Cat Puking and Diarrhea?

catlover73 · Jan 22, 2016

I am really hoping the steam makes a difference with his breathing. You are doing the best you can to keep him comfortable until you can get to the vets. I wish I had a way to get you to a vet but even if I lived near you and drove my hubby has the car.

missingone123 · Jan 22, 2016

I sat with him for awhile but it wasn't getting steamy enough down on the floor as it was up higher, if that makes sense... I don't feel like it did much. He did drink some more water while we were in there, so that's good, but the breathing stuff is still the same. Also, when I was moving him to the bathroom, I could feel his heart beat, which felt oddly fast which was slightly reassuring. I think its better to be faster than slow, right?

That's really nice of you to say. Thank you very much. My mom will be home in a few hours. I think he can hold out until then. Its just sad to see him like this and want to help him.

EDIT:
I took a video of him breathing. It's kinda blurry and you cant hear, but you can see how his whiskers and sides are moving I think.

catlover73 · Jan 22, 2016

missingone123 said:
I sat with him for awhile but it wasn't getting steamy enough down on the floor as it was up higher, if that makes sense... I don't feel like it did much. He did drink some more water while we were in there, so that's good, but the breathing stuff is still the same. Also, when I was moving him to the bathroom, I could feel his heart beat, which felt oddly fast which was slightly reassuring. I think its better to be faster than slow, right?

That's really nice of you to say. Thank you very much. My mom will be home in a few hours. I think he can hold out until then. Its just sad to see him like this and want to help him.

EDIT:
I took a video of him breathing. It's kinda blurry and you cant hear, but you can see how his whiskers and sides are moving I think.

I usually run the shower for about 10-15 minutes with the door closed and then bring the cat in. I unfortunately know nothing about the speed of cat heartbeats. I did check out the video but is really hard to figure out cat breathing issues without sound unfortunately. When my cats had breathing issues due to illnesses I would turn off any noise I could in my house before listening to their breathing. I found it harder to figure out if there was noise in the background. Even if you had sound in the video it would have been hard to hear his breathing over the noise from the running shower. When I was trying to listen to my cat's breathing issues I had to turn off my computer because the noise was distracting.

Please make sure you post an update when you get back from the vets later. I need to go eat lunch. I am going to switch to my lap top while I am eating.

catwoman707 · Jan 22, 2016

Your cat is in serious pain to be perfectly honest. That's what the fast breathing is.

I don't feel there is any type of issue with congestion, and I would stop feeding him now, only offer water, lots of it.

Here's my suspicion, that his UTI is back, and possibly IBD.

There is no reason you should be paying another office visit if it is the UTI returning, it's considered a re-check and additional meds are needed.

It is not uncommon at all for UTI's to require more than one antibiotic treatment period, often times two in a row.

If no actual urine culture was done before the last antibiotics were given, then they will usually give clavamox, which is a fairly broad spectrum med, but not all UTI's respond to it, and may require a different one to get rid of it, it all depends on the cause/bacteria type found in the culture.

Please allow him to rest and don't move him until the appt. Just put a shallow water dish right there so all he needs to do is lift his head to drink.

missingone123 · Jan 22, 2016

Catlover- Yeah, that's what I did(wait awhile). Maybe ill try again later, but I think he wanted to be left alone for now. Thank you for your help again.

Catwoman- I'm well aware he's in pain. That's why im trying to help ease it. I wouldn't doubt that the UTI is back, honestly, though I think he was peeing. He hasn't gone to the bathroom today I don't think, but he hasn't had much to drink at all in the past 24 hours other than the times ive mentioned him drinking here.

He's been on antibiotics twice and been given prescription diet and then the pain meds. He was given a shot of antibitoics the first time at the ER(we rushed him there because we thought it was a blockage. They said it wasnt, then gave him the shot and some pain meds). It got better, then 2 weeks later there was blood in his pee again so we took him to the ER again, fearing a blockage again. This time they gave him clavamox drops and it cleared up again. Another two weeks, and we took him to an actual vet, where they said to change his diet and gave him the pain medicine I mentioned earlier. Once again, it got better. A few weeks later( I don't remember how long exactly) he was in and out of the litter box, but I didn't notice any blood this time. I still had some of the pain meds at that point since he didn't seem to need them for as long as I had a supply for, so I gave him them again to ease the discomfort(Because that's what I was told they did by the vet), and he was better up until now, which is about two weeks after that.

