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Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY please!

stargurl78

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Apr 19, 2010
Messages
3,296
My poor kitty, Peanut, is not feeling well and I'm not sure what to do at this point. Over a month ago she started losing fur on her lower belly and about once a week she's been throwing up clearish-green liquid vomit. She is such a pain to take to the vet so since she was acting normal and eating, drinking, and going to the bathroom, I thought maybe it was allergies or something and maybe it would pass. She has feline asthma and it seems like she has seasonal allergy issues this is why I figured that might be the cause. Plus, cats throw up all the time so since it was only once a week I didn't think much of it.

Well then twice last week she peed on the rug in front of her litter box. So of course, I started googling all of this and freaked out because I thought her kidney was failing. So we took a stressful trip to the vet. Her normal doctor wasn't in that day so I saw another one that I've seen once before. They did an x-ray, urine test, blood test, and blood pressure test. Everything came back normal except for her urine analysis and BUN figure. She had some blood in her urine and white and red blood cell count was high which made the vet think she had a UTI. Her BUN figure was slightly elevated as well but the vet assumed this was because of the infection, since her creatinine figure was normal. The x-ray didn't show anything of major concern (like bladder stones, blockages, etc), but it did show that she was constipated. I was feeding my cats a dry food diet only and I'm guessing this might be why she was constipated (I am slowly adding more wet food to their diet). So the vet suggested we do an enema too. She prescribed an antibiotic for the infection and said they would be sending the urine to their lab to test it to ensure that it indeed was a UTI.

Well I called a few days later and the urine results showed no infection. So I spoke with her normal doctor and she said her guess is that she may have Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD) and the antiobiotics most likely won't help and I just have to wait it out. From the research I was looking at it seems like there are some things I can do as far as the diet and meds but there isn't a lot out there as far as treatment. But it says FLUTD episodes last about a week and my poor cat is not getting better. She is still licking her lower belly and now her inner left thigh and it looks swollen (I'm guessing because of her inflamed bladder). She just flat out looks uncomfortable. She is still eating and drinking but it seems to be less frequently, although I haven't noticed her losing any weight. She seems a tad better today than she did yesterday and was playful tonight, but I am still worried to death. I just don't know if going back to the vet is going to do me any good at this point. Has anyone had to deal with this before? Is there any way of making the cat more comfortable or any special diet that can be provided? Should I try a different veterinary office? I like her normal doctor (they saved her life with her asthma issue) but we moved recently and they are a little farther than I prefer to drive but I have no clue how to find a good vet office closer to me.

Missy, I am calling you to this thread because I know you mentioned in chemgirl's thread that your sister is a veterinarian and I was hoping you could maybe ask her about this. I don't want to burden you though, so I hope its ok for me to ask... I'm not sure where you guys are from but I live in Southeast Michigan if she knows any good vets in that area.

Some random info if it helps: I have put several water dishes around the house starting this week and I am now giving my cats wet food everyday. We have 2 cats and 3 litter boxes, which are cleaned out daily. Both cats are 6 years old and are indoor cats. Peanut takes a Theophylline pill daily for her asthma and a puff of Flovent inhaler every other day. The other cat (Penny) is in perfect health. The 2 cats don't really like each other (they weren't litter mates).

Sorry for the very long post but I am worried to death and am wondering if anyone else has experienced this issue...
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

I'm so sorry your kitty isn't feeling well.
I have to say, I really REALLY think you need to get her in to see another vet. Or have one come out to your house. Very soon. I'd be worried that prolonging the visit again would only increase her discomfort, and put her at risk for getting worse.

