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Our 11 yr old kitty, Juliet, has spent the day struggling with a urinary tract infection. We had to scramble to find a vet who was open, get her examined, and then manage to get her to swallow the pain meds and antibiotics. She's hiding upstairs now. Now begins the 2 week regimen that she won't be fond of. But hopefully at least after a few days the pain will go away.

We are fairly attentive about the food we feed her and she's been quite good on a menu of Science Diet (dry) 11+ cat food, daily wet food, and fountain water. I understand that wet food is important for digestive reasons. I also understand that some dry food is important for dental health. So we try to provide that pairing.

What happened was the pet store ran out of the Science Diet 11+ when we ran out of food, so we grabbed some Science Diet 7-10 as a stopgap. She then got the infection. So it's important to maintain that level of food that matches their needs.

For those who have not had a cat with a bladder / urinary tract infection before, here were the symptoms:

* mrowling in pain
* licking their privates more often
* making small pee spots all over
* a bit of pinkish tint to those spots

Apparently a cat's UTI is extremely painful so it's important to take them right in for the treatment to start and to get pain meds.

Some sites say Vitamin C helps - but many others indicate it either doesn't make a difference or it can cause issues. And it won't help with the substantial pain. So I'd definitely go to a vet vs trying to fix it on your own. Also, it could be something more serious, so a vet should check that out.


Lisa Shea, Low Carb and Video Games Editor
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Here's the treatment plan for Juliet. These prices are from the VCA Northboro Animal Hospital in Massachusetts.

In Office Part:
visit: $64
Urinalysis: $80.45
Fluids SC: $53.75

The visit was fairly quick. We were seen right away, which was good. The vet took a background history, examined Juliet, then took her away to try to get some sterile urine out of her bladder. She couldn't - the bladder was empty, poor kitty, because she keeps trying to pee to make the pain go away. Luckily, Juliet had peed on the table so they had something to test.

The fluids SC is standard - they inject some fluids under the skin to try to keep the cat hydrated, so she doesn't dehydrate while she recovers.

We were given two medicines to administer at home.

Clavamox 62.5mg tablets - 28 - $46.74 total so $1.67 a pill
This is the amoxicillin / antibiotics. They are in foil-pouched pills so you open them one at a time. We have to force-feed them into her every 12 hours for 2 weeks, with food. Our kitty won't fall for the "hidden in food" trick. This is to get the infection under control.

Buprenor 0.3g/ml in .15ml doses - 9 - $63.24 total so $7.03/dose
This is Buprenorphine - a synthetic opiate - 30 times as potent as morphine. This is given 3 times a day for the first 3 days to keep the pain under control until the antibiotics have time to get the infection easing. This is provided to us in pre-filled plastic syringes. They are not needle syringes - they are just like straws with a plunger. You put one end into the cat's mouth and press the plunger, to ensure it all gets into her mouth. So that's every 8 hours.

When I got home from the vet Juliet immediately went for her wet food, which was good. We then gave her the pill (a challenge - she's good at spitting them out) and then the syringe of pain meds. She promptly went to sleep and has been sleeping / resting for the past 7 hours. So it's just about time to wake her up for another dose of pain med.

It will be very good if she sleeps a lot the first day or two, while her system heals. That way, hopefully, when she ends the pain medicine regimen it will be all right because the infection will be eased so she's not in pain any more.

Last edited by Lisa LowCarb / VideoGames; 02/22/14 08:35 PM.

Lisa Shea, Low Carb and Video Games Editor
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I tracked down my records for when we brought Juliet in for her previous UTI infection in July 2010. In this case we took her to Tufts which is associated with Tufts University.

They charged $170 just to see her. They charged $73 for the urinalysis which, given inflation, probably costs more now than Northborough charged.

They didn't break out the fluid injection; they just included that in their visit fee.

They also gave her Clavamox - a two week course - but they gave it to us in liquid form to be given by mouth twice a day. That was MUCH easier than this pill is proving to be. So I'd greatly prefer the liquid form. Also it was $27.49 so even with inflation probably cheaper. So I wish we'd got the liquid.

