Stress. It’s been a busy week at work; the TC Sale is supposed to launch tomorrow; and on top of everything… it looks like Dr. Amy Jones is SICK! She was really weird last night, roaming the house and never really settling down. And then today we suddenly noticed that she’s going to the litterbox really frequently. (This morning it was like 3-4 times in half an hour.) I think the poor thing has a UTI. I’ve just called the vet and we’re going to take her in tonight. I feel awful for not noticing sooner. I know how painful that is for a human, so I hate to think she’s been trying to tell us that she’s hurting.
Update: And we’re back. The vet explained that cystitis in cats can be caused by a number of factors: stress, infection, crystals in urine, or even cancer. Her age makes cancer unlikely, and he didn’t feel any stones during the examination. So we’re going to treat her for an infection and hope that clears it up. He gave her a shot of anti-inflammatory something-or-other and a prescription of tablets. We just shoved the first one down her throat and – thank goodness – she seems to have eaten it without too much drama.
All up it cost us about ninety bucks. Do any of you have pet insurance? I was asking the lady at the vet about when it becomes a good idea. She seemed to think that a younger, strictly indoor female cat was probably a low risk, and it wasn’t really necessary. Given that we’ve had her for 4.5 years and this is the first treatment she’s ever had (beyond yearly checkups), I think we’re ahead of the curve. I’m just wondering when to start thinking about it…
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poor thing. hope she’s ok. sparky has had his fair share of issues. he ended up with a blocked urethra at one point – is pet insurance worth it? dunno – you can do the math I guess. In the 8 years we’ve had sparky there have been two ‘big’ expenses – the above mentioned blocked urethra cost something like 600 and his recent post-house-move-constipation problems have cost about a grand (several vet visits) and outside of that i guess regular vet checks are maybe 60 bucks a year. I have no idea how much pet insurance costs…
Yikes. Yeah, the doctor explained that the blocked urethra thing is a big problem with male cats – “If you can’t pee, you die” was actually uttered at one point – but it’s extremely unlikely to happen with a female. The vet had never seen it happen before. So luckily we can probably rule out that risk, thank goodness.
And whoa, holy crap! Didn’t realize poor Sparkster was having post-move problems. Hope he’s okay…
I’m sorry about your cat but I feel the need to say that when my cat amadeo got that it turned nasty really fast and the vet said it was because of the food sometimes causes it(calcium and whatnot in the food). Hopefully your cat pulls through! 🙂
I did have pet insurance for my cat, but when I made a claim I discovered that I was getting less back than the insurance had cost me over the years. Probably worth it to get it for an older kitty, but I went so many years without using it at all that I would have been better off just putting that money aside in a savings account for her. I would recommend just sticking ten dollars a month or so in, like, an ING account, and by the time you need it you’ll probably have enough saved.
Next cat, that’s what I ‘m doing.