Feline Friday: It's Stress-Related

Well, last week I reported that on Wednesday, Lily had had an excellent trip to the vet.

Unfortunately, by 12:30pm on the following Saturday, just a few days later, we found ourselves at the ER. No worries, Lily is fine now but we both had a stressful day!

Exactly five minutes after our vet closed on Saturday, I found Lily trying to urinate in various places around the house. That's a sure sign of trouble so I immediately scooped her up with the litter box and shut her in the bathroom whilst I went to retrieve the carrier. Regardless of what else I had planned for the day, it was clear that we were headed to the ER.

When I returned a few minutes later with the carrier, I found Lily in the bathtub where she had produced three dime-sized spots of urine which were clearly tinged with blood. I guess in retrospect it was helpful for her to go potty there because I could immediately see the blood. Lily willingly went into the carrier (poor baby) and we left immediately for the veterinary ER.

Since Lily's anal glands had just been expressed a few days prior, my working theory was that perhaps some bacteria from that procedure had caused a urinary tract infection. As it turned out, there was no sign of infection except a trace presence of one type of bacteria. 

The diagnosis: feline urinary tract cystitis. 
Caused by what? Stress.

By all accounts, Lily lives an exceptionally comfortable life so what could have brought on the stress? You guessed it: Wednesday's anal gland appointment. We could tell that she was pretty upset at the time as she growled continuously as she came out of the sedation, but who would have guessed that she'd develop cystitis as a result? Certainly not me. This was a new one. 😟

There's no real treatment for this condition other than pain medication and time. But since Lily's urinary tract had trace amounts of an unusual bacteria, the vet elected to give her a 2-week acting antibiotic shot as a precaution. We left with instructions to give her pain medication every eight hours as needed and follow-up with our regular vet in two weeks.

Lily also left sporting a lovely blue bandage on her leg from where the technicians drew blood. I was told to remove the bandage as soon as we arrived home which seemed like it would be no big deal, but Lily was having none of it. She became an incredibly nasty, snarling ball of teeth and claws every time I approached her to take it off -- which in turn caused her (and me) a great deal more stress.  After a call to the ER, they suggested I take her back so they could remove it. It took multiple technicians to handle her. Poor sweet girl.

Needless to say, the second trip did nothing to help our mutual stress levels! So the rest of the afternoon, Lily slept and recuperated while I fretted.

Lily recovered very quickly from her ordeal and later that day was back to going potty in the litter box. Her appetite never decreased (of course!) and her activity level has improved significantly.

 Because I now know that she's susceptible to stress-related cystitis, I am vowing not to take her back to the vet unless it's absolutely necessary. I've ordered non-absorbent litter so that I can collect a urine sample in two weeks without having to take her to the vet for that uncomfortable procedure.

Hopefully last Saturday is a distant memory for Lily. She's back to living her stress-free life.

I'm not so sure about me, though! 😩

Happy Feline Friday!

jp and Lily