Spayed cat in heat? (Formerly the Feline Cystitis thread!)

loveisdivine

Still going ok with the trays, she had one accident this morning but other than that all of her pee's have been voluntarily in trays since yesterday morning. We've decided to postpone the vet visit til Monday as I didn't want to stress her out again with the trip right as we're starting to make some real progress.

Poops are still an issue, husband caught her just about to poop on my pillow this morning! He picked her up just in time and put her in the tray, where she finished, so hopefully we can start making some improvements with that too once we get the peeing down.

Feeling more hopeful

Rancid

Is the covered box now her preferred place to pee?
Really hope this has helped to calm her down and reduce her distress.
I think we've all got our fingers crossed hoping it's all going well!

loveisdivine

It seems like the covered box gave her a boost of confidence or something as she's now using the box and the tray.

She has maybe 1 pee accident a day, the other day she had no accidents at all. Majority of them are in the tray/box now which is a great improvement.

She woke us up at 4am this morning and we put her in the tray and she did a poop! First time she's done one in a tray which is good.

She still seems a bit distressed, particularly when pooping. But overall she's definitely a lot calmer.

I think 2 or 3 more weeks and we'll be well on our way

Although I am considering getting some of those tacky plastic sofa covers for the new house! I dread the thought of spending hundreds on a new sofa and she pees on it! :eek:

Rancid

That's good news! She likes the privacy, it seems.
I'd say now that the improvement has started, it'll continue, she'll get more settled and hopefully get over the panic about pooping.

In the new house just start out as you would with a new cat giving access to rooms one by one gradually and it should work out fine!

maggiepip

Has the improvement also coincided with her being on the metacam though?

KJ

Yes it could well be the metacam. We bought the newest tray that day after we started the metacam again, probably not a great idea but we were desperate. It's difficult to know exactly what's helping. It's frustrating that 90% of the time she's using the tray, but then suddenly goes off and pee's on a bed or something. I'm hopeful that with more time she'll have less and less accidents.

We will have to see what the vet thinks tomorrow. She's only just turned 1 so it's a young age to start taking pain killers long term, especially when we don't know what's causing it.

Edit - Sorry just realised I posted under my husbands account!

KJ

So I'm sitting on the bed using the laptop, just a few minutes after posting the above and she comes hurtling towards me, leaps up onto the bed and clambers all over me and the laptop with this panicked look in her eyes. Then I smell it! There's a poop on the floor right next to me, it's like she's pooping as she's running, it's so strange!

loveisdivine

More bad news at the vets

She was in for her check up and they could feel that she was really constipated and full. They're keeping her in overnight and giving her an enema They're going to get a urine sample too just to make sure it's not a UTI or anything.

They were physically checking her over and again when they got to her lower back she freaked out. They don't know why she's getting so constipated because there's no obvious reason for her to be, she isn't dehydrated and her diet is fine.

It's looking more likely that the constipation is because she's holding her poops in because her back is painful when she goes to the toilet. If that's the case it probably means long term pain relief. They couldn't find any explanation for her back pain last time, all the scans and x-rays came back fine with no obvious injuries.

So I'm feeling pretty miserable again. The poor thing is only just a year old and the last 4 months of her life has been pretty rubbish for her health wise.

maggiepip

loveisdivine wrote: »

More bad news at the vets

She was in for her check up and they could feel that she was really constipated and full. They're keeping her in overnight and giving her an enema They're going to get a urine sample too just to make sure it's not a UTI or anything.

They were physically checking her over and again when they got to her lower back she freaked out. They don't know why she's getting so constipated because there's no obvious reason for her to be, she isn't dehydrated and her diet is fine.

It's looking more likely that the constipation is because she's holding her poops in because her back is painful when she goes to the toilet. If that's the case it probably means long term pain relief. They couldn't find any explanation for her back pain last time, all the scans and x-rays came back fine with no obvious injuries.

