Cuddles

[Tambrey]

Cuddles came into our life about 5 years ago, found half frozen and abandoned under one of my mom's lilac hedges...Mom brought her to our home where she has resided since then...
We are not sure of her age or if she had been spayed, but I figured that since she never "presented" or acted like she was in heat, that she had been...

Cuddles is one of our more reserved kitties...it took about 4 years before she even felt comfortable to roll over for belly rubs...I have no idea what kind of life she had before coming to us...but she has always been very withdrawn...or will come for petting on HER terms...as long as SHE has control...

Today she was moving slowly and when I reached to pet her and she rolled for a belly rub, I felt wetness...her entire back end was soaked

I called the vet and got her in RIGHT away...he took samples and palpitated her abdomen and it was determined that she has a UTI...but she also has "some suspicious lumps"...

He gave her an antibiotic shot and sent us home with Clavamox and she will follow up when that is complete for exploratory surgery to determine what the "lumps" are and a course of action from that point...

Please pray that the antibiotics will take care of whatever infection is going on inside of her, and that if the lumps are still there when the antibiotics are gone...that the surgery will be successful and nothing significant will be found...

[Traci]

Where are the "lumps" located?

It would be extremely unusual for a urinary tract infection to cause incontinence, what did your vet say about that?

Concerned, did he determine if she is in fact spayed or not?

You know I have Cuddles in my thoughts and prayers.....((((HUGS))))

[Tambrey]

He did feel a slight abdominal scar and commented on that, so we are "assuming" she was spayed previously...

He was feeling along both sides, sort of up under where her hips would be (?) when he felt the lumps, but he did not tell me exactly where he felt them and I did not think to ask

He did not say if the UTI was causing the wetness or if whatever the lumps are is causing it to happen...I am not sure if she totally wet herself or it was just more or less "seeping" from her on a regular basis...
there was a bit of whitish discharge (but no odors) as well, and when he expressed her bladder gently, more of that oozed out...so possibly whatever the discharge is along with urine?

I will of course be keeping a close eye on her these next few days and if she does not respond to the meds within 2-3 days we will return sooner...but I am thinking that she needs to get over the infection before surgery should be done?

[Traci]

Yes, infection should be cleared before any surgery.

However, I'd recommend an xray, and perhaps even an ultrasound before radical exploratory surgery. If your vet said "let's go to surgery" without exploring other less-invasive diagnostics first, I'd seek a second opinion immediately with another vet. I know you like him, but exploratory surgery is not without risks!! Granted, ANY lumps or bumps need to be identified promptly, but to say exploratory surgery without regard to other diagnostics, (like ultrasound) may be pusing it at this point.

Watch her, see what she does in the litterbox and directly after, does she lick at the area excessively? Is she swollen or red in the area? Did the vet rule out vaginal infection unrelated to a UTI? If she isn't spayed, did he rule out pyometra???

[JUDY S]

Tambrey, I am sending prayers your way that she will be okay.

[Tambrey]

No swelling or redness...no excessive licking....the first indication I had was when she rolled over, very slowly, like it hurt to do so...

As far as he could tell from just feeling adn looking, there is an abdominal scar, so without ultrasound, etc there is no way to know for sure...

They do not have an ultrasound machine at this small local vet, but the hospital in the city does...I will talk to him about that and give them a call...we are patients there as well...

(I am checking in from work, sorry if this reply is short...for me!!)

[Tambrey]

as a refresher..here area couple of pics of Cuddles

[slvrwhispr]

Awww, what a little character! Here's hoping she pulls through. *cuddles Cuddles!*

[Traci]

Tambrey, how is Cuddles doing?

[Tambrey]

She was doing good lastnight...I am at work today but my son has been keeping an eye on her...she is eating fine...moving fine...using the litterbox fine...took her meds this morning with a bit of a grimace...

I will see how she does over the weekend...and I want to give her a warm water only bath from waist down to clean her up a bit from the discharge she has had...then it will also be easier to tell if it continues...

I am keeping a close eye on her to make sure nothing gets worse over the weekend...hopefully those antibiotics will kick in and start working then we can go from there next week...