Update on Lucy

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derf

Member Since 2013
HI -- just checking in to update on Lucy.

Had ultrasound Thursday in an effort to determine the cause of her intermittent blood in the urine which apparently is not uti or stress related as I had thought. Last episode blew that theory out of the water.

Ultrasound results (do not have final report in hand, going by vet's discussion)

1) Multiple small masses on her liver, believed to be adenomas
2) A large mass which turned out to be a pre-existing tumor my previous vet "Forgot" to tell us about (how the hell do you forget this?). Luckily the previous vets had documented its size and it had not increased in size
3) No evidence of cysts thus no reason to suspect cystitis
4) "Sludge" in her bladder (term used by vet -- probably dumbing it down for me). Sample was taken for culture to determine if infection related.

Vet also indicated that this sludge may be what is irritating the bladder walls and leading to the intermittent bleeding.

So now I am waiting for the culture results to come back.

Anyone else ever had a diabetic cat with a sludgy bladder?
 
"Sludge" is the common term to describe sediment in the bladder. The sediment can be crystals, blood cell and other non-liquid things in the urine
 
It may help to add an extra tablespoon of water to her canned food, to encourage stuff to pass.

Using distilled water reduces the amount of minerals the kidneys have to filter, and may help a little bit, too.
 
Just got call from vet.
Urine/sludge tested positive for gram neg rods.

With Lucy it is almost always e coli as she does not clean her butt and always pees in the same exact place in the litter box. (TMI)

Vet gave her injection of cefovesin as a holdover while we await the urine culture results.

Will update when urine culture comes back.

Will try water with wet food mix, but the pancrezyme tends to make her food like a slurry already.
Thank you for the advice.

It's wierd -- she doesn't present with any other symptoms except the single bloody urine incidents -- and we're not even sure at this point if that is the sign of the infection or if the bacteria are just festering in there.........(?)
 
Thank you for that. Good read that puts things in perspective.
I was not aware that the convenience tradeoff came with such an increased risk of adverse reactions.

This is actually the second time she's had a Convenia shot; luckily she is not showing any visible side effects and her appetite is strong as ever.

A proper urine culture IS in progress to determine bacteria susceptibility so that the proper antibiotic can be chosen if the bacteria are not susceptible to Convenia. The vet truly did not want to wait the additional days to begin treatment, and rather than guess at the antibiotic family, she played the odds in hopes of getting treatment started as soon as the preliminary positive result came in.
 
Well the urine culture results are in.

Klebsiella pneumoniae. Exists in the digestive tract and can migrate to the urinary tract through fecal contact.
We clean Lucy's butt as she never does. Guess we'll have to put her on a more regular schedule.
We already clean the litterbox twice daily in part to mimize the chances for cross contact.

Antibiotic prescribed: Baytril 68mg 1/2 tab daily (34mg)

In my internet travels I came across this:

http://www.gopetsamerica.com/bio/bacter ... iella.aspx

which indicates other possible sources as water supplies ( will institute more regular water bowl disinfection) and contaminated ultrasonograpy gel (in use during ultrasound when sample taken)

Hmmm

Will keep you updated.

Thanks for the continued support
 
As broad spectrum antibiotics kill off both bad and good bacteria, it may be helpful to add in some good bacteria to replace those killed off. It may reduce or prevent GI problems such as diarrhea due to losing the good bacteria.

Options include Intelliflora, Forti Flora, or 1-2 teaspoons of plain yogurt with active cultures (if tolerant of milk proteins) on a daily basis. Discuss with your vet as desired.

The first 2 are available from Amazon.
 
Antibiotic side effects can kick in several days into treatment. Yeast overgrowth is one that happens a lot in humans (ever seen a pic of "black, hairy, tongue"? ICK!)
 
It is with much sadness that I report that Lucy passed away this spring just shy of her 15th birthday.

She had been battling back to back UTIs (Klebsiella pneumoniae then e. coli).
She was on antibiotics but her sugar was quite unstable and it was hard to determine insulin dosing as she was way out of regulation. We suspect that her body started dumping sugar which fed the infection which then overwhelmed her immune system.

Or it was just her time.

She died curled up in her bed --- her favorite spot. Her suffering is over.

Her ashes sit on the mantle.
I shed a tear when I move them to dust.
Just as I am shedding tears typing this.

Thank you all for your input, information, and the education i received.

I have some leftover supplies that I will likely donate locally -- if not I will post in the approp part of the forum

Derf
 
Goodbye sweet darling Lucy. You were so deeply loved. May you be enveloped in loving paws at the Rainbow Bridge.
 
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