[DK]

hi,
my 4-5yr old cat's urine is completely red when he tries to go. I took him to the emergency vet the other night and they looked him over and said he has a urinary tract infection . He has had one before in the past and the vet said this would probably be a recurring thing throughout his life. Anyhow she gave me a small thing of imoxicilin and said to give him 1ml every 12 hours then bring him to a vet in 10-14 days.

His urine is completely red, he tries to go about 12-20 times a day but only manages a squirt of two here and there. It's been 2 days now since the vet visit and the imoxicilin is almost gone but it hasn't cleared up in the slightest. I guess I was curious an opinion from any of the qualified folks here to see if there was anything else I could do, and to make sure the lady I saw did what she was supposed to. Thanks in advance

 

[Lori]

Poor guy! He doesn't sound any better at all. Unfortunately I think another trip to the vet is in order, maybe a different antibiotic is needed. I assume he has been on the current medication for a few days? You should be seeing some improvement after two days.
I hope he is better soon.

 

[DK]

will I notice a degradation in the red in the urine... i.e will it start to be less red on it's way back to normal as it clears up.... or will it stay reddish until it's cleared up ?

from the behavior side he seems almost back to normal now, not as vocal as a couple days ago and he is eating regularly and still coming over for treats etc and the vet had said he didn't have blockage, thankfully.

 

[jonsgirl]

My Kota had the same problem, not only was her urine reddish brown, she was leaking small amounts in her sleep. I took her to the vet and they gave me the same meds you have. The only improvement was that her urine was not so dark. So, I took her a second time. They did x-rays and found a nice sized stone in her bladder. They said I could get it surgically removed, or put her on a diet that would (hopefully) dissolve it. So right now she is on the diet (prescription cat food) and we are due to take her back within the next few weeks to see if the stone is any smaller. I would have gone for the surgery but money is kind of tight right now.

If the vet says he didnt have a blockage, I hope your kitty is back to normal pretty soon. How long did they tell you to keep him on the Amoxi? They told me to just use it till it was gone......

 

[DK]

same thing keep him on it till it's gone. It looks like there's 2-3 doses left in it which would bring it up to about 8-9 total doses all together. He's been passed out sleeping most of the day today but he doesn't seem to b vocalizing in pain etc. The vet at the clinic said it could take 2 days to a week to notice results but if he started vocalizing or not eating to take him immediately to the vet.

he's not eating as much as normal but he is still eating regularly for the most part so I'll give it anohter day or two and then call the vet again.

 

[drjean]

This is a potentially dangerous situation in a male cat, because males can block. If he stops producing urine, that is a life-threatening emergency. So do keep a close eye on him!

Hopefully the inflammation will be resolved with the antibiotics, but bear in mind that in cats, these are usually "sterile" inflammations, not actual infections (even though, for shorthand, we often refer to them as UTIs, urinary tract infections. They aren't really.). Amoxicillin has some pretty good anti-inflammatory action so that is what is acting. There are no bacteria involved.

Hope he's eating an all canned food diet, because dry food is a major problem for these cats. See http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?a ... w&item=017
for more info.

Good Luck!
Dr. Jean

 

[DK]

just for a followup. He seems to be getting back to normal slowly. His urine is breaking back down to actual urine more and more by the day instead of completely reddish. He's starting to toture his brother again which is a sign he's feeling better :lol:

as for food, the problem generally lies with having 3 cats of varying age and weights. I try to give wet food at least once a day [and in the past week have gone to 3x a day] but I still leave the dry food feeder out


what's the best way to convert a multiple cat house to all wet food, we also have a cat who doesn't really like wet food at all which tosses another wrench in there

 

[queen of the nile]

I have 3 cats that eat a completely wet diet. I feed them 3 meals a day, at 8 am, 4 pm and 11 pm. You can start off by feeding them all the same amount, and then learn how much they actually need by taking them in for regular weight checks. I bring my cats in once a month (they are on diets) to assess how much weight they are losing. The weight checks are free and you could do the same thing for a couple of months to see if your cats keep a steady weight. If they do, that means you are feeding the correct amount.
As for a picky cat, I'm not sure what you can do, I don't have that problem. I remember that there was a thread around here describing how to get more wet food in a cat's diet. I will look around for it.

 

[queen of the nile]

http://www.catforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=4424&highlight=justin+wet

This gives a few suggestions for helping a picky cat onto wet food. I hope it helps!

 

[azukre]

My 6 yrs old male cat had the same problem approximately 3 weeks ago. However my vet took him for surgery, and gave me the Clavamox.
(amoxicillin trihydrate clavulanate potassium).

I'm not sure exact what is different between that & imoxicillin, but he looks ok now.

However, my cat gave me 2 weeks of pills, but I stopped feeding him because he would throw up on purpose. He doesn't throw up if I don't feed him the pill.

Also, he sounds he's having athema right now! What should I do? :roll: