Small Kitty - UTI / Blockage ? - Help

Discussion in 'Feline Health - (Welcome & Main Forum)' started by Photorecon, Jul 11, 2018.

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  1. Photorecon

    Photorecon Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2016
    Good morning everyone,

    (This a long post with full context, jump after the paragraphs for straight to the point fact)

    Writing you today regarding something that not to do with diabetes but that really is bringing me some deep concerns.. I found yesterday something anyone would have seen at his place. A few weeks ago I went on for a trip that lasted more than three weeks. A pet sitter was going home twice a day for the full period (to feed shoot and clean litter boxes). I don't remember, will need to verify my sms, but I don't think she warned me about something ''new''. Someone, Small Kitty or Big Brother, started peeing on the table and at some other location in the dinning room / kitchen. On my return I found the place smelling like bathroom that had never been cleaned. Both kitties are going out every night all year long.. Ok, they were mad at me cause they couldn't anymore and did that as a revenge...

    Problem is, even when I came back with full release to the outside, petting and full petting were back in action, this happened again... The kitchen table was again the target... Added to the concern was the fackt that the litter boxes, usually filled to capacity every day, were left untouched... Something had to be done fast so I took Big Brother (one of my two cats, the none diabetic one) to the vet for inspection. During the trip to the place he filled the bottom of the bag with a full load of urine making urine analysis impossible once at the vet. As this was not the first time such event (peeing here and there) was happening, the vet concluded it was a comportment issue. His advice were to remove the litter box covers, add a new one away from food (one was already set that way) and give threat when they were used. Added to this she prescribed anti-depressor pills to help with depression or something like that. This fixed the problem, no pee on kitchen table or elsewhere. Gotcha !! Or so I thought. But, even after cleaning with different products, opening all windows 24/7 after a few days the terrible smell was always coming back. While searching for something yesterday, I went in the corner of the living room, behind a reading chair and found the worst thing I had never seen... Everything there, bags, magazine, the base of a lamp was soaked with urine !!! I was so bad that the wooden floor had started to wave. Disgusting, I just freaked out, so badly that I spent part of the entire night yesterday trying to fix this. I don't know if the place was still a open sky litter anymore but the amount of urine must have been big. Everything there was trashed including photography stuff and the lamp that had started to corrode.... Oufff...

    Now that I know what happened, lately or some time ago.. Some current facts are coming to my mind.

    1 : Since vet visit, with anti-depressant in action, the litter boxes started to be used again
    2 : The amount of urine, from Small Kitty or Big Brother, is tyny, slightly bigger than a golf ball.
    (Small Kitty used to drops used to be the size of a soft ball.)
    (Big Brother, smaller)
    3: The strategy of adding litter box and giving threats is in action, both kitties are very happy !
    4 : Everyone is going out, and can release while outside, don't know. (Usually, even while going out the littler boxes would be full).
    5 : With summer and warm temperature, both kitties are not eating very much and I never saw anybody drink. Fresh cold water replacing the old one everyday.
    6 : There has been UTI in the past, and inappropriate urination here and there in the kitchen and dinning room.

    One thing, that triggered the 911 post is the following : Since a few days, Small Kitty started meowing for nothing. I thought the threats were filled with addictive and he was asking for more. He got some but was told to shut it up when he resumed.

    The big one now, this morning, after heating, I saw small kitty going to the litter box (good boy !) but.. he came out after less than a minute. When I checked the box I found there was nothing, no drop. He received he threats !. 2 min after, same thing, he went in the litter box and came out without any success.

    Some would say, just go to the vet and you'll find the answer to your question... Problem is that I cannot skip office day, where I am right now. Also, if the same thing that is happening when I go to the vet, cats release in the bag and there is nothing to analyse... I go there, pay 150$, and go home empty handed with some theoretical reason I already know.

    I saw one of the vet testing urine, he was using whatever sticks you call in fresh urine to see if there was chemical reaction to figure out if there was infection. This winter I went to the vet and urine was gathered and found to indicate UTI, antibiotic were administered.

