Urinary Tract Issues

Two years ago I found two four day old kittens which I ended up raising. I have never had issues with the male; the female, Winnie, has been peeing outside and inside of a litter box for almost her entire life. She pees on anything soft, has ruined multiple couches, carpet, and other miscellaneous things. In the past I have seen her do this and she has never struggled to pee. Five days ago I saw this weird red liquid in my sink but just rinsed it away. A couple hours later I saw her get into the sink and begin peeing. Her tail was very twitchy and she stayed there for a solid three minutes and appeared to be struggling. When she finally got out of the sink it was the same red liquid I had seen before which made me immediately think blood in the urine/UTI.

I took her straight to the vet, they tried to do a urinalysis but could not get a sample so without testing her they just put her on Clavamox (10 days, 1.5 cc two times a day). Other than their brief attempt at a sample they really did not check over her. I have been giving her the antibiotics for 6 days now. She has begun peeing directly outside of her litter boxes in addition to her usual peeing outside the box. Her pee has returned to a yellow color so I believe the antibiotics cleared up the blood. However, when she pees she still appears to be straining, it still takes a while, and her tail has continued to twitch. I believe she is still in pain because she is constantly trying to lick her bum. Some additional background information: she is overweight (she's about 18 pounds and her brother is only 14), she is on a diet but the additional weight has made it impossible for her to clean down there. As a result I have been bathing her as needed to keep her clean. Yesterday I gave her a bath and noticed the area was extremely red and inflamed. This morning when I checked on her the entire area was coated with the brown crusty stuff I had just cleaned off in the bath (usually it does not happen so quickly).

Additional note: she is eating and drinking plenty and purrs when I pet her and is constantly screaming at me for attention.

I am at a loss of what to do for her but I don't want her to suffer. I want to give her something for the pain but I am not sure what would help/be safe for her. I'm also concerned about her inflamed looking backside and the fact that it doesn't stay clean for more than a couple hours. I just moved and am currently very short on cash...I actually had to use my grocery money to pay for her antibiotics. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

She sounds like such a sweetie. Thanks for caring for her so well!

I think you should talk to your vet again. Some vets will work with you on taking a urine sample at home. Even if the infection cleared, there are others things which they can test for. It does sound like the vet needs to see her again though, to take a look at her behind. This could be an entirely unrelated infection.

Also, she may avoid the litterbox even if she's no longer in pain. Litterbox avoidance can become a habit just because she now associates the litterbox with the pain she had felt in the past.

I think your first task is to make sure she's healthy though. I would talk to the vet again. If needs be, you can also talk to another vet for a second opinion. Whatever you do, avoid painkillers unless your vet prescribes them for you. OTC painkillers for humans can be very dangerous for cats.

In young cats, Interstitial Cystitis is normally the culprit of blood in the urine.  Sometimes it's a UTI or stones, but since your Vet couldn't get any urine to do any tests, you can't be sure .  With cystitis though, you can also see straining to urinate.  How about her bowel movements....are they okay.  It looks like maybe her anus is alal crusty too...I can't tell for sure because the picture e is a little fuzzy, or maybe it's just my eyes.

What are you feeding her?  In any instance, if she is prone to UTI's or any issues in this area, OR constipation, wet food is best for her and the wetter the better. (I mix in at least one tablespoon of water to each meal, just as a precaution)  And a stress free environment too.  AND, if it's stones causing this, there is special food that is really good for stones, but no need to go there unless she is for certain diagnosed with them as that food is normally prescription.  Also, if you want her to lose weight, wet food is best for that because you can control how much she eats (assuming she is free fed kibble at the moment)  I had a pudgy cat who didn't lose any weight until everyone went off free feeding dry and went on scheduled feedings 3 times per day of canned food.  Now my pudge is a sleek looking cat .

Also, have you ever tried Cat Attract cat litter?  That might help her to use her litter box vs anything else.