Mancat Monday with Evan and His UTI

It's Mancat Monday, and Evan is doing okay. He's on his third and final week of antibiotics for his stubborn UTI. For the most part, he's no longer having major symptoms of said UTI. I'm grateful for that, but he did unfortunately start urinating blood again this weekend. It did occur right after he strained and struggled to defecate, courtesy of his megacolon. This has happened before, as in the past he's previously caused himself to urinate blood after difficulty defecating. It also doesn't help that he's fresh out of a flare of cystitis related to his UTI, and so his bladder is still a bit unwell and fragile. He did thankfully get a lot of stool out this weekend after his initial difficulty evacuating his bowels, so hopefully everything can now really get back to normal for him again.

All that said, though, despite the bloody urine, right now Evan is actually a very happy boy. He's active and cuddly and purrs and is just generally my sweet little guy. He also takes lots of naps, courtesy of the gabapentin that helps keep his bladder happy and pain-free.

Wishing you all a magnificent Monday!

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Flashback Doodle of the Day

Probably because I'm not the biggest fan of summer and I'm always eager for autumn, I've been in a spooky sort of mood lately. There's also the fact that a lot of stores have started bringing out Halloween in June or thereabouts. I know that annoys a lot of people, but I don't mind one bit. I love me some Halloween. I'll stop rambling, though, and share this summerish yet also spookyish flashback doodle.

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Tip of the Day

At some point I'm going to research some new, fresh topics in order to share new series of tips. For now, though, I was going through old tips and found yet another repeat series that goes into detail about our kitties' and pups' diets. So, let's revisit that again.

Over the next couple of days, we'll give some tips specifically regarding pet food ingredients. As you all surely know, the ingredients that go into a furbaby's food and therefore into their body all play an important role. Let's start today with protein, which is of course a significant part of any diet. Just as with us, our cats and dogs need protein, which can be broken down into amino acids, which can in turn be used to build up new muscles and other tissues. This is why high protein is especially important in a kitten or puppy's diet, as it ensures that they can form the tissues they need to grow into healthy adults.

There are also some other special considerations to make when it comes to protein. For example, furbabies suffering from pancreatitis or diabetes often benefit from high protein diets. On the other hand, a cat with renal disease requires a low protein diet for the health of their kidneys. So, while protein is indeed an important part of any diet, do be sure to do your homework and certainly discuss with your veterinarian what ingredients you should consider for your furbaby's diet in order to keep them healthy.

Mancat Monday: Evan's Urinary Woes Continue

Poor Evan had another rough weekend. I mentioned a couple weeks ago how Evan was seemingly having a flare of his bladder cystitis, as he'd started urinating blood and crying while urinating. I upped his meds related to his urinary issues, and since he has a history of chronic UTIs and he therefore has an ongoing prescription for antibiotics, I also started him on those. Within 2 or 3 doses of his antibiotics, Evan's symptoms all went away and he was his happy self again. He received those antibiotics for a week, until last Tuesday, and starting this Saturday his symptoms returned.

Poor Evan is back to urinating blood, acting painful and restless, and his urine is also quite malodorous. His ears and nose also feel warm to me. So, he's off to the vet this morning. Since he's on long-term antibiotics, his vet is worried he has a UTI that's become resistant to his usual antibiotic. I'm hoping these still work, especially since they actually took all of his symptoms away recently, but that perhaps he needs them for a longer duration of time. Either way, Evan's having his urine checked today, and we'll do a culture that will test any growth for antibiotic susceptibility. While we wait for those results, I'll keep him good and drugged to help him feel as comfortable as possible. Urine cultures can take a couple days to show full growth, and so it could be a few days before we know whether any infection is resistant to his current antibiotic.

Evan is getting lots of rest, in no small part thanks to his increased doses of gabapentin. Lots of naps are happening around here.

Though he's not feeling his best, Evan still hopes you all have a magnificent Monday!

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Flashback Doodle of the Day

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Tip of the Day

Today's summer safety tip is all about how to keep your furbaby cool if they are outdoors in the heat. To begin, as we previously mentioned, sometimes the great outdoors is a very dangerous place to be for a pup or dog in the extreme heat of summer. For this reason, please do try to limit time spent outdoors in the heat.

However, if your pup or kitty has to be outdoors for any reason, be sure that they are provided with everything to help them stay as cool as possible. For example, be sure that a sufficient amount of cool, fresh, clean water is available for them to drink. Also ensure that they have somewhere in the shade to stay. A potentially stifling outdoor enclosure, such as a shed, will often be no cooler than the sun. But, shade from trees or a building can enable a furbaby to get out of the sun and stay as cool as possible. For those furbabies who enjoy and take advantage of water, you can also put out a children's pool, with cool, clean water. This way, a pup or even a kitty who likes water for more than just drinking can have another way to cool off.

As we said previously, please do all that you can to keep your pup or kitty out of the heat of summer. If a trip outdoors is necessary for any reason, though, then it is important to know how to keep your furbaby cool and safe, such as by means of water and shade. Summertime is just another example of how you must think and plan ahead for the sake of your furbaby's health and happiness.