Licky's back at vet today

On Apr 11, 6:51*pm, wrote:
"CatNipped" wrote:

I'm responding to this again, because I just spoke to the vet's office
and I brought this up. The woman I talked to (not actually the vet, but
one of the front-desk people, or maybe a tech) said that dried flea poop
is powdery, and not like droplets. So I said, "but in the bathroom, it's
humid, especially after a shower, so wouldn't it dissolve?" And - you
should excuse the expression - in a little-girl bimbo voice that sounds
like chalk on a blackboard to me, she responded, "I'm sure it's a urinary
tract infection." End of story.

I don't know who or what to believe! The flea idea sounded so reasonable,
and my cats are always getting them. I also want to believe that because
that would be so easy to treat. Licky doesn't actually have any other
signs of a problem right now. **I only brought him in because of the blood
droplets.** sigh...

--
Joyce

To email me, remove the triple-X from my user name. *^..^

I understand your frustration. I have found it is useless to talk the
front desk people at the vet. Unfortunately it is almost impossible to
get to talk to the vet over the phone. At least the vet tech called me
back after she consulted with the vet.

But to add in my 2 cents, Rusty showed no sign of problem with his
current urinary infection except urinating on the floor, even with a
clean litter box. He has stopped doing that now, which is a hopeful
sign of recovery.
Anyway, a urinary analysis will show whether Licky has crystals or
infection.
X-ray and or ultrasound will show whether there is anything wrong with
his kidneys or bladder.
Is Licky on any flea medication? If not, maybe ask if you can start
him on one just in case.
Purrs continuing.

Winnie

wrote in
:

CatNipped wrote:

wrote in message

He doesn't appear to be straining - at least I haven't seen him
going in and out of the litterbox every 5 minutes, which is what
happens when he's straining. I know he has blood because I've been
seeing the little droplets of it on the bathroom floor.

Joyce, please be sure it is an infection and not just fleas - yep
you read right, fleas! Flea poo is nothing but dried blood and when
it gets in a moist environment, like a bathroom, it turns into
little blood droplets. I don't know about where you live, but here
in Houston it's already the beginning of flea season.

Oh, wow - I didn't know about that! That's a *very* good suggestion.
It's about time to give them all Advantage again. We have fleas
year-round, but it gets worse in the spring. I will also bring this up
with the vet.

Thanks!


Either way I hope it is not serious.

On 11 Apr 2008 18:51:35 GMT, wrote:

Despite about 2 months of giving him special c/d food, and not letting
him eat any more dry food, Licky still has some blood in his urine.
He doesn't appear to be straining - at least I haven't seen him going
in and out of the litterbox every 5 minutes, which is what happens when
he's straining. I know he has blood because I've been seeing the little
droplets of it on the bathroom floor.

So, he's back at you-know-where today, having yet another urinalysis.
If they can manage it, they will take a culture to see if there's an
infection. If they still can't find anything, I'll have to schedule an
ultrasound, but I'm hoping that won't be necessary.

I'm sorry to hear this. If there's blood in his urine, odds are that
he's not feeling too well.

Purrs are on the way for a quick diagnosis and effective treatment for
poor Licky's problem.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Life without cats would be only marginally worth living."
-TC, and the unmercifully, relentlessly, sweet calico kitty, Kenzie.

Every day is a treasure with Kenzie; I try to treat them that way. There
will only be so many, and then there will never, ever, be any more.

How you behave towards cats here below determines your status in Heaven.
- Robert Heinlein

Purrs on the way for Licky.
Julie, Hobbes, Lacey, Sam and Barnabus

wrote in message
...
CatNipped wrote:

wrote in message

He doesn't appear to be straining - at least I haven't seen him going
in and out of the litterbox every 5 minutes, which is what happens when
he's straining. I know he has blood because I've been seeing the little
droplets of it on the bathroom floor.

Joyce, please be sure it is an infection and not just fleas - yep you
read
right, fleas! Flea poo is nothing but dried blood and when it gets in a
moist environment, like a bathroom, it turns into little blood droplets.
I
don't know about where you live, but here in Houston it's already the
beginning of flea season.

