Bomber is sick
 

Bomber has been urinating outside the litter box for a couple of weeks now and in the beginning I thought he was just following in Tabitha's footprint and copying her bad behaviour. (although she has been really good with that latley! as long as there are no doggie beds she wont pee!:laughing:)

Well after three attempts to retrieve urine we finally got a sample today.

He said Bomber has lots of blood in his urine. After discussion with the vet he thinks it either an infection, bladder stones or a tumor...:sad:

He prescribed Zeniquin 25mg once a day for 20 days and then re check the urine to see if there is improvement.

Maybe someone can explain the urinalysis resulsts or what some of the figures mean?

Collected by Cystocentisis

Color - Red Brown
Marked Cloudiness
Specifiv Gravity 1021
PH 5
Protein 2+
Glucose Normal
Ketones Neg
Urobilinogen Normal
Blood 5+

Sediment Exam
Sedistain
Flocculent after Spinning

Cells
RBC's 3+
WBC's occ
Tran Epith 1 sheet

Other
Cocci 1+
Fat 1+

Comments
Stick done after centrifuge


Now its only been a few hours since I gave him the first pill and he seems to be a little tired. I also found some vomit but cant be sure if it was him since I didnt witness it. I will see how he is after the pill tomorrow to see if he throws it up????

Tabitha hasnt stopped hissing at him since he got home! she is such a pain in the %$$# sometimes!! :D

Anyway I am hoping that it is just an infection and nothing more!! :shrug:

Cindy

Growler will probably be able to go into more detail for you, but a couple things jump out at me. Bomber's urine is rather dilute at 1.021, when normal is typically above 1.035. As well, a ph of 5 is quite acidic (normal is 6.0-6.5), but since ph fluctuates throughout the day, a one-time test doesn't really tell us too much. If it was consistently coming back around 5, that might be something that needs to be addressed. Urine that is too acidic can be a risk factor for the development of calcium oxalate stones.

Back to the USG. Has Bomber been drinking more lately? Has he had blood work done recently? Whenever an older cat gets a UTI and the urine is dilute, I'd want to know why. Kidney or hyperthyroid issues can be a factor (diabetes would be another one, but there isn't any glucose in Bomber's urine so that's less likely). If it's been a while since he's had a senior blood panel done, I'd recommend it when he goes back for his UTI re-check.

Sending :goodvibes: for Bomber. I hope he recovers quickly.

Sending :goodvibes: for Bomber's quick recovery from here, too! I hope the meds get him on the right track!

:sad: Poor Bomber

That same things that SCM mentioned jumped out at me too and think a second urinalysis along with a full blood panel should be done to rule out any other factors that may be causing this.

:goodvibes::goodvibes: for him.

Sending :pray: and :goodvibes: to Bomber. I hope the pills help him get over this.

:pray::pray: to bomber for a full recovery. :cloud9:

Poor Bomber :grouphug: ....hope the meds help and he has a speedy recovery. :fingerscr :goodvibes:

Thank you everyone for the well wishes! Bomber has been sleeping alot since our vet visit? perhaps its the Zeniquin he is on I am not sure!

He has been so good about taking the pills too! he is much easier to pill than his sister thats for sure! I really thought I was going to have trouble pilling him because he doesnt eat treats or any type of table scap....he is weird that way! if you give him a treat he trys to cover it up like a poop! :D

BUT he has been taking it in a piece if cheese so thats good! as for the peeing I havent seen any or caught him yet so thats promising!

I went back and looked at aprevious urinalysis and it didnt have as much detail as this one. The only thing I noticed from the report from 2002 was that his PH level was 6 :sad:

I guess we wil have to wait and see what it shoes when he is done the round of antibiotics..

THanks again its so nice to have people to come to that understand us and our furrbabies!

Cindy

Winston, when are you taking him back for a recheck? I hope the meds help him.

You know, the day I found this board was one of the best days of my life. It's wonderful to know you can come to a place where people understand your worry, your happiness and your pride in these wonderful little creatures that share our lives.:grouphug:

Well Bomber pee'd in the office last night :wall::wall:...I dont get it...its been 4 days no pee and then he does it out of the blue! Then I get his pill and wrap it in some cheese and put it down for him, I turned my head for 1 second and Winston ate the pill?????? Hopefully it doesnt hurt him since its just an antibiotic???

AG it will be 20 days of meds and then a recheck....I am worrying though since he has been on the pills for 4 days and he is still going outside the box??

I am going to replace the litter boxes once again tonight and see if that makes any dofference!

Cindy

Winston, maybe the pills take some time to work. :shrug: Perhaps a new box in a different location might work too. Maybe he's associating the current box and location with pain.

