- Joined
- Jul 26, 2017
- Messages
- 35
- Purraise
- 18
Hello everyone,
I don’t think I’ve posted on here since Simon was a kitten and I’m sad that my first post back is going to be like this but just looking for any advice I can get.
On 12/18 Simon started repeatedly using his litter box only peeing a small drop or two at a time. Other than this he was acting like his usual sweet and trouble maker self, playing with his toys in between using the litter box. I woke up the morning after and he was still doing it, so I called the animal hospital and brought him in.
They did a bladder scan and said his bladder was empty, but we waited until they were able to get a urine sample. They said he had what looked like a start of an infection, but inflammation as well and the vet mentioned possible FIC. He was prescribed Onsior for 3 days for the inflammation and an antibiotic, I gave him the last dose of that Christmas night.
Everything seemed better a day or two into treatment up until Christmas night, he was peeing normal amounts/frequencies and now he is back to peeing a drop every few minutes in bouts at a time. Seems to be consistent in the morning and at night (wake up to him frequently going in and out of box, or fall asleep to that)
The vet mentioned that this could be brought on by stress and asked if we had new furniture, a new guest, or had done a remodel etc. all of which is NO.
A little background on him, he’s a otherwise healthy 4 year old. I have one other male cat who is 3, both of which I’ve had since they were very young. Both neutered, they get along quite well and often can be found grooming or napping together. They fight every so often but it’s never something that seems to cause either of them stress as they’re back to loving on each other shortly after. They play all day long, and both are trouble makers and into everything. We remodeled our entire house last winter at this time and that never caused this to happen either, so the idea of stress causing this seems unlikely to me?
I’ve been working from home for months now and he seems incredibly happy to have me home with him all day. Constantly seeking affection or bringing me toys when he’s not playing with his brother, I play with him as much as I can but it’s hard to consistently play fetch with a cat who just wants to chase and not bring back when you’re on a zoom call lol.
With that being said, I have two theories that I’d like any input you may have on. One is that this FIC is brought on entirely by boredom, I say this as he is always hyper, and if I get a toy out or if his brother starts playing nearby with a toy in between his frequent peeing spouts, he will stop using the litter box one drop at a time and instead play. Only to use the litter box when he’s done playing.
They have many cat trees, elevated spaces, scratchers, and probably the first 50+ toys listed on Chewys website. The boredom thought just came to me about 48 hrs ago, and since then I have began to implement a couple 20-30 minute play sessions a day where both of my cats have my full attention and we play with toys, laser lights, tunnels, feather wands, you name it.
Other theory, temptation cat treats? He gets a lot of these, more than just as a treat to be fair. feed my other cat a high quality canned food 2x a day (I only give Simon a little spoonful bc unfortunately since he was a kitten he would only eat a bite of wet food at a time, and even this he sometimes won’t eat), a rotation of quite a few brands/flavors and leave dry food out all day (Instinct ultimate protein) Neither one of them eat very much dry food but it’s out for them in case. Admittedly, simons diet since lockdown first began became filled with more and more temptations. Before I worked from home he would get temptations maybe 3x a day 3 at a time (still a lot) and now he probably gets 3 at a time 6x a day. However, since this started I stopped giving him temptations and instead give him a few freeze dried raw treats with only ONE temptation treat thrown in there once or so a day because I know that’s what the guy really wants. Could this be causing FIC?
I did mention this to the vet and she said that since he is otherwise healthy and at a healthy weight, that junk food like temptations was okay in moderation so regardless I know they either need to be greatly limited or cut out completely.
My plan is to take him back to the vet tomorrow since he’s still peeing a drop at a time (although late last night he did pee one full clumps worth) and here is what else I’ve done. I ordered the last few toys from chewy that they don’t have lol, some interactive puzzle toys, a treat dispenser toy, feliway spray and thunder way calming cat spray. I’ve also ordered a new water fountain just to encourage more intake, new flavors/brands of wet food, more pure bite treats to hopefully replace temptations, and fortiflora to help his gut from the recent antibiotic.
If you’ve made it this far I thank you, and is there anything else I should be doing? Is there any advice any of you have for me? Strange sicknesses in cats is unfortunately nothing new to me, my other cat has hyperesthesia and albeit very frustrating to figure out at first we’ve figured out how to properly manage that as well. Looking for any advice to get Simon through this battle now.