So I'm feeling pretty miserable again. The poor thing is only just a year old and the last 4 months of her life has been pretty rubbish for her health wise.

A lot of the time with the back you won't get any abnormalities showing on xray, because its often disk related , which for the most part will only show on MRI. Even with an MRI the problem might not be visible, a bit like no scan or xray will show the source of pain for human whiplash. Its not good news but at least you might have an answer now to work with.

loveisdivine

I just want her to be happy and healthy, I hate thinking that she's in pain.

The back pain thing is odd because although she obviously reacts negatively when the area is manipulated, the rest of the time she show's no signs of pain at all (well except for toileting obviously) she jumps, stretches, climbs, everything you expect a cat to do. One of her favourite games is wrestling (gently) with my husband on the bed and carpet.

Maybe one day these mystery health issues will end!

kathleen37

I think pain with animals is very difficult to see though. I mean from a cat's perspective - there isn't anything they can do if they are in pain so -there is no one they can have a moan to about it so they just get on with it.

We have a cat that's constipated at the moment, and she is very fussy with her food -only eats certain things - so refuses any fish/fish oils etc which we would usually give if any of the others ever gets a bit constipated.

Had her checked out at the vet Saturday and he suggested giving her milk - which he said he wouldn't usually do, but its just to make the poo less hard and easier for her to get out (sorry....TMI) She's actually been drinking that and luckily I don't think she's allergic, as there is no explosive diarrhoea but it's definitely helping.

Might be worth trying yours with tins of sardines in oil (I always mash them up and make sure they are really coated in the oil) to see if she'll eat that - as the oil will definitely help her poo transit and shouldn't lead to diarrhoea. If she doesn't like that, maybe try her with a little milk - to see how she reacts to it?

Good luck - you are all certainly going through it!!!

maggiepip

Exactly. Animals hide pain so well, and cats are experts at it, it can be very difficult to pick up on. They control their movements and make subtle changes to their gait to compensate, which can sometimes be near impossible to notice. A dog with painful hips for example may be taking more weight on their front legs, but its often not obvious to our eyes.

loveisdivine

Well that was a bust. They found some small crystals in her urine but apparently not enough to really cause any problems. They did the enema and gave her laxatives and they reckon she has been pooping normally since then.

They now believe it's behavioural and they didn't bring up the back pain again and my husband forgot to ask about it.

Shes staying on Cystaid and some sort of pain relief I think, my husband couldn't remember the name of it on the phone. They said to just keep trying new litterboxes etc. Which is frankly unhelpful at this point. I've already spent money on various boxes and put them in various places with different types of litter. I can't really do much else on that front.

Guess we'll have to see what she's like at home.

Nody

Go to a second vet LiD for a second opinion as you clearly have issues (from the spaying, to them not believing anything you tell them etc.) with your current vet; If you post the general area there may even be recommendations for a good one

loveisdivine

Thanks Nody, I've already found another vet. One that only sees cats.

Last night was horrendous. From the moment she got home around 5pm till about 1am she was extremely hyperactive. I've never seen her with so much energy. Charging round the house at full speed jumping off everything, loud vocals. Then we got about 3 hours sleep. Then she was up again.

The drug they've given is Onsior. But to be honest, I'm not sure about giving it to her. If they think it's behavioural then why am I dosing her up with more pain relief?

I think I'll give her a week with no drugs, just the cystaid and if no improvement we will try the new vet.

To be honest, I don't know how much more we have left to give. I think we're out of our depth with her. We have no experience with cats before her and we're wondering if she should be with someone who has more experience with cats. We don't seem to be doing the right things. Nothing we do helps.

I'd think about a behaviourist but theres no point till we move. They're only gonna say we need to move her 'base camp' out of our bedroom and give her more space but we physically can't do that right now.

