Our cat has a few health problems with cystitis, puked twice today

wacckky

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 8, 2019
Messages
77
Purraise
40
Okay so the vet is closed today but ill be giving them a call tomorrow.

A bit of background information, i thought she may have had an ear infection so i brought her in so they can check it out. Turns out they were perfectly fine. The vet is about a 40 min drive away and she did not like the drive. About a week later i noticed she was straining over her litter box trying to pee. So i called the vet and they wanted to see her right away. They diagnosed her with cystitis (inflammation in the bladder) and gave her metacam. She seemed well and i noticed her at the litter box having a lengthy pee.

Then we noticed brown discharged around her vulva and i thought maybe its a pyometra?? So i wanted to get her spayed. They did a check up and further testing and found out that her bladder is actually in a worse condition than last time and so they decided to go through with the spay, as she was being in and out of heat and that could be contributing to stress and they believe stress may be a contributor to these bladder issues.

Its been over a week since she got spayed, healed well. She is on antibiotics called zeniquin for 2 weeks and is on them until friday. She doesnt seem to be eating much but has been drinking here and there. Im gone a lot during the day so i dont really notice if shes going to the litterbox often.

Today shes puking, first it was bile and so i gave her some food and then her antibiotic and then she puked that all up. I dont know what else to do. To move forward the vet recommends she stays on her urinary food, she doesnt like the dry stuff but loves the canned stuff. I give her and the others fresh water everyday. Other than that, idk what to do. Shes costed us a lottt during these past few months and it is worth every penny but idk if we're improving or going backwards. No more brown discharge. If anyones gone through cystitis with their cat and these bladder issues advice is highly appreciated. Tia
 

Furballsmom

Cat Devotee
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Jan 9, 2018
Messages
39,271
Purraise
53,931
Location
Colorado US
Hi! Is there a possibility, within what's necessary regarding the illness, that you could try bland food like unseasoned boiled chicken that she hopefully won't vomit back up?

loves the canned stuff.
If she likes this, will she eat enough of it?

Can you organize the house so that you know how her litterbox habits are? This is important for the vet to know.
 

mrsgreenjeens

Every Life Should Have Nine Cats
Staff Member
Advisor
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Messages
16,391
Purraise
7,131
Location
Arizona
Also, it's possible she is vomiting from the antibiotic. That is a common side effect with that drug, along with loss of appetite. When you call them tomorrow they may change it up, or they may sy it's ok to stop it depending on how well she is healing up. I've had cats that do poorly on most antibiotics, so their Vet usually just says give it to them until the side effects start in and then stop. Of course, it depends on WHY they are taking it. (usually after a dental)

As to managing a cat with cystitis, here is a good article on that: Feline Idiopathic Cystitis – How To Improve Your Cat’s Quality Of Life



.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4

wacckky

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 8, 2019
Messages
77
Purraise
40
Hi! Is there a possibility, within what's necessary regarding the illness, that you could try bland food like unseasoned boiled chicken that she hopefully won't vomit back up?


If she likes this, will she eat enough of it?

Can you organize the house so that you know how her litterbox habits are? This is important for the vet to know.
Ive set up the baby monitor above the litter boxes so ill keep an eye out for her!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5

wacckky

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 8, 2019
Messages
77
Purraise
40
Also, it's possible she is vomiting from the antibiotic. That is a common side effect with that drug, along with loss of appetite. When you call them tomorrow they may change it up, or they may sy it's ok to stop it depending on how well she is healing up. I've had cats that do poorly on most antibiotics, so their Vet usually just says give it to them until the side effects start in and then stop. Of course, it depends on WHY they are taking it. (usually after a dental)

As to managing a cat with cystitis, here is a good article on that: Feline Idiopathic Cystitis – How To Improve Your Cat’s Quality Of Life



