Sick kitty... :(

[ephemery1]

My kitty-cat Maya is just about 3 years old, and the love of my life (besides FI, of course

). She''s pretty much the perfect cat, never any accidents or behavior problems... no illnesses or weight issues... we can leave her alone for the occasional weekend and she never holds a grudge. She''s obsessed with playing the wand-game with my fiance and snuggles with us in bed at night.

BUT... in the past week or so, the rug in my bathroom has been starting to smell funny... I thought it was some weird interaction between the wetness of the bathroom and the rubber on the bottom of the rug. Then we were away for a couple days this weekend for a funeral, and when we returned home, Maya was totally normal... until I went to scoop her litterbox and noticed there was only, um, #2 in there... no pee-clumps at all. Obviously I freaked out and finally made the connection between the bad-smelling rug and no pee in the litterbox (duh).

To make a long story... less long... it seems like Maya is either sick or stressed or upset by something, and I''m REALLY hoping this is just a temporary, fixable thing. I was freaking out last night and made an appointment with the vet for this evening, so hopefully all will be well... but in the meantime, I''m worried...

So good vibes for Maya please...?

 

[SoonIHope]

Ohhh, ephem, lots of good vibes coming Maya''s way!!!! I bet it''s nothing big, but I''m sure the vet will be able to figure it out and you''ll have good old normal healthy Maya back in no time! I''m not sure if you were around when I posted about my kitten being sick several months ago, but having PS-ers sending me well-wishes and reassurances was sooo comforting, and in the end little Albi turned out to have a mild virus and after a few days of medicine was 100% back to normal! Hopefully that''s all Maya has too; I''ll keep my fingers crossed for you!!!

(& Albi will too!

)

 

[sumbride]

Oh Ephem... Maya will be ok! She probably has a UTI which is very treatable. The vet may also do an x-ray for bladder stones or crystals which can build up over time. If she's 3, it's possible but it's much more likely to be a UTI. The vet can tell you for sure though!

My Lucy had several recurring UTIs and hers were made worse by stress... she worried herself sick! She's a very nervous cat so the vet put her on prozac and she's much better now, but we did have to go through all the antibiotics. If you have to give Maya a pill, go to a pet store and pick up Pill Pockets to make your life easier. They are cat treats with a hole in the middle that you can put the pill in and squeeze shut... they're very flexible and very smelly, Lucy loves them.

If it is behavioral, you might want to pick up a cat litter called "Cat Attract". It's a clay litter but it has special herbs in it that make it irresistable for cats. It's about $12 for a 25 lb bag, but it works and it works well! There also plug-in diffusers for Feliway, the "feel good pheromone" that cats use to mark with their face instead of urine. It's a calming thing.

As for that bath mat, rinse it with vinegar then wash it. I wouldn't replace it with a new one until Maya is healthy again.


eta: you're lucky you noticed the bath mat... Lucy started with the bath mat but when I didn't notice right away she started peeing on my bed! Oh yeah, cat urine and a down comforter... NOT good! When she got sick again she skipped the mat and came up to me as soon as I woke up in the morning and peed ALL OVER MY HAND! That definitely got my attention and she was at the vet within the hour. And I probably spent $100 on products to remove the smell from my mattress.

 

[Lorelei]

Good vibes outgoing! It could just be cystitis or other UTI 's and this can be treated fairly easily and she should be fine! Try not to worry too much and please let us know how she gets on!

 

[Gypsy]

Oh honey, I''m sorry! So hard when your baby is sick! ((HUGS)) and headbutts from Duncan, Hally, Noel and Frodo. Poor baby. Have you tried Felaway? It worked for my kitties. You can buy it at Petsmart and it''s a soothing pheromone plug in. Please keep us updated and give Maya smooches from me.

 

[Madam Bijoux]

She might have gotten upset while you were away or it could be a urinary tract infection. Indoor cats often get urinary tract infections. I always fed my cats urinary control food that I bought from the vet, and they stopped having problems once I started them on that food. Good luck, and I hope she''s feeling better.

 

[FireGoddess]

Ditto what has been said.

1. UTI. My Chloe is prone to them. They associate the pain upon urination with the litter box and start peeing anywhere else.

