2/24 Blackie - UTI Questions

Blackie's appetite has still been a little off. He didn't eat all of his food yesterday and I had to put "chicken dust" on his food this morning to get him to eat it. I called the vet and he said to stop the Clavamox and let him know how he's feeling tomorrow.

I asked about doing a culture and he is going to call a local lab and see if they can do it. If so, I can drive it over to the lab after the vet does a cystocentesis. My question is when to do the culture. If he's only been off the Clavamox for 36 hours, is that enough time? Or should I wait longer? I really don't think the Clavamox has worked, but of course I'm not positive he had an infection in the first place since we didn't do a culture.

My other question is about slippery elm bark. I have been reading that it might help prevent UTI's and it is often given to CRF kitties for stomach issues. Do you think it could raise blood sugar? Has anyone tried this?

FYI - we lowered the dose to 2.8 last night and this morning on a little lower preshot. I hope we see a drop today that will tell me if we're on the right track.

 

Hmmm, I remember seeing some discussion of Slippery Elm on Health not all that long ago (I think it was on the new board, but not 100% sure), but I didn't read it carefully. I tried it once years ago and it was such a mess to deal with (as the name suggests!!!) that I gave up.

 

Thanks, Joanna. I did a search and read several postings. There are several beans on the board that are using it.

Look what I found today: http://www.azoproducts.com/products/azo_test_strips
I was searching for urine ph strips and this came up. I may try them with Blackie if I can find them locally.

 

Several years back, I bought some of those AZO strips when my son has having accidents and I wanted to rule out infection. I haven't tried them with the cat, but I'm sure my strips are outdated, yep, still in the cabinet, expire date 05/05 -- test for white blood cells and nitrates. Not sure that the strips would give you any information that you wouldn't get from your vet's test, but it might be as valid and cheaper.

I didn't get a copy of Buddha's results, don't know if they found nitrates or blood or both.

Does anyone know, is the U/A at the vet just a dip stick test?

I looked up Clavamox, and it is effective against susceptible E. coli. Seems like a fairly narrow range.

Buddha's appetite was off before we went to the vet. It's been variable since.

Any difference with Blackie today?

 

Blackie is feeling better today. He ate a lot at breakfast and ate again a couple of hours later. I am really glad to see his appetite back - I was getting ready to worry. His bg's are higher though, and I'm wishing I had given him a little more insuling this am. I'm waiting to hear from the vet to see what our next step will be.

Thanks for the info on the Azo strips, Donna. I thought it was something new. It might be a way for me to know if there is a suspected infection before going to the vet in the future.

I don't think they do a U/A with a dipstick, except maybe the glucose and ketone check. I know that my old vet would look at the sample under a microscope and identify the blood cells and the bacteria. They also did the specific gravity which is tested with a different instrument.

I'm going to see if I can get copies of the last 2 U/A's and see what they found beside bacteria.

 

Hi Ele and Blackie! Just checking in to say I'm glad Blackie's appetite is back. It's worrisome when they won't eat. Hope he can get outside soon and do some exploring with Robert. Maybe that will make his BG go down a bit. If not, there's always the costume...

 

Thanks Sarah,
It has been either cold and windy or cold and snowy here for the last week and Blackie hasn't gone out much. I am wishing for some temperatures in the 40's or 50's. His numbers have been high and flat for the last 2 cycles, so I'll probably increase his dose tonight. I bought the Azo strips and I'm going to try them to just see if he still has an infection. He's going in for the cysto & c&s on Tuesday.

I hope Buzz is doing well, as well as all of your other fur babies including Cassie.

 

if you can, I'd wait on the culture. having just been on clavamox, you could get a false negative even if there's something there. JMHO.

 

Are you kidding me folks? Isn't it awesome having Michele here? :smile: Seriously Michele, you have some great insight. We're very lucky.

 

We sure are!! 3 cheers for Michele!

Hip hip hooray!
Hip hip hooray!
Hip hip HOORAY!!

 

Thanks, everyone. Michele, my vet agrees with you. We are going to do the cysto & c&s on Tuesday which will be 6 days off the Clavamox. I called the vet again this morning - he's going to realize soon if he hasn't already, that I'm a crazy bean. Anyway, I tested Blackie's urine last night with the Azo strip and it showed no nitrites, but did show blood. Since Blackie doesn't exhibit any pain at all, the vet said lets do nothing until we get the c&s. I reread Dr. Lisa's stuff on UTI's. It was helpful, but still doesn't answer all my questions or explain all of our issues.

Blackie seems to be feeling really good. He went for a walk with Robert yesterday while it was sunny. And he's eating really well. We actually got a +7 of 164 last night after shooting 3.2, so I'm hoping I can keep those bgs down.

Happy Friday! I hope everyone has a great weekend.

 

I hope Blackie feels better soon and you can get his numbers under control. I do know how you feel. I look forward to tomorrows update.

 

This ling outlines what a urine analysis should include.
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm ... 3&aid=3136

 

Larry, that's a good article and a great website of which I was previously unaware. Thanks for sharing!