Urinary problems - advice?

Meep continues to not pee. It sounds like urinary retention, which in
humans is a side effect of Tramadol, but the way I understand it is with
urinary retention you *want* to pee, but cannot.

Meep doesn't seem to have the urge, even though she'll crouch if her
full bladder is gently palpated. She doesn't head to the litterbox at
all. When she has cystitis, she goes to the litterbox, but digs
endlessly or leaves little spots.

At the vet, it worked to mess with her bladder, then leave her in a
small room with me and a litter box. This does not seem to be working
so well at home.

For those who missed my previous posts, this is NOT a UTI. She has no
crystals, even a urinary culture was negative. She was on a strong
antibiotic for 10 days just in case. When she peed for the vet
yesterday, she didn't appear to be in any pain, peed perfectly normally.

I suspect it is the Tramodol, but if so we have a catch-22. The
tramodol controls her pain very well, without it she won't want to pee
because it hurts to "get into position". With it... well, you see the
problem.

I don't know what to do, if this is going to be an every day thing now.
Anyone out there ever dealt with this?

jmc

jmc wrote:
Meep continues to not pee. It sounds like urinary retention, which in
humans is a side effect of Tramadol, but the way I understand it is with
urinary retention you *want* to pee, but cannot.

Meep doesn't seem to have the urge, even though she'll crouch if her
full bladder is gently palpated. She doesn't head to the litterbox at
all. When she has cystitis, she goes to the litterbox, but digs
endlessly or leaves little spots.

At the vet, it worked to mess with her bladder, then leave her in a
small room with me and a litter box. This does not seem to be working
so well at home.

For those who missed my previous posts, this is NOT a UTI. She has no
crystals, even a urinary culture was negative. She was on a strong
antibiotic for 10 days just in case. When she peed for the vet
yesterday, she didn't appear to be in any pain, peed perfectly normally.

I suspect it is the Tramodol, but if so we have a catch-22. The
tramodol controls her pain very well, without it she won't want to pee
because it hurts to "get into position". With it... well, you see the
problem.

I don't know what to do, if this is going to be an every day thing now.
Anyone out there ever dealt with this?

jmc


Kotyo has always had issues with peeing. When he was a kitten and eating
dry food, he would drink water from his water bowl, and he would pee 2-3
times per day. However, when I switched him to wet food at around age 1,
he stopped drinking any water on his own, and he began to pee only once
every 24 hours, or sometimes even less often. There was nothing wrong
with him, but he seemed to just not feel the need to pee until his
bladder was really really full, and since he wasn't drinking, his
bladder only felt full once a day. This was one of the things that
contributed to him getting cystitis, I think - his urine was getting too
concentrated and irritating his bladder.

After his first cystitis attack, I started adding water to his wet food
so that his bladder would fill faster and he would pee more often. I
have continued to do this for the last 4.5 years, and it seems to work -
he is peeing twice per day. I add a LOT of water to his food - basically
I fill his food bowl to the brim. I once measured the amount of water he
was getting in a day, and it came to about 45 milliliters per meal,
times 3 meals a day, so he is getting around 135 milliliters of water
per day. He is such a greedyguts that he drinks all the added water -
maybe because it tastes like his food.

I don't know if this would be something you could do with Meep, or if it
would be helpful for her, but it seems to work with Kotyo. However he is
younger than Meep (he's 9), he is a large cat (6 kg of pure muscle), and
he doesn't have her other problems, so what works for him might not work
for her. I guess the question is if she *can* pee once her bladder gets
full enough - if so, then maybe you could try getting her to drink more
and so pee more often. But if she can't pee even with a very very full
bladder, then giving her too much water is not a good idea...

I hope you find a solution. Kotyo and Sweety are purring for Meep to
feel better and to start peeing more often.

Nadia, Kotyo and Sweety

--
Little Monster pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Kotyo
Sweety pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Sweety
Kotyo and Sweety together:
http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/KotyoAndSweety

I might have mentioned this product once before, but I can't remember
for sure. Have you thought about giving her Tract Ease, an herbal
supplement? I KNOW you said she doesn't have an infection/crystals,
but the description also says it's a stimulating diuretic. I know a
few people who have used the Tract Ease as a last resort on their cats
and it really made a difference.

I am NOT affiliated with this company, but I currently use two of
their other products and they have helped one of our cats. If it
doesn't work, call customer service and I believe you can get a
refund.

At this point, what do you have to lose? Run it by your vet and see
what he thinks.
http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/produc...la/999017.aspx

Rene

On Aug 24, 8:21*pm, jmc wrote:
Meep continues to not pee. *It sounds like urinary retention, which in
humans is a side effect of Tramadol, but the way I understand it is with
urinary retention you *want* to pee, but cannot.

Meep doesn't seem to have the urge, even though she'll crouch if her
full bladder is gently palpated. *She doesn't head to the litterbox at
all. *When she has cystitis, she goes to the litterbox, but digs
endlessly or leaves little spots.

At the vet, it worked to mess with her bladder, then leave her in a
small room with me and a litter box. *This does not seem to be working
so well at home.

For those who missed my previous posts, this is NOT a UTI. *She has no
crystals, even a urinary culture was negative. *She was on a strong
antibiotic for 10 days just in case. *When she peed for the vet
yesterday, she didn't appear to be in any pain, peed perfectly normally.

I suspect it is the Tramodol, but if so we have a catch-22. *The
tramodol controls her pain very well, without it she won't want to pee
because it hurts to "get into position". *With it... well, you see the
problem.

I don't know what to do, if this is going to be an every day thing now.
* Anyone out there ever dealt with this?

jmc

Tramadol isn't the only option. Buprenex is a great pain reliever and
very safe for cats. I think it is superior to Tramadol. I have two
cats (17 and 20 years old) with severe arthritis that get Buprenex
injections twice a day and it has worked very well for them.