urinating in little drops

chloe3404

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My 12 year old baby Chloe has started peeing in tiny drops this morning. She will squat down and try to pee, it looks like, but when she moves from that spot there is a tiny drop of urine. I put her in her litterbox, but I am not sure she did anything. Could this be old age or a sign of a UTI. I plan on taking her to our vet on Monday. I already ordered her some "blatter control" supplements. Would I need to bring a urine sample to the vet with me when i take her? Thanks a whole bunch................
 

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A sign of a UTI or bladder infection. She is in EXTREME discomfort, and if there's any way not to wait until Monday, I'd go that route. She's peeing little droplets because her bladder/urinary tract are really irritated and it feels like she has to pee - but when she does try, it burns and really hurts her.
She's beginning to associate her litter box with the severe pain, which is why she's stopped using it.

If you can find a vet open Saturday, or an emergency vet, or if your vet has an after-hours-emergency option, I wouldn't wait.

And if her bladder is empty, there's no way to get a urine sample. Otherwise they can express her bladder at the vet, or do a needle biopsy. But they can only do those if there's urine in her bladder, and there most likely isn't.
 

strange_wings

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If she's not able to pee her bladder could be full and they can get a sample there. You can gently feel around where her bladder is and should easily be able to tell.

Do not wait until Monday. This is a medical emergency that left untreated may possibly kill your cat.

Sorry to be blunt with the last bit, but it is serious.
You need to have full blood work done on her to check her kidneys, liver, thyroid, etc. With luck it's just a UTI that can be treated... but at her age it could also be her kidneys... and if you leave it and she can't pee properly, it will be her kidneys that will be in danger of damage.

Call the vet now!
 

rad65

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You should get her in to a vet ASAP, as that sounds like a blockage and not just a UTI. While more common in males, females can also get blocked up and it can kill her in a pretty short period of time if she doesn't get it treated.
 
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chloe3404

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Oh, man. I am freaking out right now. There is not s single vet open on the weekends, and I live very very fom an emergency vet clinic. I hate this right now. Chloe is my little girl and I would do anything for her, but knowing that I can't get her to a vet until Monday makes me so sick of myself. I just started back at my job and don't really have a lot of money, so whatever news I am told, I believe I am going to have to make that Ultimate decision. Any cat owner knows what I mean by that. Thanks for the all the advise, Really.
 

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shelters may have a vet on staff or be able to steer you in right direction. Call the vets in phone book to see maybe one changed hours or has a cell/emergency contact number
 

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Oh, my goodness. Yes, you need to get your cat to a vet today. Please don't wait to Monday. Call your vet's office and see if they have a referral to an e-vet. If the e-vet is far, it's worth the trip.

I hope you can find a way to finance the care of your cat. Being a pet owner means that one has to be ready for just this kind of emergency. See if you can use a credit card, or that of a friend or family member to pay for the care your cat needs and deserves. Twelve is really not that old for a cat. The life expectancy is 14 or 15, and I've had several cats live over 18.

But, I'll talk to you more about this later. What you really need to do right now, RIGHT NOW, is make arrangements to get your poor hurting kitty to a vet, TODAY! She's relying on you to help her.

Good luck, and please keep us posted. Because we care, we really do.

Robin
 

carolina

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Originally Posted by chloe3404

Oh, man. I am freaking out right now. There is not s single vet open on the weekends, and I live very very fom an emergency vet clinic. I hate this right now. Chloe is my little girl and I would do anything for her, but knowing that I can't get her to a vet until Monday makes me so sick of myself. I just started back at my job and don't really have a lot of money, so whatever news I am told, I believe I am going to have to make that Ultimate decision. Any cat owner knows what I mean by that. Thanks for the all the advise, Really.
Chloe, don't be completely scared ahead of time that this is going to be something so expensive you won't be able to pay. If you are talking about euthanasia, that costs money too... And probably both are on the same ballpark here. So, with that in mind, here is what IMO, you should do:
Call the nearest vet to you - I know it will be closed, but on it's answering machine it will give you the nearest emergency vet. Go there.
A couple of resources: You can apply for carecredit and use it immediately to pay the bill - apply here: http://www.carecredit.com/vetmed/
Also, by the size of the bladder they can see if she is blocked or not. They can also run an x-ray for that. Provided that she is not blocked, everything, including the antibiotics to take home, will set you down a few hundred $$$.
My advice to you is to not do the blood tests, and all that stuff on the E-vet - it is very expensive. In there, do what is necessary - see if she is blocked, get the antibiotics, pain meds, so she can start peeing again and take care of the infection. Then at her regular vet, you take care of the rest. You take care of this problem first, then the rest. One step at a time... Ok? What she needs now is to take care of her pain/UTI - that is the urgent issue now, IMHO you need to concentrate on that.
We will be here for you...
 