Hey Winston, sorry I missed this earlier.

Cloudy urine happens from the sediment floating in it - Normally it is clear.

Specific Graviity is low for a healthy cat he should be concentrating at 1035 and higher, often when there is infection, stones etc the urine isn't concentrated in an attempt to flush the kidneys/bladder/urinary tract out. Have you noticed an increase in drinking?

pH is acidic which can be an indication of calcium oxalate stones, most kidney stones are calcium oxalate. pH can also be affected by diet, bacteria etc

Proteinuria very rarely occurs in healthy cats because the kidneys do not allow the escape of protein into the urine, the main proteins that leak through are albumin and globulin, most common causes are CRF, diabetes, hypertension. Occasionally a high protein diet may cause a small increase.

Hematuria (blood in the urine) causes include: Bacterial UTI, Stones in the urinary tract especially the bladder or urethra, cancer, more rarely parasites, trauma/injury or idiopathic benign kidney bleeding.

Flocculent urine contains grossly visible particles and is generally pathologic, often due to crystals or infection.

RBC & WBC normal range is 0-3 Bomber has more than 3 not surprising considering the amount of blood in the urine, occasional WBC is okay, Trans Epith cells are cells from the urinary tract that have released into the urine, it happens in the presence of bacteria such as E coli. Normal reading should be none-rare

The Cocci+ is bacteria present in the urine, Fat is also present and detectable though cat urine is fatty to start with (which is why it is hard to clean the smell).

It looks right now without further testing like Feline Lower Urinary Tract Diesease (which is not actually a disease) - bacterial in nature. :2cents: The UA did not indicate any crystals found, though it doesn't rule out stones.

If Bomber starts having more noticable difficulty peeing or stops peeing at all then he needs to be seen [I]immediately[/I].

The [url=http://www.pnuanimalhealth.com/PAHimages/compliance_pdfs/US_EN_ZN_compliance.pdf]info sheet for Zeniquin[/url] indicates improvement should be seen within 5 days.

Just wanted to say good luck with Bomber :fingerscr :grouphug:

Bomber, get feeling better for Mom. It's worrying to us when you guys are sick. :sad:
Sending lots of :goodvibes: to Bomber and to Mom as well. :grouphug:

How is Bomber doing today, Winston? Any better? :goodvibes:

Hope Bomber is starting to show some improvement. :fingerscr :goodvibes:

Any news today Winston? Hope the meds have kicked in and that Bomber is peeing in the box by now :fingerscr
:goodvibes::goodvibes:

Thanks guys for the well wishes!

Growler thank you for being sooo informative.....

Bomber does not appear to be straining when urinating and I havent had any incidents for a couple of days! however he does this random too! its not every pee is outside the box?? its one time then nothing and then another time! Gosh they drive us crazy dont they!

I am happy to report though that Bomber is the best kitty I have ever had to pill! he takes it no problem and its almost like he does not even realize I have given it to him! His sister is a totally different story!

Its gonna be a long 3 weeks! :eek: But I am hopeful that its gonna be just a Urinary Tract Infection....and nothing serious!

:pray:To both our little ones.

Glad Bomber seems to be responding to the meds :thumbs up ....hope he is on the road to recovery. :fingerscr :goodvibes:

:goodvibes: that he continues to cooperate with the pilling and makes a quick and complete recovery!

:goodvibes::pray: for Bomber....hope it's just a UTI and he'll be over it with the meds!

Oh my,there are a lot of kitties with problems right now:sad:I hope Bomber will get better with the meds,good boy,taking his meds so easitly:grouphug:

:goodvibes::goodvibes::goodvibes: for Bomber. And good boy for letting mom pill you :grouphug:

[QUOTE=Winston;844449]Bomber does not appear to be straining when urinating and I havent had any incidents for a couple of days! however he does this random too! its not every pee is outside the box?? its one time then nothing and then another time! Gosh they drive us crazy dont they![/QUOTE]

Are any of his "misses" right beside the box? As in he was in the box but just got too close to the edge :shrug:

Well we tried last night to get another sample at the vets office to see if there is any improvement from the meds he has been taking. I rushed home from work scooped him up and away we went...he was trying to get to the litter box when I got home...Anyway drove to the vet and opened the carrier to find that he had pee'd all over inside. :sad: not enough left in him to get a sample. So we are going to try again today.

I guess on the brighter side its good that he was trying to get into the litter box! :thumbs up

Its been 5 days without a pee anywhere in the house so I am really hoping for an improvement. I will post an update later IF we get a pee sample!

