Help!

This morning I noticed our 2.5 year old male cat, Sterling, was acting weird. He kept going up to soft things, like dog beds, blankets and the ferret play tunnel and squatting and rubbing his back end on them. The first time, there was a small brown smear and I shooed him away. The 2nd time I shooed him, nothing, and the 3rd time, on a blanket, there was clear liquid mixed with some bright red blood.

I took him to the emergency vets. $200 later they said that his chest wound, which I thought was healing, may be reinfected (he's been in an Elizabethan collar for three weeks because of constant licking of scary tissue on his chest that led to a small, open sore) and that the infective process in his body had led to thickening of solution in his anal glands, hence the rubbing and blood from the raw anal area.

They gave us Baytril, to be given 2x daily for 14 days and Metacam, 1x daily for 5 days.

They shaved down his chest, told us to keep the e-collar and put neosporin on the wound 2x per day.

Within two hours of arriving home, he was engaging in the same behavior. He has rubbed anal seepage all over several pillows and the rug. We now have him crated with water, a big litter box and wet food. He has been in the litter box for ten minutes in the "squat" position and nothing is happening.

Should I wait for the antibiotics to kick in? He just had his first dose tonight. Has anyone else ever had this happen? The vet checked all vitals-- temp and all else normal. He felt his tummy and examined him and found "nothing else wrong" or so I was told.

I am worried....

I dont want to scare you but Metacam has been known to cause death and kidney problems in cats.
Baytril should work well.
My old cat takes Baytril.
Call the vet if he is still acting bad.

I would call the vet back and explain that the situation hasn't improved. If you can't get ahold of your vet, either leave a message for them or call the emergency vet and explain the situation. They might be able to help you out over the phone.

I am another one who would caution you to NOT give your cat Metacam. It is not approved to be used in kitties and can cause kidney failure and other serious problems.

Our vet is also the 24-7 Emergency Vet for the area (one of two). I really love them-- they are called Falls Road Animal Hospital. I ended up calling them and speaking to a triage tech who told me to bring him back in, because she thought they should have done a urinalysis to check for UTI. So we drove him back out there around 8:45.

He is NOT blocked, which is GOOD... we do not have money for a surgery, and the costs of today's vet visit strains us enough. They did an ultrasound and his bladder is inflamed, which is causing him to feel like he needs to pee all the time, hence the straining and spending loads of time in the litter pan. He had almost no urine in the bladder, and he drank quite a lot earlier today when we got back from the vet, so he must be voiding, when there is urine present. The vet said that the meds he is on will help to alleviate the inflammation, and for us to watch to make sure he is still voiding... if he stops, we need to bring him in, because blockage is a concern.

So keep your fingers crossed. I hope it goes no further. I will call tomorrow and ask about the Metacam.

The really nice thing is that the vet did not charge us for anything except the meds and some special food for him to eat while recovering. $25, total-- they ignored the fees for the ultrasound, the urinalysis, and the emergency fee.

I really love my vet.

Did the vet check for any urinary issues like infection or stones? Poor guy has a lot going on. I hope he is better soon.

Edit: Sorry, posted at the same time. Maybe the meds will start working soon. Glad they were kind with the charges. That was very nice.

Oh good! Glad you were able to get him back to the vet and they didn't charge you another arm and a leg!

Before you call the vet about the Metacam, do a search here in this forum and read all the "user warnings". I am convinced that it caused my Callie to go into renal failure.

I have read some of the stuff about Metacam, and noticed that it was in high/frequent doses that problems were caused... his amount is really, really low... .18cc, 1x daily, 5 days. I am waiting for the vet to call back re: it.