Toby was Emma’s first love. An enormous ginger tabby cat with the biggest purr to match his size. They’d been through a lot together since she first adopted him seven years ago. He lived indoors as Emma worried about him being near the roads, and besides she liked him being around. Toby just about tolerated her boyfriend Jack moving in, but even now saved him a special glare for when he was shifted from his favourite sofa position to make space. However, the new baby was the final straw. Much to Emma’s dismay, Toby had taken to hiding upstairs under the bed or digging his way to the back of the wardrobe and peering out forlornly.
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Emma was kept busy with the new baby, but she missed the snuggles with Toby. She did her best to make a fuss of him when he did venture out and brought his favourite brand of biscuits, but she knew it wasn’t the same.
Toileting troubles
One lunchtime as Emma was sat in the kitchen, enjoying a short respite while the baby napped, she saw Toby heading towards his litter tray. He spent ages there and when she bent down to clean it up all she could see was a tiny patch of pink liquid. Emma was worried but he seemed ok otherwise and hated going to the vets, so she decided to keep an eye on things for now.
The next thing she noticed was the smell.
A waft every time she opened the wardrobe door. On further investigation there was a small smelly damp patch of urine in on a blanket near the back. The more she looked, the more she found. In total six or seven puddles of urine in various places around the house, they could only have come from Toby. It was so unlike him, he was usually such a clean cat, she knew something must be wrong.
A check at the vets
A call to her local vet practice confirmed her worries and he was booked in later that afternoon for an appointment. Anna the vet was always great with Toby and clearly loved cats. She checked him over and mentioned that he seemed sore around his bladder. She asked lots of questions about him and his situation at home. Then she explained that she was suspicious that Toby was suffering from a bout of cystitis and that this was common in cats, especially male cats who lived indoors and were slightly overweight. Toby looked most unimpressed by this last comment! Anna gave him a painkilling injection then sent Emma away with a urine collection kit and instructions to feed him wet food only and monitor him closely for signs that he might not be able to pass urine, a serious complication of cystitis in male cats.
Over the next couple of days, Emma watched Toby closely. She was relieved to see that by the following day he seemed able to pass urine easily. The urine sample that she managed to get confirmed the vet’s suspicions that he had cystitis, which now seemed to be settling nicely with treatment. Emma’s Mum helped her clean up the “accidents” and things seemed to be settling with Toby starting to get a little braver.
More troubles
It was less than a fortnight later that Emma noticed things weren’t right again. Toby spent an entire morning going in and out of his litter tray, and when she checked there were just a few tiny wet spots and definitely some blood this time. Worried sick in case he got worse, Emma called the vet’s surgery and booked another appointment, thankful that she hadn’t cancelled Toby’s pet insurance. Money was tight enough while she was on maternity leave and the last thing they needed was another bill to worry about.
Luckily Anna had a spare appointment after lunch. She examined Toby and reassured Emma that he was emptying his bladder. But she was concerned that he’d had two bouts of cystitis in such a short space of time. She recommended some further tests in case there was an underlying problem. She explained that if the tests were negative then it was likely that, as she first suspected, stress could be causing the cystitis.
Toby’s Tests
The following day Toby was admitted for testing – further urine tests, a blood tests and an ultrasound scan. He had to stay at the practice for the morning, and the house seemed very empty without him. Just before lunchtime Emma’s phone rang and she was relieved to see it was the vets. Anna explained that Toby’s tests had all come back normal apart from the urine test which showed signs of cystitis. They would send it away to check for infection, but it was most likely that Toby was indeed suffering from stress induced cystitis.
She prescribed some more pain killing medication and recommended some simple changes that Emma could make at home. This included trying different water bowls and adding water to his food, she also recommended Emma chatted to a feline behaviourist and suggested someone locally. Luckily this would also be covered on Toby’s pet insurance.
Home improvements
The pet behaviourist was great. With their help Emma made some further changes at home. She increased the number of litter trays around the house and moved them to quiet places, out of the way. Also, she managed to rope Jack into constructing an outdoor “catio” where Toby could spend time exploring and sunbathing. She cleared some shelves so he could find some high places to hide away when he was worried. And she made sure to spend extra time playing and making a fuss of him. It took time and effort, and one further, milder, bout of cystitis, but it was worth it to have her happy, dopey tabby cat back, and no sign of the pain and discomfort that he had been suffering.
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