Help, I Think My Cat Has A Uti

She was fine yesterday, but this evening I noticed she hadn't used her box at all in around 15 hours, not even to pee. Eventually she did a large pee so I thought she was fine, but it's been about six hours since then and she's been hopping in and out of her box constantly. She's done this at least 10 times in the past half hour.

She did do a small but normal-sized pee the first time she got in, but kept hopping in and out of the box after that. There was a was an extremely small clump of pee in there after around the fifth time she went in the box, then nothing.

Is this a UTI even if did two normal pees today? Also, how did she even come down with a UTI? She's been refusing to eat any wet food for the past couple weeks but her urine output has been normal despite that, and she was fed nothing but cheap kibble and no wet food for most of her life (she's 5). The only thing that's changed is that I've been giving her one tube of Inaba's meat puree treats every other day - not sure how this would have caused something like this though.

I plan on taking her into the vet later, around 12 hours from now. I'm worried because she requires sedation at the vet, and also because I don't know what treatment would entail. She's the kind of cat that barely allows herself to be picked up, even by me, so pilling her will be almost impossible - she gets very defensive when she's mishandled. Can something like this be resolved at the vet with an injection? And how do I prevent this from happening again in a cat that often rejects wet food? I'm so worried right now, she just hopped in the box several times as I was making this post.

A vet visit is a must in this situation but if she is passing even a small amount of pee then its unlikely a blockage which can be life threatening if left untreated. She could have cystitis. I took my cat to the vets three weeks ago because he was in and out of the litter box but passing nothing. He was given an anti-inflammatory and antibiotic injection plus a pain killer injection. In addition he had tablets to take x2 per day sprinkled on his food for 10 days but I was told if I couldnt get him to take them it was ok as they were to prevent the uti returning (a precaution only). I mixed them in water and syringed them into him. Please not that I live in the UK and the treatment could be different where you live.
Stress is a trigger, visits, new baby, strange cat in garden etc, its easily set off but plenty of water is important. Please let us know how you get on at the vets

yes a vet visit...our babies can't talk so best to get a urine sample at the vets to see exactly what's going on.

In the meantime increase water intake-either using baby food or canned wet food or syringing water into their mouths if they tolerate it.

I would not wait 12 hours. Please get her seen sooner.

We're at the ER right now, hoping everything turns out okay. She peed so many times in 6 hours before we got here. Nothing has really changed and she hasn't been stressed, but she's been eating a little more dry food and refusing wet food for a few weeks. Her old owner never fed her wet food and gave her Cat Chow, and she never had issues then. Not sure why she suddenly got sick like this when she's been doing well and acting 100% normal.

Make sure that they do a urine culture in addition to the urinalysis - the culture will help in determining the best antibiotic to give to cure the UTI - if it turns out to be one. Good luck!!

UPDATE: We brought Smo home yesterday afternoon and she's been peeing normally since then. No hopping in and out of her box, and her appetite/attitude are back to normal. We also got the urinalysis results back and were told there was no detectable bacteria or elevated white blood cell count.

I think the UTI symptoms were probably brought on by dehydration from eating too much dry food and not supplementing with wet food at all for the past few weeks - she got subcutaneous fluids and a painkiller at the vet that seemed to help tremendously. So, so relieved!!

So pleased it seems to have cleared. Thanks for the update.

Thanks Verna for mentioning the injectable antibiotic! I had no idea that kind of thing even existed and brought it up with the vet after reading your post. Smo was also given a Convenia injection that should last 2 weeks, which made me feel less anxious about the whole situation.

Sounds like it could have been what they call idiopathic cystitis , there's no bacteria present. It is inflammatory bladder issues that can be due to stress but there are times when there are no known reasons for it...the pain meds help with bladder spasms. They don't know why this happens either.

Has there been any changes in your daily life?
Working different hours, visitors, moving furniture and or other household stuff going on?

Hopefully this is the last of that issue..my girl refuses wet food too. Luckily she likes being syringe fed water...we just do the best we can do. I use baby meat food 2 or 3 times a week to add water into her diet.

