Apple Cider Vinegar Treatment for Cats with Cystitis

My cat Dao Ming was having a hard time peeing and has blood in his stool. I stopped feeding him grains and his stool became normal. However, he was still straining to pee and he looks a little weak and thinner. Last Saturday, I gave him Apple Cider Vinegar (1 cap ACV to 1 cap water) about 1 teaspoon in the evening. By Sunday, I saw him urinate a lot twice without straining but still not in his litter box. Today is Monday and I'm still giving him ACV 3x a day, 1 teaspoon.

My other cat died this June because of urethral blockage even if I gave him ACV. (The vet gave him so many antibiotics too.) I think it's because it was a little late and I keep feeding him kibble. Cats can't thrive on kibble.

I feed Dao Ming chicken meat, gizzard, liver (most of the time raw) and sweet potato. Sometimes, squash instead of sweet potato. I also give him fish, sometimes cooked, sometimes raw. He is getting stronger and playing more with me.

Thank you for all the post.

Apple Cider Vinegar seems to be working for our 10 year old neutered male cat. Two days ago, we noticed that he was very lethargic and spending a great amount of time licking his bottom. He appeared to "waddle" as he walked and was clearly uncomfortable. Suspecting it might be cystitis, we called the vet, but as it was late afternoon Saturday, we had to take him to an after-hours vet service in town. They did suspect cystitis, though the bladder seemed normal in size and not rock hard, and held him overnight for observation. On Sunday they reported that he had not defecated nor urinated and asked us to come pick him up (he has a cat door at home and won't use the kitty litter provided in the house) to see if he would perform at home. They suggested reducing dry food, increasing wet food and encouraging him to drink more. They recommended taking him to our Vet on Monday. Later Sunday, it became clear that he was totally blocked. He could defecate, but there was no urine passage. Sunday afternoon I found this site, and at 5 PM we added 3/4tsp ACV (in addition to some water) to canned food, and 1/2tsp per cup of drinking water. We also used a syringe to get about another 1/4t of ACV, diluted with 1tsp water into him. There was no progress on urination, with the possible exception of a few drops on the linoleum floors around the house. By 10 PM, however, he did seem to be at bit more comfortable. On Monday, we continued the 3/4 t ACV with wet food, 1/2t per cup of drinking water, and 1/2t per 2t water in the syringe. In all, we probably got 1 t of ACV into him this morning. By noon he had urinated a small amount (1"D wet spot) twice, that we were able to witness. He is not yet back to normal, but it is clear that he is on the mend. It is surprising and disturbing that vets seem to be unaware of this solution to what appears to be a very common, debilitating, and sometimes lethal, problem. Caution: In our first attempt to put the syringe in his mouth, he bit through my wife's finger and finger nail. This cat doesn't even expose his claws when fighting with us, normally, but the syringe was more than he could tolerate. Now, as suggested elsewhere on this site, we lay him on his back, between our legs, and just put the syringe inside his lips, and slowly dribble the ACV in. He doesn't like it, but there is no more biting.

Thanks so much, because you've all taken the trouble to document so many apple cider vinegar/cat cystitis treatment success stories as that gave me the confidence to try it. I'd been to the vet (since I panicked when I saw bloody urine initially as I'd heard boy cats can block up and suffer kidney damage if left unchecked and my dear little fellow was scratching around every 10 mins in his litter trying to do just a little more pee) anyhow the vet told me he should only need pain relief medication as an anti-inflammatory and for pain relief and hopefully it would improve. A day later and Pussycat's slightly bloody urine looked like the severe high blood content photo listed at top of this page. Fortunately I found this site since I was dreading another $180 or more vet visit and possibility of more chemical prescriptions I'm not fond of giving my pretty kitties at best of times. Since Kitty Boy was still able to urinate a little I tried ACV and after one dose (one quarter teaspoon ACV DILUTED so he wouldn't choke with one to one and a half teaspoons of water squirted into his mouth with a syringe - he used litter about 15 minutes later and had slightly more urine and less blood, I dosed again 5 hours later, that only improved and 2 days later no blood whatsoever. I have him on mostly wet cat food at moment so he can absorb as much fluid as possible. For the most part he eats thawed raw meat frozen for 5 days to kill any bacteria...I'm going to dose him for a full seven days because not quite yet back to as much urine he normally emits but man, what an improvement and I've used about $1 worth of ACV thus far. So impressed I'm taking it myself for the multitude of health benefits listed on this site, thanks again,very relieved and grateful.