LP.  Know that the veterinarian called me at home to tell me that many cats will not eat the k/d but that Royal Canin had a formula of food that cats preferred. 

So when I picked up my cat today I was pleasantly surprised because they gave me a 2.5-pound bag of the renal LP cat kibble to try.  Know that the appetite stimulant did work and Sam ate this food like he loved it.  

Sam is 8 years old.  

If you have a cat that has kidney failure and your cat does not like the special diet, you may want to try the prescription food by Royal Canin.  My cat Sam is so picky, and he really likes it.

Rushed FIV Cat to Veterinarians

Two days ago my FIV cat named Sam was playing with his toys and talking to the birds from the window.  he was fine happy and loving life then the following day he did not eat his food.  All that he did was drink water and this was a red flag that something was wrong.

My Siamese Cat named Sam, Playing one day, next day sick.

Because Sam has feline immunodeficiency virus we react differently to any changes in diet or mood because stress or illness could be a fatality for an FIV cat.

After 10 hours Sam did not attempt to eat his food, all he did was drink water so we took him to the veterinarian.  They gave him a physical exam, took blood for tests, and urine and said his urine was cloudy and not concentrated the way it should be.

The veterinarian told us to feed Sam k/d kidney care diet.  this canned food made by Hill's Prescription was formulated to support my cats kidney health.  We have no idea how Sam's kidneys were damaged, not sure if it is part of the FIV condition.  But we were told that this cat diet food will help in maintaining the balance of fluid and minerals and support my cat's kidney health. 

We bring Sam home tomorrow morning and I am to watch him over the weekend, if he does not eat his food I am to call the veterinarian office on Monday.
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Two FIV Cats Are Better Than One

My cat Sam has FIV, feline immunodeficiency virus and has lived a life without other cats since 2008.  Our veterinarian recommended this because socializing Sam would cause him to have stress and our veterinarian thought the stress might make him sick.  But that changed when I took a friends FIV cat as a last resort.

Know that prior to rescuing Sam he was accustomed to being with other cats, he was outdoors and did hang out with my neighbors cats,  So  there was no problem with him getting along with cats.  We just did not want  him to have any stress.

So Sam has lived on one side of the house away from my other cats.  There is a door that separates them and an inch opening at the bottom of the door and this door allows the cats to touch each other with their paws.  None of them have played roughly and I  wondered if socializing would be that big of a deal.

Sam is a good cat, an affectionate cat but I suspect that he longs for another cats company.  My thought is that two FIV cats would be better than one because they could sleep together, play and groom each other.  Recently my friend surrendered her FIV cat to me and I decided to try and socialize Sam with this new little FIV young adult cat.

The socializing consisting of the cats getting used to each other scent but they were separated by a closed door.  The NEW cat played paws with Sam from under the door and all was well.  Sam was meowing and seemed very happy.  I allowed the two cats a few more days of getting to know each other from a distance before I opened the door to Sams side of the house.

The introduction was supervised and Sam was calm with the new cat.  There was no hissing, however at one point Sam did go into the closet and leaped to a lower shelf.  The young FIV cat meowed for him to come down and play with her, but Sam ignored her.  

It did not take long for the cats to get accustomed to each other.  In an hours time they were eating out of the same bowl.  Both my husband and I agree that two FIV cats are better than one, because now Sam has more energy, he is very happy.  

The young adult female cat climbs all over him and he does not mind.  I suspect they will be best friends for the rest of their lives.

FIV Cats are Good Company

It is really hot outdoors today, the heat index is at 110 Fahrenheit so my FIV cat Sam and I are lying on the sofa watching movies together. I enjoy hanging out with my FIV cat because he is funny to watch and always makes me smile.

Last week we bought a Lazy Boy small sofa/bed for the guest bedroom and installed a TV on the wall. This room is the coolest room in the house so that is where we will be today. I am watching Sam gather his favorite toys and he is bringing them up on the sofa and setting toys by my feet. He has all the toys he needs, and time to lie down and cuddle with me on the sofa.

I mentioned that I was hanging out with my FIV cat and watching TV today to my friend and they replied “ I did not know you had a sickly cat” Overall I think people have got it all wrong idea when it comes to an FIV cat. For some reason, they all seem to think that these cats are sickly, and well that is the furthest thing from the truth.

Here is an example; I rescued Sam in 2009 and he was diagnosed with FelV and AIDs. The veterinarian advised us to put him down and I said No. Instead, I got Sam neutered brought him home, got him eating Wellness grain-free cat food, and let's see today is 7/25/15 and Sam is still around and doing fine.

Know that I had him retested by a new veterinarian who specializes in cat care. He did a blood test to find out if Sam was infected with Feline Leukemia and AIDS and the veterinarian said he tested positive for FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus) Sam DID NOT have FeLV. Not sure if the first test was a false positive or what, but it was very cool to learn that Sam was a carrier of the antibody but was not sickly.

Living with an FIV cat is only different when it comes to food, must feed them high-quality grain-free, soy-free, and corn-free food. Also, you cannot let them outdoors, you need to brush their teeth and keep their veterinarian appointments. But other than that FIV cats are like other normal cats.

I really wish that people would learn more about FIV cats because many times the cats live a long life without getting sick.   

Happy Birthday To Sam my FIV Positive Cat

Today marks the anniversary of the day that I rescued  Sam the  Siamese cat that was abandoned in my neighborhood in 2008.

When Sam was left behind he had become freaked out and would not let anyone get close to him.  I remember once getting a hold of him but he leaped from my arms and ran away.

Trapping him was another story, he was too smart to be trapped.  So this unaltered cat got into fights with other tomcats and finally when he was skin and bones, with fur missing I was able to rescue the cat by trapping him.

Of course, rescuing him a year after being abandoned meant that he was exposed to everything.  Sam tested positive for Feline Leukemia.  The attending veterinarian suggested euthanasia and thought I was not making a wise choice to get the cat neutered and bring him to my business office.  The veterinarian went past me and spoke to my husband, told him the life expectancy for my cat was three months tops.  Well, that was six years ago, need I say more?

Playful Sam loves to hide in Zazzle shipping boxes

Was not hard to teach Sam to retrieve a ball, Yes even a tennis ball

In six years Sam survived feline leukemia because he was rechecked twice by another veterinarian who said that he was not infected but did have feline immunodeficiency virus.  He has been sick twice, had a cold, and then got a high fever and also went into kidney failure.  He was hospitalized for ten days and presently Sam is his happy self.

My rescue cat Sam may be FIV positive but he is a survivor of six years and I am hoping we have six more years of good health and happy times.