Pus or something else?

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Catnipped - 09 May 2005 22:30 GMT

OK, this may be a strange question, but I've never had a male cat before,
I've always had females.

The little stray I found just used the litter box to urinate and then
defecate (no straining, no pain, urine looked clear).

First, my whole office is *really* stinky from the box - a sour smell. Is
that normal, he seems kind of young to have that strong male urine smell
(only about 3 or 4 months old)?

Second, my husband picked him up right afterwards because we were in the
middle of using the flea comb on him when he decided he had to go potty, and
when he turned him over there appeared to be a light-greenish spot of pus on
his penis.

As I said, he didn't have any problem urinating or defecating, and he's not
in pain (he's running around playing and purring), he's eating and drinking
just fine - and he'll be going to the vet for shots and tests tomorrow.

What could cause the pus (or what looked like pus), that wouldn't also cause
pain when urinating?

Hugs,

CatNipped

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bigbadbarry - 09 May 2005 22:37 GMT

> OK, this may be a strange question, but I've never had a male cat before,
> I've always had females.
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
>
> CatNipped

sounds like he's recently been low on fluids.

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KellyH - 09 May 2005 22:40 GMT

> OK, this may be a strange question, but I've never had a male cat before,
> I've always had females.
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
>
> CatNipped

CN, I'm really not trying to scare you, just relating the only experience I
have with something like this.
We had a cat at the shelter who a volunteer noted had some greenish
discharge in his litterbox after urinating. He was also running a fever and
generally not well. He was taken to the vet immediately, and it turned out
he had distemper and had to be PTS.
Again, I am not trying to scare you. It could be something else, but I saw
that you said in another post that he felt warm. If he does turn out to
have distemper, your cats should be fine as long as they are all up-to-date
on their FVRCP vaccines. This is a main reason I *do* keep my cats UTD on
vaccs, because I do (did) so much fostering.
Please get him to the vet as soon as you can, and in the meantime, keep him
separated from your cats. I sincerely hope I am way off base and it's not
distemper.

Signature

-Kelly

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bigbadbarry - 09 May 2005 22:57 GMT

Yeah really, can only hope for the best...

but, I forgot you said something last night bout the fever

with the symptom you tell, I don't think this is big deal, like,
especially if hair is staying wet near the tip...
although most cats clean this themselves...

but the strong smell, was more what I thinking about.

Best you him.

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Catnipped - 09 May 2005 23:42 GMT

> > OK, this may be a strange question, but I've never had a male cat before,
> > I've always had females.
[quoted text clipped - 41 lines]
> separated from your cats. I sincerely hope I am way off base and it's not
> distemper.

All my cats are up-to-date on their shots, and he was being kept sequestered
in my office (and DH and I washed our hands with antibacterial soap after
handling him). Does distemper have any other symptoms? His eyes and ears
are clean and clear, he's not coughing or wheezing, and he's very playful
and active.

Anyway, the question is now moot - I put out fliers this afternoon and his
owners called for him (they live right behind us, catty-cornered). I gave
them all the print-outs from the S.N.A.P website and gave them a little
lecture about speutering and vetting their pets (but given his flea-ridden
condition, I don't know how much good it did). I let them know he had a
(very expensive) flea treatment and told them about the pus (again, I don't
know if it will do any good - sign!).

We just flea-bombed my office and I'm keeping closed off for a couple of
days (when I said he had *thousands* of fleas on him I wasn't
exaggerating!).

I'm going to go over and visit the owners in a day or two just to check up
on him.

Hugs,

CatNipped

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KellyH - 10 May 2005 00:02 GMT

> All my cats are up-to-date on their shots, and he was being kept
> sequestered
> in my office (and DH and I washed our hands with antibacterial soap after
> handling him). Does distemper have any other symptoms? His eyes and ears
> are clean and clear, he's not coughing or wheezing, and he's very playful
> and active.

The symptoms I found from doing a quick search are: fever, vomitting, loss
of appetite, dehydration, and diarrhea. Nothing about the discharge. It's
probably not distemper.

> Anyway, the question is now moot - I put out fliers this afternoon and his
> owners called for him (they live right behind us, catty-cornered). I gave
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> I'm going to go over and visit the owners in a day or two just to check up
> on him.

I'm sure you feel mixed about him finding his home. I always feel like that
when someone claims their cat and it wasn't found in good shape. I'm glad
he has a home, but hope they take better care of him from now on!

-Kelly

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Catnipped - 10 May 2005 00:08 GMT

> > All my cats are up-to-date on their shots, and he was being kept
> > sequestered
[quoted text clipped - 28 lines]
>
> -Kelly

Well, they claimed he was an inside-only cat (and it is Houston and fleas
are rampant this time of year, so if he were outside for a couple of days he
*might* have gotten that infected w/fleas).

When I was handing out the fliers the guy who lives next door to them said
they were missing a cat, so I'm sure it was theirs. I left them all the
speuter and vetting literature, and I'm going to follow up with them in a
day or two, so that's about all I can do. It was still hard to give him
back.

Hugs,

CatNipped

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Phil P. - 10 May 2005 05:46 GMT

> OK, this may be a strange question, but I've never had a male cat before,
> I've always had females.
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
> What could cause the pus (or what looked like pus), that wouldn't also cause
> pain when urinating?

What looks like pus could be plug matrix (sloughed tissue and other debris)
or just a normal discharge.

I've seen a similar discharge from males' penises- turned out to be normal
discharge and not associated with any disease. However, I wouldn't take any
chances with a male cat- get him checked out. Try get a sample for your vet
to examine.

Phil

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