UTI

IMPORTANT: If your cat is in any distress or discomfort, please consult your own vet as your first priority.
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vic23
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UTI

Post by vic23 »

Today, I came down at about 6.00am and fed Daisy - she ate her breakfast and I cleared her litter tray and noticed nothing unusual. I came down a couple of hours later and noticed she was grooming her bottom area and going in and out of her litter tray, but didn't seem to do anything. She then jumped onto the bed and scooted her bottom across the cover leaving faeces marks behind.

I immediately suspected that she had a UTI as all the symptoms were there - I also noticed blood in a couple of spot of urine. I managed to get her to the vets this morning - the vet wouldn't examine her as she is quite fiery, but she gave her an antibiotic injection that would last two weeks - she said that we should see improvement within 2-3 days. When we brought her home she went to her litter box and has also peed outside of the litter box up the wall :( She has never not used her box the whole time we have had her, so I know there is something wrong.

She is eating and drinking, so hopefully this will pass. I'm hoping we caught it quickly as she received antibiotics within two hours of us noticing the symptoms for the first time.

If anyone has advice or experience, it would be welcome. However, I sometimes find it just helps me by writing on here (I suffer from anxiety, so things like this are even more difficult for me)
booktigger
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Re: UTI

Post by booktigger »

Fingers crossed for Daisy. All my cats with cystitis have always needed two lots of antibiotics so don't think you've done something wrong if it comes back. What food does she eat?
vic23
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Re: UTI

Post by vic23 »

She is on prescription food Hills D/D and we are in the process of weaning her onto a Royal Canin prescription food in a hope we can help her lose some weight. The weaning has to be very very gradual, so at the moment she has had a week of literally 3-4 kibbles a day of the new food combined with her old. She has a combination of wet and dry food. Today, I have added some water to her wet food to get more fluids into her. She has a normal appetite although I can tell she isn't herself - to be honest though I have had a UTI and it does make you feel lousy.

The vet told me if she hadn't peed in 12 hours, its an emergency as she must have an obstruction. She has peed a couple of times since 12 o clock this afternoon, not huge amounts, but sometimes normally it isn't huge amounts and I am a big one for panicking and looking for the worst. I don't know whether she has peed enough. It is such a worry.
booktigger
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Re: UTI

Post by booktigger »

I was going to suggest adding water to her wet food. Obstructions are rare in females, but they can't wee at all, so weeing something is promising
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Kay
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Re: UTI

Post by Kay »

When my Tiffany had cystitis she would try to wee every 10 minutes, so Daisy's twice in 6 hours sounds promising

The only thing I would add is that it is quite common to give a cat with cystitis Metacam for a few days to help relieve the discomfort, so you might want to ask your vet if she recommends it
vic23
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Re: UTI

Post by vic23 »

Thanks booktigger and Kay

She does seem to be under the weather compared to her usual self. Hopefully the antibiotics will start to kick in..it did come on so suddenly, she was her normal self at 6.30 am and by 9.30 her symptoms were showing.

She hasn't drunk much, but is eating fine and I added some water to her food as I mentioned above.
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MarySkater
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Re: UTI

Post by MarySkater »

Some years ago I had a cat (neutered male) who had a couple of bouts of cystitis. I found a liquid cranberry extract, sold in a dropper bottle. It was meant for humans, but I showed my vet the ingredients list, and she said it wouldn't do any harm and might help. So I would put 2 or 3 drops into a little water, and stir his wet food into that. So far as I remember, the cystitis didn't recur once he was getting the cranberry.

Another vet once mentioned that it can be caused by the urine getting too alkaline, so anything acid you can put into the diet can help. He suggested lemon juice, but it's very sharp, and you have to dilute it a lot if you don't want to put the cat off its food. The cranberry I used to get (and I don't think it's on the market any more) was relatively bland.

They will avoid the litter tray if they think that's causing the pain. My cysitis cat would pee on a plastic bin liner left lying on the floor, and of course I was happy he chose that, because it made cleaning up easier.

Good luck.
booktigger
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Re: UTI

Post by booktigger »

I'm surprised they only gave antibiotics actually, only 2% of cases are bacterial. Metacam is helpful as it helps with the inflammation, or you could get some Cystease from Pets at Home, it soothes the lining of the bladder
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Re: UTI

Post by TheCatsMum »

Whether it's an UTI or cystitis, I'd feed as much wet as possible and add a little water to it. Also, if you can encourage her to drink more water or even a little cat milk, it will help as it'll keep the urine dilute and less likely to irritate, also, if she has irritation, she'll have something to pass. Do get some cystease, it can be mixed in with wet food twice a day, she won't notice it. It lines the bladder and reduces irritation which helps reduce the sensation of wanting to wee.
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