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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / March 2008Still don't know if my cat's sick.
So, Meep had a mild cystitis attack recently. She'd continually go to the litterbox, do nothing, but without the distress and urgency of previous attacks where she had crystals and was blocked. Recently, she's lost some weight as well. Blood tests showed slightly elevated glucose, slight liver damage (whatever that means), and coupled with the weight loss the vet said it might be worthwhile to test her for hyperthyroid. I agreed. In the meantime, her litterbox habits returned to normal. She was always acting normal, aside from the frequent box visits. Test came back last night, vet says the test showed some hypOthyroid, something so rare in cats she says it's probably a secondary symptom of the cystitis attack. Vet advised "do nothing but test blood again in 1 month if she seems unwell". I asked about Amitriptyline, which Phil mentions in a previous post. Here it's called "Clami-calm". She will be under considerable stress for the next 5 or 6 months - we have visitors sleeping here next week, something that has *never* happened in her lifetime, then after that we go into a frenzy of packing for our return to the US. This, she's familiar with and does get upset about. Vet agreed the antidepressant would be a good idea. I pick it up later today. I'm still not really sure if my cat is sick, or just getting older. Any thoughts? jmc I realize you don't know me, I am new to the group. But, my cat displayed NO real symptoms of being sick while it was finally discovered that he had this same problem. I took pride in the fact that I discovered the whole matter in time, BEFORE the cat became sick. My veterinarian told me most cats with this problem come in very ill... Max never once seemed ill at all. Good for you for the same reasons. This means you are paying attention. Do you really want your cat sick???? This is NOT a matter of "just getting older". I think you know the answer or you would not be posting with questions. Only you know what your cats normal litter box habits are. Only you can tell if there is a problem or not. The truth is, while we have much medical science backing us up, no one really knows for sure why cats develop this problem. There are several theories. No one knows for sure, but as Phil suggested, science does point to the things he mentioned. I am not arguing that at all. I would say the best thing to do is to follow what you already know is true. So, whether or not you choose to hear me, I do think this is an issue you need to address, but I also believe you already know that. By "NO real symptoms" I mean... Max was not using the litterbox as he normally does... other than that... he was as active and playful and "happy" as he always is. He comes across as a "happy, playful" cat... That is always how he seemed during the process we went through prior to his surgery. In any case, I wish you luck with this. I sincerely do. But I do also think you already know something is wrong. Thanks, Melissa Suddenly, without warning, mc exclaimed (3/14/2008 1:28 PM): > I realize you don't know me, I am new to the group. > [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > So, whether or not you choose to hear me, I do think this is an issue > you need to address, but I also believe you already know that. by "this problem" do you mean cystitis, or one of the other issues that were brought to light by the blood tests? jmc The cystitis... Hope all this helps :-) Melissa > So, Meep had a mild cystitis attack recently. She'd continually go to > the litterbox, do nothing, but without the distress and urgency of > previous attacks where she had crystals and was blocked. Are you sure she was blocked? I don't think I've ever heard of a female blocking unless the blockage occured in the ureter- which is very rare. A females urethra is short, straight, and wide. A urolith would have to be the size of a shooter-marble to block a female. http://maxshouse.com/Anatomy-Pics/urogen_schematic_f.jpg The male's uretha narrows- like a funnel- where it passes over the pelvis- so its pretty easy to plug. http://maxshouse.com/Anatomy-Pics/anatomy_urogenital_sys.jpg > Recently, she's lost some weight as well. > [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > I'm still not really sure if my cat is sick, or just getting older. Any > thoughts? If you're coming back to the US soon, I would have the blood work up done here. Phil Suddenly, without warning, Phil P. exclaimed (3/17/2008 9:24 AM): >> So, Meep had a mild cystitis attack recently. She'd continually go to >> the litterbox, do nothing, but without the distress and urgency of >> previous attacks where she had crystals and was blocked. > > Are you sure she was blocked? I don't think I've ever heard of a female > blocking unless the blockage occured in the ureter- which is very rare. Well, perhaps not blocked, but she wasn't peeing anything but little drops of blood on the second, major attack. I thought that meant she was blocked, but perhaps it just hurt too much to pee. jmc > Suddenly, without warning, Phil P. exclaimed (3/17/2008 9:24 AM): >>> So, Meep had a mild cystitis attack recently. She'd continually go to [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > of blood on the second, major attack. I thought that meant she was > blocked, but perhaps it just hurt too much to pee. Poor baby! > Suddenly, without warning, Phil P. exclaimed (3/17/2008 9:24 AM): > >> So, Meep had a mild cystitis attack recently. She'd continually go to [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > drops of blood on the second, major attack. I thought that meant she > was blocked, but perhaps it just hurt too much to pee. Blocked males can have blood in the urine from tearing the bladder mucosa from overdistention. A few other things can cause blood in the urine in females- lower urinary mucosal inflammation is one. Tearing the bladder mucosa from straining to pee is another, and also small cuts and irritation in the bladder lining from crystals can cause bleeding.. If she didn't have crystals, my guess is inflammation or tears from straining. Phil Suddenly, without warning, Phil P. exclaimed (3/17/2008 9:55 PM): >> Suddenly, without warning, Phil P. exclaimed (3/17/2008 9:24 AM): >>>> So, Meep had a mild cystitis attack recently. She'd continually go to [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Phil Oh, she had crystals all right. This was before I was able to make all the management changes we have in place today, back then she was on dry food, refused more than a little wet, and hardly drank at all. She had two attacks within 6 months. Once I figured out how to get her to drink, she stopped having attacks but would get uncomfortable (I have a dl methoinine (sp) paste for those times), and once I got her to eat wet food the attacks stopped, until this most recent. I'd rather have the lesser "feel like peeing when there's nothing there", then the painful crystals type of cystitis though! Well, I'd actually rather have her have no cystitis at all, but that seems to be something that's not going to happen :( jmc Something else to consider, although it doesn't really seem this is the problem... There is a rare condition where a human womans ureter passage is so tiny that the impurities in the urine cannot get through. This can last for years until the problem is discovered and can cause many problems in the meantime. It would seem a simple blood test would rule this out but I am not really sure. The urethra then needs to be stretched and the problem is no longer a problem. I wonder if this could occur in cats? And I wonder if urine crystals are comparatively the same size as the impurities in the urine? Seems like the crystals would be much larger... I am curious about this because I had understood that females could suffer from cystitis but that it is simply more common in males... much more common. In any case, good luck!!! Suddenly, without warning, mc exclaimed (3/18/2008 7:33 AM): > Something else to consider, although it doesn't really seem this is > the problem... There is a rare condition where a human womans ureter [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > In any case, good luck!!! Actually, I think cystitis is more common in females, but more dangerous and painful in males due to the smaller opening - I'd think that it'd be diagnosed in males sooner as well, which could seem like they get it more often. Could be wrong though. jmc In any case, just wishing for you and your kitty that she does not develop the problem again or if she does you can get to the bottom of it. :-) Good luck ;-)
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