Katie has a UTI / reaction to clavamox

kattiekitty

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Hi all,
I'm back again with a health issue. Anyways, my cat Kattie has been diagnosed with a urinary tract infection. We got a puppy 3 and a half weeks ago and I am wondering if stress has anything to do with it. We have been giving everyone equal attention and preventing the puppy from traumatizing her as much as possible, though he did want to play with her but we told him no.
She has been eating, drinking peeing and pooping fine until yesterday morning when I noticed her go to the litter box 5 times in the span of a half hour. She had eaten her breakfast fine, but I took her to the E vet as I suspected a UTI when I noticed red spots on her bed. They did a UA and found blood, protein, and bacteria. She was prescribed clavamox and buprenex for pain. She was sedated there as she was fractious for the UA. Anyways, she was a little bent out of shape last night and groggy but ate dinner fine. I gave her the clavamox and towards later evening she was hiding and licking her lips which she does when nauseous. ( I have experience with that when she gets constipated) she didn't want her evening treats either.
She did drink from her fountain and peed 2 good puddles, but this morning she refused breakfast but did eat a treat.
I called the e vet again and they wanted to switch her off clavamox and just do amoxicillian and also prescribed cerenia for nausea. I gave her the cerenia when I got home but will wait until dinner for the amoxicillian. Hopefully she will have a better appetite then. We are also going to my parents for Easter so the puppy will be gone and she will have some peace and quiet. Should I be concerned or am I right thinking the clavamox made her nauseous? She was eating before the clavamox despite the UTI. She has never had a UTI in her almost 10 years so I am surprised. She also sets mostly canned with added water because of her chronic constipation. She gets a tablespoon of natural balance dry because she was a kibble junky most of her life. I'd say she eats 90 percent wet 10 percent dry now. I really hope this doesn't become a chronic thing. I've tried feliway which is expensive and didn't change anything. I probably won't refill it when it runs out.
Any ideas and comments are welcome. I just want her to eat again as when she eats, I know she is feeling better. She will refuse food when ever she doesn't feel well. Another thing is she is on 2.5 mg prednisilone for springtime allergies, but it is given every three days.
Man with the new puppy, an ailing rabbit and now poor Kattie, I am going to have a nervous breakdown:-(
 

stephenq

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Hi there

I'm sorry for all the troubles! And yes stress can play a factor in all this.   Clavamox can cause vomiting, especially if given on an empty stomach but it isn't common.  Are you letting her eat first?  Amoxi is "milder" than Clavamox so hopefully that change plus the cerenia will do the trick.  Let us know ok?
 

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Aw, I'm so sorry! :hugs: I'm glad she was changed to Amoxicillin, I've heard of so many kitties having issues (long term!) as a result of using clavamox. Our vet uses Zenequin, and we've had good success with that. But yes, stress most certainly could have contributed to the problem. Cats seem to take stress out on their bladders - and the inflamed bladder is more easily impacted by any bacteria. :(

Antibiotics in general can impact appetite. If she doesn't start eating on her own by tomorrow, I would assist feed her in order to avoid any problems with her liver. Cats aren't "built" to do without food for long.

Hope she feels better soon! :vibes: :vibes: :vibes:
 
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kattiekitty

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Hi guys!
Thanks for the responses! We just got home from my parents and she did greet us at the door as dinner was late. She ate a few bites of her canned food and about 15 freeze dried chicken treats. She doesn't normally get that many but I just wanted to make sure she is eating something. She isn't completely normal but better than she was earlier. I decided to hold off on the amoxicillian until tomorrow just to help her get her appetite back to normal. Also when we got home, she went to the litterbox and peed a big puddle instead of the little spots she's been doing. She is still smacking her lips some so I do think that she still is somewhat nauseous.
My poor kitty! I feel so bad like I caused this by bringing the puppy into our home. She used to be around dogs all the time so I didn't think she would take it so badly. My male cat outweighs the pup by about 8 pounds so is showing him who's boss. My male cat will chase the pup and then they take turns playing chase. When he's had enough Oscar, my cat will swat the pup but without claws extended and then the pup knows playtime is over. Kattie however isn't playful and the pup will try to play. We have been teaching him to "leave it" and so he has stopped bothering her as much. She has access to high places and plenty of food and water and litterbox spots and the pup is crated if we aren't supervising 100 percent. Hopefully things will get better as he gets older and she gets more used to him. He isn't a big dog and will be between 17-20 pounds max and he is a quick learner so hopefully he will eventually ignore her.
 

