Please help!!!

[KanoasDestiny]

My cat Binx sleeps in a cat carrier at night time, as does our other cat and our bunny, incase there is ever an emergency and we need to grab them in a split second. He was raised this way, and is now around 6 years old. Friday and Saterday night, he pooped and peed in his carrier. Didn't think too much of it, as accidents happen.

But last night, I noticed that he made countless trips to the potty box and not much urine came out. It was our anniversary yesterday, so we weren't home much during the day. The cats had no water last night (but I know they did in the morning), so we filled it up and Binx drank happily. Not much urine has been present at all. I instantly thought that it was a urinary track infection, so I have started him on some cephalexin that I have on hand. It figures that this would happen on the weekend, when the vets are all closed.

I did some research and have read that the cephalexin is a good thing to give, and also to try to get moist food and water in him. He had a yummy breakfast of "Chicken of the Sea tuna" and it's juice diluted with more water. Has anyone else had a cat with a UTI? If so, was the outcome good if it was caught early? And is there anything else I can do between now and tomorrow morning? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[wade3504]

Male cats can get crystals in their urinary tracts quite often or at least more so than female. There's not much to do until Monday but I would get him in to a vet early in the week as the longer you wait or don't notice it the worse it gets. I had one that ended up in the hospital from it and ended up paying quite a sum for them to make him well. They put him on a special food which he couldn't eat without throwing it up so he had to go off of it. It ended up happening again and the second time the same vet told me that there was a surgery we could do to basically make the male cat a female and it wouldn't happen again. At the time that procedure was $350. We had just spent $800 with them with them having this information all along. We ended up having to put him down.

I'm not saying yours will even get this bad as some are just very prone to it as well, but don't let it go. I can't remember what the name of the food was but you have to get it from a vet anyway.. I hope he does better.

Amanda

 

[Minimor]

It could be an infection, but it could also be crystals blocking his ureter. I have never had a cat with a UTI but have had one with the crystals. Also had one with infected anal glands, and that acted exactly the same as the crystals. In both instances the cat made frequent trips to the litter box and was unable to pass urine. Both times the cat got very uncomfortable and was crying--yowling more like--and both instances meant a trip to the vet ASAP.

If your cat is drinking plenty and not passing urine he may end up in serious pain before tomorrow morning. Personally I would call the vet now and get a professional opinion as to whether the cat should be treated immediately, or if he's okay left until morning. Do be prepared for an emergency vet visit later this evening or in the wee hours of the morning. If he cannot pass urine and his bladder fills up, it will become distended & be very painful for him. Even if it is a URI and not a blockage it can become painful for him. A full/distended bladder can cause kidney failure as well, and I don't believe it takes all that long.

Meant to add--when our cat got the crystals he was 8 years old. The vet put him on the special food, which he wouldn't eat. I forget how many times we took him in (emergency call every time) to have his bladder drained. The vet refused to do the surgery because she said it wasn't problem free either--could cause him problems later in life. She never said what those problems were. I finally got mad & chewed her out & said look, you're not doing anything for him, he won't eat the food & therefore he's getting no treatment at all, he's in misery every few days, these emergency calls are killing me financially, they are more misery for him...either do the surgery or put him to sleep. She did the surgery. My total bill? $1000. If she'd done the surgery the first time around my bill would have been no more than $250. The final kicker--the cat lived a wonderful life for another 6 months, then died of FIP. We never knew if the stress of the urinary problems triggered the FIP or if the FIP was the reason he got urine crystals--seems likely when he'd had no problems up to the age of 8, as FIP does cause urinary tract problems. He was an active outdoor cat who shouldn't have been a prime candidate for crystals.

 

[KanoasDestiny]

Sounds like it is common then. I pray that it isn't crystals. I think that maybe the potty box was more full then normal (I've been out of the house more this week), and that's why he "was" holding it in...to the point where he went in the early morning. I feel so bad!!!

He is on Whiskas dry food, so it probably isn't the best thing for him. But I thank God that he wasn't on one of the re-called foods, or I would instantly assume that it was related to that. I have seen him go twice since I have given him the tuna juice/water (last hour), and it was a LOT bigger clump than in the past 14 hours. Maybe the cephalexin is kicking in??? I hope so!!! He is like a child to us, so it's a really scary thing. Poor guy, I just want him all better.

Thank you for the replies. If he does start yelling, then we will rush him to the animal hospital in the next city over.

 

[horsegal5]

Well I just recently when through the same thing with my cat. Which are also symtoms for the recalled food, he also wasn't on the recalled food, but I really wonder as they keep recalling more. We had him on the same meds, he was doing better for a few days, than starting peeing all over the place again, and I went to check on him the next morning and he was dead, it looked like he just went to sleep and died. I'm so grateful that he went that way, but I'm really wondering if it was the food, he had all the symtoms, he died right before the recall was anounced.

He was my baby, I even called him my boyfriend as he would curl up with me on my bed...