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Old May 23rd, 2013, 08:32 PM
tinman141 tinman141 is offline
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Unhappy Cat Urinary infection medication questions

I live in a small town far from from veterinary clinic options. I am questioning the medications that have been prescribed to my youngest cat, CC(CeeCee). She is 2 years and 8 months old, fixed, and weighs 8 lbs. On May 10 she decided to pee in my sink (for some odd reason), and she was peeing orange. Upon bringing her to the vet they performed urinalysis and radiology ... told us it was a urinary tract infection and gave her a Convenia injection and Metacam injection. I also began putting a capfull of pure cranberry in her water dish each day as I here it is beneficial.
Again on May 23 she urinated in the sink. This time a darker red. The vet then prescribed oral Metacam (single dose), Noroclav 125mg twice daily x 3 weeks, and Baytril 25mg for 8 days.
I have done some research and am starting to come to the conclusion that the medications and dosages may be a bit off. I would appreciate some feedback so that I can be sure my cat is getting the right treatment. I am already a bit angry about the Metacam and am wondering why she needs it. She is not experiencing pain that I have noticed, and as far as I have been reading it seems dangerous for cats.
She seems quite content and happy, other than the bloody urine.

Thanks,
Tinman
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  #2  
Old May 23rd, 2013, 11:12 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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There can be other causes of bloody urine besides a bacterial infection. Was the urine ever sent out for culture and sensitivity testing? It's actually quite rare for young cats to have a true UTI, more often it's inflammation, not infection. Can you ask the vet for a copy of the urinalysis?

What does your kitty eat? Diet plays a huge role in feline urinary tract issues:
http://www.catinfo.org/?link=urinarytracthealth
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Old May 24th, 2013, 12:00 AM
tinman141 tinman141 is offline
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Thanks for your quick reply. We currently have both our cats on dry food. My older cat has been on Cat Chow for 7 years now with no health issues. I currently feed them canned as an occasional treat. It usually doesn't agree with them too well. In light of her recent problems I will try them on some canned food for awhile. Can you recommend a decent not to pricy brand? The older cat is quite picky and won't eat canned food that has chunks.. only pate. As for my cheapness on brands, it's also about what I can afford. Our oldest dog is currently very sick and on a special prescription diet for his bowel problems. He is 13 (Deacon). He is being considered for surgery. Bringing him to a specialist on Saturday. Our animals are all rescues. We do our best on our budget... The extra vet bills for CeeCee have come at a bad time. I am doing my best to get her back to health. Any good supplements that may help her that you know of? I heard cranberry juice and vitamin C. Problem is the older cat seems to hog the cranberry water.. lol. I will see if I can get a copy of the urinalysis. Thanks for the advice.

Tinman
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Old May 24th, 2013, 08:16 AM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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You should try feeding your cat some canned instead of dried food. My dog had crystals and he was peeing blood and I had to stop feeding him dried food and only feed him canned dog food. The yeast in dried food can causes pets to get crystals .
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Old May 24th, 2013, 08:40 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tinman141 View Post
We currently have both our cats on dry food. My older cat has been on Cat Chow for 7 years now with no health issues.
Dry food is the main cause of numerous health problems in cats, urinary tract issues being one of them. The thing is, all cats do fine on dry food - until they don't. One of my own cats, just like your older one, seemed perfectly healthy for the first 9 years of his life, eating dry Science Diet Light (which is almost as bad as Cat Chow if you compare ingredients). And then he got diabetes. We can't always see the damage that long-term feeding of kibble does on the inside, until it's too late.


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Originally Posted by tinman141 View Post
I currently feed them canned as an occasional treat. It usually doesn't agree with them too well.
What brand/flavour? What happens when they eat it? Could be that they have food sensitivities to one or more of the ingredients (fish, brewer's yeast, wheat gluten, meat/poultry by-products.... can all be common sources of allergies in cats). Perhaps trying a brand with simpler ingredients might help.


Quote:
Originally Posted by tinman141 View Post
In light of her recent problems I will try them on some canned food for awhile.
You should notice quite a difference in the quality of their coat (softer, less shedding), and possibly their energy levels as well.

Quote:
Originally Posted by tinman141 View Post
Can you recommend a decent not to pricy brand? The older cat is quite picky and won't eat canned food that has chunks.. only pate.
My cat was like that. Over time, he's changed his tune and now loves all kinds of textures and types of wet food. But to get him off his kibble addiction, I started with the junkier varieties like Fancy Feast (Classic Tender Liver & Chicken, Classic Turkey & Giblets are pate and many cats love them). Eventually I started mixing in some Wellness (grain-free versions only), and for variety, brands like Natural Balance, Holistic Select, Innova. Now he eats mostly raw at mealtime with Wellness, Weruva, Ziwipeak, Nature's Variety and Precise left out for snacking. If you can find Precise anywhere, they have some decent flavours that are relatively cost effective. Shake the can to make sure it's pate and not chunky (chunks will "slosh", pate goes "thunk" or doesn't make a sound).


