- Joined
- Jul 10, 2015
- Messages
- 28
- Purraise
- 1
Hi, I'm a first time cat owner and I am concerned with my little guy's frequency of urination. He is 14.5 wks old and he pees a lot! I find 7-8, sometimes 9 pee clumps in the litter box per day. And two of the pee clumps are more like huge slab-like, crumbly big "clumps"....I mean they're huge! I mentioned the frequent urination to the vet last Thurs (5 days ago) when I went for another concern (his anus is sometimes red/raw, I've started another thread about that), but now the peeing is taking front and center stage in my attention because he just went 2x in the past hour and a half! The first pee was normal sized for a kitten, I think, but the second pee was teeny-tiny!
The vet did run a urinalysis on Thurs and left me a msg Fri to say that they didn't find crystals or an infection, but she didn't say anything else. She didn't propose further investigation. I went to a different vet this past Monday b/c I didn't like how everything progressed at the first vet (that they gave him a booster when he was clearly under the weather b/c of the anus/urination issues). I explained to the new vet everything that had transpired at the other vet. She ordered another urinalysis, bloodwork and a fecal test (b/c of his irritated anus). She called today and left word that the bloodwork came back as "nothing out of the ordinary for a kitten" and the fecal test was negative. I'm doing a free catch urine sample to save Boone from being stuck again with a needle, so I need to bring them a sample for the urinalysis.
Couple questions that I'm hoping someone on this wonderful forum can help me answer
1) Would bloodwork results indicate if there were kidney problems? How does one diagnose kidney issues? From what I've researched, Boone's frequent urination could be due to diabetes or kidney disease. Yikes! I adopted him 5 wks ago and I had no idea he had these issues, poor thing. They gave him a clean bill of health at the SPCA. He has always gone to the bathroom a lot since I got him.
2) However, even though he has always peed a lot, only in the past week, week and a half have I noticed that the fur on his penis is matted after peeing. Is this normal? Is it thickened pee stuck to him? The pee in the litter box looks of normal consistency from what I can tell, but it's hard to say when it's so quickly absorbed into the litter. But the pee is definitely not bloody and doesn't have a mucous like film. He doesn't seem to be straining when he's peeing and he doesn't cry out and he doesn't pee anywhere besides the box. he just goes A LOT.
3) Could the anal issue and urine issue be related?
4) Should I feel confident that the negative fecal test is accurate? I collected a poop and promptly refrigerated it about 13 hrs before the appt. But then later I saw a poop in the litter box the morning of the appt. But it had probably been sitting there for about 3-4 hrs. I refrigerated that one too, but it HAD been sitting out in the litter box for those 3-4 hours. The vet receptionist said to bring both and the dr. would decide which to test. I brought both and she said "fresher is better" so she picked the one that had sat out in the litter box that morning. I said, but it wasn't promptly refrigerated after coming out of Boone like the other was, but she just said again fresher is better. I'm confused. Everything I read says if it's refrigerated promptly it can be viable for 12-24 hrs. Wouldn't that be the fresher one vs. the one that dried out in the litter box sitting there for 3, possibly 4 hours before I came home and saw it and THEN refrigerated?
Boone is eating a wet-only diet (Wellness Kitten Formula and Wellness Core and Blue Indoor Formula for Kittens, but I also have been mixing in Canidae Pure Elements) I have spent rather a lot on all these tests, and I'm pretty much tapped out. Plus, his food costs are getting scary...As it is, I'm about maxxed out, so any feedback would be so appreciated! His energy level is good (finally recovering from his booster) and his poops look of normal consistency. He doesn't strain anymore since I started giving him pumpkin with every meal.
Many thanks for reading and posting any replies!! Very worried mom here
The vet did run a urinalysis on Thurs and left me a msg Fri to say that they didn't find crystals or an infection, but she didn't say anything else. She didn't propose further investigation. I went to a different vet this past Monday b/c I didn't like how everything progressed at the first vet (that they gave him a booster when he was clearly under the weather b/c of the anus/urination issues). I explained to the new vet everything that had transpired at the other vet. She ordered another urinalysis, bloodwork and a fecal test (b/c of his irritated anus). She called today and left word that the bloodwork came back as "nothing out of the ordinary for a kitten" and the fecal test was negative. I'm doing a free catch urine sample to save Boone from being stuck again with a needle, so I need to bring them a sample for the urinalysis.
Couple questions that I'm hoping someone on this wonderful forum can help me answer
1) Would bloodwork results indicate if there were kidney problems? How does one diagnose kidney issues? From what I've researched, Boone's frequent urination could be due to diabetes or kidney disease. Yikes! I adopted him 5 wks ago and I had no idea he had these issues, poor thing. They gave him a clean bill of health at the SPCA. He has always gone to the bathroom a lot since I got him.
2) However, even though he has always peed a lot, only in the past week, week and a half have I noticed that the fur on his penis is matted after peeing. Is this normal? Is it thickened pee stuck to him? The pee in the litter box looks of normal consistency from what I can tell, but it's hard to say when it's so quickly absorbed into the litter. But the pee is definitely not bloody and doesn't have a mucous like film. He doesn't seem to be straining when he's peeing and he doesn't cry out and he doesn't pee anywhere besides the box. he just goes A LOT.
3) Could the anal issue and urine issue be related?
4) Should I feel confident that the negative fecal test is accurate? I collected a poop and promptly refrigerated it about 13 hrs before the appt. But then later I saw a poop in the litter box the morning of the appt. But it had probably been sitting there for about 3-4 hrs. I refrigerated that one too, but it HAD been sitting out in the litter box for those 3-4 hours. The vet receptionist said to bring both and the dr. would decide which to test. I brought both and she said "fresher is better" so she picked the one that had sat out in the litter box that morning. I said, but it wasn't promptly refrigerated after coming out of Boone like the other was, but she just said again fresher is better. I'm confused. Everything I read says if it's refrigerated promptly it can be viable for 12-24 hrs. Wouldn't that be the fresher one vs. the one that dried out in the litter box sitting there for 3, possibly 4 hours before I came home and saw it and THEN refrigerated?
Boone is eating a wet-only diet (Wellness Kitten Formula and Wellness Core and Blue Indoor Formula for Kittens, but I also have been mixing in Canidae Pure Elements) I have spent rather a lot on all these tests, and I'm pretty much tapped out. Plus, his food costs are getting scary...As it is, I'm about maxxed out, so any feedback would be so appreciated! His energy level is good (finally recovering from his booster) and his poops look of normal consistency. He doesn't strain anymore since I started giving him pumpkin with every meal.
Many thanks for reading and posting any replies!! Very worried mom here