Update! A kitty question related to the smell (might be peeing blood :( )

[Griffin]

Take her to the vet immediately, it sounds like the urinary tract disease.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feline_lower_urinary_tract_disease

Hope she'll get better!

[Vintergatan]

Yes I think so too, but I was under the impression that it is urgent only in male cats?

ETA: well this is great :S no one's answering our vet's emergency phone...

[Griffin]

Well I think you can wait till morning, I doubt it's that urgent. I don't know if it's a blockage or infection or what, and while the urinary problems are more common with males, all cats can have them and they should always be treated as soon as possible. Good luck with your kitty, I hope you'll get an appointment soon!

[Vintergatan]

Ok I just got off the phone with the vet and I'm a bit ticked off to be honest. So she says that female cat's don't get blockages and that this is urinary tract infection. She asked whether Nala was eating (which she was, right as I was on the phone) and said that it's nothing urgent and to just come by on monday to get anti-biotics. So I protested that I would like to get the anti-biotics tomorrow the latest but they are closed on sundays :S and she would have to charge me around $100 dollars extra :S I got really annoyed when she said I shouldn't worry because it's just as when humans have it, it's nothing too urgent. Well let me tell you, I once had the UTI and it was hell!! I had to go to the doctor immediately to get some relief for the pain and discomfort :S Fortunately my cat seems to be doing fine, she just went to pee and she peed with no difficulties, which is a relief.
I don't understand why it isn't possible for me to get my cat medication without getting ripped off just because it's a sunday!

I'm also slightly distrustful because I have been dismissed twice this summer as having just a cold when it turned out I had whooping cough and now i hate feeling like I was simply dismissed with "oh, it's nothing".

I guess I'll just keep a good eye on her tonight and see how she's doing and see if I want to wait till monday.

[Eskara1862]

Totally, get her to the vet! Peeing often can be a sign of diabetes too. Hopefully, it's just a UTI. Any time a cat is straining to pee, going to the litter box often and not producing anything, or there's blood is a sign of trouble. 

Cats are very good at hiding signs of pain. In the wild, if they show pain then other cats and animals know they're weak. It's up to us to know what their pain signs are. For my baby, it's when she becomes really clingy; she's not a cuddly, affectionate type cat and I know something's wrong when she won't leave my side.  My moms cat is usually silent; last month she had a UTI and wouldn't stop meowing. My friends cat will pee on the rug just outside of the litter box (or her mom's pillow on the bed!) if she needs to go to the vet.

UTI's are often caused or aggravated by dehydration.  Cats don't have a very strong thirst drive and don't drink much water.  If they're fed a strictly kibble/dry diet, it can cause problems with digestion, kidneys, and the urinary tract. Would she eat wet food? Giving her some canned or raw food will help increase the moisture in her diet. Getting a pet fountain might encourage her to drink too.

Please, be sure to keep us updated! I hope your kitty is just fine and that the vet can help her if she isn't.

[Vintergatan]

Actually that's exactly what I wanted to ask, we do normally just give them dry food with canned stuff only for special occasions. All vets have always insisted that giving them just dry food is good for them and that they shouldn't need anything extra, but I'm wondering about that.
We used to give them dry fish but for whatever reason, 2 out of 4 (including Nala) are no longer interested in it.

The problem with canned food is that they all get crazy over it and stuff themselves except for Nala that usually just licks all the juicy stuff and leaves the rest for the others.
So, any specific food tips for this, but also in general, to avoid issues like these from occurring?

Also, Eskara, I did notice that Nala has been a bit more cuddly and clingy past 3 days :S I did think that it was a bit strange, but this explains it, and I thank you wholeheartedly for pointing it out.

oh and one more question - the vet said to take care that she is drinking plenty - but how do I do that with a cat? we have fresh water in two places in the house, should I put more? should I put bowls in front of her to drink?

[Eskara1862]

Gimme a sec to pull up the article on one of my favorite cat blogs... There's a lot of good information about natural remedies and what causes these issues.  Just have to find it.

Also, freeze-dried treats, while yummy, should be given very sparingly. They actually cause more dehydration because the treats are so dry.

It's tough to get a cat to drink more water. I used to get mad at Misty for lapping up the water from used food bowls in the sink, but then I realized that a little spaghetti flavoring wouldn't hurt her if it made her drink more water!  Maybe you could put a little bit of tuna juice in some water and that would entice her to drink?

