Hi, all. I haven't looked at this forum since you all were kind enough to try to help me with my cat who died last year, but I figured I would ask for your advice again. I'm realizing that after dealing with his health issues and death, I have much more anxiety around my pets' health and am struggling with all this.
So, I have an almost 17 year old spayed female cat who I recently moved to a new state. She was diagnosed mid-March with hyperthyroidism (she had many tests and was cleared for kidney issues, liver issues, diabetes), and her T4 is already back in normal range after being on felimazole (currently lowered to 2.5mg/day). I then moved her from my mom's house to an apartment with my wife's 2 cats who are new to her, so when we started introducing them and she started peeing on the litter mats, we thought it was behavioral.
2 weeks ago though she would empty her bladder and then go back and forth to the litter boxes or mats or soft places and keep trying to pee, but since her bladder was emptied she was just straining and getting out drops. I thought it was a UTI, so I took her to the vet right away, and her urinalysis had occult blood (+10), urine protein (+100), leukocytes (+500), bacteria (occasional cocci), and high WBC ("too high to count"). It was negative for crystals. They said she wasn't blocked at all and that it was easy to get her to pee, and they prescribed her a 10-day course of Clavamox. She was quickly feeling better, still peeing on mats sometimes but no longer straining at all. The course ended Sunday (2 days ago), but I just saw her straining again after emptying her bladder earlier.
She's been through a lot of changes recently, and I don't know how much they could be contributing to this issue. She'd never had any health issue until now. I gave her dry food only her whole life, but starting about a year ago she was given a can of wet food daily and had free access to kibble. Since moving her in March, though, she's back to dry food only (mainly due to the cost of buying wet food for 3 cats). She stays pretty well hydrated, as all her life she's kind of had an obsession with "new" water and loves her water fountain. (The amount of water she drinks is actually what made us bring her to the vet in March to make sure she didn't have kidney disease or diabetes.) She's also had a change in litter, and obviously in environment, and had some stressful events (the 12 hour drive to move, meeting new cats). I also know that we don't have enough litter boxes right now which may be upsetting her, as she's used to having boxes of her own. I am going later today to buy at least 2 more boxes and figure out where to put them. If it's possible going back on wet food would help her too, I'll start buying it for her again.
The vet said that if the problem persists, they will want to take x-ray images to rule out bladder stones. My issue though is that I don't think that I could afford it; I've already been struggling with the vet bills since March (the initial appointment was very expensive, plus mutiple follow-ups), especially after spending everything I had treating her brother last year. He needed imaging done too at the end and so I know how expensive it can be. I started a wellness plan at Banfield, so at least the cost of her office visits are covered now. She has an appointment already booked this week to retest her T4 and refill her prescription, so of course I'll bring this all up to her vet, but I'd appreciate any advice.
And here's the cat tax.
So, I have an almost 17 year old spayed female cat who I recently moved to a new state. She was diagnosed mid-March with hyperthyroidism (she had many tests and was cleared for kidney issues, liver issues, diabetes), and her T4 is already back in normal range after being on felimazole (currently lowered to 2.5mg/day). I then moved her from my mom's house to an apartment with my wife's 2 cats who are new to her, so when we started introducing them and she started peeing on the litter mats, we thought it was behavioral.
2 weeks ago though she would empty her bladder and then go back and forth to the litter boxes or mats or soft places and keep trying to pee, but since her bladder was emptied she was just straining and getting out drops. I thought it was a UTI, so I took her to the vet right away, and her urinalysis had occult blood (+10), urine protein (+100), leukocytes (+500), bacteria (occasional cocci), and high WBC ("too high to count"). It was negative for crystals. They said she wasn't blocked at all and that it was easy to get her to pee, and they prescribed her a 10-day course of Clavamox. She was quickly feeling better, still peeing on mats sometimes but no longer straining at all. The course ended Sunday (2 days ago), but I just saw her straining again after emptying her bladder earlier.
She's been through a lot of changes recently, and I don't know how much they could be contributing to this issue. She'd never had any health issue until now. I gave her dry food only her whole life, but starting about a year ago she was given a can of wet food daily and had free access to kibble. Since moving her in March, though, she's back to dry food only (mainly due to the cost of buying wet food for 3 cats). She stays pretty well hydrated, as all her life she's kind of had an obsession with "new" water and loves her water fountain. (The amount of water she drinks is actually what made us bring her to the vet in March to make sure she didn't have kidney disease or diabetes.) She's also had a change in litter, and obviously in environment, and had some stressful events (the 12 hour drive to move, meeting new cats). I also know that we don't have enough litter boxes right now which may be upsetting her, as she's used to having boxes of her own. I am going later today to buy at least 2 more boxes and figure out where to put them. If it's possible going back on wet food would help her too, I'll start buying it for her again.
The vet said that if the problem persists, they will want to take x-ray images to rule out bladder stones. My issue though is that I don't think that I could afford it; I've already been struggling with the vet bills since March (the initial appointment was very expensive, plus mutiple follow-ups), especially after spending everything I had treating her brother last year. He needed imaging done too at the end and so I know how expensive it can be. I started a wellness plan at Banfield, so at least the cost of her office visits are covered now. She has an appointment already booked this week to retest her T4 and refill her prescription, so of course I'll bring this all up to her vet, but I'd appreciate any advice.
And here's the cat tax.