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One step at a time.

Peeing in drops, IMO, is an emergency, but not one that usually threatens the life of a female cat.

While it is POSSIBLE she's blocked, it is FAR more likely that it's "just" an infection. The vet can feel her bladder. If it is empty, they'll put her on antibiotics! You probably won't even need an x-ray.

I've had UTIs before. I don't get x-rays and blood panels done. But it is something that is insanely uncomfortable and extremely painful.

There ARE other things that could be a problem - but if there's no blood in her drops, that lowers the probability even further that it's anything other than "just" a UTI.

But like Carolina says - one step at a time. A vet will understand that funds are limited, and an e-vet will understand that you want everything done at your own vet if possible, and you just want to handle the emergency.


...but it is definitey premature to even be thinking about "the ultimate decision." !!!!!!

to you and your baby!

P.S. We live in a very rural area. There is an e-vet about 45 minutes - 1 hour away from us. But our local vet, 10 minutes away, has an answering service. When the office is closed, you leave a message. The vet calls you and determines whether or not there IS an emergency, and if necessary will meet us at the vet clinic. It is certainly worth calling vets in the area to see if anyone has "after hours" service.
 

ldg

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Originally Posted by rad65

You should get her in to a vet ASAP, as that sounds like a blockage and not just a UTI. While more common in males, females can also get blocked up and it can kill her in a pretty short period of time if she doesn't get it treated.
Sorry, but there is NO WAY to distinguish between small drops coming from an empty bladder or a blocked full bladder. The presentation is exactly the same. With several of our boys having experienced both on numerous occasions, I simply must disagree with you.

If this were a male cat, then I'd lean towards thinking blockage. But with a female, as it is rare, it is far more likely to be an irritated bladder or urinary tract, not a blockage.

To the O.P.: the concern with a blockage is that urine has no way of passing when there is a blockage. It backs up into the system and can cause toxicity that causes the cat to die. This can happen within 48 hours. But the construction of males and female cats is very different, and it is actually rare for a female to block. It is much more of a risk with male cats, and even then, a vet can sometimes unblock a cat just by expressing (squeezing) the bladder - it does not always require hospitalization for catheterization.
 

ldg

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Originally Posted by strange_wings

If she's not able to pee her bladder could be full and they can get a sample there. You can gently feel around where her bladder is and should easily be able to tell.
It wasn't ever easy for us. Tuxie's bladder always "felt" full, and when he had the crystals embedded in his bladder wall but wasn't blocked, it was always empty. Clearly we didn't know what we were doing. But for those that don't know what they're doing, I would NOT say "it's easy" to tell if the bladder is full or not.
 
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chloe3404

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OK, I will try to be rational now. I retract my statement about the "ultimate decision", I was thinking way too far ahead. I am now mad I even said that. Right now, my cat Chloe is resting peacefully on a blanket in the sun(she loves to sunbathe) She is eating normally and has been rolling around/playing. She also used the litterbox(normally). Currently, I think is she is ok and if anything gets worse, I am taking her to a e.vet tomorrow first thing. Either way,I am still taking her Monday to the vet. My mother says that I tend to over-react when I am panicing. Trust me, if something was really really wrong at this second, i would not hesitate to get my cat help, but I am just praying that she will hang in there and be alright to go Monday.
 

ldg

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If there's anything we can relate to, it's panicking about our kitties health.


