Still 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.

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 "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

"jmc" wrote in message
...
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/ur...chematic_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/an...enital_sys.jpg


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?

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):
"jmc" wrote in message
...
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

"jmc" wrote in message
...
Suddenly, without warning, Phil P. exclaimed (3/17/2008 9:24 AM):
"jmc" wrote in message
...
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.


Poor baby!

"jmc" wrote in message
...
Suddenly, without warning, Phil P. exclaimed (3/17/2008 9:24 AM):
"jmc" wrote in message
...
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.

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):
"jmc" wrote in message
...
Suddenly, without warning, Phil P. exclaimed (3/17/2008 9:24 AM):
"jmc" wrote in message
...
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.

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



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