My Cat Is Getting Worse.for No Reason

[MyHeadHurts]

I can't afford that. It's like $150 just for a basic workup. I can't always afford flea medicine right now. Last time I spoke to a vet about her meowing he said it was behavioral. So I'm thinking this is just more of the same. I know she doesn't like the neighbors because their kids are obnoxiously loud almost every night and management doesn't care. Long story but they're all Brazilian and I'm not, so they refused to take any kind of action. I think that stress is what triggered her bladder crystals. I have a couple hearing pathologies that make my ears detrimentally sensitive, so I took my diagnoses to them and proved I wasn't making it up. Anyway, Taking that into account imagine how loud this cat's voice has to be for the neighbors to complain about it. She's an attention ***** for sure, and she is probably trying to counter the neighbors' obnoxiousness. It's like when the speaker on a phone is too high and you can tell the person talking is competing with it. Except these people are racist bastard and hate me and my cat. That's my best theory, anyway.

 

[maggiedemi]

She sounds like she's sick. Cats don't yowl like that when they are well.

 

[MyHeadHurts]

Okay, I took her to a vet and he did a bunch of stuff. He thought she has crystals in her bladder but it wasn't clear on the ultrasound. So he took a urine sample and he found struvite crystals. Lately I've only been giving her wet food, so I have no idea how she got them.

Anyway, I don't want to give her a bunch of heavy medications so I'm putting Tinkle Tonic and CBD in her food. The tinkle tonic is supposed to break up crystals and the CBD is for pain. She hates her antibiotic so much she pulled a muscle in her arm just now fighting me. She isn't seriously hurt since she can walk without a limp. She also let me massage her arms for a while after I forced her medicine in her. Right now she is being social and sniffing stuff, checking me out, saying hi. She isn't hiding from me or afraid at all, so more evidence she just pulled a muscle. I was using the method the vet showed me using a towel to wrap her arms and legs and popping her jaw open at the corners. She's big -- 13 pounds -- so I got a big scratch and she hurt her shoulder. She's pretty pissed and won't let me hold her right now. I can't wait until it's over.

Anyway, is there anything I can do to prevent a recurrence? I can't afford prescription food. It costs like $40 for 2 weeks! There are fancy designer foods with the same stuff in it that the prescription food has, but it's still expensive. Is it safe to just give her Tinkle Tonic every few days? I mean, I'm assuming it works. I haven't found a seriously bad review of the stuff so I think it could at least help. If there's something cheaper and equally effective please tell me. Thanks.

 

[Kflowers]

If you can't get someone to help you pill the cat, and I never could, try wrapping her up in a towel first. It's call a purrito. You can find instructions of how to do it on Ytube. It really helps if all their arms are contained. There have been studies that gentle swaddling is comforting to human babies and other small things. Mostly, it's to keep you from getting hurt and to get the medicine down the cat.

Yeah, it's hard.

 

[Tagrendy]

Olay, so my cat's meowing has gotten a while lot worse.

She had bladder crystals a several months ago, they were treated, she's fine now. I only feed.her wet food: Fancy Feast, 1 can for breakfast and one for dinner. 6am and 6pm. The timing of her food has.been the same since she.was about 8 months old. She's over a year now.

Now she is not only meowing and pissing off my neighbors, but in the last few.weeks she has been scratching my door. Bad. Like, she has literally taken paint off. I have to peel it every time so she doesn't eat it and get poisoned. You can bet I'm not getting my deposit back when I move.

This week especially she has.beem waking me up at night. Every hour. I've tried ignoring her but it doesn't make any difference, and the longer.I let her scratch the more likely it is the neighbors will notice it. This is a small apartment and the walls are thin.

I've tried squirting water at her, I've whacked a towel at the doorjamb to make noise and scare her, I've whacked her on the musclar part of her hind legs enough to startle her, and and I've just smacked her in the same part of her legs. I've never actually hurt her but I think I maight have to cause pain to make her stop. Obviously I don't want to do that. In the morning I'll ignore her after guving her breakfast and that hasn't worked either.

I don't have money. I'm in college. I'm not going to buy a bunch of stuff for her. She destroyed the hiding spot I made her so I figure she doesn't want one. I won't let her in the cabinets because they've been sprayed with bug spray and I don't trust chemicals that can kill roaches.

I still spend a lot of time in my room doing work, obviously. And I try to pet her but if she isn't in the mood and that moment she won't let me. She thinks I'll just drop everything or wake of suddenly to cuddle on her command. I've never ged her on command in her life, so I have no idea where this is coming from.

I wonder sometimes if she needs more food that I'm giving her. Is one can at a time enough for a 13 pound tabby? Or better, would it make any difference?

I've taken her outside on a harness before. I got a really long leash and tied it around a tree. She ran around and climbed up and down. She have fun, but when she was done she was definately done. I've only done that a couple times and she doesn't like it often. Maybe once a month or so.

Anyway, is there a reason she refuses to adjust? I've done the things suggested before and nothing has improved. She is just very angry for some reason. She still purrs when I hold her, so I have no idea.

Hi, that sounds to me that he might be bored. Are you away from home a lot? If so that might be the case. Another option could be that there is another animal by the other side of that wall that he is scratching

If it's boredom, I would make it a routine to have 20 minute long intensive play time twice a day - usually before feeding time. The play time has to be chasing / running / jumping, you might yourself feel quite tired after. Also, how is the enrichment level in the apartment? Is there a way for the cat to safely look out the window? Maybe few dangling things hanging from door knobs?

And yes, I think part of the irritation could be due to long period of time between meals. The quantity might be nutritionally enough ( check on the box how much is daily ratio ) but after 5-6 hours no matter how big the meal was the cat will feel hungry again.

Hope it helps.

