# Possible sick kitty?



## WonderPup (Oct 26, 2008)

I'm not a cat expert really. I've only had cats for two years. From what I understand though sudden litter box troubles are often the first signs of certain illnessness. Might be a good idea to have him checked out. I've been very lucky that neither of my two kitties has ever been sick other than the resp. infection Sake' had when we first got her. Is he drinking more water than normal? 

My Miso kitty has that little fat pouch too, I noticed that a lot of the cats I groomed used to have it and nobody ever said anything about it being a problem but I don't know. Miso isn't fat either and she is spayed. She was skin and bones when we adopted her but always had extra skin there before and after spay. My boss at the time who owned the vet clinic I adopted her from/worked at said she was about 6 mo old. So roughly the same age as Sake' give or take a month or two. They discovered a very young pregnancy during the spay but nothing really abnormal. I have never asked about the fat pouch.


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## Purple Poodle (May 5, 2008)

The "fat pouch" is just something cats have, I think its genetic really. 

I would have him checked for a urinary tract infection, male cats are notorious for hiving urinary tract issues and by the way do described his going in and out of the box means he is having trouble.


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## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

Yeah, I called the vet and they said that a UTI is a possibility =/ he's been licking himself a lot too. Any tips on how to take a urine sample?


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## plumcrazy (Sep 11, 2009)

Fluffyspoos said:


> Any tips on how to take a urine sample?


When I used to have to get a sample from my cats (much more complicated than getting if from the dogs!) I would take a clean litter box filled with litter. Then I'd put one of those litter box liners ON TOP of the kitty litter. That way, the cat had the sensation of litter under his paws (it gives and shifts) Because I have muliple cats, I would put this "special" litter box into a small room I could close off (my spare bathroom) and put ONLY my suspect in with the box and let him live in there until he gave me what I was after!!  Once he urinated in the liner, I could harvest the amount I needed for the vet (I have a pet first aid kit and I keep plastic needle-less syringes in there for lots of different purposes - this being one of them) If you don't have the syringes, you could get creative on how to get the sample out of the box (hold the liner over a container and clip the corner with a scissors or something...)

There may have been one or two times that the vet actually had to get the sample directly from my cat with a needle to the bladder - it didn't happen often, but if the litter box trick didn't work they'd need to do it for his own good!

Good luck!!


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## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

Thanks for the advice, I got creative using a plastic bag and a half cup measuring cup, I'm getting the urine, slowly, since he's only going a couple drops at a time. The vets aren't able to get him in until friday, I'm a little stressed about that.

How serious can these be? Can he be dead by friday or will he just be really uncomfortable?


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## plumcrazy (Sep 11, 2009)

I'm assuming that you are going to take the urine into the vet ASAP? I think they want the sample to be fresh - I usually take urine samples into the vet's office within 24 hours or less (and I refrigerate it between the time that I get it and I take it in) If you get the urine now and take it in on Friday it will be too old...

When I suspect UTI I take a urine sample into the vet (I don't take the animal right away) and they test the sample and determine if they need to medicate or if they need to see the patient. Are you able to get a sample in tomorrow for them to test so you can at least get started on antibiotics if necessary?

I would hate to have him wait longer than he has to - I don't know what the time frame is for a cat to become seriously ill - if the urine is still coming out, at least he's not totally blocked, but it's not a good situation...

I'd probably call my vet and ask if they feel he could wait until Friday - let them know how much urine he IS able to pass and see what they say!

Keeping you guys in my thoughts! Good luck!


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## Marian (Oct 20, 2009)

I agree with Plumcrazy - every time my cat had those kinds of symptoms, I was told to bring her in right away. The clinic I go to is a 24/7 animal hospital though, so they always have someone available (even though it'll cost you extra after hours).

Also, if you're having trouble collecting it, the vet can use a catheter. That's what they had to do with my Gizzie--I simply could not get her to pee for me.

Good luck!


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## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

Just got back from the vet, we were there for four hours.. (It was an Animal ER, the two hit by cars came first, completely understandable.) The vet confirmed that Obe has a UTI, we have antibiotics and a follow up appointment on Friday to make sure everything's going okay. Haven't even been home for five minutes and the poor guy's gone to the litterbox twice.


