Tiger's vet visit today ears, urination, kidney

Tiger, 15 1/2 year old female, went to the vet today. She had been
urinating all over my apartment. She's always had urine issues, going only
once a day. I had her on a schedule, putting her in the box each night. I
was away for a few days for Thanksgiving and she got off her schedule. In
the past I was always told her inappropriate urination was behavioral, but
she has never been this bad.

I took her to a new vet, since I wasn't happy with the last two places she's
been to. The new vet asked a bunch of questions:
Blood in the urine? Nope
Straining when she urinates? No
Eating/drinking okay? Yes
Vomiting? No
Sneezing/coughing? No
And so on.

She also looked at Tiger's perpetually skanky ears. Tiger has seen
countless vets for this problem. A thick, brown waxy substance builds up in
her ears and she scratches them, which leaves her ears bloody as well as
skank-filled. She actually started scratching up a storm on the way to the
vet, but hadn't been messing with ears much recently. All of the other vets
told me that she didn't have mites, she didn't have an infection. This vet
said she saw mites while she was looking in the ear, but could not see any
under the microscope. I was given a bottle of chlorhexiderm cleaner to use
once a day, and a bottle of Tresaderm drops to use twice a day for 7 days,
stop for 7 days, and then give them for an additional 7 days.

They drew blood and took urine and I should have the results by the middle
of the week. She said that since Tiger didn't have any of the symptoms of a
UTI she wouldn't prescribe antibiotics until the lab tests come back.

The vet also said that Tiger's left (I think) kidney feels really small.
Tiger is going on 16 years old and I know that kidney faulire is common. If
that's what she has, could that be contributing to her urination problems?
Tiger had blood work done last year, in October, prior to having a tumor
removed. All of her results were normal and that vet said you'd never know
she was 14 years old (at the time) judging by her lab tests. I know a lot
can change in a year, though.

Tiger, who is an extremely sweet & gentle cat, hissed and growled like crazy
the whole time at the vet. In the past she was always very good and barely
made a sound and didn't struggle at all. I think the fact that her ears
were being messed with just ****ed her off. Otto has been growling at her
since we got back, but she's ignoring him.

--
Liz

On 2005-12-04 13:15:56 -0600, "Elizabeth Blake"
said:

Tiger, 15 1/2 year old female, went to the vet today. She had been
urinating all over my apartment. She's always had urine issues, going
only once a day. I had her on a schedule, putting her in the box each
night. I was away for a few days for Thanksgiving and she got off her
schedule. In the past I was always told her inappropriate urination
was behavioral, but she has never been this bad.

I took her to a new vet, since I wasn't happy with the last two places
she's been to. The new vet asked a bunch of questions:
Blood in the urine? Nope
Straining when she urinates? No
Eating/drinking okay? Yes
Vomiting? No
Sneezing/coughing? No
And so on.

She also looked at Tiger's perpetually skanky ears. Tiger has seen
countless vets for this problem. A thick, brown waxy substance builds
up in her ears and she scratches them, which leaves her ears bloody as
well as skank-filled. She actually started scratching up a storm on
the way to the vet, but hadn't been messing with ears much recently.
All of the other vets told me that she didn't have mites, she didn't
have an infection. This vet said she saw mites while she was looking
in the ear, but could not see any under the microscope. I was given a
bottle of chlorhexiderm cleaner to use once a day, and a bottle of
Tresaderm drops to use twice a day for 7 days, stop for 7 days, and
then give them for an additional 7 days.

They drew blood and took urine and I should have the results by the
middle of the week. She said that since Tiger didn't have any of the
symptoms of a UTI she wouldn't prescribe antibiotics until the lab
tests come back.

The vet also said that Tiger's left (I think) kidney feels really
small. Tiger is going on 16 years old and I know that kidney faulire is
common. If that's what she has, could that be contributing to her
urination problems? Tiger had blood work done last year, in October,
prior to having a tumor removed. All of her results were normal and
that vet said you'd never know she was 14 years old (at the time)
judging by her lab tests. I know a lot can change in a year, though.

Tiger, who is an extremely sweet & gentle cat, hissed and growled like
crazy the whole time at the vet. In the past she was always very good
and barely made a sound and didn't struggle at all. I think the fact
that her ears were being messed with just ****ed her off. Otto has
been growling at her since we got back, but she's ignoring him.

Yeah, absolutely kidney trouble could cause the urination problem. Good
luck with all her results. Poor Tiger (but she is definitely up there
in age. I hope that nothing super serious comes back and you can get
her some help.)

Karen wrote:

Yeah, absolutely kidney trouble could cause the urination problem. Good
luck with all her results. Poor Tiger (but she is definitely up there
in age. I hope that nothing super serious comes back and you can get
her some help.)

This morning as I was sitting on the toilet she came into the bathroom,
eyeing the box. I took the top off and she went in and pooped. Later,
she went back in on her own and peed. In the past week+, it's only the
3rd time she's peed IN the box instead of somewhere else, and the first
time she went in on her own.

Another thing I've noticed and forgot to mention is that her appetite
seems to have increased. Usually when I put out the wet food in the
morning, she eats a little and then Otto will eventually move in. If
Otto leaves his own food to eat Tiger's, sometimes she'll go over and
check out his bowl but mostly she'll just go back to bed. This past
week she's been emptying her own bowl and then going to check out
Otto's. She weighed 8.5 pounds at her visit yesterday. I can't
remember how much she weighed last year but I know she has gained
weight. She started to gain after she had her tumor removed in October
2004. She had been very skinny at that time. As a younger cat, her
normal weight was usually between 9-10 pounds.

--
Liz

On 2005-12-05 10:14:15 -0600, "Elizabeth Blake"
said:


Karen wrote:

Yeah, absolutely kidney trouble could cause the urination problem. Good
luck with all her results. Poor Tiger (but she is definitely up there
in age. I hope that nothing super serious comes back and you can get
her some help.)

This morning as I was sitting on the toilet she came into the bathroom,
eyeing the box. I took the top off and she went in and pooped. Later,
she went back in on her own and peed. In the past week+, it's only the
3rd time she's peed IN the box instead of somewhere else, and the first
time she went in on her own.

Another thing I've noticed and forgot to mention is that her appetite
seems to have increased. Usually when I put out the wet food in the
morning, she eats a little and then Otto will eventually move in. If
Otto leaves his own food to eat Tiger's, sometimes she'll go over and
check out his bowl but mostly she'll just go back to bed. This past
week she's been emptying her own bowl and then going to check out
Otto's. She weighed 8.5 pounds at her visit yesterday. I can't
remember how much she weighed last year but I know she has gained
weight. She started to gain after she had her tumor removed in October
2004. She had been very skinny at that time. As a younger cat, her
normal weight was usually between 9-10 pounds.

You might want to get her tested for diabetes too. You just never know.