Outdoor cat in hospital, VET at a loss

[Geoffrey]

Harry is a very handsome cat indeed. 

When my poor old Rupert was ill with renal failure, my vet took a urine sample by taking the urine straight from the bladder with a hypodermic needle and syringe.  Very simple and much better than trying to wait and catch the cat urinating.  I am a human doctor, not a vet and I was very impressed.  Of course, his urinary problems would have been very painful and that may have been part of the  reason why Harry was crying so much. 

Life will also be much better after castration.  Incidentally my vet does house calls, he is South African and they do house calls there but very few vets do house calls here in Sydney.

It may be that the reason why you have had so many different diagnoses, and the delay in making the real diagnosis, is because Harry was seen by different, inexperienced vets, all employed as assistants to the practice.   Perhaps you should ask to see the more experienced practice owner when you take Harry to the veterinary practice....

I hope things will be better from now on.

With all best wishes to you and Harry,

Geoffrey

 

[harry028]

He's urinating A LOT, which is great!   He is still very hungry. 

He's urinated about every 20 minutes.....had one bowel movement since Saturday at 3pm.   

Never thought I'd ask this a week ago.....could he be urinating too much at that rate?  They are normal size now. 

He's crying much, much more today, but to get outside.  He has learned to open the door latches

and got into a bedroom that had the window open just a little.  He made his way out onto the roof!!!

Thankfully, my husband was able to get him in another window.  We freaked out, big time.

The rescue remedy isn't working anymore.  

Geoffrey, we did deal with the head Vet and actually found one of the other ones better and more thorough.  Really, thought

he'd be the best, but wasn't.

Taking him back tomorrow, but I feel that he is doing very well.  It's going on a month of antibiotics this week, so hoping

they stop them. 

Thank you for your input!  

 

[orange&white]

Yaaayyyyy!  I've never been so happy to read about free-flowing cat pee! 

20 minutes does seem like a lot, but what a relief that he's not clogging up.  Since you're going back to the vet tomorrow, I'm sure they'll let you know if that's a concern.  If they were giving him lots of sub-Q fluids, he may just be over-hydrated, but I have no medical experience.

The meowing to get back outside indicates he's feeling healthy and happy again!

It all sounds good to me.  I'll look forward to reading what the vet says tomorrow.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

All good news!  I'm so happy about this.  I have no clue if a cat can pee TOO much, but your vet will tell you,  I kinda think not.  They can't pee out more than they take in, so at least he is well-hydrated.  The only danger I can think of would be an electrolyte imbalance.  Your vet will know about that.  Let us know what he says!

 

[harry028]

Harry ran away last night.  He opened the handle on a door, that wasn't locked, which took effort.  We spent 3 hours in fields and driving small roads.

As this is rural Ireland, there is just wide open land with farms.  Just back after looking this morning & have all the neighbors looking.

We are beyond distraught and upset.

He was doing very well.  The vet said yesterday to keep him on the antibiotic for another week at least.  She said his bladder was still inflamed, but

it was 70% better and to bring him back in 1 week for another check.     She also said that if he got out now, he'd never come back after all he'd 

been through.  Strange she said that. 

She said he was the most lovely boy and everyone missed him as he gave them no bites or scrapes.  

Cross your fingers we find him.  

 

[Norachan]

That was a strange thing for her to say. I don't think you have to worry. You've been providing Harry with regular meals and a warm, dry place to sleep. He's been through a lot, it's true, but I think he's going to associate the vet with that and you with all the good stuff.

One of my boys managed to climb out of his enclosure on Saturday night and was gone until this morning. I live in the middle of a forest and we've got loads of snow right now, so I was really worried about him. He came back when he was ready though.

I'm sure Harry will too.

Does he have a particular food he really likes? I've managed to coax a few of mine back by cooking chicken and leaving the kitchen window open a crack. 

 

[orange&white]

Oh no!  Sorry to hear that.  I also think he'll come back when he gets hungry.  You've taken such good care of him and he knows where dinner and a safe home are.

I had a cat push through a window screen overnight once, right after I moved to my current property.  After a day and a half, I figured he was gone for sure.  He came back meowing at the door though.  He just went for a little adventure.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

OH NO!  I know your hearts are broken, but don't let what the vet said throw you.  Cats are notorious for making us think that they are gone for good...however, most of them have a very clear idea of which side their kibble dish is filled on!  He may come sauntering home at any moment.

 

[harry028]

Harry was found this morning!  Belly is small and he was very hungry.   

The Spca, vets, neighbors, strangers all helped out with FB posts and the call came this morning

that he was spotted.    We are so happy.

Will speak with Vet later and see how to proceed with him.  But, I got lots of water into him since back and

wet food.  

He's like his old, happy self....before he got sick.  

Thank you for good wishes and will let you know how it goes next.

Yay!!!!!  

 

[Norachan]

Yay! Good boy Harry.

That's so nice that all your neighbors helped you look for him.

 

[orange&white]

Terrific to hear that!  Maybe Harry will learn that home is where the food, water and love are and decide that outside isn't nearly as secure.  Thank goodness this happened after he was flushed out and not while he was in serious condition.

He is peeing freely?

 

[foxxycat]

So glad he came back! One thing I wanted to mention-I noticed you have bladder issues-does the canned food have the following? Corn Meal or Corn in it?