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## WonderPup (Oct 26, 2008)

thats a good idea on how to get a sample. Sounds pretty easy and stress free on the cats part. Nice  


Poor Kitty, but at least now he'll be on the road to recovery. I know I felt horriable when Saleen had her UTI (even though she's not a cat). It's not a fun thing to watch. Nice of you to be understanding too about the two emergancies that were seen before you. Last time I was in the vet clinic a poor lady had run over her own puppy and rushed into the clinic, crying child in tow. It was awful and would you believe some little old pain in the @$$ lady had the nerve to stand up and loudly announce that she was here first for her dogs shot and she shouldn't have to wait, it wasn't her fault this lady was dumb and hit her kids mutt... *Gasp* OMG!!! I almost fell out of my chair... Sheesh!!


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## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

Wow! Are you kidding me?! That's awful! I am totally not that selfish and impatient. I think me and my boyfriend were the only patients there that weren't crying. The walls are pretty thin, so we could hear all the other families in the exam rooms either sobbing or talking to family members on the phone really fast and desperate about the situation.

Their pets were dying while mine was asleep in the sink of our exam room.. Obe is a very friendly, easy going cat.

How long did it take for Saleen to get over her UTI? (The vet said something about crystals that could block his urthera.. that was scary, so I'm having to keep a close eye on him, even though I'm going to be super busy, like you and any other groomer, today.)


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## spoospirit (Mar 10, 2009)

_Poor fella. Yes, crystals can block the urethra with a UTI. I get them myself frequently and occasionally kidney stones. I have great sympathy thing for any person or animal with this condition as I know how very painful it is. I am so glad that you were able to get him in and on antibiotics. 

I don't know what they would do with a cat with a blockage but with people, we get as much fluids by IV to 'flush' it out. If this is not successful, then they go up the urethra and remove the blockage.

I do hope he will be well soon.
_


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## Olie (Oct 10, 2009)

Fluffyspoos said:


> Just got back from the vet, we were there for four hours.. (It was an Animal ER, the two hit by cars came first, completely understandable.) The vet confirmed that Obe has a UTI, we have antibiotics and a follow up appointment on Friday to make sure everything's going okay. Haven't even been home for five minutes and the poor guy's gone to the litterbox twice.


My girlfriend just went thru a similar situation about a year ago, her cat is a few years old but he started having the same symptoms and tests ran and once they found out that he had a UTI and treated, it appeared again. They narrowed it down to tap water, if you can believe that. So she buys him mineral or spring water and he has been fine not more UTI's. Also thye had lived in the same house for years but something just started affecting him badly.


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## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

Olie said:


> My girlfriend just went thru a similar situation about a year ago, her cat is a few years old but he started having the same symptoms and tests ran and once they found out that he had a UTI and treated, it appeared again. They narrowed it down to tap water, if you can believe that. So she buys him mineral or spring water and he has been fine not more UTI's. Also thye had lived in the same house for years but something just started affecting him badly.


Tap water? That sounds like an easy fix.. except Obe drinks out of the dogs water and the toilet. :doh: He seems perfectly normal, laying his fat 17 pound body on my lap right now, just purring away.


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## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

So I'm pretty p*ssed off atm.

So the emergency vet that I took the cat to said to get him checked before a week was up, I had an appointment on friday, which I took the cat to and they told me it was too early to tell if he was cleared up, I was there to see if he was CLEARING up. They told me to bring a urine sample back on Wednesday.

So I take it in yesterday and the doc comes out and says he's all clear, I paid $65 for them to say that.

My cat is doing the exact same thing that made me take him to the vet. He's still urinating out of the litter box, he's still taking frequent litter visits (now that I have him locked in the litter room) and he's still licking his dude parts.

I'm so irritated that I paid money for them to not give me the correct answer. I don't even want to go back to that vet, I've been misdiagnosed a couple times by that vet clinic now. I want to call them back tomorrow, what should I say? >(


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## plumcrazy (Sep 11, 2009)

So sorry your kitty is still feeling poorly!! I'm not sure I'll be of much help because my veterinarian (and her husband who is also our horse vet) is a good friend of mine - we've known each other for years in professional and social situations. If I didn't get the "right" answer in a diagnosis of any of my animals I'd be calling Amy up and discussing it; and she'd listen! 