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Originally Posted by tinman141 View Post
As for my cheapness on brands, it's also about what I can afford.
I hear ya. But remember that what you can spend up front in a good diet will save you exponentially down the road in vet bills. You probably could have bought a heckuva lot of canned food for the price of your younger cat's vet visit and Convenia injection.

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Originally Posted by tinman141 View Post
Any good supplements that may help her that you know of? I heard cranberry juice and vitamin C.
D-mannose (a powder derived from cranberries) is a great supplement if there truly is bacteria in her urine. Cornsilk or marshmallow root powder are good for soothing an irritated or inflamed bladder. Cosequin can help strengthen the lining of the bladder. I wouldn't add vit C without knowing what her urine ph was though. http://holisticat.com/flutd.html
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Old May 24th, 2013, 10:05 AM
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marko marko is offline
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Quote:
The thing is, all cats do fine on dry food - until they don't....
Obviously this is a generalization but the exact same phenomenon occurs when we humans feed ourselves low quality food. I've watched it happen to members of my own family. Once they get into the senior years - THEN it all catches up with them. Good food is essential for good health.
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Old May 24th, 2013, 11:51 AM
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RUSTYcat RUSTYcat is offline
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Hi tinman141 and welcome to the forum!

I'm really in a rush, but wanted to drop a quick note off to you. I'll come back later and add more.

1. Metacam and Convenia should not be used simultaneously......here's a link to another case where you'll find links to contraindication warnings from other countries to this effect http://www.thecatsite.com/t/258906/w...ng-with-my-cat The info from drugs.com applicable to Canadian regulations does not speak to this issue for reasons unknown - I wasted half an hour looking for this info on Health Canada's Vet Drug site without success - that "crowd" has created a Vet drug site which is about as transparent as a black hole!

2. Why, on earth, your cat has been given 3 different antibiotics for a UTI is beyond my understanding........did they not do a culture to determine which bacteria was present?

3. I don't have time to calculate - you can do this - the maximum Baytril dose for any cat is 5mg per 2.2 pounds of body weight....my quick math says she should be getting a max of 18mg per day.....so, I think 25mg is about 30% - 1/3 too much. We had a resident Vet here, Dr. Lee, whom I remember being very directive on this point, to the extent of recommending that another member break up the Baytril tabs to get as close to that dosage as possible. You could do an advanced search here for "baytril" by username "Dr. Lee" and probably find his reference. I would reduce the dosage if it were me. Pill cutters are great for breaking tablets.

I'd recommend that you get as much water into her as you can - starting as soon as you can. Perhaps pick up some Fancy Feast pate style cans - "Classic" (not fish, though) and add a little water - see if she'll take those. FF is generally well accepted.

I would be extremely angry as well.

More later.
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  #8  
Old May 24th, 2013, 06:04 PM
tinman141 tinman141 is offline
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Red face

Thank you so much everyone for your nutritional advice. I just got home from work and am running out to get some better varieties of canned cat food based on everyone's advice.
Thanks RUSTYcat for the information about medications. I started her out on the vets dosage but will be cutting the Norocam in half and monitoring her closely. I'm still a bit angry at the vet in this town. We live in an isolated area of Alberta and I do believe that this vet just picks medication out of a hat for our loving animals.
Tomorrow we are going to Calgary to see a surgeon about our oldest dog. He is a 13 year old mini-pincher/dachshund mix. He suffers from Mega-colon. I'll try to pop a few questions in about my kitty's medications if I can.
Wish me luck, and again, thanks for the advice. I am a new member and found this forum during my research on CeeCee's illness and medications. I am already happy I found it. I'll post some pictures of our animals as soon as I'm not tending to sickly animals.

Thanks so much. Keep the comments and advice coming.

Tinman
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Old May 24th, 2013, 06:37 PM
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RUSTYcat RUSTYcat is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tinman141 View Post
...I started her out on the vets dosage but will be cutting the Norocam in half...
Norocam.....???

Maybe you were in a hurry?

I hope you didn't mean Metacam.......

Just as a btw now, I do not allow for Metacam to be given to my cats......by injection nor orally. It is known to destroy kidney cells.
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Old May 24th, 2013, 06:42 PM
tinman141 tinman141 is offline
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Talking

sorry... I was in a hurry. Noroclav. I will not give her Metacam after what I have been reading in my research and from you. Thanks.
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baytril, drug interactions, metacam, noroclav, urinary tract infection

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