urinary tract yeast infection??

profdanglais

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Does anyone have any experience with this? My cat has been struggling in the box, not straining just producing tiny amounts of urine at a time and going frequently. We've taken him to the vet and they checked for crystals (none) and for bacteria (slightly elevated and so they gave him an antibiotic). It's been five days since his visit and he's not really any better, so now I'm wondering if it might be a different kind of infection. Before I take him back to the vet though (he hates it so much and gets so stressed) I wanted to ask if anyone is familiar with non-crystal, non-bacterial urinary problems in male cats. Are there any symptoms of a yeast infection that I could look for at home? He is eating and drinking and otherwise acting normal, just urinating in small amounts and yowling when he leaves the box unless he's on a dose of painkiller (also given by the vet). He also grooms himself immediately after he leaves the box--I think it's possible he may have irritation that he's not allowing to heal.

Basically I'd just like to know if there's anything I can look for at home to narrow down the possibilities or maybe do something to help before we have another vet visit. Thanks!
 

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How did the vet check for crystals - through a urinalysis? Did the vet suggest your cat's issues could be related to cystitis? Cystitis doesn't always have to be accompanied by crystals - or an infection - so I would ask your vet about what other testing can be done. Cystitis can involve urinary tract inflammation which can cause pain and reduced urine flow due to the swelling. Sometimes it can be effectively treated with an anti-inflammatory.

Given the bigger chance of a male cat becoming blocked, I would suggest you push your vet for other tests to be done - perhaps an x-ray or ultrasound.

The other thing to consider - if a urine culture was not done, the antibiotic your vet currently prescribe may not be effective for the type of infection your cat may be experiencing.
 
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profdanglais

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The vet did do a urinalysis, that's how he detected the elevated bacteria levels. Also, the cat has been taking Cystaid for the past five days as well. He's had an antibiotic shot, Cystaid, and anti-inflammatory painkiller for the past five days with no noticeable improvement--possibly slightly larger urine spots and fewer trips to the box, but he's still yowling when the painkiller wears off.
 

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Most antibiotic shots are intended to stay in the body for about 2 weeks. So, if you are seeing some slight improvement, it may take longer for continued improvement. Most antibiotics take at least half the time they are intended to be active (or, given when orally) for improvements to start to appear.

See if you can give the anti-inflammatory meds more often - maybe a tad lower dose but more frequently? And don't discount what I said about the antibiotic he currently has in his system not being the 'correct' one in terms of effectiveness.

Also, find out how long the vet expected it to take for you to see improvements, and tbh if you don't soon see more positive changes, I think you need another visit with the vet.
 

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My female tortie is suffering the same situation reoccurring avery 30 days for 3 months now. In and out of the box every 15 minutes with bloody drops of urine. She has been tested as well with no answers. They are calling is FIC since no blockages, no growths, no bacteria, no crystals. She responds well to antibiotic and anti-inflamitory/pain med, okay for 3 weeks and then it reappears. There is a link in this site for FIC but I do not know how to attach it to this email.
 

isobel

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I would definitely follow Feebys advice first before assuming FIC. The lab will do a culture test on the urine for speicific bacteria and the ultrasound and xray will reveal any blockages or growths. Especially with a male kitty who is more prone to blockage.
 
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profdanglais

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So this morning there were only very small drops in the litter box and he growled and hissed when he came out of it and nipped at me when I tried to touch him. We rang the vet and they said bring him straight in, which we did. He did a wee in the carrier (he often does this from nerves) and then another on the vet table, so he's not blocked. Vet thinks he may be spasming, and that's why he can only release small amounts at a time, then the stress of not being able to empty his bladder makes him more stressed and upset and that's why he's hissing. She gave him an opioid shot and we have to give him anti-spasming tablets and monitor him, and take him back if he doesn't improve. They mentioned him possibly needing a catheter, but that doesn't seem like a long-term solution to me. Any thoughts on that?
 

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She gave him an opioid shot and we have to give him anti-spasming tablets and monitor him, and take him back if he doesn't improve. They mentioned him possibly needing a catheter, but that doesn't seem like a long-term solution to me. Any thoughts on that?
Glad he is getting an anti-spasmodic! I can only guess that the vet might think he needs a catheter to empty his bladder if he doesn't do it on his own. An overfull bladder also causes discomfort, and I suspect can lead to further irritation of the bladder lining which would only exacerbate his issues. Didn't the vet tell you why they might want to do that?
 
