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Cat Ma

Cat Ma

Member Since 2015
My civie has an UTI. She is scheduled for a dental tomorrow. The vet said he can go ahead and do the dental, give extra fluids to help flush out the infection and would put her on antibiotics. Or I can wait on the dental till the UTI has cleared up.
 
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Dentals are surgery, with all the attendant risk of anesthesia - personally, I would wait until my cat was as healthy as possible, but that is me. If the vet feels that fluids are so crucial for the UTI, consider Rx with SQ fluids for a few days
 
Also in human medicine, the best antibiotic for a UTI vs a dental infection would probably be different - not sure so for veterinary medicine but the microbiology is very different
 
What's just as important (maybe more so) is to have your vet get a sterile urine sample (requires a long needle inserted directly into the bladder.NOT as bad as it sounds) and run a culture and sensitivity

Just throwing antibiotics at a UTI is a bad idea...the reason we have the "superbugs" we have now is all the over-prescribing of antibiotics when we don't know exactly what bacteria we're dealing with and what it's really sensitive to.....the AB kills off the "easy to kill" bacteria and leaves the rest that aren't as easy....and they get more and more resistant to all antibiotics.

By running the C&S, you identify exactly what you're dealing with and which antibiotic will really kill it
 
Sorry to hear she has a UTI. Is she already on antibiotics for the UTI? I would probably wait if possible. You know how little things can set off IBD kitties... I know fluids can help flush out UTIs so if the vet thinks it's necessary, get some fluids and do it at home.
 
@granadilla , no she's not on antibiotics yet.

Chris & China said:
What's just as important (maybe more so) is to have your vet get a sterile urine sample (requires a long needle inserted directly into the bladder.NOT as bad as it sounds) and run a culture and sensitivity
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So, I need to see if a C&S was done from the sample?
 
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Oh boy, this is a really big decision for you. You probably are the only one that could know what Bonnie's stress tolerance can handle. If the UTI is stressed based, then you could be adding more to the pot. And with her having IBD would this upset the apple cart even more? The vet being confident to go ahead with the procedure is all well and good. But the bottom line is what would be best for Bonnie? Go with your gut.
 
Cat Ma said:
So, I need to see if a C&S was done from the sample?
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I would....testing a "regular" urine sample without doing the sterile collection can show bacteria that isn't really there and without the C&S, you are just guessing at what antibiotic will work...and just starting "any" AB will cause the C&S to be off too

By doing the C&S, it takes a few days to get the results, but you know exactly what you're dealing with and which AB will kill it the quickest and most completely
 
Cat Ma said:
An UTI can be due to stress?
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From what I have read, yes. Apparently, most of them are stress related and antibiotics are over prescribed. There was a bit written about just that in the article about Convenia. I will see if I can find it, I know that I linked it to Rachel as she was having a lot of problems with UTI with multiple cats.
 
Bobbie's right. UTIs can be stress based (my vet said there are a lot of studies just now coming out about this). In the end, we gave anti-inflammatorys and I got some pheromone diffusers to help reduce stress. I'm NOT saying that all UTIs come from that, but stress can play a major factor.
 
It sounds like there are a lot of issues to sort out with your vet. If your cat is having all those symptoms, including vomiting, have you decided on whether to have the dental tomorrow?
 
If you start on an antibiotic that's wrong for the UTI, you would have to wait for that to clear her system before a C&S would be accurate, so you're better off waiting a couple days than starting an AB that may not kill what you need it to kill and then having to wait a week after giving it to do the C&S and starting all over again
 
How will I know when the UTI is resolved? Is there a follow up C&S or other test that I should request once treatment has finished?
 
Once you've given the entire treatment, have them run another basic test....as long as there's no bacteria and she's not having any more symptoms, you should be good

That's the reason for doing the C&S in the first place..making sure you get the right AB to kill whatever is there instead of wasting time giving one that might only kill the "weak" bacteria, temporarily relieve the symptoms but leave the stronger ones to come back and make her even sicker
 
My vet suggested doing the culture and starting Marsh on antibiotics while waiting for the results to come in. He said based on the results he might switch her AB but not necessarily. @Chris & China, is this a good option?

@Cat Ma, I would definitely get the culture and start the fluids. If she were mine, I'd hold off on the dental because I know how temperamental an IBD kitty stomach can be and if she has a bad reaction to the dental on top of having a UTI... Just my two cents. But you know Bonnie best. If she seems strong enough to handle both, you'll be able to tell tomorrow.
 
Yes, it's fine to start an AB as long as the C&S has been drawn first..A broad spectrum antibiotic such as Clavamox is a good one (but some cats have problems with nausea/vomiting) and when the C&S comes back, if the bacteria that grow aren't sensitive to Clavamox, you can immediately switch to one that will work
 
@Cat Ma ...one more thing....either before or as soon as you start any antibiotic, you'll want to get Bonnie on a probiotic like Fortiflora (or there are lots of others)

The AB's will also kill off the "good bacteria" that live in the intestinal tract so you need to replace them or you can end up with some pretty severe diarrhea
 
Cat Ma said:
@granadilla Was Marshmallow's appetite affected when she had an UTI?
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No, but she had a really bad reaction to Clavamox (really bad diarrhea, nausea, stopped eating, dehydration). She was fine on Orbax, Baytril and Veraflox. They didn't do a culture first (I learned about cultures after the fact :facepalm:) and in her case they weren't sure if it was a kidney infection and not just a UTI. I know ECID but I would be really cautious about using Clavamox on an IBD kitty and especially on Bonnie who is already delicate.
 
