Hi Brian,
At the ER vet they gave me a 3 page print out on UTI's in cats. There are a lot of things that can trigger a UTI in a cat.
"Environmental Stress" for a MALE cat is a HUGE factor... I don't know your Tyler, but I just have this "feeling" that he is feeling extremely upset about something, and I don't know what it could be. My adult cat Digger got a UTI and was peeing blood recently, I believe, due to two factors: 1) I fed him and the whole gang 9 Lives Fish food for about 4 days and they had NEVER eaten an fish cat food before; 2) I had a male kitten in the house, 6 months old, who was VERY vocal and would kind of terrorize my Digger. "Astro" just wanted to play but it was all too much for Digger. And, Astro cried and cried and cried all of the time. I wanted to keep Astro but it was just too much stress for Digger, so Astro got adopted out. :cry:
This is straight from my vet's office:
"Aside from theoritical methods of limiting the duration of the episode, it it IMPORTANT to also consider the patient's pain. Painful urination can be excruciating and often therapy will include analgesics, urethral dilators, and muscle relaxants.
"
I think Tyler seriously needs those pain meds. Besides all of the above that Digger was prescribed, they also gave me Buprenor for Digger that he was on for about 3 days.
I noticed that you said Tyler's "quiet world" has changed. Is the new roommate a bit, well, loud? Does he or she listen to music at a high volume? Well, you wouldn't know so if you are not around, but I suspect the person may be blasting his iPad, stereo, whatever it is, he is doing it pretty loud when you are not home. It might even be the TV.
You need to relax Tyler, A LOT. It may mean that you put Tyler on some type of anti-anxiety medication for more than a few weeks until he can get used to your new roommate since the roommate is not leaving. In my situation with Digger, I had to let little Astro go. You don't have this option. The other thing is, you must spend some time getting your roommate and Tyler acquainted with each other. It is likely that Tyler sense some uneasiness around this person.. :roll: Your home belongs to Tyler equally, or more so, than your roommate. Tyler doesn't feed that way any longer.
The other thing is, you need to majorly reassure Tyler that he is still the love of your life. You need to pick him up and pet him, love on him more than you ever did before. It's the only way that his anxiety about this new situation is going to be relieved. Being mad at him or ignoring him for peeing on the bed will only make things worse.
Tyler needs a private rest area like he had in that other bedroom. I suggest that you get him some type of house for your room that can go to and be alone. It needs to be big enough that he can really stretch out in it.
Is Tyler confined to your room now too, a good part of the time? If so, you're going to need to find a way to let him out more often.This is definitely causing him stress. Are there any loud appliances near your room? :roll:
Diet, or the food that Tyler is eating can also pay a role in the UTI.. Magnesium in cat food is still suspected as causing inflammation and leads to crystals in a cat's urine. What type of food were you MOSTLY feeding him when he peed on your roommate's bed?
You've got to try to find a way to stay calm yourself. I think maybe you are a bit freaked out about Tyler's diabetes and he is also sensing that too.
