Cat has a urinary infection... I think?

I feel you on trying to afford the vet. Normally I would scream about taking her to the emergency vet and money be damned… but I’m in your position right now too so I understand the guilt and money mix.

I would give her the medication from before. Do some research online at vet resources just to be sure about the dosing. Look at the manufacturers drug schedule for dosing info.

Keep a close eye on her and if in two days you don’t see improvement (or if you find someone to borrow money from) take her to the vet.

We had a cat that had terrible blood clots in his kidneys that did this.
We spent over $700 to change to cat to a female, and it continued. After this happened 4 more times, we found it was caused by the food we were giving it.

@filmfann: She is a female. The other cat is perfectly healthy.

I would be rushing to the emergency vet and trading the clothes off my back, but she’s acting 150% normal. Responds to me and everything I do the same way, purring like an engine AND cooing when I hit her favorite spot on her back. She’s feeling fine right now.

I’ve had a cat with a UTI. It nearly killed him. The fact that your friend is a girl is great news, if this is in fact the problem – girl-cats have short and wide urethras, and when they (rarely) get FLUTD, it often comes out OK for them. The procedure filmfann is talking about is often the last resort for the poor boy-cats.

Now: the reason they call it FLUTD is because it’s not always a UTI – it can be a number of problems. So antibiotics will not necessarily be the solution. My vet told me that FLUTD can cause fistfights at vet conferences – it’s that hard to say what caused it and why.

It sounds from your description more like an impacted anal gland to me – my female got this just a little while ago. She acted almost totally normal while the infection was growing. I saw pus on her butt from it – never saw that on my boy when he had FLUTD. Impacted anal glands can happen from as little as a scratch from another cat, or they can just happen because of internal reasons – the gland, for whatever reason, wasn’t emptied when your friend went #2 like it usually is. If this is the problem, you will notice swelling on one side of the butt, hemorrhaging under the skin, and drops of pus.

I’ve spent time as a cat rescuer. We routinely gave Clavamox for infections, without vet supervision. If I were in your position, I would probably try that. If you know of a cat rescue group in your area, give them a call and explain your situation. See what they say – they are used to diagnosing and treating their cats without strict vet supervision, because they can’t afford it much of the time. They will probably be hesitant to answer your questions because they are not medical professionals, and it’s your cat not theirs – but just try to emphasize that you know why they’re being hesitant, and will not hold them responsible for advice given. Make sure to refrigerate the Clavamox after you mix it!

Long story short – I know you know this, but she really needs to see a vet. Call every vet in town to see if they’ll bill you. Or apply for a new credit card ASAP – in particular, check into CareCredit. Many vet’s offices take CareCredit. If you have bad credit, try a payday loan.

Also, PM tinyfaery (friend of many cats) and especially syz. I am not an animal healthcare professional. syz is.

I just spoke to the emergency vet, and she said that if she’s acting normal, and she didn’t respond when I squeezed her, then she can wait until the morning.

I’m familiar with the impacted anal gland, @wildpotato… that’s how I got the medicine I have now. But I don’t think that would make the urine smell the way it did.

Did I mention that my comforter is on its second run through the washer, with bleach, and the smell is still there? I have a bottle of something called Complete that works miracles on cat urine odor… I’m going to try that next. Haven’t even STARTED on my sheets. /sigh

So strange. I know when my male cat was having a lot of urine issues (peeing ALL over the place) we got him tested for UTIs every so often, because we didn’t want to miss something physical (turns out it was psychological) I don’t recall the test being too expensive, but I do know how it is to not have even that.

I think the vet on call gave good advice, she is not in pain and didn’t react to being touched. I wonder if she just felt like peeing there. Were you gone for an extended period of time? The litter box completely cleaned? I’m just throwing out ideas that are non-medical.

it’s the smell of the urine that’s got me concerned. If you’ve ever had a UTI, you know that smell.

@casheroo: No, I was just at work. I left an hour early, but same as always. The box was due, which I obviously did as soon as I took care of my bedding (I only have that blanket and those sheets)... cleaned it all out, vacuumed any stray pieces out, wiped it all down and refilled it with fresh litter… the good stuff too.

From the (non) doctor:

Tonight: No need for antibiotic if you are going to the vet tomorrow. Lots of love.
Tomorrow: Vet. Lots of Love.

What if I’m not going to the vet in the morning? As of now I have no way of paying, and they won’t see her unless I do.

I don’t qualify for CareCredit. Tried that last time.

Do you have a credit card at all? We have one credit card, for emergencies…and if something happened to one of our cats, we’d have to use it.

Hmm…then go with antibiotics. Is this something new or has this happened before?

Try a different vet. There are low-cost vets out there.

She’s had the impacted anal gland thing, and she is overdue for a butt shave, and she does have some buildup that I didn’t catch before. So it’s not as though I’ve never seen pus around that area.

But I’ve never smelled this before… and the only time she’s ever peed on any furniture was when my idiot ex boyfriend closed the goddamn bathroom door where the litterbox was and I stayed at his house for the night. Even then, it was NEVER on my bed.

@casheroo: No credit cards. I’m pretty much high and dry if anything ever happens to me.

Ugh. She really should go to the vet. I don’t think the antibiotics will hurt her (barring any freaky disease that only House can diagnose), but if she doesn’t get better or gets worse she’ll need to be seen by a vet.

/sigh

if it really came down to it, I get paid on Friday, and I could go cash a check at the grocery store and pray they don’t try to deposit it until then. Now I get to go explain to my roommate that I will be shorting him X amount on the rent. I hate my life.

Try the antibiotics for at least 7 days; 10 is better. It could work. Just keep an eye on her and be prepared for the fact that she might need to see the vet.

