Pet Paradise

[samls324]

Show off pics of your pets, tell stories, anything you want to share about those special animals in your life 🙂 Post as much and as often as you want!




Here are are my fluff babies DJ and Gunner (also called Lulu or Lou). They are mother and daughter. DJ is my baby and Gunner is a daddy's girl. They are approximately 9 years old and very spoiled!

This is DJ. She loves to be near me.

Miss Gunner Lou loves her catnip carrot

[lidovicky]

She looks like a lot of things heheh! 

Hippo, pig, cow, and capybara 😝

[snoflakefaerie]

It'll be so exciting to see what she does for Halloween 😉

[myumew]

Long and gloomy news here. 😞 

I just got back from taking my cat to the vet. He's 2 years old and has been having urinary issues (blood, can't go--like a UTI) the past few days.. The doctor mentioned that it's most likely idiopathic cystitis or partial urethral obstruction, and neither are bacterial. However, she gave him antibiotics and pain killers. She mentioned that the next few days can go either really bad (emergency room) or good. ????? I'm just confused as to how antibiotics and painkillers are supposed to treat him. I get that it's a precautionary measure, because it could be an infection, but that is the only treatment she gave.

I've looked up "home remedies" (apple cider vinegar, cranberry extract/pills, vitamin C--all to lower the pH of the urine) and I was just wondering if any of you BTers who are cat owners have also gone through this? If so, how did you treat your cat? Do any of the home remedies work? 

I need all the advice I can get 😞

[snoflakefaerie]

@myumew I hope your kitty is feeling better by now.

This happened with my female cat a few years ago (twice, unfortunately). The vet had her on Science Diet c/d. It supposedly is formulated to help dissolve bladder crystals. I'm not sure how much that really helped the situation as we only fed her the food for a little bit because we ended up switching to a mostly wet food diet. We got food that comes in gravy and added additional water to it to up her moisture intake. She also gets the water from cans of tuna we eat as a special treat every once in a while.

We also bought her a water fountain, which SIGNIFICANTLY upped her water consumption. She was a little scared of it at first, so we had the fountain and a bowl of water available to her simultaneously. She eventually figured out the water wasn't going to "get" her and now loves her fountain.

Like others have said, if you aren't already feeding your kitty wet food, I think it really makes a difference. There are water fountains that are relatively cheap. We use a Pioneer Pet Stainless Steel one that we got for under $40. I would recommend steel over plastic or ceramic as it's less porous with respect to bacterial growth.

I have read that having your pet on a diet overly high in protein can also lead to these stones forming. I don't know if your kitty is on one of those super high protein diets, but if that's the case, it might be worth while to switch to one that is a bit less protein focused.

I hope this is a one time thing for you guys. It really sucks to have a sick kitty. I wish your little guy a speedy recovery!

[Mcakes]

I'm really sorry your baby is going through this @myumew 😞 I have had to give my cat antibiotics and pain killers once and she is just fine now. One of her front nails grew into her paw (trust me the groomers got an earful!!) and the vet had to remove it leaving a pretty big puncture wound.

The antibiotics and pain killers I was given were to be taken orally and it was really simple to do. I also had to put lots of vaseline on the puncture site. I gave her the full week of antibiotics but I only gave her a few doses of the pain killers. She didn't look like she really needed it after the first couple of days since she was walking pretty good. I just didn't want to over medicate her.

I thought about home remedies but I just didn't want to risk her getting infected and creating a bigger problem so I just went with what the vet prescribed.

[myumew]

@Mcakes I've thought about giving less of the pain killers than prescribed too! Especially because my cat never showed any signs of being in pain.. just discomfort (hiding under the bed). Apparently cats usually cry or make noise during this but my cat never did. 😞

[Titian06]

@myumew - I'm sorry you and your cat are going through such a rough time right now.  Sending positive thoughts your way!

I'm thinking my first cat (about 30-35 years ago) had a bladder infection.  I learned to give my cats distilled water to drink because it has no minerals or anything else to cause problems, which male cats are more prone to.

@themusefactory has given great advice that I think you should follow--ask for an x-ray, a urine analysis, and I'd go so far as to ask for a CBC (complete blood count).  If she's not willing to do at least the first two, go to your local emergency vet or another vet.  Don't try home remedies.

[myumew]

@Titian06 Thank you for your advice about distilled water! I actually haven't thought about that. 

[annahoang]

Hope your kitty feels better soon!

[Tamara76]

Awwwww - So sorry to hear your baby isn't feeling well.   I don't have experience wih this so I have no advice to give, but I am sending you guys love and happy thoughts!  Hope he feels better soon!  @myumew

[myumew]

Thank you @Tamara76 for your kind words 💖

[themusefactory]

Hi there @myumew! Good news is that your vet isn't wrong. The antibiotics are to prevent an infection. It's pretty important even though the issue itself isn't bacterial, an infection could make things much, much, much worse. Because the urethra is open to germs, we want to keep kitty safe. Painkillers I'm sure you understand. Did you get an x-ray done of kitty? If it's idiopathic cystitis - it's generally quite manageable. Did the vet switch foods and encourage you to increase the water intake for kitty? If it's an Urethral Obstruction, I'm assuming that she's hoping that it will pass instead of having to do surgery, which is costly. 

I would suggest upping the water intake. Switching to wet food, providing clean fresh water, adding flavor to the water to encourage drinking. 

If the vet did not do an x-ray I would return to request one as it should let them know if it's a blockage or an issue with the bladder ( commonly found with idiopathic cystitis). Also a urine culture should be done (urine can be extracted with a needle) and given IV fluids. 

I would absolutely in no way go with a home remedy as you can make the situation worse. I would absolutely advocate for additional diagnosis for kitty. 

Neither one of these are fatal with proper care. Surgery may be required if there is a blockage that kitty can not pass. These things should be seen in an x-ray. 

Hope this helps! 

@ZombieMetroAnt thanks for the tag! I'm always happy to help when I can ❤️ 

[myumew]

Thank you so much @themusefactory 😭😭😭 and @ZombieMetroAnt for tagging her. I feel a lot better that the treatment makes more sense to me now. Fortunately he started urinating more than just the few drops after the vet visit. 😭 Literally tears of happiness lol

[ZombieMetroAnt]

Thanks for the sound advice @themusefactory  

[ZombieMetroAnt]

Oh no @myumew!  I'm so sorry to hear that I'm only here for moral support because I don't have any suggestions.  I hope he gets better real quick and that he doesn't have a negative reaction to the Rx Sending you lots of love and good vibes.

@themusefactory, has this ever happened to your babies? 

[lidovicky]

I took a photo of her while she was having fun in her mini garden 

[annahoang]

She is such a cutieeeee!!!

[Tamara76]

OMG!  So cute!  @lidovicky

[prettyinpa]

@lidovickyShe looks like a little jungle explorer in her mini garden. I can't get over her sweet little face!

[annahoang]

I have been loooooving this thread! All your pets are so adorable! 

I have been wanting a dog for a while now, and I am finally getting a puppy this week! I just cannot wait to bring her home. Her name is Misha ❤️

Spoiler

She has her own instagram page, if you'd like to see more photos: mishathefluffycorgi
If your pet has an instagram, too, pleaseee share. I loveee animals, so I would love to follow for daily pictures 🙂

[MlleCC]

@annahoang:  Your picture of Misha pulled me into this thread!  She has the sweetest face -- what an adorable addition to your family!