    As I have these sticks at home and antibiotics, all I needed was urine. As they all release when going to the vet, I took Small Kitty, put him in the transport bag with a pan at the bottom and went for a ride. I then wen tout as if we were going to the vet expecting there would be some urine dropped.. there wasn't. Not giving up, I went on the internet to find out how to find the bladder. If found that if you use your hand and moved up at the back of the rib case, you will find something, I did not. While doing the massaging there was no complain from Small Kitty so either the bladder was empty or filled to capacity. The case being, he would have had a pain and tried to get away, he didn't.. He was purring and seemed not to bother about anything.

    I'm so confused about what's going on.. Is the peeing disaster a thing of the past and they just don't have anything to release, is the bladder so full that I couldn't feel it... All litter boxes have been emptied, cleaned with kitchen soaped and new litter replacing the old one. There is now 3 litter boxes at different locations including 2 in a different room then where the food is. All boxes are now open sky with no cover and the new one is being used, with golf ball droppings every day or so.

    Now, would Small Kitty be running, playing and not complaining when compressing the bladder if it was full ? Should I call pet911 (doesn't exist, it's an image) and run. Or, should I go on with antibiotic I already have theorizing it's an UTI Small Kitty is having ? Going to the vet is a big deal and I'm not sure I'll get any answer. Individual confinement (to see if one cat or another is urinating) is hard at my place, only the small bathroom is closed door. Having my paced used as an open bathroom and not to know if Small Kitty has something wrong in his urinary system freaks me out, I could not sleep last night.

    Any opinion on what's going on ?

    Thanks in advance to all of you .

    Sebastien

    *I'm at the office right now, might not reply right away, just between calls.


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    Last edited: Jul 15, 2018
  2. Olive & Paula

    Olive & Paula Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2015
    Well as I'm not vet I can only give some ideas. When cats behave like that they are telling you something is wrong which you already know. If they are still going in that particular corner try putting a brand new box there. Get some lentil beans, rinse them off and let them dry. Put some (just enough they can scratch at) in the brand new pan. The beans don't absorb so you should be able to get a sample to run to vet. The Pretty Litter, it will indicate a chemical change in urine. Won't tell you what the problem is but will indicate acidic, alkaline, metabolic to narrow down possibility. Then you could crate until they go with an empty foil pan underneath to catch urine and get sample.
     
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  3. Osha

    Osha Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 16, 2016
    fyi, threat=treat (English is not his first language)

    To add to the story, in May he took Big Brother to the vet and they did get a urine sample and blood work and there was no infection.
     
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  4. Olive & Paula

    Olive & Paula Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2015
    I knew what he meant. Even though May was negative, could mean it isn't now. Could be crystals. Heck it could be anything or nothing. It's hard when cats won't pee on command. I liked the description of the "corner". You don't want to hear what I found in my parents house when I took Smokey from them. Let's me just say I wore a haz mat suit.
     
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  5. Photorecon

    Photorecon Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2016
    Good suggestions, thanks Paula,

    I've never hear the litter with chemical reaction, could worth trying. I know the beans trick, I've been able to proceed with that when Small Kitty was
    urinating a load. With the scattered little pees drops we now have it's going to be hard.

    Thanks for the hints !
    .
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2018
  6. Photorecon

    Photorecon Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2016
    Development :
    I called the vet and asked for his opinion. He told me to come there fast as if there is a blockage
    it means anesthesia and opening :facepalm:. But.. he said that diabetic cats are going to the litter box more
    often and might just ''think'' they're due for pee but are not... He could not give opinion on the fact
    that there was no complain when pressing the bladder this morning.

    I set an appointment for 5pm, they say that inspection + urine collection will be 150$ plus I'll need
    to leave the office early, plus cab / uber. I'm just off a visit for the same thing but for Big Brother
    costed me the same thing. If they discover that it's UTI antibiotic (that I already have) will be administered
    but I'll spend another 250$ or so. Timing is bad, just coming from a month of vacation with the finance
    already in the negative. Finance is not your concern at the fdmb, this is my problem.

    I'll see. The release corner is now powdered with baby power and bicarbonate, if some action is
    going there on I'll know it. All other spots are protected with damper, still traceable.

    Small Kitty, you choose the wrong time for this...
     