We can't go back to sleepless nights. My husband was already in tears again last night over it all. You wouldn't believe the stress it causes, virtually all of our waking time revolves around the cat. Our other pets are getting less attention because it's all taken up with her.

janmaree

I've been keeping my trap shut for a while (mostly) but I have been following your thread and I can hear it in your words. You love your cat, you love your husband and you're at your wits end with the whole thing. For what it's worth, if I were in your shoes, I would not wait for another week to see what happens, especially when your husband is so stressed that he's breaking down. I would make an appointment with the new vet, put the cat in the car and go. Life's too short. Thinking of you.

kathleen37

janmaree wrote: »

I've been keeping my trap shut for a while (mostly) but I have been following your thread and I can hear it in your words. You love your cat, you love your husband and you're at your wits end with the whole thing. For what it's worth, if I were in your shoes, I would not wait for another week to see what happens, especially when your husband is so stressed that he's breaking down. I would make an appointment with the new vet, put the cat in the car and go. Life's too short. Thinking of you.

All of this.

Take care of yourself.

*edit*

Maybe put her in kennels for a few days - at least so you can get some sleep?

loveisdivine

Thanks for the suggestions.

Our thinking is that if we try the week with no meds, just to see how she does, we might get a better idea of what problems she still has. She's been on various medications for the last 2 weeks or more, she needs a break.

I don't want to board her at the minute, it will just stress her out more. In fairness, it's only been 2 nights of bad sleep so far. It's more the thought of it starting up again that has us stressed. She wasn't hyper this morning like she was last night so hopefully that was just a crazy night.

I believe they gave her a dose of this Onsior yesterday, maybe that's what made her hyper.

Thanks for staying with us everyone. It's been hell but I have to believe we can get to a good point again. It can't just be like this forever.

morgana

Been following this thread and feeling with you. Can only second the opinion to seek out another vet. The cat only one sounds good. If its the one in Glanmire, Cork, her reputation is excellent.
Hope all of you get the break you deserve.

loveisdivine

It's in North Dublin. I haven't had a recommendation for it but I figured somewhere that specialises in only cats would be a good start. The website says they give more time to appointments so the cat isn't rushed and has chance to relax. That would definitely help with Ripley as she usually hisses at the vets and hates the whole thing. The only time she was ever nice was when the vet spent ages petting her first!

intheclouds

I must say our vets are really good with cats, they have one or two vets who are huge cat lovers and the cats really respond to them. I think its important to get a good cat vet.

Even "I hate all other living things" cat who actually showed affection to one of them once!

maggiepip

loveisdivine wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestions.

Our thinking is that if we try the week with no meds, just to see how she does, we might get a better idea of what problems she still has. She's been on various medications for the last 2 weeks or more, she needs a break.

I don't want to board her at the minute, it will just stress her out more. In fairness, it's only been 2 nights of bad sleep so far. It's more the thought of it starting up again that has us stressed. She wasn't hyper this morning like she was last night so hopefully that was just a crazy night.

I believe they gave her a dose of this Onsior yesterday, maybe that's what made her hyper.

Thanks for staying with us everyone. It's been hell but I have to believe we can get to a good point again. It can't just be like this forever.

It can sometimes take anti inflammatories a while to kick in and get the inflammation and pain under control. If it were me I'd be leaving her on the pain relief for awhile to see if it gets you anywhere. It actually took almost two weeks of daily Metacam at one stage for us to begin to see an improvement in our collies back pain. The more things you can rule in or out the better.

They're probably trying her on Onsoir to see if it works better than Metacam for her. Metacam incidentally does nothing for my elderly Labrador s arthritis which has suddenly got very bad, but Onsoir works wonders.

loveisdivine

Yeah I know what you mean. It just put me off that they said they think it's behavioural yet still gave us meds and we don't even know what we are treating. I almost felt like they just gave us the meds to shut us up.

maggiepip

loveisdivine wrote: »

Yeah I know what you mean. It just put me off that they said they think it's behavioural yet still gave us meds and we don't even know what we are treating. I almost felt like they just gave us the meds to shut us up.

