Another bladder infection!

Keep my little Teazer cat in your thoughts and prayers. It would seem she has another bladder infection. I came into my room tonight and glanced down at a blanket and a pair of jeans that I had left on the floor and there were big wet stains with blood in them. Since I know that I didn't put them there and T is the only who had access to them all day...

So I think she has another bladder infection. As some of you may remember, she had one last month after the stress of surgery, but it seemed to have gone away. We've been living in my parents house for about two weeks because of the heat, and we have swap time between cats because my cat (13 years, 6 lbs) and my mom's cat (6 years, 13 lbs, and no brain) don't get along. We put one in a room with their food, water, litter box, etc. and the other gets to run around and then we switch. So there's been some stress there but she seemed to be coping with it!

So I brought in and gave a VERY good scrubbing to her fountain water dish (poor baby had to drink her filtered water out of a cereal bowl these last two weeks!!), and filled that for her, and I will call the vet on Monday.

I'm not overly anxious to call the emergency vet cause I wouldn't take my dog to that man (my dog has been dead for four years)! And she's obviously producing more than just a spot of urine cause some of the spots are rather large and she's eating just fine. But we're going to put water down her throat with an eye dropper tomorrow, make sure she's drinking from her fountain dish, and call the vet first thing Monday morning. I'll take her to another emergency vet tomorrow if needed. My vets are amazing, but the night vet needs to be kind to animals and find a new vocation!

Anyway, please keep her in your thoughts! I'm so worried but that's part of being a Meowmy I suppose!

Well the only real update is that I got Teazer to drink something by mixing a little tuna water in with some filtered water. I cleaned her fountain water dish within an inch of it's life, but she still won't touch it! I even took the motor apart and washed it (yes, you are supposed to be able to do that)!

And now that she's alerted me to the problem, she's gone back to pottying in her litter box. It amazes me that the only time in her life that she's ever pottied outside the litter box was when she needed to tell me something was wrong. What really amazes me is that she intentionally does it on light colored stuff where I will see it! You can't tell me that she is not an intelligent animal!

I found this cat litter you are supposed to use once a month and it changes color when the ph in the cat's urine is off. So if this becomes a regular problem, we'll at least have some help in warding it off!

Anyway, calling the vet tomorrow. (sigh) I just want my little cat to be ok!!

I know this won't help much in a practical sense, but my best friend has an older cat (12) who gets a bladder infection everytime they have out of town company, because she gets stressed, so I guess it might not be an unusual problem? I have a cat who gets a bladder infection when she eats food with fish in it, and have read a few things about a corralation between fish and bladder problems, maybe it would help to slowly change her to a fish free diet while you're there? Might help, I just don't know. You might want to do a search about reoccurring, stress-related bladder infections, and see what you come up with. Hope she's feeling better soon! - Oh, and yes they are smart!

I have found monitoring fish in the older cat ( she is 18 ) has prevented futher urinary issues...

You know, years ago we read about how cats who ate a lot of canned cat foods with fish in them were more likely to develope kidney faliure. We did have a cat who had to be put down because of that (of course, she was 19 too, so that might have attributed to it JUST a little!), so we stopped giving our cats all foods with fish products in them. T was just a little cat when we did that and she's never had a bladder or kidney problem. With the exception of maybe a little pink smear of salmon when we have it, she hasn't had fish in years! I just tried the tuna water (I mix 1/4 to 1/3 cup water with maybe a table spoon of tuna water) to get her to drink something. She hasn't had fish cat foods in at least 10 years, or any kind of fish or fish juice in at least 5 years.

T is part Abysinian, & they tend to have touchy tummies, as she got older, I had to stop giving her all canned cat foods because she just threw them up, & she threw up all the dry food too. The vet felt it was because of the junk in the cat food we were buying (generic Albertsons store brand, no wonder!). After trying several dry foods, we settled on the Purina (?) Indoor Cat Formula. Our vet is very fond of it cause it has chicken and lamb & other natural good stuff in there, + stuff she doesn't get by being an indoor only cat. She stopped chewing on the house plants after she got that. She's been on it for the better part of a year with no problems. As a sub for wet food and when we need to slip her a pill, she gets a little bit of moistened, ground-up, plain, natural boiled chicken breast. She reacts very well to that (but she will NOT eat dark meat! ) So that's what she eats.