.
Okay makes sense, shes still eating and drinking but when she eats it almost looks like shes eating just the gravy. She prefers her old food rather than the vet prescribed one, and the other cats like to eat her food 🙄 almost thinking of keeping them all on the same diet with that stuff but itd be costly. Ill talk to the vet though and see if they want to continue with the antibiotics, it was for the uti but i think thats gone now.. just hoping her bladders okay. Ive set up the baby monitor above their litter boxes.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6

wacckky

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 8, 2019
Messages
77
Purraise
40
I agree with mrsgreenjeens mrsgreenjeens that she might be vomiting from the antibiotic and the fact that she’s eating just the gravy might also point out to the loss of appetite upon consuming antibiotics. I’ll suggest you visit your vet or get online recommendations from vets. There are a couple of online portals (like greatvet.com, vetstreet.com, goodvets.com, etc) where you can connect with vets, you can also get a curated list of vets based on the problem you’re looking to solve.
Thank you ill check those out. We had a vet appointment today, while her bladder is looking a bit better its still not in the best shape. Her urine is still concentrated with red blood cells. They checked her bladder for stones and its clear, so they think this is stress related. Shes been fighting around with the 2 other cats so shes been given metacam, some other anti inflammatory and amitriptalyine or whatever for her behaviour. They gave her a months worth of meds for that and will recheck urine in 3 weeks
 

aisling31

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
May 28, 2020
Messages
15
Purraise
13
My baby had this a couple years ago, all stress-related too. It also sounds like idiopathic cystitis is your cat’s problem. At the time, my cat who had it, Loki, was living with his adopted-brother, Modi, and even tho they were usually just fine with each other, there was aggression I didn’t pick up on until the bladder problems started. I decided to separate Loki for a few days so that there wasn’t competition over litter boxes, we could have more one-on-one play together, and I could start crate training him. I never closed the door on the crate tho-it was just a place he learned to associate with safety. I also followed some valuable advice from a naturopathic vet: my cat needed to hunt more! There’s something about the act of simulating hunting that apparently helps. I’ll try to find an article on it.

One last thing-idiopathic cystitis is one of those conditions that compounds upon itself. A flood of stress hormones leads to irritation in the bladder, which can cause urine to leak, which itself creates more inflammation...and inflammation signals to the body that it’s sick, which the cat reacts to...and on and on!

I’d def recommend you try to focus on the stress BEFORE you focus on the bladder issues, bc it seems that the bladder issues are a symptom of the stress. Take away the root of the problem, and you take away the problem! Good luck! Let us know how it goes.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #9

wacckky

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 8, 2019
Messages
77
Purraise
40
My baby had this a couple years ago, all stress-related too. It also sounds like idiopathic cystitis is your cat’s problem. At the time, my cat who had it, Loki, was living with his adopted-brother, Modi, and even tho they were usually just fine with each other, there was aggression I didn’t pick up on until the bladder problems started. I decided to separate Loki for a few days so that there wasn’t competition over litter boxes, we could have more one-on-one play together, and I could start crate training him. I never closed the door on the crate tho-it was just a place he learned to associate with safety. I also followed some valuable advice from a naturopathic vet: my cat needed to hunt more! There’s something about the act of simulating hunting that apparently helps. I’ll try to find an article on it.

One last thing-idiopathic cystitis is one of those conditions that compounds upon itself. A flood of stress hormones leads to irritation in the bladder, which can cause urine to leak, which itself creates more inflammation...and inflammation signals to the body that it’s sick, which the cat reacts to...and on and on!

I’d def recommend you try to focus on the stress BEFORE you focus on the bladder issues, bc it seems that the bladder issues are a symptom of the stress. Take away the root of the problem, and you take away the problem! Good luck! Let us know how it goes.
Thank you, ill try that as well. Our apartment isnt very big so its hard for the cats to have their own safe spaces but ill get a crate and try that. When i moved in with my boyfriend it was apparent that she had anxiety. She would like nibble on one of her paws until there was no hair and that it was raw?? She did stop that when we used a feliway diffuser which we have 2 going on in the apartment. The vet wants her bladder rechecked in 3 weeks. Shes also being medicated for her stress too.

However, i just got word yesterday that we will be moving into the place we've wanted for a while on august 1st. Exciting, the apartment is much bigger and has an upstairs to it as well. But now im thinking how this move may affect her stress as well. Ill definitely look into the article above and maybe before the time comes make another post and see what the cat site thinks..
 
Top