Possible UTI?

Hello! 

My little 8 month old spayed female kitty went to the vet yesterday for a check-up. She is a very healthy girl but the vet noticed some dried blood around her vulva. The vet sent me home with a kit so I could get a urine sample. The kit included a plastic tupperware container with those little black beads (which definitely did NOT fool my cat). I spent almost my whole day trying to get a sample from her but she was terrified of the container and seemed very stressed since she was isolated. I was researching this problem and almost every website says it is a UTI which could easily be cured with low dose antibiotics. She has no other symptoms besides the little tiny bit of dried blood. The problem is, the vet we saw yesterday seemed like she only wanted to take our money which was very disappointing... Could they give her antibiotics without the urinalysis? We are currently going through a tough time financially and I cannot afford all of these vet visits. Have any of you had a similar experience? Also, if you want i could try to take a picture of what the blood looks like.

Thank you!

My Chula had an UTI and the vet collected urine but actually prescribed the antibiotic without doing anything other than looking for crystals.  It might have been more effective to have had an actual urinaylsis done that ID'd the actual bacteria involved because it took awhile to get the right antibiotic.  Anyway, he gave her a shot right away, even before examining the urine, so I think it is true that some vets do treat with an antibiotic as a matter of course when a UTI is suspected.

If you can't collect the urine in the container, some people have had luck using clean aquarium gravel in place of litter and then collecting the urine that way.  You just tip the box and pour the urine from the bottom into a container.  The other thing is that the vet can actually collect the urine at the office.  If the bladder is full, this is just done by squeezing the kitty's sides and collecting the urine when it comes out.  Otherwise, it involves a needle into the bladder. 

One thing about UTI's - they are not all caused by bacteria.  Some are stress related.  Also, an important part of the treatment is switching to wet food, if your cat is currently eating kibble. 

Thanks for your reply! I just called the vet and she is trying to get me to come back just so she can get more money from me  . I guess I'll try the plastic wrap on top of the litterbox method to collect urine. 

One thing about UTI's - they are not all caused by bacteria.  Some are stress related.  Also, an important part of the treatment is switching to wet food, if your cat is currently eating kibble. 

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My dog has been stressing her out lately since she is a large breed, very active/hyper dog. They have been getting better lately but sometimes the dog goes into "the cat area" and she defends herself. Also, I have been gradually switching her to wet food which I think has helped her in many ways. Of course though, my vet is the type who tries to switch you to their brand of dry food all the time . I'll make sure to keep this post updated! Thank you again for all your help   

If you suspect your vet is being unreasonable about charges, can you consider another vet? Of course that does involve more $. [emoji]128513[/emoji]

Good luck collecting the urine!

Let me guess, the vet wants you to switch to Hill's dry prescription food? Ugh. After you get this infection cleared up, I'd try doing some vet shopping. It took us a while to find our primary vet, but it was absolutely well worth the effort. She's a cats only practice and we adore her. But, we must have tried 6 different vets before we found the right one.

I agree with what Margd said- stress may be the culprit here, not necessarily diet. It sounds like the interaction with the dogs may be enough to do it. One of my cats used to get a UTI every time we moved house because she got so stressed out.

I hope you can get that sample! It's a difficult venture, so we'll be rooting for you!

happybird said:

Let me guess, the vet wants you to switch to Hill's dry prescription food? Ugh. 

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You got it lol! There is one vet that my other cat Cookie saw one time at the same office that was very good so we'll try him again text time. We didn't go to him this time with Snow White because he wasn't working and we weren't sure how serious it was. Thank you for your reply!