I'm so sorry to hear about what you are going through. I totally understand, as I've been there myself. My cat just had surgery for Triple Phosphate Crystals/Stones. During the process we went through several xrays and urine tests and never once did it come up about the actual size of the bladder. That is confusing me. What exactly did he say about that?

I guess my thought is that your symptoms do sound very similar to what my cat just went through and he didn't have any abnormality in terms of the size of his bladder. He did have stones, which turned out to be worse than we thought and we did surgery before it became a serious blockage. Not that I am suggesting that your cat must have what mine did, but just that I am confused as to why your vet ruled out stones/obstruction just because of the size of his bladder looked normal in the xray.

Trot started refusing food when he got really bad and he's also a BIG boy who always eats...he'll eat everyone's food if you let him. If you are feeling that there is something else going on and he's not acting like himself, there probably IS something going on. Maybe you should have a 2nd opinion. I know you hate to spend the money if it's nothing serious, but if it turns out to be something more serious, you'll be kicking yourself for not doing something sooner.

Good luck. Chin up!

 

AddFran,

Thanks for the reponse.

I think the vet was empathizing with my financial situation and wanted to just try antibiotics first without having to do urine and blood tests to see if the antibiotics cleared whatever it is up. I am full of guilt right now that I passed up the antibiotics .... but I guess I'll get them first thing in the morning.

I am sick with worry about my little guy He's never been sick in his life. Thanks for the post. Do you think maybe the antibiotics might clear something up? Maybe he's having digestive problems with all the vomiting???

 

I think anything is possible. If they suggested antibiotics, I would try them first. In the grand scheme of things, they are pretty inexpensive, incase it turned out that it was some type of infection...it would be great to try that route first. I don't think they can hurt.

He could be vomiting for alot of reasons. Trot was throwing up his food a lot more than normal before we realized he was sick. But he's always been a fast eater, so I chalked itup to that, but I shouldn't have. When I look back, I can piece it all together and now it all makes so much more sense.

I would assume that it's not something with his digestive system, if he's not urinating. If he wasn't passing stools, that would make sense..but if he's not urinating, I would assume it's FLUTD. FLUTD can cause vomiting and nausea. Plus, he's an big male cat, and that's the perfect candidate...

Also, for weeks (or longer) Trot had become pretty anti-social, he was sleeping in my closet alone on top of my laundry basket a lot, and just sticking to himself. Now, I can see how sick he must have been, because he's all over the place again, the couch, the dog bed, the kitchen table, licking my face for his breakfast and spooning with his favorite girl! He had stopped doing that and I didn't take that as a clue until I noticed the problems with the litterbox.

Go with your gut!

 

Good advice above. The only think I wanted to add was that I think it would be a good idea to do a urinalysis. A cystocentisis is quick and relatively inexpensive.....probably under $75 (not including office visit)....and that would tell you whether the antibiotics are necessary. I hate to see antibiotics given on spec.

If you have a credit card, that's a last-ditch payment plan.

Poor kitty....I hope he's feeling much better soon!!

 

You got good advice above...the only thing I would add is that I don't think this is something that is going to pass, you really do need to go back to the vet.

Also are you aware of the food recall that is going on? Has your kitty eaten any of the foods? Here's a link to the info on it.

http://www.menufoods.com/recall/

 

The food recalll!!!!! What a good thing to point out! DUH!! :roll:

 

I hope it's not that, but the symptoms do sound as if it's a possibility.

 

I hope it's not that as well. Though, it was very important for you to bring it up!

 

Yes, thanks doodle, completely slipped my mind, too.

 

Thank you everyone.

Yes, I already checked the food recall list when this started happening. He has only eating Whiskas and Purina One in the past few weeks, neither of which are on the list.

Thanks!

 

Phew, glad to hear it's not related to the recall

I agree with what everyone has said. Your cat's condition isn't likely to get better on its own, so some form of treatment is required.

As for payment, you could check out Care Credit, which is a low-cost payment plan for health, dental, and veterinary expenses:

http://www.carecredit.com/

Good luck and keep us posted :wink:

 

As for payment, you could check out Care Credit, which is a low-cost payment plan for health, dental, and veterinary expenses:

http://www.carecredit.com/

Good luck and keep us posted :wink:

Wow, I wish I had known about this before shelling out $2800!!!
In any case, that's a great program and can really give you peace of mind!

 

As for payment, you could check out Care Credit, which is a low-cost payment plan for health, dental, and veterinary expenses:

http://www.carecredit.com/

Good luck and keep us posted :wink:

Wow, I wish I had known about this before shelling out $2800!!!
In any case, that's a great program and can really give you peace of mind!

No surprise, I learned about it from someone here My dentist also mentioned it to me when I had an expensive procedure done recently.

 

This is just meant as a point of interest for you guys, but did you know that only 2% of cats with FLUTD have also have a urinary tract infection? It turns out that antibiotics are vastly over-prescribed for that disease.

aspenholloway - since we don't know what is causing the problem here, it is hard to say whether or not antibiotics will help your kitty.