Thanks everyone, and happy holidays
I don’t think I’ve posted on here since Simon was a kitten and I’m sad that my first post back is going to be like this but just looking for any advice I can get.
On 12/18 Simon started repeatedly using his litter box only peeing a small drop or two at a time. Other than this he was acting like his usual sweet and trouble maker self, playing with his toys in between using the litter box. I woke up the morning after and he was still doing it, so I called the animal hospital and brought him in.
They did a bladder scan and said his bladder was empty, but we waited until they were able to get a urine sample. They said he had what looked like a start of an infection, but inflammation as well and the vet mentioned possible FIC. He was prescribed Onsior for 3 days for the inflammation and an antibiotic, I gave him the last dose of that Christmas night.
Everything seemed better a day or two into treatment up until Christmas night, he was peeing normal amounts/frequencies and now he is back to peeing a drop every few minutes in bouts at a time. Seems to be consistent in the morning and at night (wake up to him frequently going in and out of box, or fall asleep to that)
The vet mentioned that this could be brought on by stress and asked if we had new furniture, a new guest, or had done a remodel etc. all of which is NO.
A little background on him, he’s a otherwise healthy 4 year old. I have one other male cat who is 3, both of which I’ve had since they were very young. Both neutered, they get along quite well and often can be found grooming or napping together. They fight every so often but it’s never something that seems to cause either of them stress as they’re back to loving on each other shortly after. They play all day long, and both are trouble makers and into everything. We remodeled our entire house last winter at this time and that never caused this to happen either, so the idea of stress causing this seems unlikely to me?
I’ve been working from home for months now and he seems incredibly happy to have me home with him all day. Constantly seeking affection or bringing me toys when he’s not playing with his brother, I play with him as much as I can but it’s hard to consistently play fetch with a cat who just wants to chase and not bring back when you’re on a zoom call lol.
With that being said, I have two theories that I’d like any input you may have on. One is that this FIC is brought on entirely by boredom, I say this as he is always hyper, and if I get a toy out or if his brother starts playing nearby with a toy in between his frequent peeing spouts, he will stop using the litter box one drop at a time and instead play. Only to use the litter box when he’s done playing.
They have many cat trees, elevated spaces, scratchers, and probably the first 50+ toys listed on Chewys website. The boredom thought just came to me about 48 hrs ago, and since then I have began to implement a couple 20-30 minute play sessions a day where both of my cats have my full attention and we play with toys, laser lights, tunnels, feather wands, you name it.
Other theory, temptation cat treats? He gets a lot of these, more than just as a treat to be fair. feed my other cat a high quality canned food 2x a day (I only give Simon a little spoonful bc unfortunately since he was a kitten he would only eat a bite of wet food at a time, and even this he sometimes won’t eat), a rotation of quite a few brands/flavors and leave dry food out all day (Instinct ultimate protein) Neither one of them eat very much dry food but it’s out for them in case. Admittedly, simons diet since lockdown first began became filled with more and more temptations. Before I worked from home he would get temptations maybe 3x a day 3 at a time (still a lot) and now he probably gets 3 at a time 6x a day. However, since this started I stopped giving him temptations and instead give him a few freeze dried raw treats with only ONE temptation treat thrown in there once or so a day because I know that’s what the guy really wants. Could this be causing FIC?
I did mention this to the vet and she said that since he is otherwise healthy and at a healthy weight, that junk food like temptations was okay in moderation so regardless I know they either need to be greatly limited or cut out completely.
My plan is to take him back to the vet tomorrow since he’s still peeing a drop at a time (although late last night he did pee one full clumps worth) and here is what else I’ve done. I ordered the last few toys from chewy that they don’t have lol, some interactive puzzle toys, a treat dispenser toy, feliway spray and thunder way calming cat spray. I’ve also ordered a new water fountain just to encourage more intake, new flavors/brands of wet food, more pure bite treats to hopefully replace temptations, and fortiflora to help his gut from the recent antibiotic.
If you’ve made it this far I thank you, and is there anything else I should be doing? Is there any advice any of you have for me? Strange sicknesses in cats is unfortunately nothing new to me, my other cat has hyperesthesia and albeit very frustrating to figure out at first we’ve figured out how to properly manage that as well. Looking for any advice to get Simon through this battle now.
Thanks everyone, and happy holidays