They're a bit head wreaking alright! I could be way off here but I think cats could dart around the place due to "darts" of pain. One of my cats was having tooth pain, and every so often he would dart around the house like he got the fright of his life and we connected it to that awful nerve type pain you get from toothache. Could he be darting around the place from "twinges" of pain? I really feel for you its so difficult to try to make sense of it all.

loveisdivine

Yes it could well be twinges of pain when she starts to feel like she needs to poop.

It really is hard to know what to do. Obviously I'd usually just follow exactly what the vet says, but the way things have gone I'm just reluctant to keep dosing her when no on seems to really know what's going on.

I'll have to talk it over with my husband tonight and see.

loveisdivine

Well since she came back on Tuesday afternoon all of her pees have been done in either the tray or the box That's our longest streak yet!

We decided not to give her the Onsior last night, we just want to give it a few days to see how she gets on. If things get worse or she seems to really be in pain we'll start it up. In fairness, she was on the metacam for a week and there had been no improvements on the poop side of things, just the pee, and that seems to be continuing to improve without any meds.

She did her first poop since coming back this morning and it was the same pooping while running so no different there yet.

Thankfully, since her hyperactivity on Tuesday night she's been an angel! Much calmer and contented so hopefully that continues.

One thing we are going to do is change her meals to 3 smaller ones instead of 2. Ever since we switched to twice a day we haven't seemed to get the balance right, she's either ravenous or not hungry at all, so maybe more frequent but smaller meals will keep her more evenly satisfied.

Rancid

loveisdivine, delighted she's using the tray and box for pees, it's a definite improvement and long may it last.
I just did a few searches online and came up with this thread by someone with somewhat similar poop cat problems, worth a read if you have the time, even just to know you're not the only one!
http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=59964

loveisdivine

Thanks Rancid, sounds like that cat was doing the exact thing she is. It would seem it ended up being behavioural for them as they fixed it by changing all the trays around.

After posting this morning my husband just text to say she's been crying all morning, he said it was a distressed sort of cry so I said to go ahead and start giving her the painkillers. One day she's great, the next she's a mess.

If after this seven day course there is no change, I'm going to make an appointment at the Just Cats place.

If it is behavioural then maybe she can be given a course of anti-anxiety meds or something to help her be less scared when pooping and break this habit she's gotten into.

aonb

I somehow missed this whole thread, and just read the lot in one go - wow, you have been through hell with your poor cat. Im new to cats too, and just had one day of diarrhea to put up with - I cant imagine how you are coping with all this trauma.... awful! I hope you get something sorted very soon, feel so very sorry for you...

loveisdivine

Thanks aonb, it's been quite a time thats for sure.

Things still going well with the urinating. She's only had 1 accident outside the tray/box since Tuesday so fingers crossed it carries on.

Still no improvement with pooping. It's day 4 of the painkiller so if it's going to anything I would hope it would have started by now. The website for the drug claims it kicks in within 30 minutes, it's usually an after surgery pain killer so it has to kick in quickly.

We're having a bit of a rough day today. She's being very vocal and restless, almost like back when she was in heat. Hoping it's just an off day.

I think we're definitely going to be making an appointment with the just cats people.

loveisdivine

Another sleepless night. She just cried all night.

Then just a few minutes ago she was sick again. There was a bit of hair in it but it wasn't a hair ball.

Ringing just cats this morning.

loveisdivine

Sitting in just cats now. She's been sick 8 times. Very lethargic. Wouldn't move off the landing, just laid there with her head facing the wall.

We saw her eat something in the garden yesterday, but when we went over there was nothing in her mouth and nothing on the ground. She didn't show any signs of illness til this morning. Well except for the crying but she did that Saturday night too.

The 3 of us can't take anymore.

kathleen37

Ahh man. I'm so sorry she's not well.

Looks like you're at a good place though - so they should be able to help. If she's been vomiting, they may need to put her on a drip. At least that will give you and the other half some time to catch up on some sleep.