2. Aggravation/stress. She may be mad at you for leaving her. It happens....to all of us at some point.

3. Litterbox is not clean enough for her. Not saying you don''t clean it, just stating the 3rd reason cats go outside the box.

4. Kitty got scared while using the box and went elsewhere...and has continued to go there.

The first 2 are what I''d hedge bets on.

 

[larussel03]

sending lots of good vibes your way!! Keep us posted on kitty''s health

 

[lumpkin]

Date: 10/4/2006 11:26:10 AM
Author: Gypsy
Oh honey, I''m sorry! So hard when your baby is sick! ((HUGS)) and headbutts from Duncan, Hally, Noel and Frodo. Poor baby. Have you tried Felaway? It worked for my kitties. You can buy it at Petsmart and it''s a soothing pheromone plug in. Please keep us updated and give Maya smooches from me.

Do you have a little boy named Duncan or is that a pet? Just curious because I have a little boy named Duncan!

Ephem, I''m sorry about your kitty. I''m sure she will be fine, but it''s no fun worrying about them and hoping they aren''t too uncomfortable until they are better!

 

[ephemery1]

Thank you SOOOOO much everyone.... I feel like such a baby for being this upset over such a "little" thing... it is just hard to think of my sweet, crazy, playful kitty not feeling well. But your comments help so much! Of course I started crying midway through the vet appointment... I told my fiance he's going to have to handle ALL our kids' doctor appointments in the future, considering my over-reaction today!! Fortunately I have a great vet (although pricey... $350 this afternoon, OUCH!!) who works only with cats, and she did bloodwork, urinalysis and x-rays... so we'll have most of those results back tomorrow. In the meantime, we know that the x-rays turned out okay... no kidney stones or cysts that she could see.

Maya is acting like there is nothing wrong, but still hasn't used her litterbox (or the bathroom rug, as I threw it away yesterday). It's been over 24 hours, so that concerns me... either she's going in some other spot I haven't found yet, even in my little 700 sf apartment.... or she's holding it in, which would be even worse. But the vet gave her some pain medication to help with the discomfort if it IS a UTI, and she will call tomorrow with the results of the tests, so we'll decide what to do from there.

Thanks again, guys... and from Maya too... you're the best.

 

[sumbride]

I''m glad it wasn''t stones! Those are a lot harder to deal with than a UTI. Hopefully you''ll know something soon. You might want to make sure she hasn''t found a new spot... they usually like things that absorb fast, so if you have any piles of clothes or blankets, check those.

My FI doesn''t like to take the cats to the vet because he can''t tolerate their pathetic cries in the car on the way... says it breaks his heart. I guess I''m more of a "mom" than I thought because I just say "BE QUIET" and turn up the radio. They''re usually completely calm on the way home since they know they''re going home, but they raise all sorts of racket on the way there.

 

[FireGoddess]

Date: 10/5/2006 1:17:42 PM
Author: sumbride
I''m glad it wasn''t stones! Those are a lot harder to deal with than a UTI.

No joke...my Chloe had to have surgery to get her kidney stones removed, which was not fun! Glad to hear it''s not that.

 

[sumbride]

Date: 10/5/2006 2:51:30 PM
Author: FireGoddess

Date: 10/5/2006 1:17:42 PM
Author: sumbride
I''m glad it wasn''t stones! Those are a lot harder to deal with than a UTI.

No joke...my Chloe had to have surgery to get her kidney stones removed, which was not fun! Glad to hear it''s not that.

My Max had bladder stones and had surgery for that too. NOT fun! and VERY expensive.

 

[Gypsy]

Whew! At least it''s not stones. Great to have that ruled out. I swear the waiting is the worst... and the futile mental laundry list of things it could be, things you almost hope it is, things you pray it isn''t... more ((HUGS)) honey. I will check in tomorrow and hopefully the news will be good and she''ll be using her litter box in no time.

 

[larussel03]

any word on how your cat is?

 

[ephemery1]

Hello all.... thanks again for your sweet well-wishes... here's the Maya-update:

I spoke to the vet yesterday and she said that the urinalysis came back normal... no sign of blood or crystals or anything UTI-related. She did, however, notice an abnormally high calcium level on Maya's blood test. She said that is not terribly uncommon, and can sometimes be just a one-time thing as a result of stress or discomfort or just a fluke... but other times it can be a symptom of something more serious, like cancer. (At this point I squeaked out some sort of weak "oh, ok" while trying desperately to regain composure...

