Dark urine
Dark urine
Kitty has dark colored urine. Had tested and all test came back good. Any ideas what makes a kittys urine dark
How old is your cat? Is this the kitty that had surgery for the blockages of struvite crystals?
Exactly what tests were performed?
Is your cat drinking fresh water daily? Not drinking at all?
Cat urine is usually yellow or amber. If the urine is cloudy and red it indicates that there is blood in the urine. Dark red or brown urine indicates blood in the urine. Yellow-brown, greenish, yellow, dark brown, and foamy may indicate some type of liver problem.
Exactly what tests were performed?
Is your cat drinking fresh water daily? Not drinking at all?
Cat urine is usually yellow or amber. If the urine is cloudy and red it indicates that there is blood in the urine. Dark red or brown urine indicates blood in the urine. Yellow-brown, greenish, yellow, dark brown, and foamy may indicate some type of liver problem.
Re: Dark urine
Was a urinalysis AND/OR culture done? If so, when?
What are you feeding?
What are you feeding?
..........Traci
Re: Dark urine
Thanks for reply. Yes this is kitty that had PU surgery 10/06 (Cheech) After surgery he then developed bladder stone in July 07. Dr wanted to do surgery again and we said no. We changed from dry to wet food as suggested but not the prescription diet as cat would have no part of it. He eats fancy feast can food and very little purina one and royal canin dry food. Months later another xray and stone had shrunk according to doctor. Since diagnosed with bladder stone, periodically we notice color change in Cheech's urine. Usually it clears up in day or two. We monitor his urine on a daily basis, sometimes he tricks us and its every two days. We also check his ph level in the urine. When his urine was dark for four days in a row we took him to the vet. We had urinalysis and full blood culture and everything was normal including liver. Dr said something about allergies causing inflammation of the capillaries in his bladder and prescribed anti inflammatory to be given when symptoms appeared. Does this make sense 
Re: Dark urine
Last visit urinalysis and blood culture end of Februay 2009
Do you know what the urine pH and specific gravity was when last tested? (not from test strips used at home, they must be from the uriine tested at the clinic). If either/or are consistent each time when tested, this gives you a sort of a prediction for which type of stones might reoccur. Which type of crystals has your vet found recently and in the past?
Unless based on clear evidence of inflammation, I'm not sure if an antiinflammatory was warranted or not. Did he find a high count of WBC's? Was a CBC run at the same time the urinalysis was done?
Rather than face another antiinflammatory medication, ask your vet about Cosequin for Cats instead. In some cats, it helps smooth muscle constriction (doesn't work for all cats, but it is generally safe to use with vet's direction). If there is again a need for antiinflammatory medications, it would be best to persue a cystography/ultrasonography first so that you're not missing something.
If the urine was at least transparent, and not cloudy or tinted with blood, it may not be much to worry about at this point, darker urine is called concentrated urine, but if it is consistent or occurs frequently (with inflammation, blood or sediment etc), you should persue additional diagnostics to ensure something else isn't going on.
We've talked about the diet before, and I'm not a fan of Fancy Feast. Have you at least given the Hill's C/D-Multicare a chance? (it is now formulated for both struvite and oxalate crystals and can be fed long term), comes in cans too. Again, there are other veterinary diets available in different brands, and it IS condusive to try one or two to see if the problem resolves. Most commercial diets don't address anything related to urinary tract health, at all. If there is favorable progress and a good result from a veterinary diet, it's worth the effort, I gaurantee you that.
Unless based on clear evidence of inflammation, I'm not sure if an antiinflammatory was warranted or not. Did he find a high count of WBC's? Was a CBC run at the same time the urinalysis was done?
Rather than face another antiinflammatory medication, ask your vet about Cosequin for Cats instead. In some cats, it helps smooth muscle constriction (doesn't work for all cats, but it is generally safe to use with vet's direction). If there is again a need for antiinflammatory medications, it would be best to persue a cystography/ultrasonography first so that you're not missing something.
If the urine was at least transparent, and not cloudy or tinted with blood, it may not be much to worry about at this point, darker urine is called concentrated urine, but if it is consistent or occurs frequently (with inflammation, blood or sediment etc), you should persue additional diagnostics to ensure something else isn't going on.
We've talked about the diet before, and I'm not a fan of Fancy Feast. Have you at least given the Hill's C/D-Multicare a chance? (it is now formulated for both struvite and oxalate crystals and can be fed long term), comes in cans too. Again, there are other veterinary diets available in different brands, and it IS condusive to try one or two to see if the problem resolves. Most commercial diets don't address anything related to urinary tract health, at all. If there is favorable progress and a good result from a veterinary diet, it's worth the effort, I gaurantee you that.
..........Traci