Hi everyone,
I'm new to the site, and would appreciate any advice those of you with similar cat health issues might offer. I was away from home for 3 weeks, and had my roommate watch my cat Gus during this time. Gus was a feral kitten I rescued about 2 years ago, and he's generally afraid of people/strangers (other than me); however, with me living with the roommate for a year, he has gotten used to her presence to the point where he'll sometimes play with toys she manipulates and doesn't hide when she enters the room.
Anyway, the roommate said everything was fine with Gus while I was away (except he was mopey and he vomited once--I thought it might be due to stress and was only a one-time occurrence according to my roommate). But when I came back (first week back), one night the door shut while Gus and I were sleeping (windy night), and he peed in my clothes. I noticed there was a lot of blood.
Took him to the vet where they did a urinalysis, which came back positive for bacterial cystitis (cocci bacteria). He was on clavamox for two weeks and pain meds for 1 week, which seems to have cleared up the infection but there is still a lot of blood in the urine. I took him to the vet again (after the 2 weeks on clavamox), and they did another urinalysis (little amount of bacteria, lots of blood cells), a urine culture (negative), and an Xray of his bladder and urethra (no stones or irregularities). They have no idea what's causing the bleeding, and want me to bring him in for blood work, a clotting test, and potentially a ultrasound of his kidney and bladder.
But the thing is, other than the blood in the urine, Gus has been completely fine (urinating normally in the litter box--without straining--2-4 times per day, eating dry food well and trying some of the wet food I'm trying to get him to eat more of, drinking a normal amount). He has none of the symptoms for a clotting disorder or uric acid bladder stones (which don't show up on Xrays). At this point, I've already spent $500, and the things the vet suggested will cost even more than that and seems like a wild goose chase I can't afford.
I know this is a long post, but I wanted to give a thorough and clear picture/history before I sought advice. He still has blood in his urine (for 3.5 weeks now), and I don't know what to do. I don't want to put him through the stress of unnecessary tests or put myself under the financial stress of spending more money only to have tests showing nothing wrong. Any advice?
I'm new to the site, and would appreciate any advice those of you with similar cat health issues might offer. I was away from home for 3 weeks, and had my roommate watch my cat Gus during this time. Gus was a feral kitten I rescued about 2 years ago, and he's generally afraid of people/strangers (other than me); however, with me living with the roommate for a year, he has gotten used to her presence to the point where he'll sometimes play with toys she manipulates and doesn't hide when she enters the room.
Anyway, the roommate said everything was fine with Gus while I was away (except he was mopey and he vomited once--I thought it might be due to stress and was only a one-time occurrence according to my roommate). But when I came back (first week back), one night the door shut while Gus and I were sleeping (windy night), and he peed in my clothes. I noticed there was a lot of blood.
Took him to the vet where they did a urinalysis, which came back positive for bacterial cystitis (cocci bacteria). He was on clavamox for two weeks and pain meds for 1 week, which seems to have cleared up the infection but there is still a lot of blood in the urine. I took him to the vet again (after the 2 weeks on clavamox), and they did another urinalysis (little amount of bacteria, lots of blood cells), a urine culture (negative), and an Xray of his bladder and urethra (no stones or irregularities). They have no idea what's causing the bleeding, and want me to bring him in for blood work, a clotting test, and potentially a ultrasound of his kidney and bladder.
But the thing is, other than the blood in the urine, Gus has been completely fine (urinating normally in the litter box--without straining--2-4 times per day, eating dry food well and trying some of the wet food I'm trying to get him to eat more of, drinking a normal amount). He has none of the symptoms for a clotting disorder or uric acid bladder stones (which don't show up on Xrays). At this point, I've already spent $500, and the things the vet suggested will cost even more than that and seems like a wild goose chase I can't afford.
I know this is a long post, but I wanted to give a thorough and clear picture/history before I sought advice. He still has blood in his urine (for 3.5 weeks now), and I don't know what to do. I don't want to put him through the stress of unnecessary tests or put myself under the financial stress of spending more money only to have tests showing nothing wrong. Any advice?
). The vet wouldn't just look at the red blood cell count and the kidney function...a complete CBC (I consider this to include blood serum chemistry but that's just me...my vet always does both), looks at much more than that.
