cat

[oregonpilot]

Mention to your vet about the cat preferring dog food. Dog food is missing an essential amino acid called TAURINE that cats must have for good health. The lack of it can cause heart problems which of course has a trickle down effect to all other organs. Just a cheapie thought. I will send good kitty karma your way, IAO!!!

I waa thinking the same thing about the taurine...sounds like your kitty has the taurine thing covered. YES good kitty Karma!!!

[Exployer1234]

I have been doing a little research on the symptoms you gave. The only thing that is not making sense is the peeing everywhere. When the liver has any type of damage or disease there will be a lack of appetite, weight loss, and a strong order in the mouth. I am wondering if there is a kidney infection or urinary tract infection. Does he drink a lot of water? If a cat has a kidney infection or urinary tract infection they will consume more water to flush out the bacteria. If the urine has a orange color to it I would be willing to bet the kidney's are the cause of the problem. It is also known as chronic renal failure. Cats can live long term in CRF. The key to restrict the amount of protein. If your cat is at all eating the dogs food then this could cause a urinary tract infection. Some dog food contains a high amount of protein, and he may be getting too much protein for his age. The key is to soak his dry food to get more water into his body. I have had animals in CRF and it can be managed.

I hope this helps some. I would ask the vet to do a chem test when they draw blood and it will give you an overall view of what is going on with all the major organs. If the BUN level is too high this will mean that the kidney's are in distress. If you ever want me to look at your results from any bloodwork just PM them. I am not a vet, but this is some thing I do because some of the meds they prescribe actually do more harm then good.

[oregonpilot]

Not long ago my 5 yr old kitty had a UTI. She was peeing a little right outside the box on a rug i had to catch litter. She was constantly in the box, jump out and back in. Took her to vet.
They Kept her for a day trying to catch urine sample to check if her little bod was not liking the food i had her on...Kirkland Maintenance. No WAY. she held it till i got her home and she made a bee-line to the box. Vet put her on an antibiotic for a week just in case. and ---ALL BETTER!!! A simple inexpensive fix. Vet said that with a UTI they may want to avoid the litter box cuz they associate the uncomfortable/ irritation with the litter box.

Oh yeah...she was drinking constantly!

ps...we are not vets here....but we did stay at the holiday inn.
Hope i'm not the only one that remembers that commercial otherwise you guys are going to think i am really weird. LOL

[oregonpilot]

I just found this in a book...not sure if it will help. But hey....
Quote from book....If you can't afford medical treatment for your pet, contact American Animal Hospital at

http://aahahelpingpets.org/

Well i clicked on that link and it is something strange...but when i type in

aahahelpingpets.org

it goes to the right site!!!

I must have broken the internet ...again!! Either that or i have edited this post so many times i must have broken something..LOL
It has a fund that works with selected veterinarians to provide financial help for emergency and non-elective treatments.

[mountanddo]

Vet said that with a UTI they may want to avoid the litter box cuz they associate the uncomfortable/ irritation with the litter box.

I can't imagine standing in a box of rocks to pee even without a UTI! LOL...I'm a bit strange too especially when I have insomnia.

[oregonpilot]

i can't imagine standing in a box of rocks to pee even without a uti! Lol...i'm a bit strange too especially when i have insomnia.

:d:d:d
hummm those are spose to be big grins...i guess i used up my quota for the day. Tomorrow wil be here in 50 minutes.

[oregonpilot]

I can't imagine standing in a box of rocks to pee even without a UTI! LOL...I'm a bit strange too especially when I have insomnia.

YUP and i probably wouldn't drink from the toilet either!! ROFL

[helpmeout]

Shortly after I filed for BK, my 2 year old cat got a UTI (common in male cats who are fat) and got blocked. He couldn't pee at all. Which led to kidney problems. He was acting normally on Sunday, Monday after work I noticed that he wasn't doing too well. I took him to the Vet Tuesday morning. She couldn't unblock him (her attempt cost me $900) and wanted me to take him an animal hospital to have surgery done as she had never done that surgery before. There was no guarantee that this would work as his levels of whatever she said was very high. I told her that I couldn't afford that and to have him put to sleep. Apparently, in the time that it took me to get there, she had called an animal refuge who was willing to pay for the surgery, but I had to give the cat up. I agreed. The cat died anyway.

