Tinkerbelle

[Shady]

Hello everyone. I have been reading your forums and Pet of the Day for a couple of years now, and this is the first time I've needed your help/advice.

Tinkerbelle came up with what they called UTI (they also called it cystitis so I am confused)

On September 16 she was taken to the emergency veterinarian as I noticed her having frequent trips to the litter box, and with very little output. It was in the evening, and the regular vet was closed. There they did a urine collection, a urinalysis, where they determined that it contained struvite crystals, cocci and a large amount of blood (but not visible to the naked eye)

So she was given a shot of pan aqueous a prescription for Clavamox 62.5mg twice per day for 10 days.

All went well, and she finished her antibiotics then returned to her own vet for a retest to make sure all was normal. She was tested and the result came back, that her test was completely normal again.

Perfect.

Then four days later I noticed her back in the box and straining and now I could even see the blood residue. Back to the regular vet and another urinalysis, this time it showed increased levels of protein, crystals, and a high alkalinity, as well as the blood.

This has been going on for a month now.

So she was prescribed 14 days of Clavamox once again this time four days longer, and I was given the Dissolution Diet, canned and dry food which until today she refused to eat.

She was fine and seemed to be doing so much better, until during the night, then she began vomiting, she will vomit five or six times, at first it's liquid with a bit of food and then it is water, and finally foamy stuff in the water.

She seems to be in discomfort when picked up sometimes, but not always.

This morning she ate the gravy off of the canned dissolution diet and kept that down for 3 or more hours, then was sick again.

I am just beside myself now, I dont know what to do and I feel like I could overreact at everything that happens now. To top it off it's the Thanksgiving weekend here (I'm in Canada) and everything is closed. I dont know if I should rush her off to the emergency vet, or try to wait. Has anyone ever experienced this or anything like it when dealing with a UTI? If anyone could offer any insight it would be greatly appreciated.

This vomiting just started overnight, and we have had three sessions since.

My poor baby

[krazyaboutkatz]

Welcome to Pet Talk and I'm so sorry to hear about Tinkerbelle. I have 4 male cats and two of them have had blockage due to crystals. Cirrus required surgery and Storm is now on a special diet. They're on the Hills Presription c/d diet which is supposed to help both struvite and calcium oxalate crystals. I'm also going to be putting my other two cats on this as a preventative measure. So far both Storm and Cirrus have been doing well.

I'm not sure what kind of advice to give you because I haven't experienced these kind of symptoms before. Maybe the new food just doesn't agree with her tummy. You may need to end up taking her to the emergency vet again because you don't want her to become dehydrated. Try to force some water down her throat with a syringe if you can and watch her. If she continues to vomit then please take her to the emergency vet. She may have other problems going on that you're unaware of. Good luck and please keep us updated.

[slick]

Welcome to Pet Talk Shady and Tinkerbelle. I'm also Canadian and live just outside Vancouver, BC.

Tinkerbelle, you are an absolute Princess; I have a Flame-Point Himmy named Max.

Max has also been struck with the occasional UTI but the last time he was on antibiotics for 20 days. The initial prescription was for 10 days and after that the symptoms were gone but the vet recommended another 10 day treatment just to make sure. All this time he was switched to Hills C/D which he hated so I had to mix a bit of Friskies in so he would eat it. He's been fine for awhile now.

You may want to think about a sensitivity test. That's when they take a urine sample and test it to see what antibiotic will work the best. I have used Baytril before and that seemed to work OK.

I've never had any experience with vomiting along with the UTI; I'm starting to think it just might be a blockage of some kind since you say that she is uncomfortable being picked up.

If it continues, I'd definitely get her to an emergency vet. In my neck of the woods there are emergency phone numbers we can call even on stat holidays. Good luck and please keep us posted.

[Shady]

Thank you for your warm welcome.

I did take her to the Emergency this evening, but I feel it was a complete waste of time. While there she was her old self, charming the doctor, exhibiting no signs of whatever this is that's going on. He probed and prodded, took her temperature (which was normal). He said he could find nothing out of the ordinary...but did prescribe something called Tylosin for her 'upset tummy'

Problem is she still cant keep that or anything else down, she was sick 20 minutes after giving her the Tylosin. She managed to rest/sleep for about three hours before being sick again.

Blockage sounds feasible, though she is uncomfortable with being handled just before and after being sick in between seems fine.

I cannot get the emerg to do anything other than what they did, as they explained that they only treat as a bridge until you can see your own vet.

(I wrote this last night but didnt submit)

Seems to be a little different story this morning. She was not sick overnight and this morning has eaten (yesterday she would not)

Much to my surprise, I got a call from her own vet this morning, (the emerg faxes a report to your own vet after she's been there) and she wanted to follow up. It was a relief to speak with her, and she spent 15 minutes answering my questions and trying to ease my mind.