) Or it can be a symptom of kidney stones, but we already x-rayed for that and it was clear.

The bad news is, Maya has to go back in to the vet at some point for a better look at the calcium thing. The good news is, the vet didn't seem to think it was urgent... she suggested just sometime in the next few weeks, and made the worst-case-scenario sound less likely.

In the meantime, I set up a different litterbox with a different kind of litter (even though she's used the old one for years now without problems) in the corner of the bathroom where she'd been using the rug... and she went in it!!! Multiple times!! She is still peeing in small amounts at a time, which seems like a UTI, but who knows. So we are finishing her course of pain meds and calling the vet on Tuesday to report on her progress. At the very least, Maya is ACTING completely normal... happy and crazy and playful and purr-y. So that's a good thing.

Ugh... definitely didn't help that I was dealing with a student in crisis at work yesterday. Just kind of a stressful week all around... but today I am off, and hanging out with my kitty-cat, and having lunch with my friend, and it's FRIDAY!

 

[sumbride]

hmmm....

so you say she''s using a new litter box with new litter just fine? Maybe the old one smelled? The plastic of the litterbox can absorb the urine smell over time, so if she''s had the same box since you got her, maybe it has built up a smell that she couldn''t tolerate any more? What kind of litter were you using and what did you switch to?

Sounds like Miss Maya got into a snit about you leaving her, but there still could be more to it than that.

 

[oshinbreez]

Glad to hear your kitty is feeling better. Enjoy your day off.

 

[ephemery1]

Date: 10/6/2006 10:40:50 AM
Author: sumbride
hmmm....

so you say she''s using a new litter box with new litter just fine? Maybe the old one smelled? The plastic of the litterbox can absorb the urine smell over time, so if she''s had the same box since you got her, maybe it has built up a smell that she couldn''t tolerate any more? What kind of litter were you using and what did you switch to?

Sounds like Miss Maya got into a snit about you leaving her, but there still could be more to it than that.

Oops, should have clarified that better... she''s been using the same brand of litter for years... but the litterbox itself is about 6 months old, hooded and round. The litter is called World''s Best and it''s one of those fancy organic ones, made from corn, and flushable too... not cheap, but effective and good for the environment. But yesterday I got out her old litterbox (also hooded, but normal rectangle shape... that she used before I got the round one) and put regular old SuperScoop flush-able litter in it, and put it in the bathroom (her usual litterbox is kept in the hall closet, right outside the bathroom)... and apparently she likes this new arrangement better.

So yeah, none of it really makes much sense... it''s definitely possible she was just mad about us leaving... though we''ve left her for longer than that with no adverse reactions. But with cats, I guess you never know... she definitely has a mind of her own!

 

[Gypsy]

Yikes on the cancer thing. I know exactly how you felt. But I think that they always have to throw that one in there just o be safe. Since Maya is now using her new box and and acting normal I''m praying that it''s the end of the whole thing. Enjoy your Friday honey... and I''m SO VERY glad that Maya is doing better.

 

[sumbride]

Maybe she just didn''t like having her litter box in the hall closet? Perhaps something fell from a shelf and frightened her? Sounds like she prefers the bathroom since that''s where the rug was and where she''s happily using her new litterbox. Cats can be so strange sometimes... it''s hard to figure out why they do what they do. You might want to try the Feliway plug-in. It calms them pretty well and may help her work through her issues.

We have 3 levels, 3 cats, and 2 litterboxes... one on the top floor, one in the basement. We should technically have 1 or 2 more but we just don''t have anywhere to keep it. 85% of the time the cats prefer the basement litterbox. We don''t really know why, but they use it most often, much to my FI''s annoyance because he has to scoop that one! sometimes they use mine for "#1" and his for "#2"... I''ve heard sometimes they like to have separate boxes for that reason. There''s no figuring it out, I just hope she stays happy.

If she stops using the new box, you should look for "Cat Attract" litter. It''s REALLY good.