Dime-sized urine/blood

[scottd]

You should try calling your usual vet. Most will have an emergency number to call after hours. They'll likely be more willing to work with you if you use them regularly.

[Emelda]

Originally Posted by scottd

You should try calling your usual vet. Most will have an emergency number to call after hours. They'll likely be more willing to work with you if you use them regularly.

I tried calling them, they were closed and gave numbers to our 2 emergencies vet hospitals but they charge as much as a human ER.

My regular vet is going to allow me to drop her off there in about an hr (9:30am here) so she can be seen as soon as possible and then they will call me when they have looked at her. This way she doesn't have to wait until 3pm. I really really love my vet office.

Mandy is "ok" at the moment, she's eating normally and I'm giving her extra water with her wet food. I haven't seen any more blood drops on her urine but there could be blood I can't see.

I am praying for the best.

[Emelda]

Mandy is back home now, hurray~! The vet gave her pain medication and she wants me to give her more pain meds over the next 2 days. She was given an antibiotic. The vet took an xray and Mandy doesn't have any stones. I'm supposed to watch her behavior over the next week. The urinalysis report will be back on Thursday.

[def kitty]

Glad to see that Mandy is OK! It happened to my cat too, but without blood in urine. It was specific in a way that after he was asleep for several hours he would pee a normal sized amount, but shortly after that he would attempt to pee over and over again, often just a few drops. But at least the normal sized clumps after sleeping indicated that he wasn't blocked, which really is the worst case scenario. How old is Mandy? If she's a senior cat it is possible that she has a UTI which is caused by some other systemic illness. But if she's young then she probably doesn't have a UTI and it's idiopathic cystitis. There's not much you can do if it's idiopathic, other than try to minimize stress (try Feliway, for example, scoop the litterbox often, avoid any changes in her daily routine, including changing litter brands, introducing new people and animals etc) and get her to drink as much water as possible.

[Jess041]

Hooray for Mandy being ok! What your vet did is exactly what my vet did for Lexi. Is Mandy doing better? Lexi recovered in about 24 hours.

[Emelda]

def kitty, Mandy is approx. 10 yrs old. I hope there isn't an underlying illness, maybe she's just stressed from the holidays like fireworks going off in the neighborhood? We are keeping things very quiet here for her.

Jess041, Mandy is using her box normally but she's acting freaked out herself. She won't come out from under the bed. She'll come out to eat, use her litter box, then go right back under the bed. This is very odd for her, I think she's sulking because she didn't like being left at the vet for a few hours today.

[Emelda]

Mandy's vet called and said that the culture they did of her urine came back positive for rod type bacteria. So it's an infection. We are going to see if the long-lasting antibiotic they gave her will help. If not, they can do more testing and find out the specific bacteria if necessary to use the right antibiotic. Hope this makes sense Mandy is ok, she has come out from under the bed and she is on kitty pain meds (Buprenex). Followup in 10 days! So sososo happy it wasn't something more serious considering her age.

[MowMow]

I'm so glad Mandy is on the mend and feeling better.

[def kitty]

Originally Posted by Emelda

So sososo happy it wasn't something more serious considering her age.

Are you sure it wasn't, what tests did they run? Cats don't normally have bacteria in urine (bladder problems are fairly common, but without bacterial infection), so when they do get them it's always wise to rule out some of the more serious reasons why it can happen, like diabetes, kidney disease or hyperthyroidism.

[Emelda]

Originally Posted by def kitty

Are you sure it wasn't, what tests did they run? Cats don't normally have bacteria in urine (bladder problems are fairly common, but without bacterial infection), so when they do get them it's always wise to rule out some of the more serious reasons why it can happen, like diabetes, kidney disease or hyperthyroidism.

Indeed it does say in the report that her thyroid was palpable and that could indicate hyperthroidism. She had a kidney test and thyroid screening as part of her senior exam May 18 and they were normal. There is a little note at the bottom that says these function tests can change in as little as 2 weeks.

Also, she's lost 1/3 lbs in 3 weeks. She is actually supposed to be losing weight but not sure if this is "a lot". I will ask a lot of questions at her followup!