What would you do? Vets can't find a problem

Hi there! I am hoping to get some insight on a very frustrating situation with one of my 2 cats. I have a 2 year old tabby boy who about ever 2-3 months has symptoms that no vet has been able to diagnose. It starts off with him rolling around a lot, almost seeming to get comfortable. He starts a howling and crying like meow that lasts for about 5-7 days. He also walks differently--low to the ground and kicks his back legs out. He seems to be restless during this time. He also will rub his chin on EVERYTHING he can and generally seems more needy. He eats about the same as usual. He's on Blue Buffalo Wilderness dry and Wellness grain free canned.

The first time this happened I took him to the vet who thought he may have a problem pooping although he didn't "seem" backed up. She did an x-ray and sure enough the little guy was completely backed up. She did an enema and all better. She also suggested I give a small bit of pumpkin to help him along. The next 4 or 5 times it happened, an enema seemed to do the trick. Then the vet did another x-ray and he was not backed up. Stool sample and urine analysis came back normal too. At this point, the vet suggested I was just misinterpreting his symptoms. She also said the food he's on wasn't worth it, and that Science Diet is good enough.

So the next flare up, I took him to see another vet and recorded his behavior at home to show the vet. That vet seemed to think it was a urine problem. But the urine analysis and blood work again came back normal. The vet said that is sometimes possible and suggested we start a UTI diet (royal canine). By the time we got the prescription diet, "whatever" had passed.

I'm uncomfortable giving him a UTI diet without KNOWING that he has UTI problems. It's so frustrating not knowing what is going on with him, because I can't help him. I've also racked up a pretty penny in vet bills because every time it happens I take him to the vet. I'm so scared something will go wrong, but, the vet has been of no use.

So what would you do? Does this sound familiar to anyone? Anything else I should be looking out for? Should I go ahead with the Royal Canine?

You know, when I first got him from the shelter they told me he was a girl. When I took him to the vet they said he was a boy. I will certainly look into that! Thank you.

Yes both vets did blood work which came back "normal". I feel irresponsible for not learning what "normal" meant to my vet. I've moved to a different state since then but my vet should be able to send me all his lab results and x-rays for me to give to the new vet right?

He eats BB Wilderness dry and Wellness grain free wet. He usually gets dry in the AM and wet in the evening.

During these periods, I also notice he/she poops and pees outside the litter box, maybe about once a day.

I got him from a humane society when he was about 6 months old. I started out fostering when he had a kitty cold and the rest was history. At his first vet appt., the doctor said he was already neutered! The vet said the other cat we adopted was also a boy and had not been neutered so THANKFULLY we had him neutered. We could have found this news out a very different way!

A neighbor has a few outdoor cats that my cats watch. In my old place, yes the peeing was bad because Jacky would pee somewhere and then Nicky would pee there too. His "sickness" just happened for the first time in our new house and someone peed or sprayed in a spare room. I attributed it to his sickness or his brother.


Thank you all for the insightful replies! I really do think my boy is a girl!! LOL I spent the rest of the night googling images of cat genitalia and I definitely see a difference between my two cats. I'm now convinced Jackson is a girl. I moved about a month ago and thought I would have more time to research vets in my area to find one I liked. But tomorrow I want to take shim to a vet to get a verdict on gender. I hope this will provide a resolution!

I feel bad for not getting her spayed sooner if this is the case. I'm also pissed my vet let me down. I can understand a mistake maybe early on with the gender when he was still young but she saw him for nearly 2 years. Seems like at some point the licensed doctor would have caught it? I put Jacky through so much unnecessary stress and procedures. Not to mention the $$.

Hi all! Thank you so much for the well wishes! This has been a stressful time but I feel hopeful that we are close to finding out what's going on with Jack-son/oline :-)

Over the weekend we took him to two different vets. The vet techs immediately said "oh that's a girl", then when the vet looked, he thought it was a boy. Another vet said they had a kitty who was a little bit of both in just a few weeks ago and wanted to do testing. Tomorrow we are taking him in for hormone testing. The vet wants to test the levels of testosterone. They could also do a surgery to see what he has down there, and if he is in fact a female, they could spay her in the same surgery. That seems like the better option to me.

If he is a little of both that'll make me feel a little less jipped by my previous vet.

Once we have more news I will certainly update you all! I've learned so much from this site and really appreciate everyone's kindness!

Ok here's the latest....no news! Lol

We are going to have the surgery done. They will look at the organs and if he/she is a girl they can spay her and only charge us for 1 surgery. We (my fiancee and I) think this is the better move as opposed to having the hormone testing, only to tell us what we think you all figured out for us. Only bad part is that his/her surgery isn't until Oct. 11.

Willowy---LOL I wondered the same thing! I sure feel bad for saying "my little boy" all this time now that I'm pretty sure she's a girl, I hope she won't resent me . His name was Jackson and now we are trying to commit Jacqueline to memory....FH calls her Jacqueline Kitty ONassis

Anyway, I'm really thankful for TCS. You all have been a tremendous help!

OK so kitty went to the vet this AM.

SHE IS A GIRL! Officially! The vet was 100% sure but we asked for testing just to be on the safe side.
She is not spayed and has been going into heat. Apparently it's not uncommon for some cats to have very little or no discharge.

His name was Jackson but now we are going to call her Jacqueline.

I am so relieved to have some end to this. It was such a stressful situation to not know what is wrong and not be able to help. A HUGE thank you to you all who tipped me off about this!

On the other hand-the vet was VERY concerned that the original vet did not pick this up. I plan on calling my vet, informing them of the situation and asking for at least part of my money back. I find it hard to believe that several x-rays, temperature takings, urine analysiseseses (lol), blood work, etc. would not have caught the fact that this was a female. I feel taken advantage of and the new vet agreed. What do you all think?

Yes we got the next available appt. for her to be spayed! And everyone else I tell the story to seems much more amused than I am...hopefully i won't be quite as upset as time goes on.