But it does concern me that Tufts didn't give us any pain medication, now that I know how painful this is for cats. My research seems to indicates that managing the pain is an important part of helping the kitty heal well (and is humane).

So the total Tufts bill four years ago was $272.21 - plus the $63.24 for the missing pain medication (which they may have charged more for) and I think we made a good decision to go to Northborough instead. They were pleasant, prompt, and the kitty is upstairs relaxing now.


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Poor Juliet, I hope she will feel much better soon.

Our cat Seraphina has the same diet as Juliet, so we'll take care to keep her on the Science Diet 11+ dry food.


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Juliet the cat needs her next antibiotic at 9am. It's 7am and I'm sleepy. Guess I stay awake somehow for another 2 hours smile. #kittylove


Lisa Shea, Low Carb and Video Games Editor
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Lisa so sorry that Juliet is going thru so much discomfort
I hope she gets well soon frown


Rosie L
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Thank you so much, Rosie!


Lisa Shea, Low Carb and Video Games Editor
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A Julie update.

The vet called the next day to check on her, which was good of them. Bob talked to the vet about the pill-based antibiotic and the vet said the liquid one is both harder to manage (has to be refrigerated etc) and also costs $20 more. At this point Julie is gulping down the pill without much fuss so it's probably just as well we went the pill route. We don't even coat them in butter any more.

While she was on the Kitty-morphine she had pretty much zero appetite. She barely ate anything. She barely moved. Just a few hours after the kitty-morphine wore off, she was alert and hungry. So she's back to eating and drinking at a normal rate, which is great. She doesn't seem to be in any pain at all.

It's a huge help to our schedules to have her now just on the twice-a-day antibiotics. I actually slept a full sleep cycle for the first time in nearly a week last night. So I'm no longer a zombie. We're all happy she's feeling better smile.

We will of course keep the antibiotics going until they are fully done, to ensure she stays healed. And we'll leave her on the Science Diet 11+ going forward, along with her wet food. She mostly prefers the wet food but occasionally takes a nibble on the Science Diet.

Thank you to everyone for the warm wishes along the way! I'm very glad it all seems to have resolved. Let me know if you have any questions. Hopefully my notes can help others who might face this issue in the future.


Lisa Shea, Low Carb and Video Games Editor
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Glad to hear she's feeling better , She's been through a lot as well as you & Bob
Lisa would you know if female cats are more prone to UTI's then male cats
How do you feel about pet insurance ?


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Lisa, so sorry to hear about what Juliet's been going though. So glad she is doing better.

Our Sophie had a UTI/bladder stones a few years ago. There are actually two types of stones - struvite and calcium oxalate. Sophie's were struvite, which can be dissolved by diet although it can take awhile. Our vet had us feed her Science Diet S/D to try and dissolve the stones. She said if this didn't work, Sophie would need surgery. Luckily the diet worked! After that our vet told us Sophie would need to be on prescription food for life to ensure she didn't develop more stones. Our vet recommended Royal Canin SO.

Since we have multiple cats (currently six) it's difficult to feed them different diets, so they all eat Royal Canin SO. Our vet said it was fine for all our crew, and in fact she feeds it to her cats as well. She even recommends it as a preventative, not just for cats with urinary issues. It is pricey, but if it keeps Sophie (and the crew) from developing more urinary issues, it is definitely worth it.

Our vet said Sophie has to have 80% prescription diet and she can have 20% non-prescription - like treats and such. Well, Sophie is one finicky cat. She will only eat dry food that is in her bowl. No treats. No food pellets on the floor. No wet food - she tries to cover it up! So, we mix a little bit of other cat food in with the SO to make it last a bit longer. So far that is working, as Sophie hasn't developed any more urinary issues. I have a good friend who has a male cat with the same issue. She said as long as she feeds him Royal Canin SO he does fine, but when she tried something else he had a flare up.

Rosie -
I know both male and female cats can suffer from UTIs. I'm not sure if the occurrence is higher in one over the other. I do know males are more prone to urethral blockages, which if left untreated can lead to death.


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