Oh, wow - I didn't know about that! That's a *very* good suggestion. It's
about time to give them all Advantage again. We have fleas year-round,
but it gets worse in the spring. I will also bring this up with the vet.

Thanks!

At first I thought she was sneezing blood - I couldn't think what else it
could be (even though I never heard her sneeze)! I only know about it
because I found a savvy vet (after taking my cat to three different vets to
find the cause) - when he told me that flea poo fact, it made complete
sense. Once we treated her for fleas we stopped seeing the little blood
droplets.

Hugs,

CatNipped


--
Joyce

To email me, remove the triple-X from my user name. ^..^

"Jo Firey" wrote in message
...

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
wrote in message
...
Despite about 2 months of giving him special c/d food, and not letting
him eat any more dry food, Licky still has some blood in his urine.
He doesn't appear to be straining - at least I haven't seen him going
in and out of the litterbox every 5 minutes, which is what happens when
he's straining. I know he has blood because I've been seeing the little
droplets of it on the bathroom floor.

So, he's back at you-know-where today, having yet another urinalysis.
If they can manage it, they will take a culture to see if there's an
infection. If they still can't find anything, I'll have to schedule an
ultrasound, but I'm hoping that won't be necessary.

--
Joyce

To email me, remove the triple-X from my user name. ^..^

Joyce, please be sure it is an infection and not just fleas - yep you
read right, fleas! Flea poo is nothing but dried blood and when it gets
in a moist environment, like a bathroom, it turns into little blood
droplets. I don't know about where you live, but here in Houston it's
already the beginning of flea season.


This kind of thing is one reason I love this group. I used to know that.
Had completely forgotten. But someone will remember these weird bits of
necessary info when needed.

And I can't feel too bad about forgetting. Bet you used to know how bad
tom cats pee stinks before Hunter showed up looking all sweet and needy.

LOL! Like the pain of childbirth - you *think* you remember... until the
next time you're in labor! ; I was telling Ben it smells like rotting
onion combined with rotten eggs combined with dead, rotting skunk carcass!


I do hope he is settling in well. At least he isn't using the dryer as a
litter box. But I hope the car recovers soon.

You might just be keeping a spare bottle of febreeze in there for a while.

Jo

*TWO* bottles of Fabreeze! And another thing to note here - "Stink Away"
works better than "Nature's Miracle" on tom pee odor.

Hugs,

CatNipped

wrote in message
...
"CatNipped" wrote:

Joyce, please be sure it is an infection and not just fleas - yep you
read right, fleas! Flea poo is nothing but dried blood and when it
gets
in a moist environment, like a bathroom, it turns into little blood
droplets.

I'm responding to this again, because I just spoke to the vet's office
and I brought this up. The woman I talked to (not actually the vet, but
one of the front-desk people, or maybe a tech) said that dried flea poop
is powdery, and not like droplets. So I said, "but in the bathroom, it's
humid, especially after a shower, so wouldn't it dissolve?" And - you
should excuse the expression - in a little-girl bimbo voice that sounds
like chalk on a blackboard to me, she responded, "I'm sure it's a urinary
tract infection." End of story.

I don't know who or what to believe! The flea idea sounded so reasonable,
and my cats are always getting them. I also want to believe that because
that would be so easy to treat. Licky doesn't actually have any other
signs of a problem right now. **I only brought him in because of the blood
droplets.** sigh...

I had to talk to three vets (none of whom could find anything at all wrong
after a myriad of tests) before I found one who explained to me what was
happening. Yes, flea poop is powdery, but it's still just dried blood.
When dried blood becomes wet from humidity it turns into wet blood droplets.

Use a flea comb, if you have one, and see if you find any fleas or flea
dirt. If you find flea dirt put it in a small puddle of water on a white
surface and see what happens. If they have fleas there's going to be flea
poop, that's a simple fact of biology.

Now I'm by no means gainsaying a vet - only he can determine if there is
really a UTI going on. But usually a UTI comes with other symptoms,
especially if it's bad enough to show blood in the urine. If you're not
seeing any other signs, and if the test for UTI comes back negative, I'd
have to really think about the flea poop theory.

Hugs,

CatNipped


--
Joyce

To email me, remove the triple-X from my user name. ^..^