So, I spent the majority of the weekend moving from one apartment to another. My cats, Georgie and Simon, made the move on Saturday. Georgie was very nervous and spent a lot of time in the closet. Simon was fine, on the other hand, and was done exploring the place in an hour or so.
Everything had settled down nicely, so I thought, UNTIL... I discovered clumps of RED URINE in the litterbox when I was scooping it yesterday morning. SHIT. Which cat was it? Was it both of them? I called the vet immediately. The receptionist asked me if either of them was acting strange, peeing a lot. I had noticed George in the litterbox with the red pee. And she was drinking a lot of water lately, it seemed, which I thought was a good thing. She was the cat we should check first, thought the lady on the phone. So I scheduled the earliest appointment, for 11 am.
I had learned from my experiences trying to get Georgie in a cat carrier that maybe it was smartest to use the cat crate so I could just lower her into it. She's a pretty big and strong cat, with big teeth and claws, after all. I took her to the vet, she was scared and panted and drooled like she does, which is always alarming to see. The vet, whom I hadn't seen before, was nice, and he said everything was normal, but that he was going to try to get a urine sample. Georgie, I remember, had used the litterbox at my house just an hour before. And sure enough, no pee was in there. He said I could leave her there and wait for a urine sample, or just give her the medication. Apparently stress can cause the bladder to become inflamed, leading to blood leaking into it, and subsequently, bloody urine, without a real bladder infection from bacteria. I chose to be safe about the manner, and so poor Porridge was abandoned there.
I was starting to get worried around 3:30ish. My friend, who is in vet school, called and we talked about it. Poor Georgie. The vet finally called at 4:30 and said he got a sample and it was very bloody, so they were going to give her a shot of anti-inflammatory and anti-biotics to be safe. I came to get her immediately. He said that Georgie seemed like a nice cat, and pills were cheaper than liquid, so he was going to show me how to pill a cat. Of course, it was very easy to pill her there, since she was scared shitless. When he stuck the thermometer up her butt, she didn't even flinch, after all. I thought it was probably going to be more difficult to "pill her" at home, but it was cheaper...
On the drive home, more panting and drooling. She was in the cloth carrier this time because it was easy to get her in the carrier at the vet. When I took the carrier out of the car, I noticed some red on the seat. What was that? Blood? I took her into the house, and let her out. Turns out she had peed in the car.. In the cloth carrier.. the bloody urine. She wandered off into the house. I cleaned up the blood in the car and went to go wipe her off a little maybe. Hmm, there was more blood there than I had anticipated. And what's this? Bloody paw prints everywhere? Luckily my place has all hardwood floors and no carpet to deal with.
I decided Georgie needed to be washed. I locked her and myself into the bathroom and proceeded to put her under the faucet, stomach up, in the sink. She wasn't happy. She was clawing at me, and I got all wet, but I got her cleanish. I wrapped her up in a towel, and was sad and scared for her, she was all growls and hisses while the washing was going on, but she was quiet now. Poor poor Georgie, it will be easier to clean yourself up from just water. I went and cleaned up all the bloody paw prints from everywhere, while wet George was locked in the bathroom to lick and dry off a little. She seemed normal about the whole event by nighttime.
This morning... I got to pill my cat. Of course, the vet made it look so easy. But George was clawing at my hand when I was pulling her jaw open and she managed to spit the pill out a couple times before it finally went down. I have to do this twice a day, for two weeks, mind. Georgie's going to run from me every time I come near her by the end of it. I'm thinking of trying elaborate tricks with cheese and wet cat food to get the pill in her without actually "pilling" her. We'll see how it goes.
Happily, the pee in the litterbox this morning was not bright red anymore.
1 comment:
Poor baby!! I would say she is the culprit for the earlier incidences of pee outside the litter box. My kitty had blood in the urine from a blocked urethra due his refusal to drink water. He had crystals, struvite, I believe. There are struvite crystals and oxalate crystals. Did the vet give your kitty steroids? Be aware that steroids can bring on short-term feline diabetes (it happened to my other cat). She got a steroid shot for a few skin sores where she was over-grooming herself. A few weeks later, she almost lost the use of her back legs, which was caused by feline diabetes. That led to giving her insulin shots. I slowly weaned her off those. I hope Georgie-girl will be OK!
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