Could a high WBC count be something OTHER than a urinary tract infection?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated regarding my dear
kitty, Angus! I took him (just turned 6) to the vet last month because
he had been catterwauling throughout the house quite often, at all
hours of the day and night. I basically wanted to rule out anything
medical, figuring he was just being his spoiled baby self! There have
been a lot of changes going on (several moves, divorce, me going back
to work, etc.) over the last 2 years, so I just thought he was wanting
extra attention.

Well, it turned out that his urine had a high white blood cell count,
so the vet said it was a urinary tract infection, which he said was
more than likely caused by stress. There were no crystals and he did
bloodwork on his organs and said they were all fine, with the exception
that he has high cholesterol and high sodium levels.

He was prescribed an antibiotic (I think it was Clavamox) but threw up
8 times the first night I gave it to him. So then I was given another
one (Orbax) in pill form, but I couldn't get him to take them for the
life of me (I don't have any suckers, um I mean helpers, to help me
hold him or anything!) So finally the vet mixed up a liquid elixir. The
first week or so I qestioned how much I was actually getting into his
mouth vs. on the wall or his back or his sister, etc. So after 3 weeks
on it, then about a week off, I took him back to be tested and they
drew urine directly through the bladder (which is how they tested it
the first time.) The vet showed me a bunch of purple stuff swimming
around on the slide, basically telling me that the infection was still
there. So they sent it off for a culture test.

The results came back today and the vet said they weren't able to grow
anything with the culture to determine what the best course of
antibiotics should be. SO NOW WHAT? He basically said as long as there
aren't any clinical symptoms (it's lessened, but my boy is still
wailing a bit) that we should just wait. Wait for what? For it to
spread to his organs? And then go in and test (how often?) to the tune
of $75 each time? I'm just very frustrated here and can't be constantly
worried if my baby is sick and possibly getting worse every day without
even knowing what's wrong. I told the vet that I was worried and he
said he was too "a bit." I've already spent $400 on office visits,
tests and pills. $$ isn't the issue here...I'll do whatever it takes,
but I'd at least like some answers to show for it.

Sorry this is so long...I was just hoping that there might be some
input on other causes for a high WBC count in his urine and why they
couldn't grow anything off of the culture. Any ideas, suggestions, etc.
would be greatly appreciated.

=^..^= Thanks! Jill

"covicj" wrote in message
ups.com...
He was prescribed an antibiotic (I think it was Clavamox) but threw up
8 times the first night I gave it to him. So then I was given another
one (Orbax) in pill form, but I couldn't get him to take them for the
life of me (I don't have any suckers, um I mean helpers, to help me
hold him or anything!) So finally the vet mixed up a liquid elixir. The
first week or so I qestioned how much I was actually getting into his
mouth vs. on the wall or his back or his sister, etc. So after 3 weeks
on it, then about a week off, I took him back to be tested and they
drew urine directly through the bladder (which is how they tested it
the first time.) The vet showed me a bunch of purple stuff swimming
around on the slide, basically telling me that the infection was still
there. So they sent it off for a culture test.

Jill,

I'm sorry I don't know the answer to your questions, but I recently adopted
a cat who ended up needing a lot of medications, including Clavamox. None
of the liquid medications were getting into him. He's small, but can wiggle
like crazy. Finally I came up with the bright idea of mixing it in his wet
food. I think since he wasn't feeling well he wasn't eating much, so I
cooked some ground turkey and put that all over his wet food and he ate it
all up. That was the only way to make sure he got his medication, since I
could not get it into him with the syringe. If your kitty eats wet food,
you might try mixing it in with his food and putting an extra treat that he
likes on top.

--
Liz

Liz,
Thanks for your response! When I first started giving him the liquid
medicine, I tried putting it in a little bit of wet food, and he took
one sniff and walked away! Even though it was supposed to be tuna
flavored, he snubbed it. Of course his sister made a bee-line for it
and was willing to give it a try (I picked it up before she ate any!)
The vet now has me back to trying to give him a pill for 2 weeks. In
the past I would crush it up and put it in wet food without any
problems, but he's not letting me get away with that any more ;-( So
after 15 minutes of crying and scratching and biting tonight (him, not
me!) I got the first one down. 13 more to go!! Anyway, thanks for the
suggestion. I still may try it with adding an additional treat on top
like the turkey you suggested. =^..^= Jill