May be worth pointing your vet to this thread - as it's a good diary of her behaviour and treatment.

I really hope she gets well and all is sorted for all of you

Take care and I hope kitty (and you) are all ok

xx

Rancid

loveisdivine wrote: »

Sitting in just cats now. She's been sick 8 times. Very lethargic. Wouldn't move off the landing, just laid there with her head facing the wall.

We saw her eat something in the garden yesterday, but when we went over there was nothing in her mouth and nothing on the ground. She didn't show any signs of illness til this morning. Well except for the crying but she did that Saturday night too.

The 3 of us can't take anymore.

How did you get on at the new vets?
Hope you're all ok.

loveisdivine

The new vets seemed good. She's had to stay in and go on a fluid drip as she was dehydrated and her temperature is a little high. They said she obviously has digestive issues what with all the constipation and such so it could have been something relatively harmless that she ate but it's just not agreeing with her.

Their main vet was off today but is back in tomorrow so she will go over her history and see if there's anything else they can suggest. They did mention possibly doing an x-ray, but they might not need to once they review her history as that's already been done. They also talked about referred pain and possibly trying other combinations of pain meds to see if we can find something that helps.

For the meantime they're just concentrating on reducing the fever.

I've never seen her so lethargic and strange. In the vets she slumped up against me and drooped her head over my arm.

I just want her to be ok. I want her to be healthy and not keep suffering with all these issues.

morgana

Ah it must be so difficult. I do hope the new vet can shed some more light on what is wrong with her

Rancid

The drip will help her so much. It's been extremely hot the last few days, most cats seeks out cool spots and just try to stay cool. But being sick in hot weather has dehydrated her fast so hope you'll see an improvement soon.
The new vet will have to assess her thoroughly as it's her first visit, so the fresh set of eyes might make sense of her overall symptoms.
I think we're all keeping fingers crossed for you all.

loveisdivine

Ok so, she's not vomited again which is good but she hasn't eaten anything either. Apparently a few of the cats in the cattery didn't eat last night so it was perhaps the heat. But we're taking over some of her regular food to see if that helps.

The main vet there has looked over her history but wanted to speak with me before she examined her properly. She says she's not convinced yet that it's purely behavioural. If it was she would usually expect to still see problems with urinating. It's odd for her to have almost gotten back to normal with urinating, but not showed even a tiny bit of improvement with defecating. In my mind, it's like she stopped using the trays for peeing because it hurt so much to poop, now over time she's realised that urinating doesn't hurt, which is why she is using them again, but pooping must still hurt and that's why she still freaks out when doing it.

Back pain and stomach pain can show similar symptoms, like the hunching over and back spasm so there's a few different tests they are going to do. She mentioned pancreatitis, possible disc issue, maybe abnormal tissue in the colon/stomach causing her pain when straining to poop. She want's to try and eliminate the possibilities but in an order that creates the least amount of stress for Ripley. She also doesn't want to waste time duplicating on tests that the other vets already did.

First step is a blood test to check for intestinal infections I think, she's not had this type of blood test before so they want to mark that off the list first.

She will be staying in again tonight while they wait for blood test results and try and get her eating.

janmaree

Thanks for keeping us all in the loop, we're right there beside you.....in spirit anyway! I like the sound of this vet, logic and common sense coming through so Ripley's in good hands. She's been in good hands all along with the two of you but that nearly goes without saying. Keeping fingers etc., xd for you. Try and relax if you can, you're in our thoughts.

morgana

She sounds very thorough, hopefully they can drill down to the problem.
One of my cats has pancreatitis (he was very sick 2 years ago, stopped eating and was lethargic, he always was prone to vomiting occasionally but we always put it down to grass balls. No other noticeable symptoms. Wasn't easy to diagnose but we have a very good vet who stuck with it) and that is fully controlled with a grain-free diet. Probably a blessing in disguise as all of them are now on it and get much better food as a consequence.
Fingers crossed Ripley gets a break and can go back to happy cat she was. Thoughts are with you.

loveisdivine

Just wanted to share another pic of her, this was a few weeks ago before she had the surgery

loveisdivine

She's coming home this evening. No more vomiting and she's eating well now. She also did a poop in a tray while there, although she was straining to do it apparently.