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Personally, I find puppy energy very stressful, so I can imagine your cat does too.  As a human, I can go into another room and close the door.  As a cat, I cannot do this without your help.  If you have a section of the house or even just one room that you could make puppy-free for her by placing a baby gate (with a cat-sized opening) in a doorway, stairwell or hall, that would provide her a space of her own again where she could relax. Her food, a comfy cat bed, and her litter could be on the puppy-free area.   My daughter did this when she remarried, since she had two cats and he had a dog.  They put a gate on the stairs, and the dog was allowed on one level whereas the cats could choose by strolling through the cat-sized hole in the baby gate.  One cat (who had never known a dog before) became the dog's best friend, and the other cat (who was a rescued street cat) moved into the dog-free level of their house and claimed it as his own.  Everyone is happy now.
 
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kattiekitty

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Yeah we do have baby gates and everything she needs is in my bedroom. However, the puppy is smaller than the cats so a cat sized opening would be a puppy sized opening too:-). I do work from home though so I monitor where she wants to go and let her. Right now she is snoozing under my end table in the cat bed in the living room. The puppy is playing there but he is staying away from her. She did eat pretty well this morning and was meowing for breakfast which is more normal for her. She also ate her treats so I did give her the amoxicillian as she had eaten a good amount. Later this morning I will give another dose of cerenia so that it is close to the 24 hour dosage. Hopefully she will be on the mend. Last night she hopped up on the bed and laid on my chest purring which is also a sign that she is feeling a bit better. Here's to hoping the amoxicillian doesn't make her nauseous too.
 

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Hmmmm, that does defeat the purpose of the baby gates if the puppy is smaller than the cat.  Your barricade would have to be something the cat could climb and the puppy could not.  I'm glad you are training the puppy to "leave it" meaning her, because if she were always staying up high, she might have been waiting too long between litter box breaks.  As for the Clavamox, I have not had a problem with it causing nausea in cats and we've used it for many year as the first go-to antibiotic because it is so well tolerated by most cats.  However, plain amoxicillin without the clavulen may work just fine, and it does sound like she's getting better in general.  Let us know if you develop any creative climbable puppy barriers by posting your great idea in the Care & Grooming forum, which covers most of the "equipment" and accessories we use with our animals.
 
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kattiekitty

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Unfortunately she isn't much of a climber because she is blind. Though she will scale the cat tree no problem. If there is a barrier in her way she will wait for you to remove it:/ Anyways, I am thinking she might have a penicillin sensitivity in general. It wouldn't surprise me because the reason she is blind is a baytril sensitivity. She was looking so improved this morning and ate breakfast and treats and came out to socialize. I gave her the amoxicillian and her cerenia and two hours later she is looking punkyvand refusing treats. She is meat loafing and licking her lips again. I did give her her miralax just in case she is starting to back up as she does get chronically constipated due to a narrow pelvic canal from an old fracture before we got her. She has been well regulated in that aspect and hasn't had an issue and has been regular. I made an appt with our regular vet, well her associate who is also really good at 2:30 today. She did fine with clindamycin a few months ago for a toe infection so not all antibiotics affect her, but I do think it might be more than a coincidence that she is feeling pukey after having her clavamox and now amoxicillian.
 
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kattiekitty

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Well we are going to try yet another antibiotic. The vet feels that she is sensitive to the penicillin family. She unfortunately had bad diarrhea in the carrier on the way to the vet so we are pretty sure the amoxicillian is making her feel bad. She says she felt gassy but not a super painful abdomen. She gave her some subq fluids to help flush her bladder and we are to continue the cerenia and buprenex for the next few days. She prescribed zeniquin for the antibiotic this time however I'm not to start it until her appetite is more normal. We got home and she was a little more active. She did come out for dinner however she ate only a few bites. She did eat a few treats and now is resting on the big bed in the living room rather than hiding. She still doesn't look like she feels the greatest, but better than this morning after the amoxicillian. Poor girl! I hope we can get this thing under control!
 

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Well we are going to try yet another antibiotic. The vet feels that she is sensitive to the penicillin family. She unfortunately had bad diarrhea in the carrier on the way to the vet so we are pretty sure the amoxicillian is making her feel bad. She says she felt gassy but not a super painful abdomen. She gave her some subq fluids to help flush her bladder and we are to continue the cerenia and buprenex for the next few days. She prescribed zeniquin for the antibiotic this time however I'm not to start it until her appetite is more normal. We got home and she was a little more active. She did come out for dinner however she ate only a few bites. She did eat a few treats and now is resting on the big bed in the living room rather than hiding. She still doesn't look like she feels the greatest, but better than this morning after the amoxicillian. Poor girl! I hope we can get this thing under control!
I have my female kitty on a combination of clavamox/amoxicillin at the moment to take care of an infection. She has had no problems with this, but I believe the pain killers she was getting, caused some loose stool. If your kitty has been on pain killers, it could be this that caused the diarrhea and vomiting?

