Cat with possible UTI.

Question
I have a 1 1/2 year old Persian cat. She had a UTI (and I was told she had crystals) about a month ago and was treated with antibiotics for seven days. I then proceeded to get a water fountain to encourage her water intake as well as switched her food to Pro Plan Urinary Tract Formula. Since changing her diet, she has been drinking a lot more and enjoys her new food.

Just a few days ago I've noticed very small drips of blood around the apartment. It's not a major blood loss. The first day I saw it, I called the vet I took her to and they told me to check her gums to make sure they were pink. And, they were.

I took away her treats thinking that they were maybe messing with her system. The next few days I saw a noticeably smaller amount of blood drops around the apartment. Right now I'm at the point where I see maybe two or three each day.

She's still drinking, eating, and using the litter box normally. She doesn't seem to be in any pain. Her "pee patties" are of a normal size in the litter box and she isn't actually urinating anywhere but her litter box. She still runs around and plays like normal.

Should this be of any concern or is this something that is common with cats who have a potential to create crystals? I guess I just want a professional's opinion before going to the vet and dishing out even more money.

Thank you so much and I look forward to your response.

Answer
My first question to you would be are these drops of pure blood or are they diluted looking? Because I would be more suspicious of this coming from her stool than her urine. Female cats rarely drip blood from their vestibules but they most certainly can have blood on their hair from the rectum. This is usually caused by changes in diet. If you changed her food over in one day then this can cause that.

You may not see blood on her stool but the rectum and inner anal area get red and irritated to the point of bleeding from the sudden changes in diet.

Without seeing her of course, this is just a guess, but it's a common occurrence. I would keep a close eye on her rear end, check the stool in the box for blood by picking a piece up with some toilet paper and looking for blood on the paper. If it isn't, then she has another bladder infection and needs more antibiotics.

If her bladder continues to get irritated and raw she could be bleeding from that and she needs a different food if that is the case. Pro Plan is not a prescription food and she needs one that is made for this disease by vets, not by a mass manufacturing company like Purina. Most vets will tell you that all Purina foods are not high quality.

She should be on a food like C/D right now until she is well and stable then you can put her on a maintenance food such as Science Diet Adult light.
C/D is a prescription food that is formulated just for cats like her. It has the highest quality ingredients and has been the best food for FLUTD for over 25 yrs. It is not super cheap but they need very little food to meet their energy needs so she will eat less in the end after a week or so on it.
As long as you limit her to 1/2 cup of food daily or according to her weight, she will do well on it and it will cost you less in the end.
You must transition a cat over seven days to a new food however so as not to cause this irritation or upset stomachs.

Just a thought for you to think about Angie. I would start with finding out where the blood is coming from then get the CD no matter what.

I hope this helps. Let me know how she does in the next few weeks.