Simba has a UTI

I think I mentioned once or twice in the past month that Simba had peed outside his litter box, on some plastic in our upstairs, once or twice in the past few weeks. I really thought it was a behavior thing as it wasn't happening often.

He did it again this morning and I was easily able to take the urine sample (as he peed on plastic again) and get it to the vet within the 1 hour timeframe needed for testing.

They said he did have a little blood in his urine and gave me 7-10 days worth of 50 mg amoxy tablets to give him 2x/day.

I hope this takes care of it, as she mentioned scary things like taking a sample with a needle through his stomach, polyps or kidney stones as things to consider if it doesn't respond to the meds.

Yipes!!

I got a 'pill-er' to give him the pills -- will be interesting to see how that goes!

Good luck!!!

If your cat is crazy about soft treats and gobbles them down, you may be able to hide the pill in a treat if it's a small pill.

Actually, the 'pill-er' was a breeze!

Here is a pic of what it looks like

Glad it worked so well! Hopefully he'll be feeling better soon.

Is that that thing where you shoot the pill down their throat?

If the Amoxi doesn't do the trick, I would request Clavamox. Amoxi isn't really good clearing up UTI's.
If it does get to extracting urine from the bladder, don't panic. It's very quick, and they normally don't feel any pain. It's a good way for them to get a sample that hasn't been contaminated by anything.

Sandie

Do you think I should go with the Amoxy for the 7-10 days or just request a switch to Clamavox?

Am I right in assuming a UTI doesn't cause many other symptoms? He seems and has seemed absolutely fine -- running around like his wild self.....?

Thanks

If it were my kitty, I would ask for the Clavamox. I did some fairly in depth research on UTI's. One of my guys had severe problems with it. It all said either Clavamox, Baytril, or Zeniquin should be used. The Clavamox is the most common though

Sandie


Thanks for the advice!

Are there any side effects with the Clamavox versus the Amoxy?

I wonder why my vet recommended Amoxy? (I assume that is Amoxycillin?)

No, Amoxicillin and Clavamox had the same possible side effects. The only difference between the two is that Clavamox has Clavulanic Acid. Adding the clavulanic acid expands amoxicillin's spectrum and works well with soft tissue infections.

Tigger has had a few UTI's and she always gets clavamox. our 2 kittens, Minnie and Winnie, had a URI, and the ER vet gave them amooxydrops, which didnt clear their infections up totally, so I asked my vet for some clavamox, and it cleared it up.

I spoke with the vets this morning and they explained why they want to try the Amoxy first. They said Clavamox is warranted if staph is present, and that cannot be determined unless a urine sample is taken in their office and tested.

This was not the case (as I got the sample at home) so they suggest the first course of action is to try the Amoxy, if no results, then take the in office sample and determine next steps. Of, if I really wanted I could bring him in for the test.

I feel their answer is logical, and I am going to give the Amoxy a try.

Well Simba had been on Amoxy for 10 days and since last Weds I have been trying to get a sample. In the meantime, he hasn't peed outside the box in 10 days.

Well, this morning another peeing incident on the plastic again. I find it so odd that he only does this about every week to 10 days. I still wonder if it is behavioral.

Anyway, he has a vet appt for tomorrow night and they are going to take a urine sample. This way they can do the testing they need to get him on the right meds if needed (Clavamox) which they would not give me without a drawn urine sample.

ps. This morning, the pile of pee had a little splatter up on the wall, so I wonder if he sprayed instead of just peed. He is coming up on six months, so perhaps it's a spraying issue related to maturity. Again, though, he only does this like once every week or 10 days, and I don't understand why the infrequency if it is medically related. I guess I will learn more tomorrow night.

Is he not neutered yet? Could be time to do that!

Yes, the vet wanted to neuter him at around 6 months, but he said to call if we ran into any 'spraying issues' before then.

I'll bet the majority of your problems will be solved once he's fixed!

I'm surprised.. I thought they fix cats as young as 3 months My neighbors males were both fixed when she got them at 2 and 1/2 and 3 months.

Our vet feels it is best to wait until they are around 6 months.

My old vet had me wait until Spike was almost 7 months old. Those last two months I was so worried he'd just start spraying before the appointment. Luckily, we had no spraying issues... but I've always wondered why they didn't want to do it until the 7 month mark. When I asked, they said it was their routine.