Feline UTI's - advice welcome!

[Hijinks]

My poor tabby Caz has a UTI

We went to the vet this morning and she said he has lots of blood in his urine and crystals as well. She gave him an antibiotic shot and said I need to give him an antibiotic tablet every day for the next 10 days. Also, she said he needs to get Hill's Prescription Diet from now on instead of the regular 9 Lives he used to get.

This is a VERY stubborn and quite intelligent cat. He is 4 years old and neutetered/declawed and I have a 3 year old spayed female as well who has not shown any sign of problems.

My questions are these:
1. What's the best way to give a cat a pill? Should I try to put it at the back of his throat and hope he swallows it, or try to put it in his canned food?
2. Is there anywhere to get Hill's Prescription diet online and/or cheaper than at the vet? Right now it's looking like about $50 a month for this cat's food.
3. Can I still give him tap water? He actually prefers it to bottled water, which I tried years ago because I was worried about UTI's, but he didn't like it and wanted to drink directly from the faucet instead. Should I try to only offer the cats bottled water or spring water instead?

Advice would be most appreciated!!

 

[Tewligan]

I would imagine that your vet is better able to answer questions 1 and 3 than we are. Did you ask her those questions?

 

[Hijinks]

Well, the cat was freaking out - he is VERY aggressive and VERY angry when he's taken to the vet, so I didn't want to subject everyone to his screaming any longer than I had to. Also I was trying to get to work and not lose more time. Thirdly, the vet was kind enough to see me on an emergency basis without an appointment, and I could tell her appointments were backing up, so I didn't want to put her out by hanging around and asking more questions. I asked about the pill, but they just said to put it in his food. I'm not thinking that will work.

 

[trancejeremy]

Most cats I've known were smart enough to not eat it if you put it in their food. Though I've had some success with putting it in cheese and shrimp

There's sort of an art to giving a cat a pill. Basically you hold them still, then move their head so it faces up towards the ceiling. Then you sort of open their jaw and pop it in, then rub their throat. My old vet in Florida showed it to me when I needed to get tranquillizers for my cat for a long car ride home.

 

[kenobi65]

First: IANAV.

Our cat literally just got over the same problem.

Even though Kola is pretty pliant, he really hated the pills (you've got Clavimox, I'm betting). Only good way I've ever found to give a cat a pill is to try and pop it as far back in the mouth as you can, then hold the mouth shut and stroke their throat, hoping to encourage a swallow reflex. Note that this is still not a great way. See if your vet is willing to give you a liquid antibiotic...our vet wound up giving us something that I guess tasted like fish. Kola wasn't thrilled with the whole syringe thing, but he liked the taste.

I haven't yet investigated getting the prescription diet online yet...but, yeah, it's not cheap. It's higher in some acid, to help break down the urinary crystals. Since the crystal problem is chronic, if you don't give the cat the special food, it just increases the odds of more problems down the line.

As far as water...I'm not sure it makes much of a difference. We've been giving Kola bottled (distilled) water for a year, since he started having issues, and he still had problems.

 

[Hijinks]

Thank you so much for the replies

My cat is very special to me and I hate to see him in so much pain I foresee him being too smart for pill-in-food, so I'm going to try your suggestions.

 

[Scotley]

I have no advice on cats and pills. We've always had liquid meds, which involve basically squirting it down their throat, a challenge at best. I fear the news is equally bad on the food front. You'll need to get it from a vet. 1800pet meds might be able to help, but you'll need a prescription. Once the cat is on the mend there are over the counter urinary tract health blends. As far as the water, cat's like running water. Visit your local pet megastore and they have fountainlike water dishes that spray continually. These encourage increased consumption and you can fill it with bottled water. In truth, increased water consumption may be as beneficial as the meds and special diet. Get well soon kitty!

 

[Hijinks]

Yes, he adores drinking out of the sink, which was why I was not looking forward to switching him to bottled water.

I bought one that looked like an upside-down water cooler, and the big bottle of water kept leaking fresh water into their disk. But it got dirty easily and they didn't seem to like it much. Now, I just empty and refill their water bowl every day at feeding time and they seem happier about that.

I dunno if they'd like a fountain type thing.

 

[Fenris]

Our dog is epileptic and we have to give her pills daily. But the vet recommended a company that would grind the pills for us and put them in a flavored solution (liver flavored I think). That has worked well for us.

So ask and see if there is a compounding company in your area. Heck since they ship it to us anyway, the compounder could be anywhere as long as the vet will call in the prescription.

 

[Ao the Overkitty]

tracejeremey and kenobi have good advice for pill-popping. You said the cat was declawed, so you shouldn't have the problem of getting clawed up by a fidgety cat. Still, if you need to restrain him, wrap him in a towel. They don't like it, but it makes it easier. Aslo, if you have problems getting the pill in the mouth, talk to you or a pet market about a pill plunger (unsure of actual name for this device). It's a large syringe with a space on the end to hold the pill in place. All you have to do is get the syringe in the cat's mouth and press the plunger.

My folks had our cats on Hills for quite a long time. We have yet to be able to get it anywhere but the vets, sadly.

As for tap water, it shouldn't be a problem. Never has been for us and we've dealt with several cats with UTI. Actually, most male cats I've dealt with have had it.