If you are going to continue the antibiotics, it would be a really good thing to do some probiotics at the same time. Antiobiotics are not selective, and will kill off the good bacteria along with the bad. Probiotics work to replenish good bacteria, and are very beneficial in balancing gut flora which in turn improves digestion and aids in better immune function. Probiotics may also help to correct the constipation.

Hope your kitty can start to feel better soon! ...
 
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kattiekitty

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Yeah she is getting a probiotic already to help with her constipation issues. I am about 90 percent sure it was the antibiotic because I about two hours after getting it she acts nauseous. After the pain meds she acts loopy but will still eat. Towards yesterday evening she was a little more interested in food. This morning she seems a little more chipper and ate almost her normal amounts she peed a good amount in the litterbox as well. I am going to give her a day before starting the zenequin and cross my fingers that she doesn't have an adverse reaction to that as well.
 

oneandahalfcats

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Yeah she is getting a probiotic already to help with her constipation issues. I am about 90 percent sure it was the antibiotic because I about two hours after getting it she acts nauseous. After the pain meds she acts loopy but will still eat. Towards yesterday evening she was a little more interested in food. This morning she seems a little more chipper and ate almost her normal amounts she peed a good amount in the litterbox as well. I am going to give her a day before starting the zenequin and cross my fingers that she doesn't have an adverse reaction to that as well.
That's really unfortunate about the nausea on the clavamox 
  Its hard to see them struggle with the meds. Hope the zenequin can work better for her than the clavamox  


Here is a link to a factsheet with a bit of info on Zenequin : http://www.petmd.com/pet-medication/marbofloxacin-zeniquin. There is another member here, @emuhawk, who has her kitty on this currently.
 
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kattiekitty

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Yeah it is hard that she is so sensitive to medications. I always worry when I have to give her stuff. She did eat some more this afternoon and drank water. She also peed a large pee clump in the litter box so that is good. Flushing out the bad stuff. She still is really sleepy and did snooze most of the day, but that is probably the buprenex as it does make her groggy. I was just worried that she hadn't really drank until he afternoon but I saw her lapping at the fountain so that's good. She also came out a bit when I had the puppy crated for his nap so I do know that she doesn't like him. However he won't go near her now that we've scolded him a few times that he got too close. He steers clear of her whole area now. He is really a smart guy,, just a bouncy puppy:-) if all continues to improve, I'm going to start the zeniquin tomorrow morning, that way if she does have an adverse reaction, I can still go to the daytime practice instead of the emergency vet. Here's to hoping that it will be the drug that works!
 

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I had no idea she was blind.  That would definitely raise the puppy stress factor.  Blind cats do wonderfully in general, but they don't like change -- don't move anything suddenly (if rearranging furniture, do it gradually) -- and a puppy is a moving object full of energy.  I'm glad your puppy is actually listening to you and leaving her lots of space.  She obviously feels safer when he is crated for his nap, so maybe you should give him more "naps" during the day in order to give her some relaxed time.  While he is out, even if he isn't actually bothering her, she must always have her ears and other senses trained on him since she can't actually see him.  He's probably noisy so that helps, but when he's in the crate and quiet, she knows she is safe like she used to be before he came.  Removing stress as best you can will certainly help her heal faster. 
 
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kattiekitty

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Yeah she became blind after an overdose of baytril:-( apparently it is a rare reaction to the drug. She has done very well though and other than seeing her pupils huge most people don't even realize she is blind. She will jump on the bed, couch and cat tree and also on my drafting table to get into the window, so there are certain places she is willing to jump. I have a bell on my other cat so he can't sneak up on her and the tags jingle on the puppy's collar so she cN have an idea where he is. I have been giving him more crate time as he is used to the crate now. He now knows to steer clear of her pretty much. I watched him walk wide around her to avoid being near her which is great. He does play with my other cat. They play chase which is really cute, and it is my cat that starts the play!
Anyways, I am thinking Katie is feeling better today. She came to me this morning in bed and purred on my chest which is her normal routine, she also ate breakfast although left a little bit. I gave her the zeniquin and 3 hours later she is still acting normals she ate the rest of her breakfast and some treats I offered. She drank from her fountain and peed a normal clump size. I am happy zeniquin is once a day so less trauma from being medicated, hopefully it will do the trick. Fingers crossed that she continues to improve. I always worry about her as she is getting older and I always think the worst, even if something is relatively minor.
 

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I'm glad to hear she's feeling better.  The purring on the chest routine is always a good sign.  Also she has not acted nauseous after the firt dose of Zeniquin, and it's only once a day so she'll probably do fine on it.  Keep us posted!
 
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