Uti In Male Cats

[codethtcat]

I have a 2 1/2 year old male cat (neutered and indoor only), Cody, who is currently being treated for a UTI. On Thanksgiving Day (last Thursday), I noticed he was going in and out of his litter box, and the next day I noticed blood in his urine. I immediately took him to the vet, where they took his temp, did a standard physical exam, and specifically felt around his stomach and bladder. Everything was normal, and the vet said Cody's bladder felt fine -- wasn't full or distended, and they sent us home with a prescription for Buprenex and Clavamox, and said it was likely caused by stress.

Over the weekend while on both medications, Cody wasn't acting too out of the ordinary, he ate fine, purred when we gave him attention, and wasn't hiding or anything, but he wasn't as active as he normally is, and was only peeing tiny amounts at a time.

Today (Monday), Cody was meowing really loudly while going in and out of the litter box, but nothing was coming out, so we took him to the vet again, however only a vet tech was in today. She checked him out, but she said his bladder felt empty, and wasn't able to do a urinalysis. She gave Cody sub-q fluids, prescribed a new medication, Amitriptyline, and told us to take him off of the Buprenex. We also scheduled another appointment for tomorrow morning when our usual vet is in.

So far Cody has been acting the same as he has been the past couple days, but I did get him playing with his toys for a bit. As of tonight, he's had 2 "okay" sized pees -- clumps about the size of an avocado pit, along with a couple of squirts here and there, but he has still been meowing a bit when he's in the box. He really isn't drinking much water, but he's not a huge drinker to begin with, so I've tried supplementing with wet food to get as much liquid in him as I can get, but he'll only touch his dry food and some pieces of boiled chicken breast.

As I'm typing all of this up, I feel like I'm just being super paranoid, and asking "Dr. Google" probably didn't help at all either! After reading about all of the awful things associated with UTI's in male cats, I'm just really worried about my little man, so if anyone has any insight, or any advice on how I should go into his vet appointment tomorrow (questions I should ask, tests they should run, etc.), that would be really appreciated!!

 

[vyger]

One of mine went through this this summer. When I got him in to the vet they wanted to do a urine test but he was empty so like yours they gave him fluids to fill him up then they used a needle to get a sample. Glad it wasn't me. It confirmed he had a UTI and crystals as well. SO he was put on a special Hills prescription food that dissolves crystals, was given an antibiotic for the UTI and then given a med called Prazosin. That is used for its side effect in cats which is to cause the urethra to dilate so they can pee easily while the food dissolves the crystals. Within a week he felt a lot better, and when the pills ran out in three weeks he was just fine. He has had no problems since.

 

[codethtcat]

Thanks for your response, I'm a nervous wreck, and I can't tell if I'm overreacting or not! I'm worried that he's been on the Clavamox for 4 days now and it's still painful for him to urinate. Hopefully they'll be able to get enough urine out of him tomorrow to run some tests, and I'll ask about the Prazosin!

 

[cheeser]

In addition to the Prazosin, and pain and stress meds to help get our cat on the road to recovery, our vet also recommended that we get some Feliway diffusers to help reduce Buddy's stress.

And if you haven't already checked it out, I highly recommend the catinfo.org website, especially the article about urinary tract disorders and the ones listed under the NUTRITION section in the navigation sidebar. That info was truly a godsend for our cat who kept having relapses every three months. Once we got him transitioned over to a wet food only, low-carb, no-fish diet, he hasn't any further urinary tract problems.

Hope your kitty is feeling better soon, and please keep us posted!

 

[kambayh]

Hi,

I would probably ask the vet to do some more tests for your piece of mind. It might also be worth checking if your cats food has any cranberries in it, as cranberries are really good for keeping a healthy urinary tract!
I hope it goes okay

 

[Tdizz11]

Please switch him to wet food. Sometimes just switching to wet solves the problem.

 

[kathies]

One of mine went through this this summer. When I got him in to the vet they wanted to do a urine test but he was empty so like yours they gave him fluids to fill him up then they used a needle to get a sample. Glad it wasn't me. It confirmed he had a UTI and crystals as well. SO he was put on a special Hills prescription food that dissolves crystals, was given an antibiotic for the UTI and then given a med called Prazosin. That is used for its side effect in cats which is to cause the urethra to dilate so they can pee easily while the food dissolves the crystals. Within a week he felt a lot better, and when the pills ran out in three weeks he was just fine. He has had no problems since.

Hi,
Is your cat still on the Hills food? The minipress/prazosin how did you administer and it what form? How long and how often per day?
Thank you!

 

[catlover73]

Is there any way you can get a 2nd opinion? My 8 year old neutered male partially blocked due to a UTI. He was in pain and was peeing really small amounts. He had to be unblocked in the ER hospital. My cat got really lethargic and stopped eating. If your cats energy level or eating habits suddenly change please get him to a different vet quickly to make sure you are not dealing with a partial blockage. I did not realize a cat can have any sort of blockage and still pee. I do not want to scare you but I almost lost my cat due to a partial blockage that took less than 24 hours to develop. My baby has recovered and is back to normal now.

 

[vyger]

Hi,
Is your cat still on the Hills food? The minipress/prazosin how did you administer and it what form? How long and how often per day?
Thank you!

He was on the Hills food for about a month. It comes in a 4 pound bag and you give them a measured amount until it is gone. It cleared my cat up right away. I suppose if the condition continued to be a problem you would get a refill. It is a prescription food because it has meds in it so you have to get it from a vet. He loved the food so getting him to eat it was not a problem. Keeping the other cats from eating it was a problem. I had to give it to him in a different room with the door closed and had to put away any that he didn't eat otherwise the others would clean it up. They would sit outside the door waiting for their chance with the paws reaching under the door.
The other meds were pills. Three pills a day every 8 hours for seven days for a total of 21 in the bottle. He was not to crazy about the pills and it started to get to be a fight getting him to take them towards the end when he was feeling better. He has been good since the first treatment with no returning problems. He still goes back to the other room sometimes looking for his better food.