Bladder infection gone bad- running out of options

[Whats_one_more]

Hi, I've been privately rescuing cats in Kansas for over 5 years now. I've taken care of my fair share of sick cats, but little Judy has me lost. So judy was born on July 1st of this year. She's a dusty grey domestic shorthair Tabby, (cute as a button and ornerier than the Dickens)whose pregnant mom and dad were rescued from a hoarding situation. Judy was the only surviving kitten of the litter, and up until about 5 weeks ago, was perfectly healthy and thriving. So about 5 weeks ago, she had blood in her urine and was using the litterbox frequently with little to no output. So we made a trip to the vet, and it was assumed she had a bladder/urinary tract infection, and had a slight fever. She was given a convenia shot and sent home. She improved for 3 days, then had some blood in her urine again and frequent urination. I phoned the vet, who told me to give her a couple more days and check back in. Well on the 7th day, she was still getting worse, sort of lethargic and withdrawn, so I took her back in. She was given another convenia shot, and I believe they gave her an anti inflammatory shot as well. Went home and judy was great for 3 days. Then her symptoms gradually came back again. I took her back 7 days after her 2nd appointment, and they kept her overnight to get a urine sample and observe her. She was sent home the next day, and was told her urine had red blood cells in it, and she still had a bit of an infection. She was sent home with an antibiotic for me to give her once daily. 9 days later, symptoms came back again, so I contacted the head vet, who said to bring her in for the weekend so he could observe her and re-examine free of charge and run some blood work. She was there for 4 days. She had a fever. Her bloodwork showed her kidney functions were normal, and the imaging showed she had no abnormal masses or growths. He said she still had an infection, so had started her on some new medicine. On that 4th day, she was sent home with medication for me to give her orally once a day. Thay medication was meloxicam, and after reading about it, I was terrified. But luckily I didnt have to give it to her. She was not herself at all, and I knew something was wrong. She only made it til 3 am, though, and came to me with snot and drool just hanging from her face. She was shivering, and within the next 2 hours, was in full respiratory distress, breathing over 150 bpm. I rushed her to the clinic, where they immediately started her on iv fluids and gave her charcoal in case she had ingested a toxin, though they were assuming it was a reaction to the meloxicam injection she had received several hours earlier. Her pupils were slow to react, almost non reactive, and her temperature was 2 degrees below normal. She acted as if she were dizzy, and had her claws out like she was trying to brace herself. Judy remained at the clinic for 5 more days, and was finally sent home on Monday. But I knew immediately again, that she wasnt over it yet.
She continued the next couple of days isolated from all other cats in the bedroom, so I could observe her better without distractions. She was pretty sluggish, but played with me and a little of her orneriness came out. But thursday, I noticed she didnt eat well. So I kept offering her other stuff and she finally devoured some hamburger. Friday she wasnt drinking well either, and she seemed dehydrated. So I put in a call to the vet clinic and they suggested I just keep trying to push the fluids and stay in touch. Then around midnight, judy crashed again. She started of walking funny, or crawling, as I call it. Her 3rd eyelids were showing, she was lethargic and then she began showing signs of respiratory distress again. All of the same exact symptoms from the week before. I took her to the clinic and she had no fever, but her pupils were non reactive again. The head dr mentioned that all of her current symptoms seemed neurological now, with the absence of fever(infection) and bloody urine. Hes keeping her there until monday, when he will call kstate and get a 5th opinion as to what could be causing all of these issues. He told me they are running out of ideas. So I thought I'd post her story and see if anyone had any experiences like this one, as I have gained tons of knowledge from your forums in the past I'll list her symptoms, as well as a link to a video I put on YouTube for the doctors to use.

Symptoms:

Started with blood in urine and frequent urination but that's not present this time.

Since the beginning, she has been
-Biting/licking lower back randomly. If you observe her for 5 minutes, you wont see it. But observe her for 30 and you'll see it for sure.
-Laying with pressure on her neck.
Nervous/anxious
Whining- very vocal
Tail twitching like she is pissed
-Wont eat science diet dry food very well
-Shivering/trembling when she's resting
-Definitely feels hot on my arm but ears are cold
-3rd eyelids are showing
- growls at the other cats, including her mom and dad.
Clumsy and uncoordinated
-Drooling when I brought her to emergency clinic then again tonight
-Crawling to me across the bed
-Claws out- like she is holding on cause she feels like she is falling or dizzy

Video of some of Judy's symptoms

Thanks to anyone that can maybe offer some insight.
jaime

 

[LTS3]

Two Convenia shots within 7 days? That's a lot for a long acting antibiotic. Using Convenia is risky (see Convenia- long term antibiotic: Is it worth the risk?) but some people do have good experience with it.

Is there another vet hospital you can take your cat to? It doesn't sound like the clinic has any idea how to best treat your cat. You mention your vet is contacting Kstate for a consult. That's good. There are other vet schools your vet can contact, too, and even other vet hospitals. Your vet can access VIN.com to reach a global network of vets and get their opinions on your cat's issue.

See if your cat's symptoms are similar to those of hyperesthesia: Hyperesthesia Syndrome | Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine Discuss with your vet if you think your cat might have it.

