Emergency vet or wait?

peeka73

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In 2011, I posted about my cats having UTI issues, and all have been resolved with switching to canned foods with added water.  My boy Tripper has done well on canned Purina UR food with added water and has not had a recurrence since.  

However, I've noticed oddness today.  For one, he's been licking his genitals a lot more times, when I happened to notice in the late afternoon.  He is going to the litterbox and peeing normal, but after exiting the litterbox, he'd clean his genitals right away.  He is eating and drinking normally, and other than this oddness, seems to be more reticent than usual, but otherwise fine.

Since he is peeing normal, would this constitute an emergency vet visit?  My regular vet doesn't open till Monday, hence my concern of using an emergency vet.  I am keeping an eye on him, so if he seems off, then I'll take him in, but he's one of those that need to be sedated with every vet visit.  I'd rather not cause him more stress than necessary.

Thoughts?
 
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peeka73

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Voted to just stay home for the night and keep an eye on him.  He still grooms his genitals here and there, but seems to have settled down.  Will keep a close eye on him tomorrow and see how things go.  He is all stretched out and snoozing away for now.  
 

catconcern

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Could u call the emergency vet and ask for an opinion? Good luck peeka. Keep us posted.
 

mnm

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Do you believe in using things like Apple Cider Vinegar until you get to the vet? Mikki had a uti and about a month later started showing signs again....in and out of the litterbox. We were going to take her to the vet after hubby got home from work, so I put ACV on the scruff of her neck..plus 1/4 tsp mixed with 1/4 tsp of water into her wet food.. and within the hour...she peed! I had read about it online and didn't think it would work... but something sure happened! We didn't take her to the vet...and I put it on the scruff of her neck for several days, as well as a teeny in her food...and symptoms completely disappeared. Obviously the vet is always the way to go as I know how serious those can be to a kitty, but in our case... it seemed to do the trick.... I hate suggesting things like that for someone else in case it's not the right solution for your kitty...but what I did was search apple cider vinegar and cat's uti and gave it a whirl. Have to be sure it's deleted though with water no matter how you give it to them.
 

lovewhiskers499

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Speaking from experience with this with 2 different cats, I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH -- Take your cat to the emergency vet right away.  Do not "wait and see." I lost my kitty, the love of my life, because of a severe urinary blockage.  I did take him to the emergency vet, but I still can't help but wonder if if would have not "waited and kept my eye on him" for the few hours before taking him the the pet ER, maybe he would still be in my arms today.

Our other cat experienced exactly what you are describing and we called the ER vet and they told us to bring him in right away.  As they are more expensive than the regular vet, they checking him out, expressed his bladder, and gave us pain medication for him as well as medicine for his UTI.  They said to just make sure he was given the meds and to be sure he was able to urinate, and as long as that was fine then we could wait and follow up for more in-depth treatment at our regular (and less costly) vet in the morning.

Please trust me on this.  Get him to the emergency vet - have them temporarily "patch him up" and get him the meds to keep it from getting worse and also to ease the pain that goes along with this issue.  Then do as I did and go to your regular vet when they are next open for full followup at less than ER charges.

Keep us updated on your kitty!!!
 
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peeka73

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OK.. that last response gave me a heart attack.  I just called the ER vet and explained the situation to them, to see if he needs to be seen right away.  According to the person that took the call, so long as my boy is peeing normally, he can wait till the regular vet visit. 

However, I am worried about him.  He just peed in the litterbox and produced a good hockey puck size of pee, but immediately started licking his genitals after he emerged from the box.  I will take him tomorrow to the emergency vet.  It is really late now, and I'm not so certain about driving out there at this hour.  

Thanks for the responses.  Oh, and I have been giving him the UTI-free to see if it helps him feel better.  But I'm not confident it will help him till Monday, so vet visit first thing tomorrow.
 

catconcern

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I'm with love whiskers actually. I'd take your cat to the emergency. I don't want to stress you out, but I think u should suck it up and drive but BE CAREFUL driving.
 
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peeka73

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I took him this morning and he has many crystals in his urine with some white blood cells.  The doc gave him an anti-inflammatory and pain meds.  Also checked his genitals to make sure there wasn't blockage, he's all clear there.  So he'll have to be S/D and then C/D food.  He was on Purina UR for years, but apparently it wasn't helping?  So for now, have him on the regimen of pain killers and antibiotic and then end of the week, will probably take him to my regular vet.  

I would have gone last night had they told me it was a priority.  I have poor night vision and have no one other than myself to do all the driving, so I had to weigh safety vs. immediacy. But I do appreciate the comments and suggestions.

It is just frightening how well they hide pain.  This is definitely not a recent development.
 

LTS3

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Glad to hear your cat is getting treatment for the urinary issues
  You don't need to keep your cat in the prescription food. The S/D can be fed temporarly to help with the crystals but after that, you can feed any canned food to keep the cat well hydrated and the urinary system healthy. Here's some info on how diet can help with urinary issues: http://catinfo.org/?link=urinarytracthealth
 
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