cat very ill with cystitis - any advice please?

[Ginni]

I have an 18 month old female cat with a nasty case of cystitis. She's becoming incontinent, weeing in unusual places, and she has been spraying for a number of months (we though it was another of my cats so missed this as a sign of sickness). Her urine is usually a small quantity and bloody (I know as she likes to wee in the bath now, on top of a carrier bag). I've taken her to see the vet, he prescribed Metacam for 5 days with Cystaid capsules. I'm about 2 weeks into the treatment and she is still weeing blood and seems incontinent. The vet cost me a lot of money, and i've since learnt that I could have purchased all the medication online on the many online vet pharmacies i've found. I was wondering if anyone could recommend any other medication I can get for her instead with what I am using not seeming to work? One that I can buy online without returning to the vet?

Thanks in advance

You need to see a vet about this cat. You cannot give any old medication from the internet. Your cat is in pain and distress and with no response after 2 weeks I really think you should have been back to the vet before now.

She may have a number of complications which will possibly need further investigation and tests to diagnose. That is going to cost you money. If you want to buy medications online you will still need a prescription from your vet, and there will be a fee for this.

Delaying her treatment like this may lead to more severe problems which are more difficult to get under control and more costly to treat. Not to mention the misery of chronic cystitis. Have you ever had cystitis, by the way?

My cat get this (often when stressed)- our vet gives her an injection of antib.s and a course of antib.s for a week. Normal clears it up within 24 hours.

Have found changing food has helped (she now has Iams or burns).

I would go and see a different vet (straight away)! My vet is about £30 for this.

If money is a real problem the PDSA can help but I agree with Makka - your cat is in pain and needs to see a vet.

Hi Ginni
My cat has also suffered from cystitis in the past - 3 episodes of it so far. Luckily she has pet insurance and has been covered under that. Please take her to another vet as she'll be so miserable at the moment. Ours always lets us know how unhappy she is (plus the constant in and out of the litter tray gives it away as well).

My vet also said that pure breeds are more prone to these type of infections (she's a nervy Asian/Burmese cross).

Hope she gets better soon.

Agree with others, please take your cat back to vets. My old cat who is diabetic suffers from urine infections quite often that usually flare up when he is stressed (usually during school holidays ). He is also more susceptible due to the diabetes. He is on a continuous dose of metacam because he is so arthritic and has antibiotics when necessary.

Hope she's feeling better soon.