Please Help! Cat with UTI & sick from all Antibiotics

[jakigrrr]

My other cat, Maeby, now has a UTI. The vet says it's unlikely it transferred...but she's also never had one before, so the timing is odd.

The vet prescribed Amoxicillin and suggested we do a 5-day course while we wait for the culture to come back (What type of bacteria, what can treat it).

I am SO nervous to give it to her because we just got her to a healthy spot (all other blood work is great). Has anyone had success with Amoxicillin and their cats in the past?

 

[jakigrrr]

D-Mannose helps with e.coli infections, which is a common cause of UTIs. Cornsilk helps soothe the pain from UTIs. I would try Cerenia for nausea or Pepcid for nausea to get his tummy settled down enough to eat. You can try adding in some probiotics such as s. boulardii or even the human probiotic, Culturelle (no more than 1/2 capsule daily into wet food) to help with diarrhea.

Hi Stephanie-

Do you know if D-Mannose or Cornsilk have any drug interactions to be aware of? From the little info I've found, it seems like there are no known interactions.

I'm considering for ordering it for both cats at this point since they're both dealing with UTIs, however both are on multiple different drugs at this point. Epsn's bacteria was identified as 'Enterococcus Species' and I'm waiting for Maeby's results to come back.
It sounds like D-Mannose is more effective against E.coli, so it might not be the best for Espn?

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi.
Something is odd here. Lower urinary tract disease is often not an infection. But I know you did all the right things and had a cystocentesis done and had the urine cultured to get a diagnosis of the Enterococcus in the first kitty. But, it just seems crazy that your other kitty would also have an infection. Although it sounds like you are waiting on the culture results. That is the cat that has the amoxicillin prescribed.

Just trying to recap here to make sure the information I am getting is right.

Are both cats symptomatic? I don't think it makes sense to give the amoxi if you don't know what is going to grow in the culture and what it will be sensitive to. Amoxi is just a basic antibiotic as you know that may or may not work but also can upset their gut. All of that being said, I am not a Veterinarian. I have know knowledge of your cats other than what is here. and I have not examined your cats. So really not I or anyone else should be making any kind of suggestions in regards to treatments other than your veterinarians that have examined your cats. I do think it is important to be comfortable with what your vet recomends and also being able to have open communication with them regarding what treatments are prescribed and your concerns regarding those treatments. Sometimes it saves you in the long run to get a specialist or several specialist consults.

Then you have to also consider in the stress to your cat from multiple vet visits etc. It is very frustrating.

I hope this is making some sense. I have been sick and my ability to express myself is a challenge.

I also wonder if your cats are symptom free, could there be a contaminate that is getting into the samples from handling. Do you know if the hospital sends the urine directly to the lab or does the start of the culture in house.?

 

[jakigrrr]

Hi.
Something is odd here. Lower urinary tract disease is often not an infection. But I know you did all the right things and had a cystocentesis done and had the urine cultured to get a diagnosis of the Enterococcus in the first kitty. But, it just seems crazy that your other kitty would also have an infection. Although it sounds like you are waiting on the culture results. That is the cat that has the amoxicillin prescribed.

Just trying to recap here to make sure the information I am getting is right.

Are both cats symptomatic? I don't think it makes sense to give the amoxi if you don't know what is going to grow in the culture and what it will be sensitive to. Amoxi is just a basic antibiotic as you know that may or may not work but also can upset their gut. All of that being said, I am not a Veterinarian. I have know knowledge of your cats other than what is here. and I have not examined your cats. So really not I or anyone else should be making any kind of suggestions in regards to treatments other than your veterinarians that have examined your cats. I do think it is important to be comfortable with what your vet recomends and also being able to have open communication with them regarding what treatments are prescribed and your concerns regarding those treatments. Sometimes it saves you in the long run to get a specialist or several specialist consults.

Then you have to also consider in the stress to your cat from multiple vet visits etc. It is very frustrating.

I hope this is making some sense. I have been sick and my ability to express myself is a challenge.

I also wonder if your cats are symptom free, could there be a contaminate that is getting into the samples from handling. Do you know if the hospital sends the urine directly to the lab or does the start of the culture in house.?

All makes sense, no worries! I agree it seems strange that both cats have UTIs! Maeby's labwork came back just the other day, they said she has a Staph infection in her urinary tract. Shes on 14 days of Amoxicillin 2x a day.

It's hard to tell if both cats are symptomatic- one of them had been peeing on the litter mat but we discovered it was because Espn (with enterococcus infection) would walk into the new litterbox and the flap would get stuck on his back...he was just peeing right over the lid. We've swapped out that box with one with a deeper lid and haven't had issues since (knock on wood!). He has always been a big drinker and therefore pees a lot because of his Urinary S/O food so we really haven't noticed a difference with him.

With her (staph infection), she was recently diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism. We did notice an increase in how much she was drinking and peeing but in recent weeks it's gone back to "normal" with treatment.

For Espn the vet keeps suggesting to try Amoxicillin again, which is endlessly frustrating. I told her we can't have him not eating and she agreed thats bad for his age. He's back to his normal appetite, normal stools, and no vomiting (again, knock on wood!) so we've decided to try out D Mannose for the time being.