I had a 5 year old Bengal cat a few years ago who had chronic UTIs (like, they started when he was 2 years old and we fought with them for 3 years!!) I finally had to come to the realization that he couldn't be helped. Amy and her hubby, Mark, worked with me all that time to try to get things under control. I remember my last appointment with Mark and my cat, MacGyver. Mark was explaining another option we could try (surgical) but as he was telling me about it, I looked in his eyes and saw the answer there - there really was nothing more we could do for Mac... The surgery he was talking about had helped other cats, but they were cats with different ailments than Mac had... 

I hope that you can explain to your vet that your kitty isn't showing improvement in his symptoms. Maybe the urinalysis was clear, but obviously there's something else going on. Some vets really DO listen to their clients (and others just pretend to - I hope you have one that LISTENS!)

Was your kitty on a course of antibiotics? (sorry I didn't go back and read the whole thread - the answer is probably in there somewhere) Maybe he needs a different kind of antibiotic or maybe for a longer period of time.

My Hannah-banana had what Dr. Amy referred to as a "SCREAMING bladder infection" last August. She was on a 7 day course of clavamox and seemed to clear up. Just last month, she had an accident in the house (this dog is 10+ years old and the ONLY time she has EVER peed in the house is when she's sick) so I took a sample in to Amy. She said the sample showed a very mild indication of infection (not like the last one), but obviously it was enough to make it uncomfortable for Hannah. She just finished a 14 day course of baytril and I'll be taking another sample in to see if she's now cleared up completely... 

It is really frustrating to have to deal with bladder infections/UTIs in our pets... especially when they don't clear up after we've done everything right.

Good luck talking to the vet - hopefully they'll want to find resolution as much as you (and your kitty) do and they'll do what it takes to get there!! :hug:


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## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

Thanks for responding Plum 

Yeah, Obe is on Clavamox, I'm wondering if I can get some more when this bottle is up and I don't want to pay for more vet visits with the cat until I can SEE that he's improving, so I'd rather just take the medicine route. x_x

How do pets even get UTIs? He's a four year old indoor cat.. we don't have any other cats. =/ I can't start giving him purified water to drink because he'll just go drink out of the toilet. :doh:


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## plumcrazy (Sep 11, 2009)

Fluffyspoos said:


> How do pets even get UTIs? He's a four year old indoor cat.. we don't have any other cats. =/ I can't start giving him purified water to drink because he'll just go drink out of the toilet. :doh:


I think if he's drinking ANYTHING, it's better than not drinking at all (so toilet water is A-OK!)  With my MacGyver, the vet said his urine was SOOOOOOO concentrated that it was almost a solid (he may have been exaggerating just a little...) and that we had to try to get Mac to drink as much as possible to help dilute his urine. I also started him on canned food so he'd get the extra moisture from that, but nothing was helping... 

With Hannah, Dr. Amy said that as pets get older (she's 10+ years old) that their physical status changes, their muscles start losing elasticity/strength and urine can "pool" or back up into places where it shouldn't causing bacteria to grow... Your kitty isn't that old, so that's probably not the case with him.

I do know that UTI's are very common in neutered male cats and can become very serious if left untreated. I know you're doing everything possible to help him get better so hopefully with the right medicine and plenty to drink (to flush out his system) he'll be on the road to recovery soon!!

If you'd feel better getting a 2nd opinion from a different vet, that's always an option, but you'd probably have to start from scratch and pay for more urinalysis... Praying things get better soon for Obe (and you!!)


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## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

Thanks again for the well wishes and advice, Plum!  I just hate how things like this pop up when you have money to spend, this time, Christmas gifts and bills. x_x


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## plumcrazy (Sep 11, 2009)

Well, OK, if it helps you don't need to buy a gift for ME this year!!  I know what you mean, though - unfortunately we can "plan" illnesses/injuries in our pets so they come when we have extra $$... It will work out however it's supposed to - my hope is that Obe gets better soon (maybe that clavamox is still doing its "thing" and he'll continue to get better!)


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