The reason I ask is my Angel Floey was VERY sensitive to Corn. We were feeding a high priced food but they recently switched the formula (This was 2005) and we discovered the corn was causing the crystals/sand in her bladder.

I was unable to get her transistioned to wet food completely but I did find fancy feast turkey had NO Corn in it. Once we got her off foods with CORN she had less bladder infections. She got to the point where if we fed treats and they had corn she refused to eat it. Anything with corn she could smell it and just won't eat it.

I would make sure no corn in that diet. They also can set you up for sub fluids at home to continue to FLUSH that bladder.

Catwoman is correct about the vinegar. It's horrible tasting BUT it will help break those buggers up.

Also there's a study out that glucosamine has been studied to see if it helps the lining of the bladder. There is a supplement called Dasquin=its a capsule with tuna flavored powder in it-you can pill it to him or open capsule and mix in food but not all cats like the taste. the same one mentioned earlier wouldn't eat anything with dasquin. And we were unable to pill her so the vet set us up with Adequan. It's an injectable Glucosamine. It starts out as 2 times a week for the first 2 weeks then once a week for a month then from there taper to once a month. I wonder if this will help with healing of the bladder. Adeguan was first used on racing horses to heal injuries. And then they finally studied it on animals. The vial says it's for dogs but it's used off label for cats. The dose is based on weight. The vet can do it or they can show you how to do it. It seems this may be an add on medication to help with whatever is going on.

I am concerned with the length of time of antibiotics. Maybe discuss probiotics with the vet to keep the gut bacteria alive as those bacteria are essential to his health.

Poor baby sounds like he's in a lot of pain. They can prescribe pain meds too. Also earlier you said he dug holes and nothing came out-it's possible he's constipated and that on top of urinary problems can cause problems.

The simple solution to that=canned pumpkin. 1 teaspoon a day. have him lick it off your finger/spoon to ensure he eats it. If he doesn't like it-you can always put a pea sized amount on your finger and swipe it onto the roof of his mouth to make him eat it. Do about 4 swipes and it should be enough.

My pumpkin face HATES pumpkin but this is how I give it to her cause she WONT eat it..she gets mad at me for a minute but with her we see results in 12 to 24 hours. a teaspoon every other day is ok for the time being. if no results in 2 days you can give it daily. It all depends on the cat. I have another cat who has to eat almost 1/4 cup a day to get any results so it's really a play around to see what works.

It should help get things moving. Make sure bowels are moving along. Cramped up bowels are VERY painful. Keep an eye on his backside-make sure he's not pushing so much that he's getting hemorrhoids.   I know it's a delicate thing to talk about but gut health is so important. As all of us know constipation can be very painful and just plain miserable.

Canned pumpkin, and ask the vet about Dasquin/Adeqan .

Here's an article talking about Adeqan.

http://healthypets.mercola.com/site.../idiopathic-chronic-cystitis-in-pet-cats.aspx

Keep flushing that bladder and discuss possible neutering as well. It will help cut down on the stinky urine as well. And calm him down.

Poor boy give him a kiss and a pet for me. Love these cats and wish I could take away their pain! You are doing so well trying to fix what's wrong and so sorry for everything!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I am so very happy and relieved Harry is back home!  I know you are more than overjoyed!

 

[harry028]

He's doing well, eating Hills kidney pouches that I mix with water so I know he's getting water in.

He's very hungry....so I'm thinking it is because there is no hard food.  He's eating 1.5 pouch

in the morning.  Another pouch spread throughout the day and 1 at night, spread into 2 servings.

So, 3 pouches a day.....he's getting a lot of water in with each serving.   Trying to figure a way to afford

this as it is a lot of money and since he's doing great on it, he's staying on it! 

The vet said let him out as the stress is too much for him.  So, we did the first night he came back

and it killed me!    But, He's been waiting at the door every morning since and back to what was his usual

routine before all started going wrong.   He is much happier.....even if I'm not.  ha ha

The cat mate fountain I bought him.....he won't go near.   Back to vet Monday for a check.

Thank you from Harry and me to everyone..... you have really helped us through this bad time.

 

[orange&white]

That is such a relief to hear that Harry is doing great!

I can't believe that a vet suggested letting an unneutered cat go roaming at night. 

  I know stress can contribute to urinary issues, but did the vet suggest any timing on having Harry sterilized?  He'd be less likely to want to go out at night, and neutered cats require fewer calories to maintain weight, so he would eat less.

Overall, good news for you and Harry!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Finally finding all my threads after the site migration! How is Harry doing?

 

[Metamorphic]

Hi Harry's mom -- so glad that your tuxedo fella is doing better!! I would also agree with the many recommendations to a) get Harry neutered asap and b)keep him indoors. He will adjust to living inside over time if he has toys and you to play with as well as live a long happy life free of predators, cars, other male cats and disease.

I send you and Harry the best and keep us posted how things shape up!!

-Mette :-)

 

[darkhorse321]

Glad your kitty is on the mend! My two had pancreatitis several times and it's very painful. My Mom's kitty just was diagnosed with a UTI, but hers was very mild. I know male cats are prone to crystals in the urine---low ash diet and lots of water is best, and neutering as well. My boy thankfully never had problems with that..he had other issues

 

[Mamanyt1953]

How is Harry doing? I've been offline for a few days, and I worry when we don't hear anything!