Any help for my very sick cat would be very helpful

[bronte73]

As some of you know, Reilly, my 1 yo male cat, has been really sick for some time.

Here is the story. I adopted him the first week in September. He was almost immediately diagnosed with a urinary tract infection, which turned into a bowel infection. He has been on Clovamax, Cepha drops, Albon (about 4x), and a liver colored antibiotic that I can't remember the name of.

He is on a special urinary tract diet I got from the vet. The vet also told me after the last urine sample that Reilly's kidneys are permenantly damaged and leak protein. However, as of 2 weeks ago, he was free from infection.

Well, when I switched his food, which I did gradually, he got diarhea. He was put on Albon for 5 days. He seemed to get a bit better for a couple days, but yesterday he seemed a bit droopy and his stool had blood in it.

The vet wants to do extensive bloodwork and another round of antibiotics. My dh said that we had spent too much money on Reilly and he wasn't getting any better. I am considering having him put to sleep. I hate to see him in pain, and I just don't have the money to keep up round after round of antibiotics, plus expensive testing.

Does anyone have any experience with this. Did your cat get better or was it a lost cause? I am just sick over this whole situation.

I talked to the director of the humane society since I thought he should know what kind of shape this cat was in when I adopted him. He basically said, sorry about your luck. I tell people just to expect the animals to be sick!!!! :eek: I was under the assumption that an adoptable animal was in reasonably good health.

Anyway, TIA for any advice. :)

[stephanie0122]

That was very irresponsible on the shelters behalf! I am sorry to hear about your cat... :( ...i have never had this heppen to any of my cats...but i have seen it before at work. Some cats come in with damaged kidneys b/c they had UTI's that were never treated in time. On the proper diet and medication some cats live out a full (or almost...since this shortens their life span considerably) life. Others however do not respond very well to the treatment at all. It really depends on the state of the kidneys and the health and immune system of the individual animal.
I would wait and see how the medication and the new diet does for him...Is it a kidney diet? especially for damaged kidneys? If not then this is what he should be on. The diarreah is normal at first...give him time to adjust to it.
Good luck and i hope he is ok!! ;)

[bronte73]

I am going to wait a bit to see if he can adjust to the new food. My concern is with all the antibiotics, that his gut is devoid of good bacteria. I am considering putting him on a probiotic to see if that helps with the diarhea. I am going to talk to my vet first though.

I have a conference call in to him today in a few minutes. I know Reilly was a stray before he was taken to the Humane Society. He was extremely underweight. I am also very concerned that a cat as ill as Reilly was never detected. He was neutered and everything. Anyway, thanks for the encouragement. :)

[CTChin]

Probiotics is a good idea. Just don't give it within two hours of antibiotics. Was any bloodwork done to check his kidney function? Just a basic, fairly inexpensive panel can check this.

[lovechick]

I'm really sorry about your kitty, but I was wondering as a last resort, maybe you can try taking him to a holistic vet for an acupucture treatment, with all the antibiotics I'm sure his body is all worn out and tired of fighting, I've read a book a while back on a vet who specializes in homeopathic treatment, most of the pets that are brought to him are extremely sick and are about to be put to sleep. But with accupuncture/pressure, sometimes even herbal remedy, they come back to a full health and it prolongs their life.

[tltrull]

Have you tested for FeLV, FIP, FIV?

[brandy pup]

I would see another vet. Putting a cat on albon for the runs due to a change in food is a bit extream IMHO.

Your cat needs to be on a canned only diet. The moistur in the food will assist in keeping the kidneys and urine track flushed. The dry food will rob the body of moisture needed for this.

I am a firm beiliver in blood (CBC) test. They can tell you a lot. But I just dont understand much of everything else the vet is doing. I think a 2nd opioion is in order. I would get it from a holisitc vet.

Vets
http://ahvma.org/referral/index.html

[idsue2000]

Cats always have a weakness in their kidneys. I had a cat with those problems and the vet urged me to salt his food, to make him drink more. This may be out of date--it was some time ago. But you might ask your vet about it.

I now have an elderly cat (nearly 20 yrs old) who is dying of kidney disease. I expect him to go in the next few days.

Sue