The ER cost my family 400 dollars in total, and then the vet visit was another ~100. I'm taking him to another vet than the one who gave the pain meds because I don't have the money to pay for another exam fee there(it was free the first time) and I don't believe they'd follow this re-check theory that you have, seeing as they didn't do much the first visit because I couldn't afford all the tests they wanted to run(300 dollars for a urinalysis, then bloodwork was going to be more, and he needed to be sedated and kept over night, ect.). They're in a pet store(Petsmart), and probably aren't the most affordable to begin with. The vet we're going to is free for new clients and is also much closer. I know it's probably not great to hop around vets like this, but I need to save money where I can.

He also doesn't have any real "records", other than the prescriptions I got from these last visits which I have on me, since he's been a very healthy cat with no issues up until now and I haven't needed to bring him in. I know that he needs vaccines and stuff, but all 3 cats of mine are strictly indoors and I don't travel much other than from school and home(same goes for the rest of the family- we're homebodies) so I don't think we'd be introducing anything to them. Like I said before, I'm aware it's not ideal, but I do the best I can and I am bringing him in to the vet later today, as soon as I can.

I wont move him, but I think due to his uncomfort he gets up and will find another spot to lay down about every 20 minutes or so. I wish he'd just sleep, but he wont. I have supplied him with water- I have bowls all around the house, and move them to where he decides to sit when he changes spots, too.

catwoman707 · Jan 22, 2016

Taking him to different vets is not a problem, just be sure they know what has been done already.

I would most definitely STOP giving him pain meds. It will only mask what he is feeling and you need to be able to spot any changes or discomfort in him.

This free vet visit today is your chance to get a urine culture done on him, since the visit is free.

This is by far the best solution to getting to the bottom of what is causing the reoccurence.

Also, the uti food formulas, purina's is just as good as the science diet one, either it has the added ingredient to help or it doesn't, so as long as it states for urinary health then it's fine.

The only time you will need to temporarily feed a specific formula is for crystals, they are dissolved with one of the canned Hill's diets, c/d I think? No that's not it, can't remember at the moment.

Do not be ashamed to tell this vet you are very tight on funds, and are unable to freely run up a bill. Vets get it, trust me on that.

catlover73 · Jan 22, 2016

missingone123 said:
Catlover- Yeah, that's what I did(wait awhile). Maybe ill try again later, but I think he wanted to be left alone for now. Thank you for your help again.

Catwoman- I'm well aware he's in pain. That's why im trying to help ease it. I wouldn't doubt that the UTI is back, honestly, though I think he was peeing. He hasn't gone to the bathroom today I don't think, but he hasn't had much to drink at all in the past 24 hours other than the times ive mentioned him drinking here.

He's been on antibiotics twice and been given prescription diet and then the pain meds. He was given a shot of antibitoics the first time at the ER(we rushed him there because we thought it was a blockage. They said it wasnt, then gave him the shot and some pain meds). It got better, then 2 weeks later there was blood in his pee again so we took him to the ER again, fearing a blockage again. This time they gave him clavamox drops and it cleared up again. Another two weeks, and we took him to an actual vet, where they said to change his diet and gave him the pain medicine I mentioned earlier. Once again, it got better. A few weeks later( I don't remember how long exactly) he was in and out of the litter box, but I didn't notice any blood this time. I still had some of the pain meds at that point since he didn't seem to need them for as long as I had a supply for, so I gave him them again to ease the discomfort(Because that's what I was told they did by the vet), and he was better up until now, which is about two weeks after that.

The ER cost my family 400 dollars in total, and then the vet visit was another ~100. I'm taking him to another vet than the one who gave the pain meds because I don't have the money to pay for another exam fee there(it was free the first time) and I don't believe they'd follow this re-check theory that you have, seeing as they didn't do much the first visit because I couldn't afford all the tests they wanted to run(300 dollars for a urinalysis, then bloodwork was going to be more, and he needed to be sedated and kept over night, ect.). They're in a pet store(Petsmart), and probably aren't the most affordable to begin with. The vet we're going to is free for new clients and is also much closer. I know it's probably not great to hop around vets like this, but I need to save money where I can.

He also doesn't have any real "records", other than the prescriptions I got from these last visits which I have on me, since he's been a very healthy cat with no issues up until now and I haven't needed to bring him in. I know that he needs vaccines and stuff, but all 3 cats of mine are strictly indoors and I don't travel much other than from school and home(same goes for the rest of the family- we're homebodies) so I don't think we'd be introducing anything to them. Like I said before, I'm aware it's not ideal, but I do the best I can and I am bringing him in to the vet later today, as soon as I can.

