Possible Cystitis. Thoughts??

Hi all,

So I just got back home from a conference about 2 hours ago and noticed my 3yo female, Kali, is straining in the litterbox, looks like she has to poop but nothing coming out. I check her bottom and see that she has some wet poop all around her bum and in her fur.

I call the cat sitter who was coming by 2 times a day to feed my 2 cats and empty litter box, etc. She says Kali was eating fine the whole time, stool has been hard, no vomiting.

I decide to just feed them dinner and wait and watch to see what happens but only Malibu eats (my other cat). Kali takes a few licks and walks away. They eat no dry food, only grain free canned and commercial raw. (They had no raw while I was away, the cat sitter fed them the grain free canned for breakfast and dinner from Sunday through today, Thursday)

Since Kali did not eat dinner, I made the decision to take her to the emergency vet because I think she is constipated. Emergency vet feels around and finds little to no stool and her bladder is fairly empty. He says she looks good, not dehydrated, pink gums and ears.

He says that he suspects Cystits and gave her a shot of antibiotics and sent me home with some oral antibiotics, Clavamox I believe. He couldn't get a urine sample to check for bacteria because her bladder had nothing in it.

I just wanted to run this by you all over here to see if this makes sense or if someone thinks these symptoms could be something else? Kali has never had bladder issues, eats NO dry food and should not be stressed. No changes in the home, etc. True, I was out of town and had a cat sitter stopping by but I travel for work about 4 times a year and have had the same cat sitter for the past 2 years so she has watched my cats for 8 trips now I think.

Does Cystitis make sense?

When you said she was straining in the litter box and there was poo around her bum, was there stool already in the box? I know when my Boo gets constipated sometimes he'll go back in the box and continue to push even though he already went, likely from general irritation and colon spasms.

It's possible that she was stressed this time with you being away. Stress can cause cystitis. I would suggest getting the urinalysis done, anyway. Keep an eye on her and make sure she is, in fact, peeing normally.

Thank you!!

There was no poop in the box when I got home yesterday. She had jumped in there about 3 times in a 30 minute time span which really made me feel like I had to take her to the vet.

He gave her the shot of antibiotics last night and I gave her a dose of the Clavamox this morning. I really wish we could have done a urinalysis last night because I hate giving medicine if I'm not sure if it is needed but she's doing better today.

She ate all of her breakfast and peed before I left for work. Normal size pee, no blood. And she ate about half her dinner tonight and another normal pee.

I guess im just going to finish the week of antibiotics. It was just very strange to me because I feel like since she has always eaten a wet food diet, she shouldn't have bladder problems.

Maybe nothing was wrong at all and I am just really paranoid?? But she was definitely straining really hard. Hard enough for some poop to dribble out and into her fur back there. (sorry if that is gross)

I don't think you're paranoid. You definitely noticed an unusual behavior and acted on it quickly.     This might be an isolated event.

Just FYI: Since Clavamox is an antibiotic and can potentially cause an upset stomach, it is usually suggested to give with food.

Thank you again for your feedback, I appreciate it!

I am giving the Clavamox after she eats and I'm also giving her 1/2 of a Nexabiotic capsule (a probiotic) about 3 hours after the antibiotic dose.

I will post an update if anything strange happens (hopefully not!)

Perfect!

Sending vibes that she's back to her old self soon... 

So Kali is doing fine on the Clavamox. Her stool is a little wet but not too bad. I think giving the probiotic exactly 3 hours after each antibiotic dose is helping tremendously or I know for a fact she would have bad diarrhea. 

Just a quick question (even though I only have 2 days left of the antibiotics): Is it OK to coat the probiotic pill in butter?

I usually give them their daily probiotic sprinkled on their meals but since Kali needs an antibiotic dose right after she eats, I have been pilling her 3 hours later instead. I know it isn't too safe to pill a cat without it being coated so I have been coating the pill in a bit of melted butter. Then once she swallows I syringe about 2oz of water for her to drink after (so the pill doesn't get stuck in her throat).

Is butter OK? Or would something else like vegetable oil be better?

   in advance!

Yes, I think a little butter is fine (and they usually like the taste!).

I used to use butter to coat Sebastian's gel caps, but I ended up switching to organic coconut oil because I wasn't sure if even the small amount of butter may aggravate his GI issues. He's a sensitive guy, but a little butter should be okay for Kali.

That's what I wanted to hear!

Maybe I will pick up some organic coconut oil to have on hand if needed for future pulling, just in case.

Thanks so much!

I use Nutiva organic coconut oil. It's actually solid when cold, semi-soft at room temp. It got warm in my area the past couple of days and it turned to liquid!    Don't get "fractionated" coconut oil. It's not the same thing.