UTI Problems

Hi all,

So yesterday my 4 month old kitten was diagnosed with a bad UTI. No blockage thankfully. We did an injection of antibiotics because I will be out of town next week and don't trust my boyfriend to administer oral antibiotics but last night I noticed my 1 year acting like she has a UTI as well. I have an appt later on this evening.

If she does have a UTI I don't think it is coincidental that they both have a UTI and it must be something I'm doing wrong

I feed them each a 5.5 oz can of wet food, half in the morning and half in the evening either Merrick or natures variety then they graze on blue buffalo kitten or Merrick kitten through out the day. When I'm home they don't have access to a water fountain, they just have ceramic water bowls but when I am home there is a running water fountain. I keep them separate during the day because sometimes their play still gets too rough. When I am home is when they have access to the fountain. I am now buying them each a fountain for their personal rooms. I have three litter boxes that I have mixed litter in. Precious cat x worlds best unscented in the community one, worlds best in one and precious cat in the other. The reason being is because my girl likes the precious cat litter better but my boy likes the worlds best better. Two of the litter boxes are the same and my girl has a different litter box. She doesn't like the litter box shape and my boy thinks it is a bed so I am going to replace it today with the same shape as the other two. I clean them nightly and wash them every week to two weeks depending on their condition but since adding a third litter box they haven't needed to be washed on a weekly basis.

I noticed my boy gets diarrhea off and on so I would like to look into seeing what I can do for sensitive stomach wet food, maybe more limited ingredient cans. I'm sure that's what is potentially a cause leading to his UTIs but my girl doesn't.

In all honesty no, it doesn't sound like you are doing anything wrong. Sometimes these things just happen, and it woulds like pure bad luck especially because they are so young.

I'd just get your other cat to the vet ASAP for a check up and other than that keep on as you are.  

 to you.

tulosai said:

 
In all honesty no, it doesn't sound like you are doing anything wrong. Sometimes these things just happen, and it woulds like pure bad luck especially because they are so young.

I'd just get your other cat to the vet ASAP for a check up and other than that keep on as you are.  

 to you.

Click to expand...

 It's not your fault. Really.  All kinds of factors can lead to UTIs. Genetics is a big one. You feed your cats a good diet, and its just sheer bad luck that this has happened. It does sound like your boy has an issue with something in his diet if he's getting diarrhoea fro time to time. Trying a limited ingredient diet sounds like a good idea from that perspective, but also look out for fillers. My girl doesn't handle guar gum well so I avoid that, along with carrageenan and another gum whose name escapes me for the moment. It's all about what works for you.
[article="29715"]Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease Flutd  [/article][article="30756"]Tips To Increase Your Cat S Water Intake  [/article]

Thank you columbine

You say your kitten was diagnosed with a "bad UTI"

How was it diagnosed? A urinalysis? How was it collected? Have they done a culture?

What were the symptoms? 

What was the injectable antitbiotic? Convenia??

A 4 month old kitten with a urinary tract INFECTION sounds about as likely as me winning the lottery...

I'm new here and have a question as well about uti. Can you please tell me how to post a question I cannot figure it out.

[article="24982"]How To Use The Forums  [/article]
This should answer your question @delilah77  

Furmummy said:

You say your kitten was diagnosed with a "bad UTI"
How was it diagnosed? A urinalysis? How was it collected? Have they done a culture?
What were the symptoms? 
What was the injectable antitbiotic? Convenia??
A 4 month old kitten with a urinary tract INFECTION sounds about as likely as me winning the lottery...

Click to expand...

I'm not 100% sure how it was collected because she took him to the back. From what I understood it was straight from the bladder, a technical term was used, and also palpated and did an u/s to make sure everything was ok. I get frequent UTIs myself and it sounded like what my doctor does which is to draw directly from the source.

Then they use a strip, the only thing that makes no sense to me, which will let them know if he has a UTI and look under a microscope to make sure there is just bacteria and no crystals. She said there were no crystals, just a lot a lot of bacteria. She even reiterated how much bacteria there was at my second cats appointment yesterday evening. Yes the antibiotics were convenia.

As for symptoms he was drinking a looooot of water on top of the wet food I feed him and peeing a loooooot. I mean the amount of pee clumps I pick up for two cats is crazy but I've never had two cats before so idk, I didn't really question it. Two or three weeks ago he peed outside of the litter box right in front of me as I was cleaning it. I didn't think much of it, he is four months old and I thought he just had an accident. I had only two litter box at that time and had just cleaned it, he had seen me clean it and he then followed me to the other litter box to clean and that's when he peed so it was odd but I thought he was making a statement. Then on Monday he decided to start laying in one of the litter boxes which was definitely odd. I still didn't think UTI 100% but I was a little concerned so I mentioned the drinking, the one accident and now the laying in the box to the vet during his booster appt which happened to be Tuesday so she said they'd check for UTI and thus they found the bacteria.

And no they didn't do a culture.

Update on my Second Cat

So her appointment yesterday didn't turn up a positive or negative result because her pee was too concentrated for any bacteria to be visible. It did show a lot of protein which could be an indication of a UTI but no red or white blood cells that are also normally an indication of a UTI so the protein could just be from her urine being so concentrated, as explained to me by the vet. She did have crystals but not enough for the vet to want to do anything about them. She said they could be there due to stress, maybe even because of my 4 month old bothering her. She was unconcerned about it though at this time. I have witnessed two cats need surgery and die from crystal blockage, not mine but a serious boyfriends' family years ago, so I'm a little more concerned and not happy she has any amount of crystals (slightly traumatized). the vet wants to see her again when I bring in Toulouse for his follow up to see how she is doing and we will go from there.