Charley is peeing BLOOD

[paschat]

Hi guys, I rescued 3 abandoned kittens in the begining of July here's my thread:
http://www.cathelp-online.com/forums/vi ... hp?t=11823
Well the kittens all got adopted app. 2 months ago and today Charley was brought back - he's been peeing in his adoptee house for a few weeks. They took him to their vet who did tests and a culture - no crystals at all, first blood and an infection, and then two weeks later a 2nd test with just blood in his urine, no infection. They put him on 0.5mg of amitryptalin since 4 October per day, (two weeks) and canned Hill's c/d, but Charley kept peeing on their rugs and I told them to bring him back to me immediately today, I don't want them spanking him or punishing him for being sick. I've coped with my kitty who has FLUTD and is on canned Hills c/d, but he has had struvites not blood without any struvites. I have Charley enclosed in a warm, safe room with a bed, clean litterbox, water and his canned c/d. I'm weary of amitryptilan as it's a benzo and I think it's harmful and it hasn't stopped him peeing all over the adoptee house. I have all his vet records + tests. What is my next step from here? How do I help Charley into remission so he is adoptable? He's very chipper and playing happily with his toy mouse now.

[Traci]

I think a new vet is in order, yours?

Take all Charlie's records to a new vet (preferrably feline-only vet), get new urinalysis and culture, plus a CBC (to look for inflammatory cells). One thing to rule out is trauma to the bladder (this happened to my Cody as a tiny kitten, played too rough with his younger brother)...a CBC might show inflammatory cells which might indicate some trauma. In that event, perhaps a new course of mild antibiotics such as clavamox or amoxicillin. But, a new culture might be feasible anyway, to see if something else might have been missed (or developing since the last culture).

Stress can also play a large role in hematuria (blood in the urine). See if you can determine if there was significant stress in his prior environment. Were the owners in fact scolding him for inappropriate elimination? Were there children in the home? Dogs?

I agree, amitriptyline probably isn't useful in this case, and is not without significant side effects. Discuss that with your vet and see if he doesn't agree that it should be ceased.

I think once the hematuria is addressed appropriately and resolved, hopefully, the only next step is re-acclimation and lots of love and patience so he gets back to his normal, playful, adjusted self.

[paschat]

Traci thank you so much. I made a typo above - Charlie is on 5mg of Amitryptalin which seems like a very high dose to me. I'm calling my vet first thing tomorrow. Since he came back tonight he's used his litterbox twice without any distress or straining, and when I blotted the urine it looked normal. The woman who adopted Charlie has 2 other 14 yr old cats, and one of them had peed all over her house before they adopted Charlie, so I don't know if the smell of that pee in the house is what got him started. He was potty trained whilst he was with me, and never peed outside his box. She has no dogs and one teenager who seems like a very nice boy, and Charlie seems very well adjusted, she says they never punsihed him or spanked him for peeing on their rugs and shoes.

I'll update you - first thing is checking his urine/cbc etc. and weaning him off this Elavil/Amitryptalin they put him on.

[Traci]

It's possible that it was a domino effect, from having the other cat's urine scent marked in areas, but...unlikely, since Charlie first had an infection and then had hematuria. Stress, though, could have helped induce a URI.

The important thing is having your vet check to make absolutely certain nothing is missed because any infection or blood in the urine should be treated immediately and followed up upon to ensure nothing else is going on.

Since he's so young, it's doubtful that this is a behavioral issue per se. Please remind me, were he and his siblings neutered before adopted out?

[paschat]

Hi Traci, yes he was neutered a week prior to his adoption. I will be taking him to the vet tomorrow to do some tests. So far he hasn't peed on any of our rugs and has been using his litter box. He also hasn't eaten any of the canned Hill's c/d I gave him last night, which I find rather odd because his ex 'mom' said she'd been feeding it to him.

[Traci]

He might be alittle stressed, so therefore might not be interested in his canned food right away. Do tempt him as often as you can though. When you see your own vet, ask if he'd approve of a small bag of dry C/D, sometimes when kitties are stressed, they might eat the opposite form of what they're used to (canned vs dry of the Rx food).

[paschat]

Charley had his tests done - cbc, ua and we're just waiting for culture results. His cbc and ua are fine, urine has no blood, crystals or infection, he's completely normal. He hasn't peed outside the litter box once since he's come back to us, and is playing happily. A good friend of mine is adopting him and she is a wonderful cat person, with a 1 yr old female cat who is sweet and friendly. I think Charley was very unhappy with his ex household and urinated inappropriately due to stress, and a UTI that has now cleared up. He's off those horrible amitryptiline meds too!

[Traci]

What wonderful news! Thank you, for getting him back (and out of a stressful situation), taking such great care of him and finding a brand new, better, home!!

[Tambrey]