Hugs and dust to you.
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

please talk to your vet tomorrow about giving subcutaneous fluids at home.
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

movie zombie|1320809000|3057517 said:
please talk to your vet tomorrow about giving subcutaneous fluids at home.
Oh, yes. This is very easy to do. I did this for my Mazi for a long time and it really helped her.
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

Thank you Haven and MZ for your dust and suggestions. I called her regular vet today but she wasn't in and is supposed to call me back tomorrow. I received a few vet suggestions from friends and a few of them seem to have good ratings so I am considering trying to get in somewhere new (and closer to my home) tomorrow. Either way, I will definitely make sure to get an appointment in somewhere, whether its at her normal place or somewhere new.
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

Big hugs. I know how agonizing it is to have a pet in distress.
Sending lots of healing dust to you.
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

Thank you so much Haven, you are so nice. It really is heart-breaking. I just hate seeing her so uncomfortable and not being able to help her :blackeye:
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

I do want to add that my DH thinks she seems normal except for her bald spot and he thinks I'm overreacting, but I can't help but worry. The antibiotic that they had me giving her when they thought it was an infection seemed to be making her sick and she does seem better today but still not normal. But obviously her bladder is still bothering her if she continues to overgroom the area.
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

Hi Star, I am so sorry your poor kitty is in distress and I will certainly call my sister this morning and ask if she has any advice and if she knows of any good vets in your area.

My opinion would be to definitely keep the wet food in her diet as that is better as part of an overall diet than just dry. We gave subcutaneous fluids to our kitties when they needed it and it is really easy but I am not sure if your kitty needs it and definitely you want the vet to recommend that before you do it on your own I think. Is she dehydrated?

Ugh, I hate it when our furbabies aren't feeling well and they cannot talk to us and tell us what hurts. :((
I am hoping she starts feeling better real soon and that it is nothing more than FLUTD. If she doesn't start improving soon I would definitely bring her to another vet for a second opinion. But I will see what my sister has to add if anything. So sorry Star- sending you big hugs and tons and tons of get well dust for your sweet kitty!!!
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

I just spoke with my sister and she recommends the vet school in east lansing as a good place to start...
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

Thank you SO much Missy! Unfortunately Lansing is about 2 hours from where I live so I'm not sure that's an option for us. Peanut seems better today but still not back to normal. She is still going to the bathroom in her box (although she might be peeing less frequently than normal), still eating and drinking, and is very playful. The other day she wasn't really sleeping much but just laying around and she was fidgety. She slept quite a bit yesterday evening and last night. So maybe the vet is right and I just need to be patient and let the episode pass. When the vet calls us today, I will inquire about the subcutaneous fluids and see if she thinks its necessary at this time. I will also ask if, based on her current symptoms, she should come back in or if I should wait a few days to see if she improves. I just don't want to take her back, have the test results be the same, and be even more broke over this, not to mention the stress of the car ride (the cat literally screams the whole way there and back home).

I am also going to look into some closer offices today, just in case I decide to leave our current office. I have narrowed it down to 2 options that are less than 5 minutes away and have gotten good recommendations. And I might even stop in at both of them today just to check things out (although I feel a bit crazy to do that but these cats are my babies so I want to make sure I'm comfortable with the place).
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

You are very welcome...
That sounds like a great plan stargurl. I think finding a good vet near you is the best plan of action. Less stress because less travel. I would definitely do what you are doing and continue being proactive. If she seems like she is not improving enough I would not hesitate to get a second opinion. Good luck!
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

Oh, your poor Peanut - dust and ::HUGS:: to both of you! I'm glad to read that she's still eating/drinking/using the litterbox.

I hope you are successful in finding a vet nearby!
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

Awwww. My coworker's cat had a sort of similar urinary problem a few weeks ago. The vet gave her a special prescription diet and some kind of cranberry pills. Hugs and dust!
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

Big HUGS to you and to Peanut. Hope you can get to the heart of her problems. PS dust for her recovery.
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

Thank you all so much for sending dust!! So I just talked to my regular vet. I really like her, I wish their damn office was closer. It's only a 15 minute drive each way but it feels like an eternity to be in the car with a screaming cat. She said if Peanut isn't improving then she needs to come back in. However, if she is still eating, drinking, going to the bathroom, and playing then based on the tests from last week, she doesn't think its a serious enough issue to rush her back in this second, especially because these kinds of issues can resolve themselves within a week or so. She is in the office Friday and had me make an appointment for then. She said just to watch Peanut closely until then and if there are any serious changes to get her in right away. She said that giving her canned food is going to make the biggest difference and she doesn't think we need to resort to a prescription diet just yet. I told her I also added more water dishes around the house and a Feliway plug-in (to reduce stress) and she said those are excellent changes as well. So I guess at this point I'll just wait and see and hopefully get some more answers on Friday. Thanks again for your PS dust!!
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

Stargurl, my sister said you might want to get a sonogram of her bladder if she isn't improving. She said that flutd is a diagnosis of exclusion and you need to r/o other things before making this diagnosis.

