Blood in urine

Hi, I have an almost 15yrs old cat with blood in urine problem.

Symptoms of first sign
-drop of bloody urine on the floor
-keep heading down to litter box, have the urge to go, but but really nothing

What we have done
-Multiple urinary tests - no bacteria, no crystal, lot of white and blood cel.
-X-ray - neg, clean no stone
-Blood test - no kidey problem
-on Urinary So cat food
-2 round of antibiotic, no visual blood in urine while on it, but blood came back shortly after pills finished
-Phenoxybenzaine - but stopped after a few capsules because of side affect

Other health issue
-Heart murmur since kitten - but disappear couple yrs ago
-Thyroid - on Tapazole since a few months ago

Vet is running out of ideas and the last test that can be done is ultrasound, but before that I would like the know if anyone could come up with something new so that I can discuss w/ the Vet.

PS. cat is behaving relatively normal.

What anti-biotic was used?
How long was it given (some vets consider 1 round 7 days, some 14, days, some 21 days)?
Are you feeding strictly the Rx diet - no other food or treats?
Wet or dry food of the Rx diet?

Sorry to hear that your cat is experiencing some urinary problems. I can definitely empathize. My beloved Buster suffered from similar symptoms and underwent the same course of treatment as your cat.

After several weeks of unsuccessful treatment, a radiologist came in and performed an ultrasound. Unfortunately, the ultrasound indicated that Buster had a tumor in his bladder and was diagnosed with transitional cell carcinoma.

I do not want to frighten you especially since TCC in cats is so rare. However, you may want to consider an ultrasound to rule out tumors. Tumors in the bladder do not typically show up in x-rays.

Originally Posted by white cat lover

What anti-biotic was used?
How long was it given (some vets consider 1 round 7 days, some 14, days, some 21 days)?
Are you feeding strictly the Rx diet - no other food or treats?
Wet or dry food of the Rx diet?

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The first one was Amoxicilin 7days
Sorry I can't find the name on the 2nd one, also 7days

90% Rx, wet.

He maybe able to steal some from others that I don't aware of.

Originally Posted by Blast-Off-Girl

Sorry to hear that your cat is experiencing some urinary problems. I can definitely empathize. My beloved Buster suffered from similar symptoms and underwent the same course of treatment as your cat.

After several weeks of unsuccessful treatment, a radiologist came in and performed an ultrasound. Unfortunately, the ultrasound indicated that Buster had a tumor in his bladder and was diagnosed with transitional cell carcinoma.

I do not want to frighten you especially since TCC in cats is so rare. However, you may want to consider an ultrasound to rule out tumors. Tumors in the bladder do not typically show up in x-rays.

Click to expand...

If it is tumor, what next?

My Coco had blood also and kept getting infections.
The only way to stop it with her isto keep her on Baytril.
She has been on it since Jan and will be for forever.
Get the ultraound and see what shows up.
Blast off girs cat had surgery and chemo but he lot him in Jan.

IMO, you need a better, stronger, anti-biotic - and 7 days won't cut it.

Baytril, Orbax, or even Clavamox. For 21 days. Then re-test. For a UTI, baseline/mild UTI - my vet does any of those 3 (depending on the individual cat's sensitivity) for a minimum of 14 days, for anything beyond a mild UTI, they are on meds for 21+ days.

That's my 2 cents worth. I have a senior boy with a similar issue, also 15 (perhaps 18) years old. Orbax regularly keeps his blood in urine issues at bay.

I agree those antibiotics never helped Coco.
She alo never had them less then 14 days.
In fact she the last few times she was on them for 6 weeks at a time before it became permanate.
I hope your cat feels better.

Found it, the 2nd one was Clavamox 62.5mg 7days twice a day.

Reminds me of my lyra and her cystitis issues...after a course of antibiotics, her diet was changed for quite some time to canned only, and she was on glucosamine, a dose prescribed by my vet.

Originally Posted by Goo

If it is tumor, what next?

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If it is a tumor, your vet will most likely refer you to an oncologist for further consultation. Depending where the tumor is, it can possibly be removed. If the tumor is located too close to the trigone area, then surgery is not possible. However, I do not want to frighten you with all this talk. Go get an ultrasound to rule out tumors.

Good luck!

My Patch is pre-desposed to infection, he had two types of infection at the same time, they gave me Clavomx for one, it cleared up one of the infections but did nothing for the Staph infection, thats why they told me he has to take Baytril, its the strongest and most affective for staph infection and he has to be on it for no less then 6 weeks.

Were there any crystals in his urine sample?
Sounds a bit like my Casper, he had struvite crystals earlier this year.
White cells are usually a sign of somekind of infection if there is lots of them (or so I've been told).

Originally Posted by aswient

My Patch is pre-desposed to infection, he had two types of infection at the same time, they gave me Clavomx for one, it cleared up one of the infections but did nothing for the Staph infection, thats why they told me he has to take Baytril, its the strongest and most affective for staph infection and he has to be on it for no less then 6 weeks.

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Problem is there is no trace(or can't find) of bacteria in the urine and they can not confirm infection.

Originally Posted by NorthernGlow

Were there any crystals in his urine sample?
Sounds a bit like my Casper, he had struvite crystals earlier this year.
White cells are usually a sign of somekind of infection if there is lots of them (or so I've been told).

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find no crystal in the urine test.

Goo - this is what happened to my cat too. The vets kept on running urine tests even though they did not detect crystals or infection. Nonetheless, the vets continued to prescribe various antibiotics, which reduced the blood for several weeks. I wasted so much money on misdiagnoses and incorrect treatments. Vets do not typically consider TCC in cats because it is so rare. TCC does not show up as an infection in urine tests.

Originally Posted by Blast-Off-Girl

Goo - this is what happened to my cat too. The vets kept on running urine tests even though they did not detect crystals or infection. Nonetheless, the vets continued to prescribe various antibiotics, which reduced the blood for several weeks. I wasted so much money on misdiagnoses and incorrect treatments. Vets do not typically consider TCC in cats because it is so rare. TCC does not show up as an infection in urine tests.

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Blast-Off-Girl - Did your cat show any sign of other symptons for TCC? My cat is perfectly happy and normal, eating and drinking, no signs that he is sick at all. This is what puzzles me.

Originally Posted by Goo

Blast-Off-Girl - Did your cat show any sign of other symptons for TCC? My cat is perfectly happy and normal, eating and drinking, no signs that he is sick at all. This is what puzzles me.

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Other than blood in the urine, my Buster was acting normally. However, the blood became more prevalent in the following weeks until it started clotting and he could not urinate at all. At that point, the emergency vet had to insert a catheter. Buster had such a fighting spirit and was very stoic. He never showed any signs of distress.