Wahoo, way to go Bomber! ([SIZE="1"]Not the pee in the carrier though[/SIZE] :goodvibes: :goodvibes:

Glad to hear that Bomber seems to be improving ....good luck for today. :fingerscr :goodvibes:

Sending :goodvibes: for good pee. hazel can appreciate the beauty of a good potty sample. :D

Hey winston...sending the good :goodvibes: for you and bomber. Crunchie had blood in her pee too, but she is 18 and we won't do anything right now other than put her on Tapozol which has stopped the blood...keep us posted :fingerscr

I hope Bomber is doing better Winston. Meowzer still has crystals in his urine and is not being given any more meds. Just have to keep the dry away from them all. :wall: 'Course the vet wanted me to give them all her tarter dry for a treat for them all. Yep, not happening!!
It's a good thing we love our kitties. :cloud9:

Any news on the pee?

hey guys sorry i have been a bit busy tonight..anyway the pee sample was better than the last one! :thumbs up after they took the sample and ran it the tech comes out to me and says that there is some small amount of bacteria in his urine and that the doctor wants to put him on a behaviour drug??? so I am a tad confused because I hadnt talked to the vet yet so I asked if he was going to see me and she said they only bookoed me in for them to take the urine not for him to see me?? :wall:

So I said well no I am not going to just arbitrarily give him a drug for behaviour and not consulting with the vet?? It would have been Amitryptaline. I head over to pay and the other girl said hang on...she comes out and puts me in the room and he comes in...I explained what I thought about the drugs and he basically said that he has the ideopathic cystitis and just like Tabitha it will present itself occasionally. So I said since Bomber hadnt pee'd outside the box for 5 days I would wait it out and see. I never put Tabitha on the drugs and she does the same behaviour occasionlly.

He discussed some of the results and basically said the blood in the urine was 1+ and that was a huge improvement from the 4+. The diluted urine amount was the same @ 1020 or 1021 and when I asked about that he said if it was between 1008 and 1012 he would worry more?? I honestly am confused now. He said the epifilia cells?? not sure if the spelling was correct looked good. I asked for a copy of the urinalysis and they gave the one from earlier in the month :wall::wall:

So I guess its wait and see game...and I am feeling a little annoyed with the serivice at the vets?? it wasnt even busy??I sat there alone while they spun the urine and one other person came in just as she was speaking to me?? wish I could just find one i really like!:shrug:

Bomber say thanks everyone I seem to be feeling better too! :thumbs up

Cindy

Were the cells the vet mentioned the epithelia cells? I know they line the bladder but that's the extent of my knowledge of the cat urinary tract. :o

Glad to hear that Bomber is feeling a bit better anyway. :highfive:

:goodvibes: that he continues to improve!

Yes Hazel thats what they were called and he said compared to the first urine test they were improved...

Yeah I hope he keeps up feeling better. I need to track down the solution for cleaning urine again because both him and Tabitha keep going to an area where he had urinted before and smelling it! I am keeping them away from it for the time being by using a Vicks Vapor Rub Jar opened..they hate the smell and run away..

How are you and the gang doing? Quite the turkey you cooked eh? :laughing:

Surprisingly, the turkey was quite edible. :o Exciting...but edible :laughing:

We're doing well--didn't even get sick from the leftovers!

From one of luckypenny's posts:
[QUOTE]You can also use a mix of 1 cup water, 1/4 cup alcohol and 1/4 cup white vinegar if you can't find a good enzyme cleaner in stores nearby you. [/QUOTE]

Thanks Hazel...:thumbs up

There normally is bacteria present in the lower part of the urethra, so a free catch or bladder squeeze sample that has a small amount of bacteria in it may just be a result of being caught up on the way out. Whereas a cysto sample is more accurate with regards to bacterial presence in the bladder.

Some reading on Amitriptyline for you [url]http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_amitriptyline.html[/url], I think you've made the right choice in not medicating right now especially since it is not a consistant full time behaviour.

[QUOTE=Winston;854628]He discussed some of the results and basically said the blood in the urine was 1+ and that was a huge improvement from the 4+. The diluted urine amount was the same @ 1020 or 1021 and when I asked about that he said if it was between 1008 and 1012 he would worry more?? I honestly am confused now. He said the epifilia cells?? not sure if the spelling was correct looked good.[/QUOTE]

The drop in blood in the urine & lack of epithelial cells is great :thumbs up

The urine specific gravity at 1020 or 1021 is still a bit dilute, normally in healthy cats you want between 1035-1060. If the usg was 1008 to 1012 that is very dilute indicating an issue with the kidneys.

:goodvibes:

I'm glad Bomber is better. Sounds like it would be best to wait and see how things go before medicating him.