Worried about my cat

I adopted a 3 year old cat a few months ago and she has been urinating in my dining room. She has been treated for a UTI which has been succesful but I found a few new spots in on the carpet the other day. I took her in to see the vet yesterday and he "expressed" urine toget a sample, which was clean. he prescribed her some Amitriptyline and gave her the first dose in the office. My cat urinated in the carrier on the way home and when she arrived home she was in and out of the litter box at least 20 times, trying to urinate but barely making any. She was like that for the first hour. After that she went upstairs and went to sleep on a bed and she has been completely lethargic ever since. She always purrs loudly and now she's not. She didnt' come down for her canned food that night, didn't wake me up the following morning purring and loving me as usual. I took her back to the vet and they said she had a slight fever and gave me some antibiotics for her and gave her some subq. fluids. She did seems to perk up a bit but is still acting very different. She's barely purring, isn't following her normal routine, seems very withdrawn. I don't know what do do with her. Could she have been injured somehow by the vet taking the urine sample that way, or be having a bad reaction to the amitriptyline? I am told it's too soon for it to be having an effect on her but I know my cat. There is something definitely wrong with her. Any ideas?

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

Amitriptyline can be very sedating, at first.  They gradually become adjusted to the medication and will act more normal over time.  It is a tricyclic antidepressant and therefore takes a couple of weeks to become completely effective for inappropriate urination.  

Amitriptyline does not usually cause a fever or other symptoms you have described.  Expressing the bladder is applying pressure to the bladder with the hand until the urine is squeezed out.  It can cause some transient discomfort, and inflammation to the bladder so that she could feel as if she has to urinate when she doesn't have to, which can explain her going in and out of the litter box 20 times.

Though unlikely too much pressure on the bladder could cause a problem.  I am concerned that she has a fever now.  I would ask your veterinarian to do bladder X-Rays and a bladder ultrasound on your cat to find out definitively is the bladder is normal, is not damaged or has any stones or crystals.  I would also recommend a CBC and Chemistry.  Any abnormalities found should be addressed.

Additionally, urinary tract infections have multiple causes.  Your cat could have interstitial nephritis, which would show normal urine when tested.

An excellent herbal preparation to help cats with urinary problems is corn silk extract (available at health food stores), please get a tincture made with glycerin because most cats hate the tinctures made with alcohol.  She could safely be on corn silk daily as a preventative and part of the treatment.

She should also be on a grain-free, high protein, zero carbohydrate, and CANNED-ONLY diet for life.

Please let me know if this helps!

[nygrl]

I just finished submitting my first question, walked in the dining room and found that my cat has now pooped on the rug. What on earth is wrong with her? In all this time, she has not ever done that. Please help me. I don't want to get rid of this poor cat. I don't know what to do.

[amyh125]

I was on the 25mg for headaches. For a whole month I was in cardiology for heart issues that occured after a few days of starting the med. I stopped the medicine on my own when they told me it causes problems at a higher dose. I wewnt in days after stopping it for a stress test and the doctor could not believe my heart is better. It is not good medicine. It causes extreme constipation, headaches which are better than having migranes (migraines) I used to have. I rarely get to empty my bladder and thus frequent trips to the bathroom. Leg pains that are very painful, and super low blood pressure that I never had. Some of my blood counts on the cbc were alarming and getting better after stopping the med. Thats all it took for me was to stop the medicine. Good luck.