I wont move him, but I think due to his uncomfort he gets up and will find another spot to lay down about every 20 minutes or so. I wish he'd just sleep, but he wont. I have supplied him with water- I have bowls all around the house, and move them to where he decides to sit when he changes spots, too.

I would actually follow catwoman's advice. She has a lot more knowledge and experience than I do. I have never dealt with UTI's in my cats. Hopefully the new vet's office is willing to try different treatments if this is another UTI. If you can I would make a list of what meds you have tried so that you can let the new vet know. I would not try to steam him again because that will not do anything to help his pain. Banfield is expensive and I agree that they probably would not bill this as a re-check. I used them years ago when I first moved to the area and I was still looking for a vet in my area that had a lot of evening hours and Saturday hours. The cost was a big reason why I quit using them. The only reason I went to them in the first place was the hours and the fact that they had a kitten wellness plan that was a certain amount of money a month and the vaccines, spay surgery and office visit fees were included as part of the program. I had just adopted a young kitten at this time and she had a bad URI and trying to find a non-emergency vet office that was open on Christmas Eve was impossible. Most places were closed or were not taking anymore appointments. I was in tears when I called them.

I definitely agree with telling the vet that your funds are really tight up front.

missingone123 · Jan 22, 2016

catwoman707 said:
Taking him to different vets is not a problem, just be sure they know what has been done already.

I would most definitely STOP giving him pain meds. It will only mask what he is feeling and you need to be able to spot any changes or discomfort in him.

This free vet visit today is your chance to get a urine culture done on him, since the visit is free.

This is by far the best solution to getting to the bottom of what is causing the reoccurence.

Also, the uti food formulas, purina's is just as good as the science diet one, either it has the added ingredient to help or it doesn't, so as long as it states for urinary health then it's fine.

The only time you will need to temporarily feed a specific formula is for crystals, they are dissolved with one of the canned Hill's diets, c/d I think? No that's not it, can't remember at the moment.

Do not be ashamed to tell this vet you are very tight on funds, and are unable to freely run up a bill. Vets get it, trust me on that.

I will let them know. I haven't given him the pain meds in a long time, like I said, because I was looking it up last night and noticed that some of the side effects of it are exactly what he's experiencing now.

I have purina. Dry food and wet food. We first bought the Hills brand, but he refused to even eat it, so we looked up what else would work and Purina came up. He likes it, it's cheaper, and it worked, so I'm not complaining.

I will tell the vet. I hope we can do a payment plan of some sort.

catlover73 said:
I would actually follow catwoman's advice. She has a lot more knowledge and experience than I do. I have never dealt with UTI's in my cats. Hopefully the new vet's office is willing to try different treatments if this is another UTI. If you can I would make a list of what meds you have tried so that you can let the new vet know. I would not try to steam him again because that will not do anything to help his pain. I used Banfield along time ago and unless your cat is on their wellness plan it is expensive. I used them with Starbuck when she was a kitten but I had her on their wellness plan because it saved a lot of money on vaccines, spaying and not having to pay for office visits. They told me one of my senior cats was had CRF and then all of his numbers went back to normal when I got a 2nd opinion from another vet. The 2nd vet actually did not charge me to re-do the blood work. When it came back I was told that there was no way my cat had CRF. I have never set foot that place again. It cost us over $1,000.00 for tests and over night SubQ fluids. The 2nd vet told me to switch him from dry food to wet food and all this issues he was having went away.

I'll take any advice I can get! I appreciate it all and you're both helping me greatly. I have records and descriptions of what he's been given and plan to give it to the vet. Banfield is where I went, yep. The vet im going to isn't a "chain", so I hope itll be a different experience.

An hour and my mom will be home. Ill keep you guys updated. Thanks again.

catwoman707 · Jan 22, 2016

Yikes, Banfield............

I think in all of my years in rescue I've only heard one person say they were great.

That was likely by accident.

Not sure what the deal is with them honestly......

artiemom · Jan 22, 2016

I am glad you are going to a different Vet.. And away from Banfield.

It is kind of looking like your kitty is in a serious condition...

I will be thinking of you buddy....

fingers crossed, hoping for the best...

