Questions...

[Laura's Babies]

I noticed yesterday that Caramella had a bloody rear end. I couldn't tell if it was coming from her female parts or the other. I got a warm wet wash rag and tried cleaning her up hoping to get a idea of where the blood was coming from.. I did and her female parts seemed swollen. I watched her the rest of the day and a little while this morning to see how and what she did in the litter box. She would get in to pee and sit there for a pretty good while and get out and she wouldn't have done but about a teaspoon.. I called and got her in to see the vet and he said it is a bladder infection or whatever they call those parts... He has her on antibiotics for 2 weeks... My question is... why is she bleeding? I didn't think to ask the vet.... I've had cats with this sort of infections before but never had blood with them or have their parts swollen and bleeding.. How unusual is this?

After bringing her home, I knew I had to wash the pad I had in the kennel because there was blood on it. When I took it out of the kennel, it was soaked with her urine so somehow, I think that soft pad helped her pee because she soaked it! LOL! I put another soft pad in there for her but Miss Giz decided it was for HER!

Karen, if you see this, Caramella IS cleaning up the blood on her fur back there.

[Catty1]

Glad Caramella is finally cleaning "back there"!:D

Laura, about two years after Oscar came to live with me he developed a small amount of crystals and a urinary infection. The vet showed me a urine sample about 3 weeks into treatment and there was still blood in it! So this is normal for a UTI I think.

Oscar is male, so the blood is likely more noticeable on a female.

Hope Caramella feels better soon.:love:

[Karen]

Oh, good - glad she is cleaning up the blood back there at least! And yes, it is normal.

[Laura's Babies]

Thanks....I will try not to worry so much.. She let me press a warm wet washrag back there awhile ago as long as I didn't press it to hard, she was fine. It's going to be fun trying to pill her for 14 days....:rolleyes:

[cassiesmom]

Big, big prayers for Caramella!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Thanks....I will try not to worry so much.. She let me press a warm wet washrag back there awhile ago as long as I didn't press it to hard, she was fine. It's going to be fun trying to pill her for 14 days....:rolleyes:

If she likes treats like pill pockets, you can use these to hide the pill inside. You can buy them at most pet stores or even at your vets. My cats love them. I hope she starts feeling better soon.

[phesina]

Prayers and good wishes and love for Caramella and you, Laura.

:love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love:

[Freedom]

Laura, you can also phone the vet with the follow up question - one of the vet techs can probably reply for you as well!

I would get the liquid meds for the cats, as I can NOT get pills in them.

Prayers for a quick recovery for sweet Caramella!

[Laura's Babies]

She came to me this morning (several times) and "meoooow'ed" at me turning her butt next to me.. Somehow I knew it was hurting and she wanted me to do something so I got the wash rag and wet it with warn water and that was what she wanted! There was some clear, bloody urine, coming from her so that is how I know she wanted me to do that..... I got the first pill in her with no trouble, lets hope the other 13 go that good. She is still only doing a teaspoon when she goes in the box....

[Queen of Poop]

Hoping you are both feeling better very, very soon. :love::love::love:

[Laura's Babies]

She's not being so bad to pill although that could change. She is still bleeding and only doing about a teaspoon at a time in the box and she comes to me for that warm compress but she takes it like she absolutely knows I am trying to make her feel better.. She was VERY happy today, the man she :love:loves came over today (just a handyman building me a porch that she has fallen in love with) and she perked way up for him.. Even he had to laugh at how she follows him from window to window and "talks" to him... and he is allergic to cats but says his girlfriend has TWELVE of them..

[Jessika]

The bleeding is due to irritation and inflammation... and often, some cats will over-groom that area because having a UTI is uncomfortable and they seem to think grooming will soothe the pain... which oftentimes can lead to inflammation of the genitals (as you can imagine...).

One of the most common signs of a UTI besides frequent/straining to urinate is drops of blood in the litterbox... nearly every UTI will have blood in the urine sample, even if you can't see it with your naked eye it will show up on urine strips or after they spin the urine down and examine it under the microscope.

Glad to hear pills are going well!!!!! Hope the healing process is fast and the recheck urinalysis after the antibiotics shows no more infection!

EDIT: The blood you're seeing in the litterbox isn't frank blood but blood-tinged urine. It's probably less blood than you'd think (think if you cut your finger and put it in water - it would seem like there was a LOT more blood!!).