Blood And Teething?

Hi all! Yesterday I noticed that my kitten (5 month old yesterday) left a tiny stain of blood on his blanket. I thought it was coming out from his intimate parts, I inspected "it" but it appeared all good, but just in case, I booked an appt with the vet for this coming Saturday.
However this morning he was being particularly naughty and got a paper roll and started destroying it (eheh, kittens!), and I could see a stain of saliva and like 2 drops of blood on it - and now I am pretty sure it's from his mouth, not from his genitals.
He is eating as normal, drinking as normal, peeing a bit more than usual and that's also why I want to have him checked, he is biting a little bit more lately but stops as soon as I say NO.

Can it be that he is teething, and that's where the blood is from? We started brushing his teeth just two days ago and I saw these little blood drops in the last 2 days - so it might be related. We also inspected his mouth and saw he is growing the back teeth.

Both of my cats' mouths bled when they were teething. Scared the living daylights out of me when the banana catnip toy I had gotten was spotted all over with blood! My other cat loved chewing the raised edges of the platforms on his cat tree and left blood all over the carpet there...

So at that age, my best guess would be teething. Maybe you'll even be lucky enough to find a tooth or two of his! And good on you for getting him used to the toothbrush so early. I can't remember if people say to stop brushing their teeth during the painful teething process though. Maybe someone else here will know better.

It could be from the brushing. But it may be something else as well. I would definitely still keep the vet appointment in case there is a dental problem. Wishing you guys good luck!

We're actually taking him in this evening (in 2 hours), better safe than sorry

So, my instincts were right and our 5 month old kitten has indeed a UTI! The vet checked his urine with a stick and it came out that he has an infection. The vet was very puzzled as he doesn't see UTIs in kittens this young normally. He got so upset to learn he was fixed at 2 months old though.
He gave him a painkiller (had to squeeze his bladder to get some urine), and antibiotics that we started yesterday.
We're getting him to drink as much as we can, adding water to his wet food etc.
He is happy and lively as usual, eats a lot, pee a lot but so far never went outside the tray.

Anyone has any suggestion on additional actions we can take for his relief? It doesn't seem like he's in pain, as he normally goes to the tray and pees normally, without any sound. The vet didn't suggest any additional step, just antibiotic and changing his litter, he said crystal litters are complete rubbish.

Nope. You are doing everything right. If he is peeing normally and without pain, then you're fine! And I've run across a few kittens with early UTIs, although it isn't the norm. I'm not sure why the vet would be upset that he was neutered at two months, actually. Although that is the earliest that is recommended, it is fairly routine, and insures that the kitten does NOT reach sexual maturity. Perhaps he's just a bit old-fashioned...the vet, not the kitten.

As for litter, well...regardless of who says what, so long as a kitten is happy with it, and it isn't a clumping litter (don't want them eating that, AND THEY WILL!), whatever he likes best is the one to go with. My adult cat will ONLY use corn-based clumping litter, but she's a prima donna from the word "go." I think it is because it matches the orange in her fur. That sounds like her.

Ahah fur matching litter, sounds awesome!!
We had a bit of a difficult evening yesterday - his appetite has definitely decreased 24 hours after the first pill of antibiotic - it was a struggle to make him eat and drink something yesterday. After eating a bit he went in and did his poo regularly (and that looks fine, tummy is not upset or at least not yet). This morning he was super hungry, I put the antibiotic in his food and he just looked at me like saying "Nope". So we put the antibiotic directly in his mouth and he chewed it fine, then we gave him his regular food and he ate but just a little bit - he is probably nauseated from the antibiotic. For some reason though if I offer some dry food he'll take it straight away, but I'd rather avoid that especially since he has a UTI at the moment.
He is peeing more than normal, like he'd go twice within 40 minutes - but I guess that will normalise once the infection is gone.

The vet also said that normality for cats is peeing 7/8 times a day... it does sound a bit extreme to me!

