Minnie's UTI

[catmandu]

We are praying for you Minnie to get well and to have the ahppy life that a Cat should have! God Bless you Minnie and may he grant you health!

[Barbara]

I had read this thread but had no idea to contribute. Now I also recommend urgently a second opinion -either it is not a bacteria infection or the bacteria are resistant.

Good luck! And all the best for poor Minnie. Having to swallow all these pills and not getting better.

[weeze]

I had a bad experience with her last night.. I gave her a pill, and she somehow kept it in her mouth, but it started to foam and she looked like she was choking. I almost had a heart attack.. She was okay after a minute or two..

[weeze]

well, I just brought Minnie to the vet again. Today she started throwing up. Its the last day for her antibiotics and she has gotten worse. The doctor told me that it may be a very serious UTI or that it may be a kidney or liver infection. So he took some blood and more urine and I should get the results in a couple of days. I am very worried...

[slick]

When I first got Speckles in 1997 she had 3 bouts of UTI within a year and a half and it was awful. We experimented many times with different meds then finally came across Baytril. During her last bout, it took about 10 days before she responded and the vet took a urine sample for a sensitivity test to see what medication would work the best. Knock on wood, she's been fine for about 2 years now.
About the foaming, don't worry. When cats taste something bad like a pill, they automatically foam at the mouth. Max, my Persian, has done it several times when I've had to medicate him. It's really quite funny looking on him.

It's going to be a long couple of days before you get the results of the tests. In the meantime, I agree with everyone that you should seek out another opinion. Please keep us updated.

[tuxluvr]

Well, i think you saw the links to the post about Ritzy's ordeal (thanks t&p's mom)....and INSIST on blood tests and urine samples. If I had this to do over again, I would have been a lot more demanding....it seemed to me they "waited" a lot longer than they should have.

I realize that the typical uti is treated successfully with antibiotics, but we had Ritz through several different kinds plus the Interferon..and I took her in and said, look, put her out get blood get urine...whatever you have to do. IN her case, it was a really strong infection and it was finally cured with a long bout of antibiotics (they alternated stronger and weaker varieties so as not to take such a toll on the tummy), coupled with some stuff to stave off the soft stool often brought about by the antibiotics. They also gave some kind of other gooey stuff to help with the bowels, but she didn't seem to need more than one dose.

Ritz apparently had been harboring this infection for a very long time - her urine was FULL of crystals and infection from the long term irritation of the crystals inside her bladder. that is why it took so long to heal.

They also changed her diet to the Science Diet CD/S and we now also buy distilled water (the last was probably not overly necessary, but we have a lot of hard water in our area - the doctor said it couldn't hurt, but the food diet was the big change)

So far, no recurrences. It does seem that cats who get this tend to be prone to it, much like people who get cold sores can be prone.....it is not so much a "cure" as the prevention - stress is a common catalyst..Ritz had her first UTI just before she went into heat - a short round of antibios and then her surgery and she was fine until this last bout earlier this year.

And finally, it is ok to get second opinions....I love my vet dearly and I know he wouldn't do anything to harm, but Ritz is a VERY difficult patient - there were times when I felt he was just tryingnot to have to deal with her "cattitude". Also, understand that many vets make the assumption that owners want to go the "least costly" route, so they often don't go down the path of "full diagnosis" for fear it will not be acceptable.

I have learned my lesson about that - I insist on all tests up front...by the time we "pussyfooted" around with this, I had spent almost 1,000 - and would have only spent about a 4th of that if they had done the full diagnostics up front.

I'm praying that your sweet kitty will respond and get better - I know all too well how scary this can be.
Ritzy's mom

[weeze]

Thank you so much for sharing your stories, it makes me feel better. When she threw up today, it was all foamy and we hadn't even given her medication at the time. So, I don't know why she would have thrown up like that. My other big concern is that I am leaving the country in three weeks for 3 months, and I don't know how I am going to do it if she is still sick like this.

[kimlovescats]

Oh I hope and pray that Minnie's tests come back ok...please let us know when you find out the results!

Hugs to you both!

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm so sorry to hear that Minnie is still sick and not feeling well. Prayers and positive thoughts are on the way. Please take care and keep us updated.

[catmandu]

We are sending prayers that Minnie recovers from this terrible disease! And is once again in Good Health! All the Cats add thier prayers as well!

[weeze]

well, I have an update on Minnie's condition.. I got the blood and urine tests back yesterday and thankfully the blood tests were negative and the urine tests didn't show anything new. So we have concluded that this is just a really bad infection. She is currently on a much stronger dose of antibiotics so we will see how she responds. I am very releived that it wasn't something more serious..
thanks for all your help

[krazyaboutkatz]

Thanks for the update. Prayers and positive thoughts are still on the way for Minnie to make a quick and speedy recovery. I sure hope that the new antibiotics will help her. Please take care.

[tuxluvr]

Did they check her urine ph? This is the most prevalent sight of crystals, and if they don't get under control, the infection is prone to return...

Since we changed Ritzy's diet, she has been a different cat - I am sure you have spent many of your recent days hovering near the cat box "watching" for the various litter events.

Good luck on the "P watch"

[weeze]

Hi everyone,
just wanted to let you know how things have been going with Minnie.. After the Baytril, the infection was still there, so the doc put her on Clavamox (much stronger than the Baytril dosage). Her UTI went away immediately and stayed away for a week. However, yesterday she started showing symptoms again.. straining in the litterbox, peeing on the floor, blood in her urine etc.. She has one week left on the Clavamox but I don't know what to expect. She has to go back in to the vet on Wednesday so we'll see what he says. I was so happy when she appeared totally back to normal, now I'm worried again.. Will this never end?

[catmandu]

We are praying as well for Minnie to GET Better ansd not be in Pain. It would be a shame that noe she is not as timid , to be in poor Health. Prayers from the Lost Cats Hotel.