Good, I'm glad you had the dental done and that she's on Baytril. Paws crossed that she's back to normal and eating soon!
 
So very glad she's doing well! Phew!

Also, just a note that what Lisa Pierson is discussing on that link is stress-related urinary tract inflammation (aka sterile interstitial cystitis), but if a culture and sensitivity shows actual bacteria, it means it's not just inflammation and should be treated with an appropriate antibiotic as determined by the C&S. My civvie's had both UT infections and UT inflammation, and they look the same in terms of symptoms- so the culture is really the only way to know for sure- and the article is talking about how inflammation is sometimes assumed to be infection without a culture and thus, treated with unnecessary antibiotics. Here is the excerpt from that link that discusses this issue:

"It has been shown that when otherwise healthy cats (no kidney disease, diabetes, or hyperthyroidism) that are showing urinary tract signs have their urine cultured, only ~1% will have a bladder infection. The other 99% are suffering from sterile cystitis. "Sterile" means that no infection is present. "Cystitis" means inflammation of the bladder. Therefore, in ~99% of these cases when the abbreviation "UTI" is used, the "I" stands for "inflammation" not "infection"."

But if they culture bacteria, an appropriate antibiotic is the way to go.
 
@Carol C, Bonnie is not a sugar cat.

SpecklesandMe said:
The other 99% are suffering from sterile cystitis. "Sterile" means that no infection is present. "Cystitis" means inflammation of the bladder. Therefore, in ~99% of these cases when the abbreviation "UTI" is used, the "I" stands for "inflammation" not "infection
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Thank you for the useful info. What were your cats given for inflammation?

Bonnie is still at the vet but hopefully she'll be doing better soon. She was hissing at and hitting CJ this morning. She clearly wasn't a happy camper. Usually they are best of friends.
 
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Cat Ma said:
Thank you for the useful info. What were your cats given for inflammation?
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Initially, my civvie was misdiagnosed by 2 different vets as having a urinary tract infection, but the cultures came back with much less bacterial growth than they usually see for a real UTI. They still gave her Baytril and Convenia though, and it did not help. She was peeing like 8-9x a day with very little coming out and it was bloody, despite the antibiotics. Finally, we went to a board-certified cat specialist and he immediately knew it was sterile cystitis (by looking at the cultures and seeing that the cultures came back with low bacterial growth, which may have been from lab contamination).

He gave her some kind of cat-safe anti-inflammatory med (not sure what it was called) and had us switch to wet food only- she was better in literally a day! In humans, there's anecdotal evidence that glucosamine (Cosequin for cats) helps with symptoms, but I wouldn't give that to a cat with urinary issues unless you were absolutely certain that it's not an infection, because it may cause urinary retention, which can make actual infections worse.

I guess I just wanted to clarify that both UTI (infections) and sterile cystitis exist commonly in cats and that a lot of vets can't always tell them apart; so cultures are important. And so are antibiotics if it's an actual infection.
 
Buprenex has been prescribed for post dental pain. Is there any side effects or issues with this med I should be concerned about? Is this commonly prescribed?
 
Bupe is a good, safe pain med that lots of us use....it should be put in the "pocket" of the cheek, not swallowed (it's absorbed by the mucus membranes)
 
Cat Ma said:
Buprenex has been prescribed for post dental pain. Is there any side effects or issues with this med I should be concerned about? Is this commonly prescribed?
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That's what the regular vet gave Marshmallow after her dental and she was fine. The internal medicine vet I took Marsh too also mentioned possibly giving her Buprenex (not for dental, just for general pain relief) and he said that was the best pain killer for cats.
 
She was a little quiet after her dental but I don't know if it was the Bupe or the anesthesia. It didn't make her lethargic though.
 
All bupe is liquid....there is an injectable, but it's not as effective as the oral liquid is (and it's a lot more expensive)

Have your vet show you how to get it into her mouth when you pick her up....and good luck!!
 
Culture and Sensitivity....you culture it (grow the bacteria in a petri dish) and then they use different antibiotics on what they grow to see what it's most sensitive too and will kill it best
 
Came home with a very happy, lively cat. The vet offered me the teeth that were extracted but I declined. What would I do with them? :eek:
Bonnie's not too hungry but managed to eat a little on her own. Nice progress from yesterday.
 
Cat Ma said:
Came home with a very happy, lively cat. The vet offered me the teeth that were extracted but I declined. What would I do with them? :eek:
Bonnie's not too hungry but managed to eat a little on her own. Nice progress from yesterday.
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Wonderful! Bet you are glad this is behind you. You could always make a bracelet with the teeth.
 
Yeah, when Bat-Bat was on antibiotics for her UTI, her appetite was really off for a while. So glad to hear that Bonnie looks better today and ate for you, too.
 
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