Cat peeing in her sleep

sakujou

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Hello cat people!

I have two cats at home, both adopted, but one of them  started having weird problems - she is peeing in here sleep, without relizing it. 
We started visiting vets because of this, but after 2 months, numerous clinics visited, lots of tests, fluids antibiotics, etc. the current vet, who seems experienced, still cannot find out what is wrong with her.
I am starting to get desperate. I will just write with short bullet points most of the important things about the cat and what happened so far:

- cat is around 3-4 years old, female, 3kg.
- she has no teeth because of some previous infection, before I adopted her
- 2 months ago she started peeing in her sleep, like really peeingm not just drops of urine. It definitely seems unintentional
- we started vising vets
- after multiple blood tests and urine tests - vets agreed she has a first stage of renal disease, not too serious at the moment they say
- through the first few vet visits she received antibiotics and fluids under the skin
- she got better, but just temporary - after the effects of the antibiotic (about 2 weeks) wore off, she started peeing in here sleep again
- it got worse - she started peeing while a sleep 2-5 times a day/night
- we did X-ray, another type of test where they check her internal organs, by putting some liquid on her belly and monitoring it with a device for 10-15min. Sorry, but I do not remember the name. They said her kidney's structure/form/shape seems fine.
- I changed the vet, because the old one just gave her the same antibiotic and wanted to continue with the fluids 
- the new and current vet, seems more experience, she wants more tests
- we went to a special eye doctor - they discovered some sort of infection with her eyes - her eyes seem to be alway moving slightly and she has reaaaally slowed reactions with her left eye
- we went to a specialzed neurologist, my cat went through anesthesia and they made took spinal fluid for tests and made a FIP test
- so far only the spinal fluid exam results are ready and they show nothing wrong
- we are still waiting for the FIP resuts, but from what I read around the internet and what the doctor told me - there is no certain way to determine FIP. It might be "sleeping for 1-2 years" and develop later or some stuff like that
- meawhile after the anesthesia we have the cat fluids, but this time directly to her veins for 3 days straight
- the first day and a half after the anesthesia she was leaking urine all the time - she sits somewhere and she leaves urine, even without going to sleep
- the urine leaking stopped and now she is not even peeing while sleeping, all probably because of side effect of the anesthesia and/or fluids injected in her veins
- after we get the FIP result, if it doesn't show anything, the vet wants to start either giving the cat steroids and/or aspiring and more fluids every 2-3 days for 4-6 weeks
- vet said we might do another test but I didn't undertand what exactly 
- overall, through this whole period and before, the cat has appetite, she is eating, drinking water, purring, cleaning the other cat, seems healthy and seems to be doing her business in the litter box (can't say how often and how much, because of my other cat)
- most of my info is kinda vague, because of language barrier - I am bulgarian, the vets are Polish, but they barely speak English, so it's kinda hard

So yes, long story short - for more than 2 months vets cannot find out why the cat is peeing while sleeping and how and if this is connected to her early stage of renal disease and eye infection. Currently she is not leaking urine, but probably just as a temporary side effect of the anesthesia and fluids directly in her veins for 3 days straight. 

Sorry for the tons of info, but I'd rather give all the info I can think of now, so that someone might be able to help. As I already said - I am getting kind of desperate. I guess there is some exams and treatment the current vet wants to do, but I really wanted to ask for some help and suggestions online as well.
If needed, of course, I can upload most of the exams and results we performed so that they can be checked if someone nows how to read them.

I would really, really appreciate any help people can offer.

Thank you all in advance!
 

mrsgreenjeens

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So sorry no one ha replied.  Possibly because no one knows what to tell you, particularly since  your Vets don't know what to tell you. 

I guess there are a couple of GOOD things that have come out of this though.  She did not test positive for the precursor for FIP
, and it has stopped for the moment
.  If it starts up again, my only suggestion would be to try putting cat diapers on her.  Many cats need to wear them because of actual disability like the lack of use of their hind legs...that sort of things. 

Here's a thread about a cat who soils herself and links to those diapers I mentioned:  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/322660/5yr-old-manx-syndrome-really-bad-need-help
 
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sakujou

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Thank you very much for the reply and all the suggestions.

Actually I have cat/dog diapers placed all over the house - under the bed sheets, on the couch, almost everywhere. I did not want to place any diapers on the cat, because she will probably not feel comfortable with them. And she still goes to the litter box regularly to do her business, even though she pees while sleeping as well.

After further consultation with the vet - it turns out she was exposed to the Corona virus, but there are no signs of the (dry) FIP.

She started peeing in her sleep last night again. Currently the vet suggested we wait for the effect of the last antibiotic to wear off and make urine tests again. I must also continue giving her fluids every two days and from next week I will start giving her some specific medication. I am yet to find out what exactly.
After that she has some treatment in mind, but I am not sure what, cause of the whole "lost in translation" communication.