Maybe invest in some clippers so you can keep the poop-chute shaved or at least cut the fur with some scissors. Try the thrift stores.

BTW, I am sorry you have money problems, and I don’t mean to be harsh, but when you take a pet, it’s like adopting a member of the family. You MUST take care of them, just as you would your children. When my cat needed that surgery, I wasn’t falling over money, here. Money was very tight, but I felt obligated to take care of part of our family.

@filmfann: Thanks. really. I needed that. I didn’t already feel like enough shit. I know what my obligations are, and I am trying to take care of her to the best of my ability.

I am not trying to kick you while you are down. I know you care for your pet.
Don’t be surprised if it is the food thing I wrote about earlier. My cat was probably allergic to something in it, which might be why one of your cats isn’t troubled.

I don’t even want to let her back into the bedroom… it took me 4 hours to get my bedding clean, dry, and free of that atrocious smell. They’re howling outside my door but I’m scared of waking up and finding that she’s peed on my bed again… worse… while I was in it.

Im going to agree with the emergency vet on this one she should be fine till the morning. Use the powder that you are using, if you notice the smell in the morning in her litter box (or anywhere) then take her to the vet better safe than sorry you know.

Blargh. I knew this was going to happen. I was going to go in there for a UTI and they would hand me a whopping invoice, and sure enough, the original “pre-invoice” said $600.
Visit, bloodwork, butt shave, UA, medicine, xrays.

Xrays? Oh, he heard a heart murmur. He said it could be due to stress, but he wanted to check. I get that, but let me tell you what we’re dealing with here. These cats do not leave my apartment, ever. They don’t see other people unless I’m out of town or my boyfriend is here. They are NEVER handled by other people except a scratch on the head. Bo is not used to being shoved in a tiny box, going into a big, loud, scary place… I don’t think she even understands the concept of a dog (there were three, all barking, in the waiting room). She is not used to people picking her up by her scruff, shoving things up her ass, shaving her butt. Stress? BIG stress? Yes, I think so. I’m going to see if the house-call vet in the area will come and just listen to her in her own environment before I deal with xrays. That’s a bit cheaper.

He said there was considerable discharge (though now that her butt is shaved, I see nothing). I have to get a sample… I’m praying she pees on the plastic bag I left in the brand-new litterbox. She loves peeing on goddamn grocery bags. And keeping the two isolated is grating on my last nerve. They miss each other.

Don’t even get me started on these pills. If the vet says I can take a pill and grind it up and mix it with water in a syringe, why isn’t it just made that way? She’s not getting all the medicine since I can’t get every scrap that I’ve ground up (Not to mention the huge, foamy, thick gooey strings that were spewing from her mouth when I tried to give it to her), and she was too smart for the ground up pill in her favorite wet food routine.

She’s happy, she’s still purring and cooing, I watched her take a nice big drink of water. The only thing that worries me a bit is that she hasn’t peed yet, and she hasn’t eaten yet since we’ve been back. I’ll give it a few hours and see how it goes. If she hasn’t peed yet, I’m going to ask if I can bring her back in and they can get a sample right from her bladder, which he said he couldn’t do because she emptied it already and so he couldn’t feel it.

Syz, I would love some advice here. I’m feeling ridiculously horrible about declining the bloodwork and xrays, but I had no other option for right now.

@poofandmook Welcome to Pet Ownership!

I’m sorry you found yourself with a big bill and an ill kitty. I wouldn’t grind the pill. They should’ve given (sold) you a pill holder to get the pill into the back of the cats mouth. If your cat is friendly about you going in her mouth, stick it into her mouth as far back as you can. It’s difficult, and the foaming just makes it seem worse.

I rarely leave the vet for less than $350 per pet, and I have a multitude.

@SpatzieLover: Nope, this cat is WAY TOO SMART to let me put pills in her mouth. Grinding the pill is my only option. Hopefully she’ll eat the damned spoonful of wet food. I wonder if I should take the dry food away and force her to eat it? But then she’s so damned slick she’d probably starve herself instead :P

Grinding it into wet food has never worked for me. Instead I lock myself and said cat in bathroom and go for it.

There are pill syringes that really help to give pills. They are cheap and they sell them at PETCO. I have to give one of my cats pills twice a day. The syringe is a lifesaver.

You’re vet sounds mean. Mine never uses the scruff and seperates dogs and cats. Maybe a try a new vet after this.

She finally peed… so I was able to get the sample and give her nice fresh litter. Poor thing still has to be locked away from mommy and the nice bed all night though. I feel terrible. I didn’t smell anything when I took the sample. I’m starting to wonder if it was a fluke and I’ve gone through all this torture for nothing.

or I pinned it on the wrong cat. Though there was no hint of that smell around the regular litter box either, that Mookie’s been using. So… ugh.

So what’s the story, poof? Was it a UTI after all?

Well, there was no UTI. But she had crystals… so I got her to drink more and she seemed better.

Until two nights ago, when she peed ON me in bed.

Took her to the vet today… most incompetent bunch of medical “professionals” ever. They kept her crammed in a cage… one that wasn’t separated from the dog cages, for 5 hours, and then wondered why she was too aggressive to draw blood and get xrays. They wanted to sedate her, and I told them to shove off… it was their fault she was aggressive at this point. I had to go in and hold her, and all of a sudden she was fine. It just took mommy. I should get money off for having to do their job.

So far, they ruled out stones (xrays)... just waiting on the bloodwork now. We’ll see.

New vet, ASAP.

oh believe me, I am. It breaks my heart that I let them do that to her.

@poofandmook That sucks! Cat peeing on you…glad I have never experienced that, and sorry you did. Poor girl. At least it’s not stones.