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profdanglais

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It was my husband who went in with him so I'm getting only secondhand reports of what the vet said. I would hope that the catheter would be in conjunction with some other treatment because obviously we can't insert one every time he needs to empty his bladder. I guess the vet was thinking that if he doesn't show improvement soon then the catheter would be a way to ensure he doesn't hold his urine too long and exacerbate the problem.
 
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profdanglais

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Well, he's not showing any improvement on the new medicine. Now he sits in the box for ages and nothing comes out but a dribble, and then he dribbles some drops on the floor when he gets out. He's going to have to go back to the vet tomorrow and I'm so worried.
 

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Yeah, you have to go back to the vet. Something, in terms of treatment, needs changed. I think you might also have to ask about either an x-ray (KUB) or an ultrasound - to look for signs of inflammation and/or other abnormalities. Keep us posted.
 
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profdanglais

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Sorry for not updating sooner but it's been a horrifically stressful forty-eight hours or so. Shortly after I made my last post I noticed blood in his urine. I called the out-of-hours number for our vet and they told me that blood in itself didn't mean the situation had escalated but definitely to bring him in the next day. We did, and they did an x-ray which discovered a stone blocking his urethra and another few lumps that looked like more stones. We had sort of discounted stones early on because his urinalysis didn't show any crystals but I guess that's not an infallible result. Anyway, the vet attempted to insert a catheter to push the stones up into the bladder and try to flush them out, but the lowest stone was not budging. We were told he needed surgery immediately or he'd have to be put down because he couldn't survive long with a stone like that. We scrambled to borrow money from family and start a gofundme (we have had a lot of unexpected expenses lately and spent just about all we had left on the previous unsuccessful attempts to treat him) and said go ahead with the surgery.

Surgery was performed. They had to cut a new hole in his penis [there should probably be a TMI warning here] to get the stone out and give him basically a new hole to urinate through.Then the vet inserted the catheter and was able to get it all the way in, so the remaining obstructions weren't stones but were likely mucus or blood lumps. He spent the night at the vet with the catheter in, and we brought him home this afternoon. He was so distraught and stressed about the plastic cone and I'm not certain his dose of painkillers is high enough--he's a big cat (nearly 8 kilos) and I'm sure he was hiding his pain at the vet so they may have assumed the dose was fine. He keeps trying to lick and unfortunately the cone presses against his wound when he does and makes it ooze blood so that's a further concern. He has settled down in the past few hours and has been dozing but then periodically he wakes up and tries to lick again. I could really use advice for post-op handling if anyone has any. Maybe I should start a new thread for that.

So anyway, that's what happened. Not fungal at all or even bacterial. Just a horrible life-threatening little stone.
 

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First off, get the vet to prescribe more pain meds. The adrenalin from what he went through when he was at the vets probably masked the level of pain he has. And please tell them about the bleeding. Secondly, I am guessing he has the old-style cone? Get him an e-collar or even an inflatable one - most pet stores sell some form - and, almost any one of them would be better.

Hopefully, others will pipe in with more suggestions related to his care needs specific to the surgery and healing.
 
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profdanglais

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I've ordered him a softer, lighter cone from Amazon, arriving tomorrow. Reviews for the inflatable donuts said they didn't offer much protection for lower-body injuries so I went with a cone, but one that should be less obtrusive for him. I have some liquid painkiller he had prescribed earlier so I might top up with that tonight and call the vet about the dosage tomorrow. Do you think I should ask for a sedative or anti-anxiety? Others have recommended that but my husband thinks we may be giving him too many drugs.
 

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Ask the vet about that, but your husband might be right about too many drugs. Just make sure the liquid painkiller you have isn't somehow an issue to use in conjunction with the current pain meds he is on. Also, check to see if his current meds can be given more often, perhaps even at a smaller dosage but more frequently. Sometimes, there is a range that is acceptable and maybe he isn't on as high of a dose as he could be.

He probably needs some more time at home to settle down, and the new cone should also help. I suppose you could try some of the OTC calming products, such as Bach Rescue Remedy drops to rub into his ear. But not all of these products work on all cats.
 
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