Female Kitty Urinary Infection Question UPDATE

[grinningghost]

I think my female cat has a urinary problem. She's going to the vet later today, but I've never really heard anything about female cats and urinary troubles.

She's only going a tiny bit at a time, and there's blood mixed in. I've also found a dried clump of blood on the side of the cat box.

Anyone ever have this problem with a female cat?

UPDATE - The kitty has to stay at the vet's overnight so they can try and get a urine sample from her. I feel terrible, she looked so sad when I walked out.

 

[grinningghost]

bumping

 

[grinningghost]

bumped for update

 

[mickeyboat]

Poor little kitty. I sure hope she is feeling better soon.

Denae

 

[meandtheguys2]

Wow! We had our in for the same last week. The vet was able to encourage urination...at which point, my boys changed their minds about being in there! She gave a shot, some pills, and we have to change foods.

Good luck with yours! It is so hard leaving them!

 

[grinningghost]

Wow! We had our in for the same last week. The vet was able to encourage urination...at which point, my boys changed their minds about being in there! She gave a shot, some pills, and we have to change foods.

Good luck with yours! It is so hard leaving them!

Are they feeling better now? I hope so.

 

[meandtheguys2]

You know, she stopped "straining" in inappropriate places within two days. I was so thankful! She is such a big baby, and the boys were afraid for her.

Hope your kitty is on the way to recovery this a.m.!

 

[chrissyk]

This has happened to my male cat countless times, and it has almost killed him in the past. I know that it can happen to females, but it isn't as common. Your vet will probably have to either catheterize her or sedate her and gently squeeze out the blockage (my old vet did both to my cat at different times). She may be put on special food for urinary tracts. My cat can't tolerate that food, so we have had to keep him on his regular organic diet and mix in suppliments to acidify his urine.

You also need to find out if your kitty is suffering from crystals in her urine or from bladder stones. Your vet will probably do a urinalysis and an ultrasound to determine these 2 things. For struvite crystals, there is a product called "Cranberry Relief" that you can order online (even on Ebay sometimes) that you mix into their food to acidify the urine. We've used that successfully in the past, so you might want to run that by your vet. Either way, get used to monitoring your kitty's litterbox habits for the long run now.

One other thing...I don't know how you feel about holistic medicine, but our old vet was a holistic vet. She gave us 2 "remedies" to use when our guy starts getting a blockage (by starts, I mean still passing drops of urine when straining). The first is called Apis and the second is called Arnica. You can actually buy them from Whole Foods. If we catch the blockage in time, I'd say that Apis works most of the time w/in about 15 minutes. We then give the cat extra fluids (even tuna juice!) for a few days and make sure that his "output" increases tremendously. This helps to flush out any offending crystals Feel free to PM me if you want...this is one subject that DH and I have become experts on, unfortunately.

 

[meandtheguys2]

You used arnica? Interesting. We use it for bruising. YOu never know what you will learn on the DIs!

 

[chrissyk]

You used arnica? Interesting. We use it for bruising. YOu never know what you will learn on the DIs!

Yup! The Apis is for "bladder pain" and the Arnica is for "bladder swelling". We use the Apis, give it 15 minutes, and then follow up with the Arnica.

 

[SideshowBob]

Did kill SSB's kitty...

 

[chrissyk]

Did kill SSB's kitty...

I am so sorry Was your kitty a boy or a girl?

 

[justplaingoofy]

Sorry to hear about your kitty... Our cat has had many urinary infections, but now is more prone to blockages!! very scary!! When we vacation we have to have someone come in at least every 24hrs to make sure he's peed in his box. If not, back to the vet to get unblocked.


They put our cat on a special diet. Hopefully, its a one time thing, but if not, you may want to inquire about it.
My guess is they will give her some iv fluids so that she'll have to pee to get a sample overnight. May even put her on some steroids if she has alot of inflammation.
Give kitty a kiss when you see her! Shes in the best place she can be, so I wouldn't rush her out

 

[chrissyk]

Sorry to hear about your kitty... Our cat has had many urinary infections, but now is more prone to blockages!! very scary!! When we vacation we have to have someone come in at least every 24hrs to make sure he's peed in his box. If not, back to the vet to get unblocked.

Ours is very prone to blockages, but just got his first UTI a little over a week ago He comes with us when we go on vacation. Even with a pet sitter, we can't chance leaving him alone.

Our old vet showed us how to give our cat subcutaneous fluids, and we do so if we catch the blockage early enough. We keep the fluid bag, the line, and the needles with us when we travel, as we could need them on a moment's notice. I really hate urinary blockages! I'm totally paranoid about kidney damage/failure at this point now too, since our cat has had so many blockages over such a long period of time

 

[SideshowBob]

I am so sorry Was your kitty a boy or a girl?

Sammy.... :*( (boy)

 

[meandtheguys2]

GG, wondering about your kitty. Mine is being switched to another... mor exppensive food. Hope yours is home safe and sound.

I'm sorry SSB.