E. Coli bladder infection and Baytril

My cat went into the emergency vet the day before Thanksgiving. She was treated for kidney failure with IV fluids and clavomox. She's had an ultrasound that was clean with our regular vet. I then got third opinion and that vet cultured the urine and found e. Coli And started her on Bayfril 6 days ago. She's energetic and hungry in the morning and then goes back to lethargic in the evening. The get saw her 2 days ago and says heart, temp, kidneys all good. She's lost almost a pound over 12 days and appetite stimulant doesn't agree with her. Has anyone else had a similar problem? I feel like I have no idea if all of it is working. New vet thinks it probably resulted from bladder infection and has been going on at least four to six weeks before we started treating it. Am I just being anxious and impatient?

Antibiotics often make a cat feel really ill and sometimes impacts their appetite. One thing you need to be aware of is that if a cat doesn't eat for a while they will get something called Feline hepatic lipidosis (Fatty liver disease) .   When is the last time your cat eat? you might need to give her some other foods that she loves, if that doesn't work you might need to syringe feed her or get a feeding tube inserted. You need to get food into her !!!

How is she now? If she still is not eating talk to your vet about your concerns with the fatty liver disease. BTW how heavy was she before she got sick? 

treacyducks said:

My cat went into the emergency vet the day before Thanksgiving. She was treated for kidney failure with IV fluids and clavomox. She's had an ultrasound that was clean with our regular vet. I then got third opinion and that vet cultured the urine and found e. Coli And started her on Bayfril 6 days ago. She's energetic and hungry in the morning and then goes back to lethargic in the evening. The get saw her 2 days ago and says heart, temp, kidneys all good. She's lost almost a pound over 12 days and appetite stimulant doesn't agree with her. Has anyone else had a similar problem? I feel like I have no idea if all of it is working. New vet thinks it probably resulted from bladder infection and has been going on at least four to six weeks before we started treating it. Am I just being anxious and impatient?

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How bad was her kidney failure? That can take awhile to recover from, if they do recover - and it's amazing that she's recovering from it, so that is really awesome to hear. Even with purely acute renal failure, a lot do not recover from it. I've unfortunately not been on the side where a cat recovered, so don't know much about how long it typically takes. But from what I have read, it can take some time. And if it was the infection causing it - and it sounds like a hardy infection at that - it may take even longer than expected.

What appetite stimulant are they giving her, mirtazepine? That doesn't agree with all cats. You can ask the vet to give you another one as there are others out there. Not sure why there is the literal "night and day" difference in her. I'm assuming since you say she's hungry in the morning that she is eating in the morning, is that correct?

yes, she is eating and eating better today too. Even without any stimulant. Vet is suggesting I split the Baytril in half and do one morning and one night. The bladder infection had spread to her kidneys which is why her kidney values were so high. I'm frankly amazed the emergency vet didn't think to do a urine culture and nor did our regular vet. Bless the Mobile Pet Vet for finally figuring it out. Apparently she is hungry though since I let her out for five minutes and she consumed 2/3 of a goldfinch. GAH. However, vet says good she is displaying normal cat behavior again and she didn't think the bird would hurt. Phew. After that, she's been eating treats and kibble all day so maybe that got her mojo going. It's just six weeks into this it's so frustrating to feel like it's two steps forward and one step back every day. I'm crossing my fingers she takes the Baytril okay today since she's had so much to eat and she is hydrating. Thank you for responding!!!

She has been eating heartily today. She was 10.2 before all this and has lost a total of about a pound-9.3 as of Monday. Over 6 weeks.  (I've lost 7 thanks to my uber-anxiety about it all). But today she seemed to want wet, kibble and treats so we're going with it. She also managed 2/3 of a goldfinch which freaked me out but the vet thinks she will be fine. All other vitals are excellent. Vet also suggesting half pill in morning and half at night to maybe help her with the nausea- if that's what's going on. Thank you!!!

treacyducks said:

 
She has been eating heartily today. She was 10.2 before all this and has lost a total of about a pound-9.3 as of Monday. Over 6 weeks.  (I've lost 7 thanks to my uber-anxiety about it all). But today she seemed to want wet, kibble and treats so we're going with it. She also managed 2/3 of a goldfinch which freaked me out but the vet thinks she will be fine. All other vitals are excellent. Vet also suggesting half pill in morning and half at night to maybe help her with the nausea- if that's what's going on. Thank you!!!

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That's really great to hear! I lost my little guy to acute-on-chronic renal failure to so it is nice to hear when someone is actually doing better. Even better that she's eating on her own accord! And are you saying she ate a bird?? As in, caught it and ate it? Wow, that really is amazing!

D Mannose would be an excellent option for her.

Donutte said:

That's really great to hear! I lost my little guy to acute-on-chronic renal failure to so it is nice to hear when someone is actually doing better. Even better that she's eating on her own accord! And are you saying she ate a bird?? As in, caught it and ate it? Wow, that really is amazing!

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indeed she ate most of the bird before I managed to take it away. Even better, my phone call to the vet resulted in her getting a 7 day antibiotic shot so no more nauseating pills to be crammed down her throat. It was like night and day last night and this morning without the Baytril. She's bright eyed, hungry and active. Still have one to two shots to make sure the nasty e. Coli is gone but it looks like we're finally making real progress. The shot they gave her was Convenia and I will still do IV hydration every couple of days. But we are all more relaxed and comfortable. Thanks for the kind words. This has been a grind.