You can add water to the dry food if need be to get him to eat, just don't leave that sitting out for very long (as opposed to wet food which can be left out for longer).
Mamanyt1953 as always, is right on the mark
Also, you could obtain a water fountain - cats seem to like the moving water.
There are tempting toppers you can try mixing in or adding to wet food;

• Chicken or beef flavored baby food - make sure it doesn't contain any garlic or onions

• Tuna and/or the juice

• Salmon

• Sardines (make sure there are no bones)

• boiled cut up chicken or turkey with no seasonings

• kitten food - it's usually smelly, maybe heat it a little bit to really ramp up the 'fragrance'

• Try mixing in Kitten Milk Replacer - there are recipes on the internet

• Fish, tuna or BBQ flavored canned wet food (I personally have never seen BBQ flavors, but...)

• Lickable cat treats or pouch treat gravy poured over the food

• Pouch cat foods - these typically have more gravy

also Nutri Cal for when it is an urgent situation of the cat not eating

• goat milk, or low/no lactose cow milk
• whole cooked eggs (both yolk and white)
• broth with no salt and no garlic or onion or seasonings of any kind

well, im not a vet, but i have never had a cat that pees 7 or 8 times a day? 3 times or so is more normal in my house. i have 4 omg if they went 8 times i would forever be scooping.

I use 3 different litters right now one is a crystal. I really like Dr. Elsey's respiratory relief crystal litter, i also use a grass litter, and Litter maid has a walnut litter i found at walmart that i really like.

I have been feeding more of the tiki cat after dark wet food lately. the cats are enjoying it, its not really high in calories so you have to be sure you feed enough, but it has a LOT of broth in it that my cats love. I get it from chewy, or petco, if you have a petco nearby you might try a can or two?

chromecat said:

So we put the antibiotic directly in his mouth and he chewed it fine, then we gave him his regular food and he ate but just a little bit - he is probably nauseated from the antibiotic.

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Try letting him eat a bit, THEN pilling him. Just a thought. It might sit better on his tummy that way.

SEVEN OR EIGHT TIMES A DAY? GOOD GRIEF! That's a LOT of pee! I just did a LOT of googling on this, and every expert I found suggested 2-4 times a day, which is far, FAR more reasonable. I begin to be concerned about your vet, actually.

Mamanyt1953 said:

Try letting him eat a bit, THEN pilling him. Just a thought. It might sit better on his tummy that way.

SEVEN OR EIGHT TIMES A DAY? GOOD GRIEF! That's a LOT of pee! I just did a LOT of googling on this, and every expert I found suggested 2-4 times a day, which is far, FAR more reasonable. I begin to be concerned about your vet, actually.

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Just tried that - fed him first, then gave him the pill, then gave him the rest of the food. So far all good - although he did throw up last night. This morning he seems much happier than yesterday - the whole day yesterday he would eat very little (and I gave him a chicken neck last night to trick him into eating something, that might have upset his stomach a bit), this morning he woke me up for food and had his regular wet food (he actually wanted more than I gave him).

Since he started the antibiotic he is drinking LOTS. But at least appetite seems solved for now - hopefully he won't vomit again.

Yeah 7-8 times a days seems too much. My vet has 3 cats in his lab (he is a cat guy), he is an advocate for 100% raw diet and his cats seem huge and healthy - I thought he must have enough experience but still, 7-8 times a day seems a lot (even if my kitty doesn't eat dry food at all, I gave it to him yesterday for the first time in weeks just because I was desperate for him to eat).
I see there in another vet clinic closer to my place - I will take him there next week.

Update: appetite is definitely BACK.
Let's hope the next 5 days under antibiotics will be easy.

glad he is feeling better, and Eating!

chromecat said:

Since he started the antibiotic he is drinking LOTS.

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With a UTI, this is good. It keeps the kidneys, bladder and urethra flushed and clean. All good things.