She also gets water out of the Brita pitcher (yes, we bought a Brita pitcher for the cat!), because our water here tends to be very near (sometimes over) the limit on copper and that can cause stomach irritation and kidney problems in cats and humans, so it's good for all of us.

Hmmm. I'm stumped. Did you do a search? Find anything? Have you tried any of those sprays or plugins I've seen some people have used? It may be called Feliway or something like that. It's supposed to help de-stress your cat, when moving, adding a new cat, etc. I've never used it, but ya never know, I suppose!

Originally Posted by catsallover

Hmmm. I'm stumped. Did you do a search? Find anything? Have you tried any of those sprays or plugins I've seen some people have used? It may be called Feliway or something like that. It's supposed to help de-stress your cat, when moving, adding a new cat, etc. I've never used it, but ya never know, I suppose!

Click to expand...

I may try the feliway plug-in thing, she can be a tad high strung. I did a search and there was really nothing! She isnt' incontinant, she doesn't have Feline Leaukemia. I'm totally stumped. Maybe the Feliway will help. Cause the stress level will go up some when I move away to college and she stays with my mom. She loves my mom though! She misses her enclosed porch though.

Well, my mom called the vet yesterday and they were booked, but they asked a hundred questions (which I made sure my mom knew the answer to before I had to head out of town), and then the tech took her notes to the vet. He called back and said that since she's eating and starting to drink again and using the litter box, he wanted to try her on the antibiotic first, before ordering all kinds of expensive and stressful tests. They're so good about helping people even when they're booked solid. They told us what signs to look for that will show she's getting worse and said that if the blood didn't go away after the antibiotic or she got worse to bring her in immeadiatly. I also got some of that cat litter that changes color if the ph in the cat's urine is off and we'll put it in her box next week after the antibiotic is gone. Cause right now it would definatly be off! Keep your fingers crossed! Thank you all for the ideas, thoughts, advice, and support! I'll keep you all updated. Let me know if anyone thinks of anything!

I just had a thought and thought I'd get some feedback...

Lately it seems like the only thing T is drinking from is my mom's fish tank. Do you think the chemicals in the tank could be throwing her system out of whack? That and she has goldfish and they produce a lot of ammonia... What do you all think?

Hmm. Haven't had any problems with mine, but they quit drinking out of my fish tank a long time ago! (Got tired of falling in, and toes being bit by large Oscars when "fishing" -now I have Tetras - and now I have a full hood light set, but they could still get into the back where the filter tubing, etc. run in and out . It could be a contributor, I suppose (a lot of fish meds say not to be used on fish intended for food...). The cheapest solution would probably be to get a large plastic grid that they use for lightcovers in drop ceilings- do you know the ones I mean? They sell them at Home Depot and Lowes (Lowes gave me a discount on some that had broken corners ). I used them for dividers in my fish tank (heavy duty for the Oscars - the plain white ones, not the painted silver ones and trim them to fit the top of the tank (be careful cutting them- they can be brittle when you do ), if your mom doesn't have a hood on her tank. It will still let the food, air and light in, but won't let your cats tongue reach the water . I think I am fixing to do this for my 55 gal. turtle terrarium, too, as Gretta has discovered him . I hope she is all better soon, and gets settled in quickly!

Well, mom doesn't have a proper hood. But she does have glass over the top. T usually gets water by jumping up there (one time she didn't know there was no glass and SPLOOSH!! ) and drinking through a hole in the corner of the glass. That cat has a very long tounge! So we set the plastic bad of algea disks in the hole, cause any water splashing won't hurt the bag and it blocks her access. She's not thrilled. BUT SHE DID START DRINKING OUT OF HER FOUNTAIN DISH AGAIN!! Yay!! I think that before, when she drank out of the fish tank occasionally, it was fine, but maybe all that ammonia and chemicals this time was just too much.