Hoping for continued improvements!

Read up on the side effects of Convenia. Some are not wonderful. The medication actually stays in their system for a couple of months.

foxxycat That's what I found so strange - that there was no infection present - since things have been pretty calm and peaceful around here. She's definitely not a chill cat, but she also doesn't get sick in response to stress, either. Her old owner did some very questionable things to her before I was allowed to adopt her that really stressed Smo out, but she didn't develop urinary issues because of it.

Do you think chronic dehydration could bring on cystitis symptoms too? The ER vet told me it was a possibility, and I think she may have been mildly dehydrated for a few weeks before this happened from not eating any wet food. She's also been eating a grain-free, high-protein diet which I'm now thinking isn't great for her because it's fish-based.

stephanietx I am aware of the side effects. We had to wait for urinalysis results for a day though, and Smo gets so distressed at the vet that she has to be sedated. The vet suggested Convenia because she's such a difficult to manage cat, and because I'd explicitly expressed that I'd have a very hard time medicating her at home. We also wanted to knock out any infection ASAP, so we went with Convenia. Luckily Smo is doing just fine.

smosmosmo said:

She's definitely not a chill cat, but she also doesn't get sick in response to stress, either.

Click to expand...

The thing is, there doesn't have to be one major event that will cause a bout of cystitis. The mere fact that she is chronically "on edge" is enough. Also, keep in mind that it could be something that you are totally unaware of that is making or pushing kitty on/over the edge. The reason stress and chronic stress affects the urinary system in cats is because the same part of the brain that processes stress also is connected to the urinary system. So if kitty gets stressed the urinary system is affected (even if we can't see it or they don't show immediate symptoms) The stress response causes the tissue to become inflamed and sometimes spasms, but not necessarily to the point where she will have difficulty with urination. But of course sometimes it can get bad enough that a complete blockage will happen.
The lack of wet food (moisture) and dehydration can cause things to get worse though. You want to try and keep the flow going so things stay clean and flushed, so maybe it's just trying to find the right wet food that she will eat?

People are going to get a hate on for what I'm posting next but hear me out...

My new kitty was placed on the vets prescription food (boo! hiss!) to help with her anxiety. We had so many things going on with her that we needed at least ONE easy treatment option! It is the RC Calm formula. And wow, did it do so well!!! It just seemed to ease her anxiety without ANY issues of lethargy or sedation that can happen with medications. Her over grooming stopped, she became more playful and outgoing, and just overall more open to...life. I'll admit that we worked with her as well, but I noticed a difference in her with the food within days of having her on it, and there's no way that it was just our efforts that made those changes in that short amount of time. I wonder if the food would be a good option for you and your kitty, at least for now.

My cats get pee problems from too much dry food too. I have to keep it under half a cup and the rest of their diet has to be canned food.

Jem I'm glad you were able to find something that works for you! It's such a challenge trying to figure out what's wrong with cats - it's great that you were able to find a relatively simple solution with the RC food. With Smo I do think it's a matter of finding the right wet food, since she's a reactive cat but oddly not very fearful. It's weird - she startles easily but doesn't get very upset when strangers come over, or when she smells ferals outside. She also calms down quickly when we bring her home from the vet (taking her is another story). I do think it has to do with the way she was brought up by her old owner, where she was constantly exposed to random people and cats from kittenhood. It's always good to minimize stress though, so I have a bottle of Rescue Remedy I keep on hand and try to keep her environment as peaceful and predictable as possible.

M maggiedemi It's good to know someone is doing exactly what I'm doing right now! I used to let her free fed, partly out of guilt, because she was basically starved for a couple months before I adopted her. I'm now measuring out a 1/2 cup of food for her to eat at night and into the day, and am mixing her grain-free food with one she doesn't like as much to prevent overeating. Now the issue is getting her to eat wet food consistently - I'm trying to do this by squeezing Inaba Churu on top of each wet meal. I thought we'd solved the wet food issue when I found Tiki Cat's mousses, but she's gotten sick of them and refuses to touch them now. So back to the drawing board...