Slick, I asked all of your questions, she didnt seem to feel it was a blockage, because she is able to defacate both ways, she said if she was blocked, she would or could have diarrhea (or nothing) but not a solid stool, which she does. The vet felt we should suspend giving her the clavamox, she thinks that's what's upsetting her stomach. She advised giving her no meds until tomorrow morning when I will pick up a prescription for Baytril and continue with that. Thank you for your input, I appreciate it very much.

krazyaboutkatz, thank you also, I was getting ready to drip water into her mouth, when she suddenly seemed to be able to tolerate it again. That was a definite, thanks for the reminder on how fast they can dehydrate.

It's been about 15 minutes since she's eaten, and so far so good, I even opened a window in her favourite spot and she's focusing all her attention at the moment on some birds in the trees, which is another good sign I think.

I will keep you posted, as my experience may help others somewhere down the road. Talking here has helped greatly, more than you can know.



By the way, Tinkerbelle was Cat of the Day a couple of years ago.

[Shady]

Tinkerbelle is at the vet's, the vomiting did not stop although it eased off.

She is marginally dehydrated from the vomiting, has a temperature and since this began Sept 18th, she's lost 3/4lb. She was 8.5lb to begin with.

She is there, they will be putting her on IV, doing x-rays, a full blood workup, and then take it from there. She will get the Baytril intramuscularly from now on as well, in case that is also contributing to her vomiting.

She will have to stay there at least 24hrs.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm so sorry to hear that Tinkerbelle is still vomiting and very sick. Hopefully your vet will be able to find out what's wrong with her and I hope that she's able to make a quick recovery. Please keep us updated when you can. Take care.

[slick]

Poor Tinkerbelle. I'm so sorry that she's not doing any better. Hopefully the next 24 hrs will make a difference. {{{HUGS}}} to you and kisses to Tinkerbelle. I'll be watching for some positive news tomorrow.

[leslie]

Poor tinkerbell and you too! Keep us posted! This is certainly a bit baffeling for all! Kisses for the poor nauseas kitty!

[Shady]

Hello everyone..thanks so much for the wishes and thoughts it makes a big difference, knowing I can share with other cat lover's mine and Tinkerbelle's dilemma.

Tinkerbelle came home last night after being at the vet's for about 28 hrs. To me it seems the lethargy is pretty much gone. She could sleep without being all hunched up, was/is not restless, but she was exhausted, I assume she didnt get much rest at the vet's. She is purring again, talking, giving her sweet little kisses when asked, and just participating in the day. This morning I woke up and she was practically on top of me asleep, all snuggled up, which is unusual, as she does sleep on the bed but at the end. That was so nice.

She's fully aware of her surroundings and although she had ZERO interest in food at the vet's even when I tried to give it to her, she is interested here and was the moment she was out of her carrier.

She ate 10 or so pieces of her Royal Canin dry food, 4 Whiska Lickins and some of the wet. She managed to keep all of that down. Around 4 in the morning she woke me up asking for food, I gave her another four Whiska Lickins. She ended up giving those back an hour later. I fed everyone (have three other Persians) around 9:30 this morning. She ate and has also managed to keep that down so far.

She has a purple 'bracelet' on, that covers where the IV was, that she really wants off, she's washed it umpteen times and is pulling with her teeth at the stitches, I'll bet it's itchy under there.
She also groomed herself thoroughly, which she hadnt in awhile.

She'll be going back this afternoon and every day ending Monday (when her intramuscular injections of Baytril end) At this time she can also have an antacid, which will be dicussed.

They told me if we cant resolve her situation, that the next step is an endoscopy. I believe that would be upper GI, rather than lower.

To think this all began with a UTI.

I will report back, any new changes with her treatment, to keep you informed and hopefully help someone else that might have the misfortune to experience something the same or similar.

[slick]

So nice to hear that Tinkerbelle is back in your loving arms again. I pray that she continues to do well and keeps the food down. Hopefully the Baytril will do the trick.

So you have other Persians as well? How about posting some pictures of them too? I just love long-haired kitties.

[Shady]

Well...that vet visit was more encouraging, and so is Tinkerbelle, she was given her Baytril, and a shot of Pepcid. FINGERS CROSSED.

As for the others, here goes.

This is Tinkerbelle's half sister, Kewpie.

[Shady]

Spike

[Shady]

And finally Rocky

That's it, all my furkids.

[AmberLee]

Ohhhh! Each one's cuter than the next!

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm so glad to hear that Tinkerbelle is doing better and is finally back home. You also have some gorgeous furkids. You might want to introduce yourself and show off their pictures in cat general. More prayers and positive thoughts are being sent your way for Tinkerbelle.