Btw, you had Oscars?!! Are those the really mean ones that I've heard stories about?!! You are a brave person!!

Anyway, T has been on antibiotics for 48 hours. It smells like bubble gum so it can't taste great. She's been a little listless and not too terribly interested in anything, but the vet said that's normal for Amoxidrops. He doesn't like them because they make the cat feel kinda off while they're on them, but they're a great over-all antibiotic, and not a lot of animals have bad reactions to it, so sometimes you have to put up with a mild bad for two really goods. T had a bad reaction to the antibiotic after her surgery (gave the poor baby diahrea! ) But she's ok on the amoxidrops. And she's using her litterbox. After she finishes the antibiotic, I'm going to use that color change litter in her litterbox to make sure everything is back to normal.

Oh! And we finally got a chance to examine that black spot on her leg with a flashlight. It's fur. For some reason, the dark fur for her stripes is growing back in first! It's so funny. She's got this naked little leg with black stripes on it!

So, doing better. but not out of the woods yet. Write and let me know if anyone thinks of anything else that might have caused this!

Originally Posted by catsallover

I think I am fixing to do this for my 55 gal. turtle terrarium, too, as Gretta has discovered him

Click to expand...

Which one of your pretty babies is Gretta?

Wow I never knew there was a connection between fish canned food and UTI. Good to know! I avoid fish anyways, as I don't think it's a very natural diet for an animal that usually tries to avoid going in water!

Sasha had a bladder infection (and she peed on the floor right in front of me, I started to ask her what the heck she thought she was doing, and then I saw that the pee was pink. I love how they know to tell us something is very wrong!) and my vet put her on....I want to say Baytril? I know he gave me Baytril when my dog had a bladder infection. I'm thinking he gave me the same thing for Sasha. Anyways, he also told me to give her canned cat food for extra hydration. I got canned cat food the next day (vet appt was in the evening) and within 3 days of being on the antibiotics and canned food, her symptoms were gone. Finished the antibiotics and kept up with the canned food, and she's been fine for about 8 months now. At least I know if there's ever a problem, she'll let me know!

Originally Posted by Rumpleteazer

Which one of your pretty babies is Gretta?

Click to expand...

Thanks! The little tabby on the end. I have to get a new picture (actually, a new sig when I get all my pictures ) She's a little bigger now!

Oh, and glad to hear she likes her water again!

Well...T gets her last dose of antibiotic tonight. Her litter box was cleaned last night and it looked ok; wet but not too wet. We're going to do the color changing litter next week. I don't know if she's drinking out of her water dish but she is drinking out of the other dish I put out, so that's good. Cats are so odd about what they want. Anyway, she seems better, more alert, and she hasn't puddled on anything, so I think things are good for now.

Hopefully she's settled now!

Well, I put the color changing litter in T's litterbox and it came back normal! I can finally rest a little easier, knowing that she's ok in that area!

I got it at Wal-Mart, it's called First Alert, and you use it in place of their usual cat litter once a month, as a check. It's really easy to use and VERY light weight.

One really nice thing is that when the cat goes potty, it changes color so you can tell WHERE! Something that is very hard to do with grey clay litter. Then between 5 minutes and 4 hours after they go potty, you check and it will have formed a ring around where they pottied. If the ring is greenish-yellow, it's all good (T had a yellow ring!! YAY!!). If it's blue-green, then the ph in the urine is slightly off, and it can be in indcator of a coming bladder infection. If the ring is bright blue, the cat needs to see the vet ASAP!

I appreciate that there's a middle, watch this, kind of level. Cause a ph can be off because of diet or stress, and can go back to normal, but you know to watch. This way, it's caught WAY before it comes to blood in the urine. My vet had never seen it before but he was delighted to hear about it, cause I'll bet he's seen a lot of cats who could have been saved if the owners had just had a little warning, because your cat can't walk up to you and say, "Hey! We have a problem!"

So my opinion is that this is a great advance in pet health, and I recommend it if you're worried your cat might have a bladder infection, or if they're older and are prone to them. Once a month and it can just help give you that extra edge in keeping your pet healthy and safe!!