  7. Osha

    Osha Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 16, 2016
    I am so sorry this is happening my love. :bighug::bighug:

    I am happy you are taking SK into the vet. I know none of this is easy.

    I love you:kiss:

    Sending lots of vetty vines to SK and lots of kisses to you:kiss::kiss::kiss:
     
  8. Larry and Kitties

    Larry and Kitties Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2009
    The urine dipstick is not a good indicator at all of an UTI. The leucocyte (white blood cell) pad on the disk is not accurate for cats. it indicates 99+% false positive for cats. What the vet also does with the urine is to centrifuge part of it and look at the sediment under a microscope. If while blood cells are found then that is a pretty good indication of an infection. The microscopic examination can also reveal crystals and other things.
     
  9. Olive & Paula

    Olive & Paula Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2015
    Glad to hear you will be seeing the vet. Keep us posted.
     
  10. Kris & Teasel

    Kris & Teasel Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 17, 2016
    This might not be relevant to SKs situation but stress can cause "sterile" cystitis where the symptoms seem to indicate an infection (many visits to litter box, peeing in inappropriate places, sometimes blood clots and mucus in the pee spots, etc., etc., etc.) but nothing grows when urine is cultured. In SKs case, the stressor could have been your absence and all the changes in routine around that, another person being his only contact, etc. It can be very hard to figure out.
    https://icatcare.org/advice/cat-health/feline-idiopathic-cystitis-fic
    http://veterinarynews.dvm360.com/feline-interstitial-cystitis-it-s-not-about-bladder
    https://healthypets.mercola.com/sit...02/21/feline-lower-urinary-tract-disease.aspx
     
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  11. LizzieInTexas

    LizzieInTexas Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2016
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  12. Photorecon

    Photorecon Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2016
    Good evening all,

    I'm back from the vet and nothing was found in urine analysis. I'm back to square one but at least
    the bladder blockage is eliminated. In fact, I knew it while on the trip to the vet, Small Kitty released
    in the bag soaking it and himself. The vet proposed performing a bladder scan to see if there was rocks
    but she thought it was not the case. When she pressed the sensible parts he didn't show an sign of
    pain. I asked if the prosac pills Big Brother is now on could help and she agreed that it could.
    Small Kitty will now be on pills like his brother, hope the inappropriate peeing will stop now.

    Thanks to all of you who responded, I might have gone a bit hard on my post but the yesterday's
    discovery and this morning no pee made me freak out. All your post were reassuring and brought
    some clue on what could be happening and help me decide to go see the vet instead of administering
    antibiotic blindly.

    *Kris, I think your theory is making sens. With the kitties confined to the inside instead of being
    allowed to go out every night, plus the loneliness and stress of being taken care of by a stranger
    might have taken the kittens to the breaking point. With pills of happiness this case should be
    fixed, I hope.

    Good night everyone, thanks again for your help.

    Sébastien.
     
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  13. Kris & Teasel

    Kris & Teasel Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 17, 2016
    I'm glad I was able to give you useful info, Sébastien. My cat, Teasel, had these episodes many, many times and was actually eating prescription Urinary S/0 wet food at the time of his diabetes diagnosis in January 2016. This was prescribed in case he had crystals in his urine (he didn't). He was seen by the vet for his episodes, given antibiotics several times and so on. Eventually I was told about "idiopathic feline cystitis" by the vet I usually see at the clinic. She gave me references to links similar to the ones I gave you in my post yesterday. She's very big on enriching the environment of indoor cats to help with stress. Unlike your SK and BB my kitties can't go outside so that thrill is missing for them. ;)

    As strange as it seems, what turned it all around for Teasel was all the attention he gets daily with BG testing, insulin shots, etc. He's always been a cat that loves attention and this extra hands on every day, several times a day with all the treats and sweet talk that goes with it stopped the episodes of cystitis completely. I also think that all the extra water I add to his wet food meals keeps his bladder well flushed.

    Re: Prozac for kitties: my mom''s old guy (now gone) was on it for a long time because he would pull out his fur in clumps when he was stressed. It helped him a lot. She would have the Prozac compounded into chewable cat treats through her vet's office. Might not be an option for a diabetic though.

    Good luck with your kitties!
     
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