I felt bad about what happened, but I have two kids and another cat that I have to worry about. Had I caught the problem sooner, he probably would have made it.

Sounds like your cat has a UTI, but is not blocked (which is a good thing), my co-worker has a friend who is a vet and she stated that one of the symptoms of a UTI is peeing everywhere but the litter box (mine didn't, but then he was blocked and unable to pee). It may be something as simple as a course of antibiotics. You are not going to know until you take the cat to a vet, though.

[BananaCabana]

I don't have anything helpful to add other than you are amongst another cat lover. We have three, one who is having complications from being too "fluffy". Translation=fat. So I understand wanting to get help for a kitty friend but not being able to pay for it right now. I keep hoping that financials will improve soon and I can take him in for the multitudes of tests they will want to run to figure out why he keeps 'coughing' and occasionally sneezing /wheezing.

So here are some kitty prayers I am sending your way! Please let us know what you find out on Monday.

[GoingDown]

I have been doing a little research on the symptoms you gave. The only thing that is not making sense is the peeing everywhere. When the liver has any type of damage or disease there will be a lack of appetite, weight loss, and a strong order in the mouth. I am wondering if there is a kidney infection or urinary tract infection. Does he drink a lot of water? If a cat has a kidney infection or urinary tract infection they will consume more water to flush out the bacteria. If the urine has a orange color to it I would be willing to bet the kidney's are the cause of the problem. It is also known as chronic renal failure. Cats can live long term in CRF. The key to restrict the amount of protein. If your cat is at all eating the dogs food then this could cause a urinary tract infection. Some dog food contains a high amount of protein, and he may be getting too much protein for his age. The key is to soak his dry food to get more water into his body. I have had animals in CRF and it can be managed.

I hope this helps some. I would ask the vet to do a chem test when they draw blood and it will give you an overall view of what is going on with all the major organs. If the BUN level is too high this will mean that the kidney's are in distress. If you ever want me to look at your results from any bloodwork just PM them. I am not a vet, but this is some thing I do because some of the meds they prescribe actually do more harm then good.

Good tip. I had a Chihuahua which lived to be 18 years old and at the end of her life, she was having kidney problems and had horrible breath. She didn't like drinking water at that point, so I started soaking all of her food in water before feeding it to her. She went on to live another year and a half after that and it crushed me when I found her dead all curled up into a little ball at the foot of my bed.

Losing a pet is always a hard thing to go through.

[oregonpilot]

Iam...how is the little guy doing???

[lillymarlene]

I don't have anything helpful to add either, but I'm just another animal lover. My boyfriend and I years ago, had six cats, all rescues, now we're down to 2. It seems we've been through everything, the poor kitties seem to get so many of the same illnesses humans get, kidney failure, dental problems, heart trouble, and cancer. We have been lucky that we have a nice vet. About 2 years ago, after my credit cards had shut me off, one of my boys had a blockage, that cost of $600. He let us spread payments out over 3months.

Iam, I hope your little guy gets better.

[IamOld]

Hello everyone - well, he perked back up...we had an appointment to...you know...but then he perked back up, and is eating again.

The problem now is that he is now not just peeing but pooping all of the house. Spouse has given the cat until Monday...if he keeps up the peep/poop everywhere...

[tobee43]

ahhhhhhh, somethings up if he started that behavior it is for a reason? any changes around the house, if he got a clean bill of health?

[IamOld]

Vet doesn't know what's going on! :-)

No changes at home - but the cat has never been..."right" - in all seriousness he either has dementia or some other mental issue - again, I am NOT kidding.