If she took a normal pee, she should be fine to see the vet Monday. If she hasn't seen a vet in a while, it would be worth talking to them about the cost of getting a "Senior Panel" done. Here, that blood work with the extra kidney/liver function tests costs about $185.

There's no way to know what caused the peeing in drops without the visit, so best to keep that appointment.


for both of you!
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by LDG

It wasn't ever easy for us. Tuxie's bladder always "felt" full, and when he had the crystals embedded in his bladder wall but wasn't blocked, it was always empty. Clearly we didn't know what we were doing. But for those that don't know what they're doing, I would NOT say "it's easy" to tell if the bladder is full or not.
I'm sorry that you're not able to tell?
A simple full, semi-full, and empty bladder is easy to determine in most cats provided one knows where the bladder is.
If you somehow took that part of my post as meant to replace vet care, it was not (hence why I told the OP to call the vet…). It's only able to give you a vague idea of whether there's anything for the vet to collect, it's why they palipate the bladder upon examination, too. If you wish to further debate the validity of it, do so with your vet.

My concern here is that due to the cat's age that it isn't a UTI or crystals/stones. I really hope this isn't the case but due to her age consider it a possiblity.
Good luck.
 

ldg

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Originally Posted by strange_wings

If you wish to further debate the validity of it, do so with your vet.
Definitely not doubting the validity of palpitating the bladder to see if it's full or empty. I trust our vet to let us know. We were not good at it. What I disagreed with is calling it "easy" to do - especially for someone who's never tried to do it before.
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by LDG

Definitely not doubting the validity of palpitating the bladder to see if it's full or empty. I trust our vet to let us know. We were not good at it. What I disagreed with is calling it "easy" to do - especially for someone who's never tried to do it before.
It depends on the person, then. I was able to direct (just told him the general area and to be gentle) my DH on how to do it, should I not be here for some reason and the vet asks.
As long as one is gentle checking doesn't cause any harm. It's no different than say checking your cat's ears and teeth/gums - provided that the person looking doesn't think gunky ears and diseased gums are healthy a person can tell what isn't. All it would do for the OP is make them able for her to say to the vet " I think so" not necessarily a "yes, I'm certain my cat's bladder is ____".

If the bladder feels full, something is making kitty unable to pee. Not being able to do so and having a full bladder for hours leads to acute renal failure.
Having an empty bladder but feeling the need to pee is bad, but not as likely to kill within hours.
An E-vet or a regular vet reluctant to come in or treat on limited funds may ask.

And just because blockages are rarer in female cats seems like a poor reason to dismiss that concern. Lots of health issues get classified as "rare" but that doesn't help the individual who gets it.. in fact that usually leads to it being dismissed and not treated.
 

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Originally Posted by chloe3404

I will definetly do that without a doubt. Thank-u
The most common urinary tract infection signs are going to be doing it outside the litter box and very commonly, too, is going back to the litter box or that same place they are going frequently over and over and over - and so it is generally very noticeable. If being in there every 3 minutes is a new development, your cat probably is blocked or, in females, at least ill with cystitis (UTI, Bladder Infection/inflammation). Through unfortunate experience of having had one of each in two kitties. Also when my guy was was totally blocked, and in extreme pain, he would sit in the box for 15-20 minutes at a time...
 
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chloe3404

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Update on my cat Chloe. She has used her litterbox several times after the craziness this morning. She has peed really good. She has even jumped up in my lap and ate her dinner. All normal things. I looked at the urine before she buried it and it seemed normal. No crystals or foamy like stuff. I am still planning on taking her to ther vet Monday morning to have a senior panel done, and what the heck, maybe I'll even get her a new collar while I am at it....
 

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Originally Posted by chloe3404

Update on my cat Chloe. She has used her litterbox several times after the craziness this morning. She has peed really good. She has even jumped up in my lap and ate her dinner. All normal things. I looked at the urine before she buried it and it seemed normal. No crystals or foamy like stuff. I am still planning on taking her to ther vet Monday morning to have a senior panel done, and what the heck, maybe I'll even get her a new collar while I am at it....
Just for good measure, I would ask for a urinalysis....
 
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