Doubting treatment

Brite_eyes06

Brite_eyes06

Member
Hi everyone,

Riddick has blood in his urine again, after 10 days of antibiotics. Vet warned before started antibiotics that they might not be effective and a culture would be required. She also mentioned that ketones were slightly present.

I feel horrible. My husband has been super supportive and willing to get Riddick all that he needs but I fear that another $300+ test is going to push him into the end-of-life talk as he's 13 years old.

Has anyone had to make a budget limit when treating a diabetic kitty? I wish we had a surplus of money but we just don't. Any thoughts or comments are appreciated.
 
I think we all wish we had unlimited money for this. It's possible that your kitty has idiopathic cystitis which is quite common with our cats, and not treated with antibiotics. I'm not an expert in this, but it's basically an inflammation of the urinary tract that causes them some pain, red/pinkish urine, peeing outside the litter box, etc. There are tons of over the counter treatments that help keep it under control, but there isn't exactly a "cure" for it.

I think there are things that can be done with his dose to help. You are testing enough that we could help guide you in that without having to pay for the vet to help with dosing.

The ketones sound like the biggest concern, so you'll want to keep an eye on that. There are test strips you can pick up at the pharmacy and test his urine at home.

There is so much to say about all of this, but the biggest thing I want to say is don't give up yet. I think there might be some at-home things that could help. :bighug:
 
Thank you so much @Djamila. I really appreciate your and everyone's support. I will get some ketone strips today. I don't know much about ketones or what they indicate but I am on my way to finding out!

I'm also trying my best to get testing every couple of hours this week as much as possible. It's been 2 full weeks of insulin.

Thank you again, a thousand times.
 
I don't think you'll need to test quite that much. :) If you can get a couple of tests in the middle of each cycle - anytimes between +4 and +7, that will probably be enough to see what's going on. I also think that given the trace of ketones, I would increase the dose to 1.25u, and make sure to get a test before bed tonight. If you could get a +3, that would be great. Then if it's much lower than the PS number, you might need to set an alarm for another one, but odds are you'll be able to go to bed.

If the idea of waking up in the night is too much, you could try increasing in the morning instead.

Add as much water as he'll tolerate to his food. Turn it into soup if he'll let you. Adding hydration also helps with ketones, so it's really important that he have access to fresh water and extra water in his food.

And keep him eating. If he goes off his food, he may need vet intervention.

As for the bladder issue, there is a facebook group for about it, that you might consider joining if you're on facebook to get information about possible treatments. There are a zillion options, so if that's what it is, it may take some trial and error to figure out what works best.

Whatever you end up doing, if anything comes up tonight, you might need to post out on the Main forum as it tends to get a little quiet around here in the evenings. There is almost always someone out there on the Main board, so it's a good place to go when you need help more quickly.
 
making soup out of cat food has worked for us here.!! My other kitty had constant UTIs and has not had one since I started adding water to both kitties food. There are also ways to control costs. what type of meter are you using human or pet meter?
 
You may want to check out D mannose. My cat had recurring UTI’s but once I started him on this he never had another one. Coincidence maybe, but it’s pretty cheap and certainly wouldn’t hurt. THIS is the brand I used. 1/8 tsp/ day, or during a flare you can give twice a day. I didn’t give it everyday, only when I thought he needed it, but I know others do give it everyday.
 
Man I'm so sorry to hear that Riddick isn't feeling well! Two of my girls have idiopathic cystitis, so I have lots of experience with it (unfortunately). That brand of D-Mannose is what I use too. It's supposed to be good for flushing out e-coli. It's the active ingredient in cranberry juice. I use it along with cornsilk extract (alcohol free of course). Apparently they work really well together...they help reduce inflammation, flush out bacteria if it's the right kind, and help with just soothing the urinary tract.

Adding tons of water helps too...do you have a water fountain? That often encourages them to drink more. Please let me know if I can be of any help with questions or anything else!
 
Thank you friends!! The supplement should be here tomorrow and I'll look into getting a fountain, which totally makes sense but I hadn't thought of it! Riddick's peeing out of the box was worse last night than it has been. BUT, his AM and PMPS #'s are down more than they have been in weeks! I'm grateful for the dosing advice, thank you @Djamila!
 
Rachel said:
Man I'm so sorry to hear that Riddick isn't feeling well! Two of my girls have idiopathic cystitis, so I have lots of experience with it (unfortunately). That brand of D-Mannose is what I use too. It's supposed to be good for flushing out e-coli. It's the active ingredient in cranberry juice. I use it along with cornsilk extract (alcohol free of course). Apparently they work really well together...they help reduce inflammation, flush out bacteria if it's the right kind, and help with just soothing the urinary tract.

Adding tons of water helps too...do you have a water fountain? That often encourages them to drink more. Please let me know if I can be of any help with questions or anything else!
Click to expand...

Along with the soupy wet food, the cornsilk and D Manoose is there anything else I should or could be doing for Riddick? It's so disturbing when he's got a lot of blood in his urine. I have the ketone trips but haven't been able to get a sample yet! :)
 
Great advice given for Riddick and what a turn around the past couple days (antijinxing!:cat:) I see you had a possible trace ketone test. Those are still the most important thing to address. How's his appetite? Is there any way you can get some tests after PMPS? I always aimed for a +2 or +3 "before bed test". Keeping up with the insulin and hydration *should* be able to let you manage the trace at home but you'll definitely want to try to get more ketone tests if possible :).
 
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