((hugs)))

missingone123 · Jan 22, 2016

Does anyone have an idea how much putting my cat on oxygen would cost? They said 91 dollars an hour.

catlover73 · Jan 22, 2016

I have never had to do that. One of my friends went through this and I know it was more than what you are mentioning. She also lives in Chicago which is expensive to begin with.

Do you know anything about oxygen treatment for cats and costs?

If anyone else can help please join in.

missingone123 · Jan 22, 2016

They've given me a low estimate of 540 dollars and said it doesn't look good currently. He peed blood apparently. I'm sad and scares but thank you for your help.

catlover73 · Jan 22, 2016

All I can do right now is listen to you. I have no experience with what is happening right now. At least this vet is being upfront with you about their pricing. I would be sad and scared to if I were in the same situation.

StefanZ · Jan 22, 2016

Sorry, I cant contribute much. Out of my knowledge. Does he pees? He perhaps does it somewhere else, mine dying cat did pee on a cushion in his last night.

Sorry, much of the description reminds me when my oldie had his last hours. I though he got a stroke. When he didnt died during the night, we drove to the animal hospital. It was kidneys, nothing to do.

And his wobbling and unusual laying position, were not symptoms of stroke, it was probably pain.

Feeling with you, @missingone123

catwoman707 · Jan 22, 2016

Is he at the vet now?

So his issue is in his urinary tract, infection is out of control, the initial meds did not cure it and it has had time to become very bad and causing a gross amt of pain.

This is healable though!!

Please explain that you are having money issues now and love your cat and want to fix him but need to be aware that cost is an issue, there is no harm in that at all, lots of people have the same issue.

He needs a serious antibiotic to make this heal. Peeing blood is an inflammed bladder and/or a partial blockage.

artiemom · Jan 22, 2016

Oh no...

I have never (fingers crossed) had to have a cat on oxygen. I would not be able to help you.

It does seem as if it is a very serious kidney/bladder infection which has pretty much gotten out of control..

I am not an advisor....I would think that he needs a very strong antibiotic, pain meds, and an IV to hydrate him...possibly along with a urinary catheter.

About the oxygen, I do not know. Did they explain anymore to either you or your mom?

@StephenQ can you advise?

He could also have bladder stones which are causing an obstruction, with a resulting infection...perhaps backing up into his kidneys..

Very serious.....but with proper care---

There is a sticky at the top of the forums which can help you try to get some help with finances.

Is there a Vet school or an ASPCA around you? Maybe they can help with finances...

I forget the name of the person on this forum who knows about this...I was going to page her, but I forget her name.. I wanted to say RedTopRescues, but that is not a members name....

Again, please explain to your Vet that this cat is very special to you and you are having financial problems, but will be will to do time payments....maybe that can help....

(((Hugs))))

Where is your baby now.. at home or at the Vets... what did they say was the cause of this? and treatment, besides oxygen?

artiemom · Jan 22, 2016

For Financial help, type in financial and then on the side click on articles. You want the very fist one. There is a lot of information there.

StefanZ · Jan 22, 2016

Artiemom said:
Oh no...

I have never (fingers crossed) had to have a cat on oxygen. I would not be able to help you.

It does seem as if it is a very serious kidney/bladder infection which has pretty much gotten out of control..

I am not an advisor....I would think that he needs a very strong antibiotic, pain meds, and an IV to hydrate him...possibly along with a urinary catheter.

About the oxygen, I do not know. Did they explain anymore to either you or your mom?

@StephenQ can you advise?

He could also have bladder stones which are causing an obstruction, with a resulting infection...perhaps backing up into his kidneys..

Very serious.....but with proper care---

There is a sticky at the top of the forums which can help you try to get some help with finances.

Is there a Vet school or an ASPCA around you? Maybe they can help with finances...

I forget the name of the person on this forum who knows about this...I was going to page her, but I forget her name.. I wanted to say RedTopRescues, but that is not a members name....

Again, please explain to your Vet that this cat is very special to you and you are having financial problems, but will be will to do time payments....maybe that can help....

(((Hugs))))

Where is your baby now.. at home or at the Vets... what did they say was the cause of this? and treatment, besides oxygen?

Yes, an experienced rescuer and member has the nick of @Red Top Rescue

catwoman707 · Jan 22, 2016

Oxygen is given for labored breathing.

Not cheap, no, and can be given for a shorter time too, even 1/2 hour is helpful in restoring oxygen back in to his blood cells.

Cat Puking and Diarrhea?

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