Hope peanut is feeling better!
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

Thank you for the suggestion Missy. I will definitely ask about that when I take her in on Friday.
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

DUST!
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

Well we just got back from seeing Peanut's normal veterinarian, we'll call her Dr. S. There is no longer blood in Peanut's urine and all of her numbers look fine. Dr. S did an ultrasound too and she said that the bladder looks normal, so if FLUTD was an issue, it appears to have passed. She said based on the x-ray Peanut is a little bit constipated which could be causing her to over-lick her belly area but she didn't think that was likely the cause because it wasn't terribly bad. She said that she thinks Peanut is itchy due to some sort of allergies or fleas (being that she is asthmatic, I wouldn't be surprised if its some kind of allergy). The other possible option is that she is experiencing anxiety. If this is the case, she may need to go on kitty Prozac if it becomes more serious (licking herself enough to have scabs, vomiting up lots of furballs, etc).

So Dr. S gave Peanut a steroid shot while we was there. She said if she stops licking now, the licking is most likely caused by some sort of allergy. However, the steroid won't fix the problem if its the constipation or anxiety. So we can at least start to narrow things down. She gave me some kind of flea stuff to put on her neck (and my other cat's neck) to get rid of fleas and mites, if that's the issue (and she said fleas have been a terrible issue this year). She also gave me a tube of Laxatone to help her to poop more easily. She said if none of that works, we can try putting her on a new diet to see if it was a food allergy. And if that doesn't work, then its probably an anxiety issue.

I feel much better. It doesn't appear that there is anything serious going on and Dr. S gave us every possibility for the problem and solutions to try for all of them. So now we can work AT HOME to rule things out, instead of having to take her back in forth to their office. Last week with the other vet in their office, I spent almost twice as much money and felt like I left there with no definite answers. I definitely will be sticking with Dr. S from now on. Keep sending dust for little Peanut and lets hope the steroid shot and the flea stuff fix the problem!

Her is a pic of my sweet baby:

iphone nov 11 119-2.JPG
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

And a pic of our other furbaby Penny (not sure if anyone wants to see pics of someone else's cats but I'm bored at home on a Friday night like a big loser so I thought I'd share :bigsmile: ):

march 28 018.JPG
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

awww, Peanut is such a sweetie!
So glad she is feeling better and that you and the vet are narrowing the choices down. Continuing healing dust being sent your way!
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

Thanks Missy! I'm very relieved that it doesn't seem to be something serious :appl:
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

there are side effects with flea products. do a bit of research and see if the products you are using have "issues". glad that things are going better!
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

movie zombie said:
there are side effects with flea products. do a bit of research and see if the products you are using have "issues". glad that things are going better!

Crap, I already put it on the cats! Its Revolution brand and its a liquid that I had to put on the back of their necks. Anyone heard of any major negatives for using this stuff?
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

What a couple of cuties!

So glad to hear that the issues with your kitty seem to be on the way to being resolved. We're in week three of a kitty-crisis, so hearing your good news makes me very happy for you!
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

So glad your kitty is feeling better! :appl: One thing to note: (I'm not sure if this happens with cats as well, or if it's just dogs.) Steroids always constipate my dog, and make her have to pee a lot. So don't be too freaked out if either of these things happen with your kitty.
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

