Culture and Sensitivity..no growth?

All righty folks, some assistance would be great!

Background: A few weeks ago, came home to Tigress peeing blood in both litter boxes and going back and forth in them crying. Took her to the vet..they couldn't get urine but said she had a very thick bladder lining and clearly something was wrong. Put her on antibiotics, anti inflammatory, and pain meds. Took her back on Wed for a recheck and they said they thought she still had bacteria in the urine, as blood was present and she had a lot of debris. They also said her pH was 9, which is very high. I requested a C&S, which they did. Got the call today...no growth. They said to finish her on the antibiotic she was on now (biomax) and just keep an eye on her.

Questions:

• Why do I need to give her more antibiotic? If there was no growth...no bacteria...so no need for antibiotic, right?
• Since there is no bacteria...is it possible we are looking at cystitis? I'm thinking so.
• If so, what do I do? I add food to water, I provide a water fountain, I'm buying 2 extra litter boxes so we'll have 4 for 3 cats, I'm buying feliway diffusers that are specifically for multicat households and reducing stress. Is there anything else I can do?
• In the future, if she has an attack, should I take her to the vet each time? Get a C&S each time to be sure it isn't a UTI? Give pain meds at home? Basically...what do I do?
• What food do you all recommend? I already know NOT the prescription diet they want, and not dry. I'm feeding authority canned right now, but is there something else I should consider?

I plan to do a lot of research on this as well, but I wanted to ask you guys too, since you're pretty much the smartest bunch of folks I know when it comes to cats. Tigress is a civvie btw...I have no diabetics right now. Any advice or suggestions welcome!

 

If they did a C&S while Tigress was on antibiotic then it would have skewed the results. A C&S needs to be done either before starting antibiotics or 10 days after antibiotics have been finished. I would ask your vet why they did a C&S when the kitty was still on antibiotics.

Giving extra fluids is always a good idea to keep the system flushed. Diabetic kitties are much more prone to urinary tract infections.

Many of the people on this forum use Friskies Pate or Fancy Feast special since they are low in carbs. If your kitty has no other health issues they should be fine.

 

Tigress' antibiotic was prescribed for a specific number of days. It's usually a good idea to keep giving the antibiotic for the full period, even though there is currently no evidence of bacteria. As @Tuxedo Mom explained, the recent test results are likely inaccurate, as the C&S should not have been done while she was still on the antibiotic. For those reasons, I would recommend continuing the antibiotic for the full period of time. Hannah had cystitis when she was first diagnosed as diabetic. Even though her pee test indicated no bacteria, her vet put her on an antibiotic for the issue. I sort of questioned that, but I figured he knew what was best. Her cystitis cleared in a couple of days. Sounds like you're doing all you can do to encourage drinking and using a clean kitty pan.

 

Thanks for the info! I should have been more clear. Tigress wasn't on an antibiotic when they did the C&S. She'd been off it for awhile when we went back. They prescribed a new one while waiting for the results of the C&S.

I'll keep giving it to her until it's gone. Thanks, all!

 

This discusses why a urine microscopic examination can show bacteria but a negative urine culture is obtained.
http://healthypets.mercola.com/site...sing-bacterial-urinary-infection-in-cats.aspx

 

Hi Rachel, sorry you're still having problems with Tigress' cystitis. A friend of mine had a cat with reoccurring bouts and she told me the other day that her cat hadn't had any problems for over 6 months now(anti jinx). She told me that chronic inflammation can be caused by food allergies, so she switched to a limited ingredient novel protien-Natures Variety Rabbit- and also added a glucosamine supplement. She doesn't know which one of these did the trick, or if it was the combination or just a coincidence but her cat has been fine. Might be worth looking into. Good luck!