Hi all just asking for a bit of advice. My 22 month old female cat Pebbles started going into the litter tray continually and licking her rear end. I checked the litter and her wee was light pink in colour. As soon as I noticed this I took her to the vet. This was yesterday.

The vet gave her a full examination, and said it was feline cystitis. She was very tender in her bladder and also had a temperature.

He gave her an anti- inflammatory painkiller and an antibiotic injection. This was Duphamox which I've looked up and it is Amoxicillin which is the same antibiotic they give humans for urinary infections.

My question is how long will this take to work? It was yesterday lunchtime when she had the injection and she then slept most of the afternoon. The vet said to give her 48 hrs to see how it goes by Monday. What is worrying me is if anything this morning she seems far worse. She's been on and off the litter tray constantly and her urine is still pink. She seems very distressed, although Is eating.

I am going to give her more wet food than I normally do as we usually gave them more dry and a bit of wet.

Has anyone had any experience with this or does anyone know if the antibiotic injection should be working straight away as she does seem worse. Any info appreciated.

Thank you.

My old cat winnie used to suffer from that, the anitibiotics usually took 2 or 3 to kick in, she also would wee in places she wouldn't normally, like on my bathroom floor, so keep an eye out for that, try to make her drink as much as possible, which i know isn't easy, maybe mix some water into her food. Good luck, i hope she's feeling better soon x

Our old cat (who is gone now) had bladder infection. The injection from the vet would work very quickly and we would see a difference within a couple of hours. The injection would last up to three weeks before we had to take her for another one. This went on for nine months.

Our other old cat who is now nineteen had a bladder infection last year. She had an injection that worked for two weeks before she needed another one. The second one cleared the infection completely

Thanks for the info. She's still poorly now and on and off her tray, will take her back on Monday I think. Poor thing she looks so fed up.

Let us know how she gets on...when my cat started suffering from it the vet said it can be brought on by stress, she had about 5 or 6 attacks in just over 2 years and then never had another one, i sadly lost her last year at the age of 19...i really hope your cat feels better soon x

Definatly taker her back, Utis in cats can get serious quickly, so if the antibiotics are not working you need to get her seen, they should work pretty quickly.

First time my Miss Kitty had it she took a while to pick up. Prob 2/3 days. She's had repeated bouts since which haven't been as slow to respond.

She started overnight with a bout last night. Was in vets at 10.50 and had antibiotic injection plus cystofan capsules (2 a day for next 15 days) and by early aft had already stopped using her tray as much.

If its her first bout I would defo take her back. Have you had to do a urine sample too to check for crystals?

We have to feed a 100% wet diet and we also add a tablespoon of water mashed into each meal.

Chris, you have my sympathies, as a couple of years ago my elderly cat had the same problem. It took about 3 days before she started to get better, it was so heart breaking seeing her so uncomfortable! She has a relapse about once a year, but she is on a wet food diet for life now. Hope you cat gets better soon!

Good luck tomorrow - write yourself a list of any questions you have for the vet. The times I`ve got home and been annoyed with myself because I`ve meant to query something and then forgotten. Also we don`t give our cat any dried food since she had her bladder problem

Hi Chris. Any update on Pebbles?

My mums cat used to have that quite often. Her symptoms would be that she would wee in the bath or the sink, or any cool ceramic surface. The vet kept saying it was cystitis and giving tablets but my dad thought they were just giving any excuse to sell tablets. They did notice that the frequency of the cystitis did decrease when the nasty cat next door moved house. So in a sense it could have been stress bringing it on as she wouldnt go outside if nasty cat was in the garden and occaionally it would come in the cat flap.

Hi yes sorry I didn't get on here yesterday. She was taken for an emergency appointment on Sunday as she was in a lot of pain and mewing with pain even if we touched her. She had been on her tray all night again. Vet gave her a stronger antibiotic injection, some antibiotic tablets and a painkiller. Also cystitis tablets to give her which are a nightmare as they are not palatable so I have to try and get her to eat them in a bit if meat. Anyway I'm just about to go to bed and today (Monday) she improved so much. She has not been on her tray all the time, and has been fussing round and loving. She sat on my lap this afternoon for about two hours purring and loving me. So it looks good. I have an appointment at 10 tomorrow for a follow up, but I'm relieved now as she seems to be doing well.


Yes we need to look at food. We have always given her wet in the morning and dried throughout the day. I'm wondering whether to go completely onto wet food now. I've only fed wet food since her cystitis. I will ask the vet tomorrow what he thinks but I think what you have done sounds best. I've also seen that you can get special food for cats that have bladder problems so may try that. The only problem I have is that our other cat Henry (Pebbles' brother) has become most disgusted today that there is no dry food out! He has given me such looks!


Thank you! Yes it was horrible seeing her struggle in her tray like she was. It is a relief to see her making an improvement now.

Thanks for everyone's support in this. Got the vets follow up tomorrow so hopefully everything is getting sorted now. I've been lucky in someways that she's been poorly on my days off so I've been able to be with her.

One of our cats has cystitus twice. The vet diagnosed Feline Idiopathic Cystitis. Both times small crystals were confirmed in his urine and bladder.
A change of food and touch wood, no problems since.

It's frightening how quick it seems to come on. We feed 100% wet diet. We use catsan white litter so we can monitor her urine colour more easily. But if you know what to look for next time it happens you will be straight to the vets. Missy has had it on and off since she was 6 and she's 16 this year.

Yes it came on all of a sudden. She is back to her usual self now which is good. I wonder if, like your cat Missy she will have it on and off; the vet seemed to think she would be susceptible to it again. So will keep an eye out. Yes we use catsan as its a bit pricey but good for odour etc, its a good job because as you say it showed her problem up well.

We've prob had 5 bouts in maybe 10 years so its not been overly regular. The first was the worst with blood but once we knew what to look for we get her to the vets so quick it's stopped in its tracks.

Our vet did say stress can be a factor. Missy is a house cat (she was a rescue that had never been outdoors although she does have supervised access to garden with us) but we couldn't identify any factors stressing her. Like most people who are 'owned' by cats things revolve around her!

Glad she's doing better op. if she likes dry food taste wise you could soak the biscuits for her, mine hate wet food, but we do this, especially in summer to make sure they get enough water.

Yes Pebbles is a house cat as well; and there is nothing I can think of that would stress here either. Henry our other cat can be a bit dominant over her but he has been everso gentle with her since she's been poorly. I wonder whether to get one of those cat calming things that plug in and see if they work.

A bit worried today as she has been on her tray more again.


Yes I might try that. I also wondered bought some cat milk from pets at home to see if she will drink that. She is very particular with her wet food but does eat it eventually

Hey- I presume your little missy has been spayed? I have three girls and have often read that spayed cats get more UTIs

Dry food wise I alternate between purina ones indoor cat and neutered cat- seems neutered are more prone to UTIs, and also the indoor cat one gives them plant and grass essences

Litter wise I use cat San and scoop every day and chane every three

If you are worried about hydration leave your own glasses with water in around- my girls can't resist that

Please update your girls progress

Hi Shmisk, yes she has been spayed and the vet did say that spayed cats are more prone to infection. Had to take her back again on Wednesday as she had been improving but started deteriorating and was back In the tray all the time. The vet gave her another injection and she's on cystitis tablets which we mix into her food.

Yes that's a good idea about the water I will try that as she will drink out of glasses that are left out.

She seems to be improving again. Put her on an all wet diet on vets advice, also got a Feliway diffuser as I've been told they are good, just to put her at ease as its caused a lot of stress for her.

Fingers crossed shes on the mend now,