And on top of everything - the vet is leaving on vacation and there will be only some junior vets at the clinic, who really do not seem reliable. Though the senior vet said she will leave detailed instructions how to continue with my cat's treatment.
Also - I have to leave for a week at the end of next week and it seems that hospitalization would be the only option. I really, really would not like to expose her to that additional stress, being locked in a cage for a week, with mewing cats and barking dogs in the adjacent cages, but... I am not really sure there is any other option.

Do you think hospitalization for a cat would be that stressful or it shouldn't be such a problem?

I am still open to suggestions for the treatment if anyone had similar problems. I would really appreciate if there are any vets in the forum who are willing to take a look at the exams and results and suggest something.

Thank you again!
 

mrsgreenjeens

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Does this only happen at NIGHT when she is sleeping?  Cats sleep many hours during the daytime too, normally.  Most cats are fairly active during the nighttime.  I know when I wake up I find toys scatters around that weren't that way when I went to bed
.

Anyway, WHY would she need to be hospitalized?  Would this be so she could get some medication?  Do you not have a pet sitter to take care of her while you are gone?  Someone to come in and feed her and clean her litter box, etc.  Could they not give her her medication?  I don't really understand the need at all for her to be hospitalized, and do think it can be stressful for cats unless they are sick.  She's not really sick, just has a leaky bladder or something, as I see it.  If she needs to have fluids given a couple of times, could your pet sitter take her in for that rather than have her stay in the hospital the entire time.  Or could you hire a Vet Tech to come over to your place to give her her meds and fluids?  (that's what we always did when we went on vacation and had a sick cat) 

Oh, and BTW, we do not have Vet's on this site that can offer medical advise.  We are just a group of cat loving people who can share our experience.
 
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sakujou

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Hello again and thank you again for the reply.

She pees while sleeping no matter the time. It is definitely more frequent during the night, but as the effect of the antibiotics we have given her so far starts to wear off more and more, she starts peeing in her sleep multiple times and starts doing it even during the day.

As for the hospitalization - I would really like to avoid that if possible, exactly because it will be unnecessary stress for her. And the poor thing had enough stress already. A colleague of mine will be visiting once a day to give them food, water and clean their litter box. But I cannot ask her to inject fluids, give medicine, etc., which Abby (that's the name of my ill cat) will require. 
But I would reaaally appreciate if you can give me a contact of a reliable vet/pet sitter, who is also competent and can nurse an ill animal, such as mine. Because that would be a much, much better option for Abby and will involve less stress for sure. I guess pet sitter are prepared for stuff like this, but the nursing will require trying to pull her out from under the bed, hold her while injecting fluids, cause she will definitely try to escape, etc. 

Thank you again!
 

mingsmongols

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Seems like some sort of bacterial infection to me. If the antibiotics helped for a time and then it increased after its possible that they killed the majority but left the antibiotic resistant ones alone which multiplied creating an even bigger problem. Have they done cultures and an antibiotic sensitivity test to determine what bacteria your dealing with and how to kill it?
 
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sakujou

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Thank you for the response and suggestions.

No I do not think they have did cultures and an antibiotic sensitivity tests. Not that I know of. 
And yes, the peeing problems started increasing over time. It could've been just because the infection/disease was just developing more over time, but it could be as you are suggesting connected to the wearing off of the antibiotics and the caused effect. 
 
 

mrsgreenjeens

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As far as trying to find someone to come to your home to do the fluids, give medicine, you have to do the legwork on that yourself, as far as I know, because it's all dependent on where you live.  I just started calling around to all the Veterinarian Offices local to me and asking if any of the tech's wanted to earn a little extra money on the side and explained what I needed. I stared with my own Vet's office and went from there, each time asking if they KNEW anyone who did this.   I finally found some who did. 
 
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sakujou

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Yes, I guess I will try to call some of the vets from the clinics nearby and see if someone can take care of this.

But I am currently seriously considering taking my cat back home to Bulgaria next weekend for her old vet clinic to examine and treat her. So far for more than 2 months all the vets I tried in Warsaw were completely out of their depth and struggled to diagnose and treat my cat. I was really hoping to find a really large and well equipped clinic, with multiple experienced doctors, etc. But everyone just recommends small clinics which barely have more than 1 experienced specialist. I have even been sent to Milanowek for some of the exams. I still refuse to believe that in a poor eastern European post-socialism country like Bulgaria there are more modern and better equipped clinics than in the much more developped Poland and Warsaw, but seeing even the pictures and provided service by all the recommended clinics so far and considering the clinics I visited in those 2 months - it might turn out that it isn't that unbeliavable after all. :/

So I guess I will think about it a few more days, but I will probably fly back to my hometown for some proper treatment for my cat. It will be stressful for her, but I have been using this excuse in front of myself for the last month, while hoping to find a top vet clinic in Warsaw and through that month she endured much, much more stress than she would have had with a flight. ://

Thank you again for all the information and help!
 
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