Thank you Aoife and QueenB29! She seems to be doing ok but not completely back to normal, she still just doesn't seem like herself. A thought came to me last night and I'm really hoping that I'm just being crazy. A few months ago (end of August) I had my sewing machine out since I was working on making throw pillows. I noticed one morning that she had unwound some thread (I forgot to put the cover on the machine) and it was obvious that she had eaten some because the end looked chewed on. I didn't see the thread in her poo, but my husband also cleans the litter box and I know he wouldn't remember if he had seen it. Besides the string was brown, which doesn't help. She has a terrible problem with eating strings and headphone wires but she's not as bad as she used to be. Anyways, I'm wondering if the string is stuck inside her somewhere because a few weeks after that is when she started to lose fur on her belly. I read last night that thread and yarn don't always show up in x-rays so maybe its something our vet didn't even consider and I didn't even think to bring it up at the time. But if that was the case, I would think her issues would be a lot worse after several months. She is still eating and going in the litter box, although I don't think she is eating as much as usual and she has become very picky. She just seems irritable and she usually is a very sweet mellow kitty. However, even though she was vomiting about once a week for a while, she hasn't thrown up for about 2 weeks now. So I don't really know what to do at this point :? I read online that giving them Laxatone might help to move things out if there is a string in there. So I'm going to give that to my kitties since they are often a bit constipated anyways. I'm going to have to give the vet a call back too just to see what they think (our vet is in tomorrow)... I'm just praying that it is not a string issue because I really don't know if I can afford surgery :sick: Please continue to send dust!
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

I'm sorry to hear that, Stargurl. What you are describing is certainly suggestive of a love-affair-gone-wrong with sewing thread. I hope your vet will have some insights, and please keep us updated. Peanut looks like such a sweetheart!

Dust coming your way.
 
Re: Another dust for my kitty thread! And calling MISSY plea

stargurl78|1321371099|3062149 said:
Thank you Aoife and QueenB29! She seems to be doing ok but not completely back to normal, she still just doesn't seem like herself. A thought came to me last night and I'm really hoping that I'm just being crazy. A few months ago (end of August) I had my sewing machine out since I was working on making throw pillows. I noticed one morning that she had unwound some thread (I forgot to put the cover on the machine) and it was obvious that she had eaten some because the end looked chewed on. I didn't see the thread in her poo, but my husband also cleans the litter box and I know he wouldn't remember if he had seen it. Besides the string was brown, which doesn't help. She has a terrible problem with eating strings and headphone wires but she's not as bad as she used to be. Anyways, I'm wondering if the string is stuck inside her somewhere because a few weeks after that is when she started to lose fur on her belly. I read last night that thread and yarn don't always show up in x-rays so maybe its something our vet didn't even consider and I didn't even think to bring it up at the time. But if that was the case, I would think her issues would be a lot worse after several months. She is still eating and going in the litter box, although I don't think she is eating as much as usual and she has become very picky. She just seems irritable and she usually is a very sweet mellow kitty. However, even though she was vomiting about once a week for a while, she hasn't thrown up for about 2 weeks now. So I don't really know what to do at this point :? I read online that giving them Laxatone might help to move things out if there is a string in there. So I'm going to give that to my kitties since they are often a bit constipated anyways. I'm going to have to give the vet a call back too just to see what they think (our vet is in tomorrow)... I'm just praying that it is not a string issue because I really don't know if I can afford surgery :sick: Please continue to send dust!

Please ask your vet before you give them this. I'm not really familiar with it, but I would be concerned that it may cause dehydration. You don't want to throw things off when your kitty already isn't feeling well.

One of my kitties licks her belly compulsively. I believe it is stress related because its always worse when we're out or something strange happens. For example, the elevator in our condo was buzzing really loudly for a few weeks and she licked to the point of creating scabs. Now she's settled and her fur has almost all grown back. So your kitty may just be stressed. Has anything changed? Something as simple as the mail coming at a different time can freak them out.

The irritability is a bit worrisome because in my experience their behaviour is often related to how they're feeling physically. One of my cats had a kidney infection, but instead of showing pain she acted standoffish. She wasn't her snuggly self and I didn't know why until the vet noticed that her kidneys were inflamed. Maybe your kitty is having digestive issues? Perhaps its worth getting an ultrasound to get a better look at things.

Dust for your kitty and I hope she gets better soon!
 
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