 

[jen]

How did they obtain the urine? The answer should be by cystocentesis. So check if your receipt says so or call and ask.

You said lately you have been feeding only wet, keep at it! Add more water to it even. Some very helpful information here: Cat Urinary Tract Diseases: Cystitis, Urethral Obstruction, Urinary Tract Infection

Crystals:

• Crystals are most commonly either calcium oxalate (CaO) or struvite (a mixture of magnesium, ammonium, phosphate).

• Calcium oxalate crystals are more apt to be formed in an acidic environment.

• Struvite crystals are more readily formed in an alkaline environment.

• A small amount of crystals is not an abnormal finding in cat urine and the cat should not be automatically put on a prescription diet such as Hill’s Prescription c/d, etc.

• Crystals are often erroneously diagnosed because they can form once the urine has been removed from the bladder. Therefore, when urine is sent off to an outside laboratory, or a sample is brought from home, a report of “crystals” is somewhat meaningless since you have no idea if they were actually present within the patient. This misdiagnosis – and overemphasis of the significance of urinary crystals if they are present in the bladder – leads to the client becoming alarmed and the patient needlessly being put on a low quality – and potentially dangerous – diet such as one of the prescription ‘urinary tract’ diets.

Many ‘urinary tract’ diets – including some of the prescription diets – overly acidify the diet past what would be normal for a cat eating a species-appropriate diet. These diets can dissolve struvite stones but will lead to other problems, such as calcium oxalate stones, if they are fed past the therapeutic time frame.

 

[MyHeadHurts]

First the urine was taken by the doctor with a needle. There wasn't any visible blood in it but they said it looked kind of dark to them. They sent it out and it came back positive.

The parts she's scratching are mostly doors. Both sides of both bathroom doors in particular. She hasn't torn up my bedroom door yet for some reason, but she has taken a piece out of the entry door and the side cabinet in the kitchen. She gives up when she runs out of paint, so I make a point to peel it off. Then there's the obvious fact that I don't want her eating it.

She does get grumpy when she's hungry. It looks similar to when humans have low blood sugar. She gets agutated, she'll thriw claws but not intentionally scratch me, her pupils with dialate like she's angry, just the usually pissy cat reactions. So I think that's part of it.

We do play a few times a day. She has a ball she chases around, a big tennis ball she attacks and claws at, a string toy she can wrestle, the whole patio door to look out of. She'll chatter at birds when she sees them. We used to have strays who would come by and harass her, but they've all been captured. I haven't seen them in a few months. The immediate neighbors on either side don't have pets. But they do have loud evil small children. These are the type of children that give good ones a bad name. This morning they were up at 8:30 am. The little one was in his electric car ramming full speed into the walls. He would hit, laugh, back up, and do it again. I'm certian the constant noise is a factor because it triggers my PTSD at night. As I mentioned my managers are racist as hell and don't care if I'm uncomfortable. So there isn't much I can do about that.

And I actually did wrap her in a towel. She struggled so much she pulled a muscle in her arm. If I held her any tighter she would have suffocated. She just REALLY hates taking medicine. It isn't a pill, it's liquid amoxicillin. It looks and smells like pepto bismol, so I can kind of see why she hates the stuff. I'm just going to have to fight her and her claws until she finishes it. She's strong, too! She's a huge 13 pound tabby! I guess as long as I get it in her that's all that matters.

 

[Kflowers]

It sounds like you're doing everything possible. Yes, sometimes you just have to fight to get the medicine down. I always made a cup of coffee, did the medicine, washed my scratches and had a bit of a sit down for both of us to recover.

Hopefully, in time you will find a better place for you and kit to live.

 

[m3rma1d]

Honest question, do you actually like your cat? I saw you say in one of your threads that you love her, but do you LIKE her? I see a lot of nasty names you call her... I'd be rude and obnoxious and needy too if I were called all those names.
Yes obviously she can't read what you're venting out to us online here, but if it's in your mind or being said aloud, she's most certainly picking up on it and stressing out worse.
I DO understand. I'm not trying to be mean to you. It's hard to be patient and compassionate when a cat is acting up and getting on your last nerve. I have a cat that pees and poos everywhere when she's stressed. And she's just about always stressed about something. Calling her names or throwing things definitely isn't the answer. Trying to de-stress things for her constantly is time consuming and frustrating. But I love her, AND I like her, so I do my best. If I didn't, I'd find her somewhere else to live.

 

[MyHeadHurts]

You're not trying to be mean but you think I should get rid of her? Come on. I'm not stupid. I'm sprry to tell you this, but not every human is perfect. Of course I like my cat. I wouldn't have kept her this long if I didn't. If you understood you wouldn't have posted that.

Anyway she had a followup the other day. There wasn't a significant change and she seems to be out of pain now. He said I was partially right and a lot of it was behavioral. She did have crystals, but not many. Her pee was never bloody. She only had a couple accidents and didn't give the vet any greif when he reexamined her. So yes, she is a bona fide pain in the ass. Being in pain obviously makes it worse. But in general she is just onnoxious.

Right now she is sitting in my lap and purring. So pretty obvious she like me and stuff. She wouldn't demand cuddles if I was really abusive with her. If I ever caused her pain you can bet she'd be terrified of me. I actually had to make a payment on a crown right after her followup. I took her with me and brought her into the office. My dentist saw her and immediately looked at her teeth. She was cooperative and didn't throw claws. All the way in the car she was quiet. Not a single meow out of her. I was so proud of her I gave her dinner an hour early. Sorry, but this is not a cat that has ever been traumatized. So NO, I'm not getting rid of her. Sorry that offends you.

 

[Kflowers]

You are really lucky if she pees around with the first hint of pain from crystals. You can get her right to the vet and not just get her out of pain fast, but keep the expense down.