Blood came back ok, no sign of infection. Some of her liver enzymes were low but that could be because she was vomiting.

The plan now is to try and get her crazy pooping on video so they can see what she's doing. Then depending on what they make of it, we will try her on a stronger laxative to see if softer stools help.

Then if things still aren't right we can try an MRI and some other stuff.

She said again that she's not convinced yet it's behavioural. If there wasn't any pain or discomfort they would expect her to just go to a spot or corner and do a normal poop, if she didn't want to use her tray. But there's nothing normal about the way she's pooping.

Bet you're all dying to see a video of a cat pooping!

intheclouds

I AM dying to see the video of the cat pooping!!

morgana

Yup. Bring it on. And good luck, sounds like they are putting in a lot of effort to get to the bottom of it. You really going all out for your little cat

rhabarbarum

I am just started reading up on your story. It is great that you have started to figure out what can be wrong. Is she still on meloxicam, and if so, how is she reacting to it ?
Sometimes there could be certain side effects present, though in animals it is difficult to say for certain - https://vetxed.com/en/m/Metacam/
In terms of dehydration, is it possible for felines to suffer from lack of electrolytes because of active drinking/urinating ? Some vets advice caution not to give too much water too quickly - http://pets.webmd.com/cats/guide/dehydration-cats?page=2#3
Anyway, glad to hear that you have found a good caring vet. That goes a long way.

loveisdivine

Well last night was interesting. Firstly, she went straight back to using her tray for urinating, which is great.

Secondly, just after we'd got in to bed she started looking like she needed to poop, but instead of doing all the crazy running around and being scared, she just jumped up on the bed, did a poop, looked like she was straining a bit, but then just jumped off the bed and looked up at me!

Now obviously it's not great that she did it on the bed, thankfully I had tissue paper to hand so managed to lay some down quickly so it didn't touch the bed! But that's the calmest poop she's done in weeks! I couldn't believe it.

loveisdivine

Still not managed to get a video. She did one at 4am this morning and I woke up still half asleep as she jumped over me, clearly running from the smell of the poop that she'd done under the covers!!! I'm just thankful I didn't roll over into it!

I think it was still relatively calm though.

Hopefully the next one will be during daylight and perhaps not on/in the bed!

janmaree

Not funny for you but you gave me quite a laugh! Cats.....they sure know how to keep us on our toes! And don't think you're alone when it comes to being on the receiving end of inappropriate pooping 'cos we've all got tales to tell Don't lose the faith, sounds like you're starting to win this battle.

loveisdivine

Yep things are definitely good at the minute. She sleeping well, till 6 this morning! Woke up to another poo on the bed, but to be honest I'd much rather have to clean up poop than be dealing with sleepless night and pee everywhere.

She seems happy too, very affectionate and playful.

I'm adding extra water to her food to try and keep her hydrated and thinking of getting one of those water fountains. She does drink from her bowl everyday but I'd like to encourage more.

loveisdivine

On a side note, we visited the house we're buying again the other day and found out that the 2 cats that have been in the garden every time we go don't actually belong to the current owner. The owners daughter in law said she thinks the owner and neighbours feed them.

This has me slightly concerned. Firstly one of them didn't look super healthy so I think we'll have to trap both and get them vet checked. The unhealthy one seemed slightly friendly, it meow'd and didn't run away, but the other didn't like being approached.

But more importantly I'm wondering how Ripley will cope in a new house with 2 other cats hanging around outside all the time, I don't want to ruin the progress we've made or stress her out more.

I don't think the cats go inside the house, but every time we've been there they are sat right up at the patio doors peering in.

Just could of done without this added concern.