 

[Whats_one_more]

Hi! Thanks for your quick reply. Yes 2 convenia shots 7 days apart.
There are other vets not too far from here, which I am looking into as we speak. I've used this clinic for years, and was always happy with the care my animals received. But this mess with Judy has changed my mind.
And I believe he specifically mentioned KState because it is just a few towns over, and easy for me to get to. This seems like it's been just a guessing game from day one, and that has made me very nervous. Thanks again for responding.
Jaime

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I am so sorry for your little girl - and for you! You didn't mention it, but I am wondering if her current symptoms are related to some sort of adverse neurological effect from one of the meds she was on. I am sure you have already done so, but an entire list of all the meds that have been administered to her should be given to KState with a question about whether any of them could have caused the signs she is currently demonstrating.

I wish I had more thoughts, but the meds is the only thing that came to my mind. Please do keep us posted.

 

[fionasmom]

I am so sorry that you are facing this and don't have a lot of helpful information unfortunately. One of the best vets I ever knew was from Kansas State and I know they have a good reputation.

If you eliminate the UTI and the rejection of the Science diet food, I am seeing neurological symptoms. One of my cats has hyperesthesia, dxed by the vet not just by Dr Google and myself, but your little girl is going way beyond what Chelsea ever has, and she has had some pretty wild episodes. Clumsy, drooling, crawling, pressure on neck don't fit Chelsea's episodes and she always completely recovers from them and is herself until the next episode.

 

[Whats_one_more]

Two Convenia shots within 7 days? That's a lot for a long acting antibiotic. Using Convenia is risky (see Convenia- long term antibiotic: Is it worth the risk?) but some people do have good experience with it.

Is there another vet hospital you can take your cat to? It doesn't sound like the clinic has any idea how to best treat your cat. You mention your vet is contacting Kstate for a consult. That's good. There are other vet schools your vet can contact, too, and even other vet hospitals. Your vet can access VIN.com to reach a global network of vets and get their opinions on your cat's issue.

See if your cat's symptoms are similar to those of hyperesthesia: Hyperesthesia Syndrome | Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine Discuss with your vet if you think your cat might have it.

I just re read your comment about Hyperesthesia. The symptoms sound similar in nature, but Judy's seem to be way more severe and hers seem to build up over several days, then explode into the respiratory distress, to the point that she has literally almost died on the way to the clinic. But I am mentioning all of this to my veterinarian in text messages, as he encouraged me to do. Thank you all so much for the input.
Jaime

 

[stephanietx]

I am not a fan of Convenia, especially in kittens. That shot stays in the system for at least 21 days, and really longer. Sounds like it could be an overdose of some kind. I hope you get it figured out and she's feeling better soon.

 

[fionasmom]

Absolutely this is not hyperesthesia unless it is included along with everything else that is happening, so don't let the vet pass it off as that. Chelsea has lived comfortably for several years with hyperesthesia and it has never reached anything like your baby. I agree with those who think that hyperesthesia is a seizure disorder (which is not completely verified) which would make it neurological in nature, but there are many other neurological conditions which could be taking place.

 

[Whats_one_more]

I wanted to post an update to Judy's health. 4 vets from 2 different practices continued to diagnose Judy with exposure to environmental toxins. After hours and hours of online research, I read about portosystemic shunt, and presented this idea to her vets. They still thought it was toxin exposure, so I began feeding her a low protein homemade diet I found online, and her symptoms went away for several weeks. Towards the end of January, her symptoms slowly returned, so I began searching for a vet knowledgeable of PSS and familiar with the treatment. On february 1st, she saw her knew team of drs and within 10 minutes, they were all unanimous on the diagnosis of portosystemic shunt and we left there with a plan and the supplies I needed to medically manage Judy's condition.
Judy is doing good on the homemade diet, combined with lactulose and low dose neomycin. I just wanted to update this post for others whose cat might present with the same or similar symptoms as judy, as her new doctor told me that Judy has a merck veterinary manual "textbook" case of liver shunt, and the majority of her symptoms were those of the hepatic encephalopathy from build up of toxins in her body. Heres the excerpt she printed out for me.
"
Animals with PSVAs are often smaller than littermates, fail to thrive, and can have other congenital abnormalities (eg, cryptorchidism in dogs and cats, heart murmurs in cats). Clinical signs are highly variable, and 10%–20% of affected animals may be asymptomatic. The presence of clinical signs depends on the severity of portosystemic shunting. In symptomatic animals, clinical signs are usually evident by 6 mo of age in cats and before 1 yr in dogs. Clinical signs include nausea, ptyalism (severe drooling, especially cats), vomiting, diarrhea, pica(urge to eat nonfood items), intermittent anorexia, PU/PD(excessive water consumption/excessive urine output), amaurosis (unexplained blindness), excessive vocalization, hallucinations, apparent neck or spinal pain, hematuria(blood in the urine), pollakiuria(frequent urination), stranguria(straining to urinate), urethral obstruction associated with formation of ammonia biurate uroliths, and additional neurobehavioral signs reflecting HE. Signs referable to urinary tract calculi may be the only presenting complaint. Cats with PSVAs have a unique, homogenous, copper-colored iris that appears to be genetically linked with the disorder; the exception is blue-eyed cats. However, because a copper-colored iris is typical for Persians and Russian blue cats that do not have a PSVA, it is important to consider this observation in perspective of clinical signs and finding high TSBA concentrations."
I want to thank everyone on this forum. I re read er to this forum all the time, and its given me hope and helpful advise.
-Jaime

 

[FeebysOwner]

Thanks for the update! Perseverance usually pays off! And, yours did, for sure!!!!!!

 

[fionasmom]

Thank you so much for taking the time to post all that information. Here is to Judy's full recovery.