UTI

One round of antibiotics may NOT be enough!

My husband's big, 22 lb black cat started urinating outside of the box at about the same time that our kitty, 16 years old, had to be put down. The big one had never had an accident so off to the vet we went to find out that the cat had a SERIOUS UTI--according to our vet on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the worst, the infection was an ELEVEN.

After 14 days of a 21 day of heavy antibiotics and he started to act more like himself for a couple of days, he used the litter box for ONE day but then continued to urinate outside of the box.

My husband was thinking of putting his beloved cat down.

We took him back to the vet. After an ultrasound the vet said kitty had a bladder infection and gave him an injection of steroids.

He continued to urinate outside of the box.

We started to think it was a behavioral problem, maybe because of our old cat's death.

And my husband was getting fed up.

After several more days, after kitty finished the antibiotics, we took him back to the vet.  THE CAT STILL HAD AN UTI INFECTION.

He was put on another 21 day round of antibiotics and I insisted on a pain med for him, and 4 days later he used the box, and continued to use the box.

IT TOOK 3 VISITS TO THE VET for kitty to feel better.

He's jumping up on the bed to sleep where he used to; he's coming around to get his treats; he's himself again.

Please don't give up after one round of antibiotics for your cat!  If he's still not acting like himself or urinating in inappropriate places, have him checked again! And again.  AND AGAIN.

Always good advise.  Sometimes it's a matter of finding the RIGHT antibiotic, as not all UTI's are the same .

So glad your big boy is feeling better, and so sorry for the loss of your other older one.  I'll bet the two incidences were related, as stress can certainly bring on UTIs  

mrsgreenjeens said:

 
Always good advise.  Sometimes it's a matter of finding the RIGHT antibiotic, as not all UTI's are the same

.

So glad your big boy is feeling better, and so sorry for the loss of your other older one.  I'll bet the two incidences were related, as stress can certainly bring on UTIs

 

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Also, some bacteria are becoming resistant to some antibiotics.  Great that you were persistent in finding the answer for your kitty and sorry about the loss of your other kitty.

It's so good to hear a success story every once in a while. Thank you for not giving up on your kitty.

Especially since he is male, you should think about what to feed him now. Was he on dry food? Dry food has more carbs, which raise the urine pH and make it more likely for bacteria to breed. Wet food will also help flush out the kidneys and urinary tract.

If you can get a mid-stream urine sample by putting a pH test strip in the stream, you can test the urine pH and adjust diet as necessary.

Thank you all for the encouragement and sympathy.  I couldn't bear the thought of my husband losing his buddy---.  

Shadow, our big boy, was on dry food but now gets wet food which the vet recommended on the first visit, with a snack of dry. He's still on the same antibiotic as the first round and I think it's upsetting his stomach a little but he's still using the litter box and has a week more of the meds, so we'll stay the course.

I don't want to cause Shadow more stress right now by trying to catch a urine sample, but thank you for the info. Once he's a little more settled I'll try it. 

I didn't know that emotional upset could cause a UTI in our kitties so many thanks to mrsgreenjeens for the info.

And we've received our older kitty's ashes---

Shadow is doing so well! He jumped up on my husband's lap today for a 2 hour nap which Shadow hasn't done for 2 months. He's a little grumpier than before his UTI but he might be figuring out that he's the senior in the house and garden. We also spoiled him when he was sick.

Our younger kitty is coming back around to us too.  She's skittish but she wasn't coming near for her scratches and now she is.

I wonder how long Shadow had the UTI before we caught it.

Shadow had a little bout of vomiting today and he defecated close to it, but the area where the litter box is was partially closed off. He's a big cat and needs some room. So we'll make sure from now on that the area is wide opened for him.

And we did put the other litter box away yesterday so he only had one choice open to him---.