 

This is just meant as a point of interest for you guys, but did you know that only 2% of cats with FLUTD have also have a urinary tract infection? It turns out that antibiotics are vastly over-prescribed for that disease.

aspenholloway - since we don't know what is causing the problem here, it is hard to say whether or not antibiotics will help your kitty.

Yes, I read the same thing when Trot was diagnosed, however, they also told me that for some reason with this condition the antibiotics seem to act as an anti-inflammatory and that's why they like to give them. i thought that was very strange, but didnt see any reason they'd just tell me that. I did see it on a few sites too. So maybe that's why they do it??

 

If it's acting as an anti-inflammatory, why don't they just prescribe an anti-inflammatory? We all know the problems with anti-biotic overuse. When Twinkie had his crystals, after his diagnosis the vet sent him home with some Metacam, so it must help relieve painful urination. Sometimes I just don't understand......

 

If it's acting as an anti-inflammatory, why don't they just prescribe an anti-inflammatory? We all know the problems with anti-biotic overuse. When Twinkie had his crystals, after his diagnosis the vet sent him home with some Metacam, so it must help relieve painful urination. Sometimes I just don't understand......

Good question. I don't know! MAYBE, it's because it takes some time to get the results back from the tests, and they do it at as precautionary thing in case it is an infection, at least they'd be treating while waiting on results...?? Though I hear you on prescribing antibiotics for no good reason. :evil: :?: My dog was on Metacam for arthritis...

 

So mid-week Kirby threw up about a 3 1/2 inch plastic! 8O

After that, most of his symptoms have subsided but I still haven't seen him urinate.

Because there are 2 cats, tomorrow I might fork over the money for a new cat box and new cat litter and sequester him to my room for the day just to see if he is urinating because I haven't seen him go(although the cat box is full and there is urine, I can't tell which cat is doing it).

Do those symptoms seem conducive to the plastic he ingested? I looked all over the internet for symptoms of plastic poisining but couldn't find anything.

His mood and behavior seem quite normal. Nothing unusual at all, other than the fact that his stool is still a little loose and I haven't seen him tinkle yet, but that doesen't mean he hasn't.......

 

Well that sounds like it could very well be your culprit, especially for the vomiting issues. Poisoning from the plastic probably isn't an issue, it would just be the irritation and possibility that it was lodged or blocking part of his digestive system.

Still doesn't account for trying to use the box and nothing happening though. The idea of segregating him with his own box is fine. Besides a 2nd box with 2 cats is always a good idea and a box should be replaced every year or so as the soft plastic gets scratched and harbors bacteria. So a new one won't go to waste....

 

One of my male cat has had blood in his urine for about 20 days. He was on anitbotics for about that many days, two different kinds. Thursday they kept him in order to take x-rays and get a urine sample for PH test and to send to the lab.

Its frustrating because the first thing is always antibotics without a culture to see what is up. They gave him a prednisone shot and three pills for every other day to help with the discomfort cause by this. he has been well in every other way except the frequet need to go and I didn't notice blood until the 9th day of the first anitbotic, so, they switched to a broad spectrum one and that still didn't help.

I have, of course, been reading but am not content with this "unknown" and some cats simply get it from stress and its something some cats must live with. There is always some reason for bloood to show up(talking about FLUTD).

I simply can't believe stress is behind blood showing up in urine.

Duncan

 

Personally, having gone through it myself, I believe that male cats are much more prone to this and dry food is a major culprit. Hydration is key when it comes to FLUTD and dry food causes cats to become dehydrated. I believe it takes 8oz of water to compensate for a days worth of eating dry food. I am certain most cats don't even come close to that.
If your cat is eating dry food, I'd take him off of it right away and start feeding a high quality wet food. Most of them already have magnesium and phosphorus levels that will work out well for a FLUTD cat. Though, I think Innova changed their formulas, so I'd avoid that one. Felidae is GREAT if your cat likes it.

 

In the past I vowed to never purchase Science Diet.....
well.....stones returned after my cat was eating only canned
(high quality too) for about 2 months.....
Previously he was eating raw and some canned.

I broke down and purchased Hill's c/d
I am feeding 50% c/d and 50% raw.
Urine volume is back to normal.....

So I am not so sure I will bash Hills again... :?

 

Dawn,
The c/d foods are chemically altered therefore it's the chemicals not the food that is altering the ph of the food. The majority of the time the prescription science diet will cause a reverse effect and the cat will end up with oxalate stones rather than triple phosphate stones. Then they have a different diet for that. :roll: It's a vicius cycle and a poor quality diet. Short term it seems to be doing the trick, but long term, not so much...

FYI - The raw diet may be your biggest help, as a high protein meat diet produces a more acidic urine.

 

Makes sense....
must be why they say to only feed for 3 months...

That reassures me I am doing the right thing
feeding raw too.
I have one case of c/d....I wont buy another.
I feed a can one day and then feed raw the next...
today is raw rabbit.