Lydia & Sid & Jake(GA) said:
So in the chart, does susceptible mean that baytril is a good choice to eliminate the E Coli? Because zeniquin (Marbofloxacin) is also listed as susceptible.
I am not certain if there are variables involved (ie/amount of bacteria) making this chart irrelevant for others, OR if this is standard for each of the bacteria listed. I think it may be standard. If your vet ran a culture/sensitivity test, he should have an antibiotic sensitivity profile. It would look like the photo I posted.
How I remember understanding the sensitivity...
susceptible means it should be good.
Intermediate means it may/may not work. It may need to be given at a higher dose or longer than usual.
Resistant means not likely to work. Again, at a higher dose or longer than usual there is a chance...but not likely. If it does work, infection will probably return. Some a/b's may not be safe to give longer term/higher doses (ie/ baytril), some may make quality of life awful (clavamox), or cause resistance to other bacteria.
Lydia & Sid & Jake(GA) said:
I agree that the sample could have been contaminated, but I think for a free catch, I don't think anything could be better unless maybe I had boiled the container. I could actually do that next time. The vet did say there is a chance we would get bacteria from the lower urinary tract that would contaminate the sample; otherwise, she was pretty confident the sample I got would be fine.
I was just reading tonight...
Knowing the concentration of bacteria in the sample helps determine if the infection is true or if the bacteria grown could be contaminants. Knowing the species of bacteria also helps determine if the bacteria grown are contaminants. The antibiotic profile tells us what antibiotics will work against the infection. There is, after all, no point in prescribing the wrong antibiotic. Clearly, the culture is a very valuable test when infection is suspected.
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/urinary_tract_infection.html
Though there are more definitive ways to do the urinalysis/culture/sensitivity, there is a possibility you can determine if the sample is contaminated. I would just want to make sure the vet, or who ever is reading the test could identify the difference.
Lydia & Sid & Jake(GA) said:
He was drinking so much water - way more than normal and his bgs were on the low side (200s) and peeing a lot and vomiting almost daily. I've honestly never seen a cat want to drink that much water.
Sid and Latte would have understood each other well. I ended up using large cottage cheese containers for water bowls because I could not keep up with the water consumption. She needed food/water raised, and these were tall enough she could drink half the container while I was gone w/o too much discomfort (I think :? ) I think she averaged around 16 oz/day. She was also on a steroid + kidney issues+ uncontrolled dx, etc.
Lydia & Sid & Jake(GA) said:
He also did not have a very good appetite. I was so worried about that thirst being from ketones but his tests (urine and blood) that I was doing kept coming back OK. Based on that behavior, I didn't feel a cysto was completely necessary because I knew we were starting A/B. He is doing much better now than he was.
I think it is wonderful that you are on top of it and aware of the symptoms. UTI's are very difficult to figure out until they cause great discomfort to the cat (at least that is how I experienced it). For a few years, and then occasionally afterwards, I never did the culture/sensitivity because I could not afford to do so. It was not until the multiple infections did I realize how important it was to do it all "right" in order to clear them. THis is why I am a big advocate of doing everything you can to do it the proper way. That said, I do understand limitations. We experienced many of them. You do the best you can with what you have....and you let yourself be ok with it.
I hope he is feeling better soon. Dont forget to add fortiflora to his food in case there is any GI issues. If you cant do fortiflora, you can try a spoon or so of plain greek yogurt. :mrgreen:
Hang in there you two!
He seems better today too (after 3 days of baytril). 
And then of course the extreme bounces. We had similar scenarios (though I avoided dosing Latte where she could go green due to her IBD...lots of vomiting and unreliable eating). 