*****

Edit- Found some good links!

The Conscious Cat has a good article on how dry food ties in to feline urinary tracts. She also provides links to all of the research she mentions.

Natural Cat Care provides 10 useful sites for researching cat health issues

Natural Cat Care also has an amazing list of the best cat foods. She explains why foods made or didn't make the list. I realize the foods she lists are for here in the US, but her reasoning on why she picked the ones she did could help you if you decided to switch what you're feeding your kitties.

Here's the thing about vets and dry food... They're often paid by pet food companies to push their food.  Purina is really big about that here in the US. The American Veterinary Medical Association recently adopted a stance that all raw food is unsuitable for animals. When you start researching who is on the board of the AVMA, you discover that Purina is on the board.  Most vets will tell you that a cat can be completely happy and healthy on dry food for their whole life.  The problem is, cats are obligate carnivores and so much of what is in those dry foods isn't species appropriate. Giving a cat only kibble is pretty much the equivalent of giving a human only McDonalds- tastes great, but it will have serious health effects later on.

[prettypony55]

Years ago I caught my cat Kitty peeing in bed on us. I took her to the vets and she had crystals in her bladder. It was very painful and uncomfortable for her. I now look very closely and the cat foods I give her. My vet told me to buy foods with as little ash and magnesium that I can find. I hope your kitty feels better!

I have also found that cats like to drink water that moves. Could you get her a little water fountain for her to drink out of? I got one for I think around 15$.

[Vintergatan]

Well, we just came back from the vet. Nala has been doing fine yesterday apart from difficulties peeing and the vet examined her today. Her bladder is not enlarged so she can obviously still pee as such and she concluded that it must be the UTI.
She gave her antibiotics and steroids to help with inflammation so we'll see. She told us to come back with her if this happens again so they can take the blood sample and check for anything more serious but for now it seems it's just this and asked us to try to take a sample of her pee if we manage. She gave us special (dry) food for her but we have already switched our cats to mostly canned food.
We brought up the water fountain and she agreed that it sounds like a great idea and will see about ordering it for us.

As for the cause, she says it can be any number of things - the dry food, the stress where she doesn't get to finish peeing if other cats interrupt her, not drinking enough water or just genetics.

I just wanted to thank you all for your advice and help. I've read through the links you provided, Eskara, and I thank you so much. These days I will make a trip to all the pet shops in the area to see what foods they have on offer, as our supermarkets just have the typical Wiskas and Friskies.

Tl;dr Nala has an UTI but is generally doing fine, is eating well and being playful so hopefully the treatment will work ^^

[kezrob23]

in males it is definitely more urgent, the crystals can block their unrinary tract and can kill - my mum had a cat with it. my girl suffers from cystitis, i don't think the girls get the crystal build up?? strains and strains and nothing comes out (and then gets nastier than normal) - she is now fed only dry food, it is vet prescribed royal canin urinary and can only be bought from a vet. it's not the cheapest, au$30 for a 1.5 kilo bag, but if she eats anything else, she would get really ill again. i feel for you that your vet was not so helpful, i have a wonderful vet, the first time my cat got it it was a sunday, my vet opens for half an hour for patient pick ups. it was 5 mins before they closed, and they stayed open for me mind you, i reckon my cat is a dud, before the cystitis she couldn't handle regular cat food so was on prescription sensitive stomach food she's cost me an arm and a leg since day dot lol oh, and she also digs as soon as the litter is changed, and my mum's cat used to also do the bolt after using the box - he would howl at the door to come in, drop, run and howl to be let back out gotta love them

ps - my vet gave me a tip for getting a pee sample, wash box out completely and dry, and replace litter with shredded plastic - the cat can still 'dig' but pee won't get contaminated by litter.

[Vintergatan]

RC Urinary is exactly the food our vet recommended to us. I think we are going to go with that one + wet food and mix it up for them.
I'm sorry to hear that your kitty is so sensitive though! She is lucky she landed with you and is getting all the love and care she needs ^^

You are also lucky with your vet! Back home in Serbia I had a wonderful vet. My mom was also teaching his kids so he was prepared to do anything for us at any time of day. He even agreed to operate on a mangled pigeon that I found on the street, turned out he fixed her really well and she lived with us happily for the rest of her life. here, however I can't seem to get that personal connection with vets even though we take all our cats to the same place But at least today I had an impression that the new girl there listed to all we had to say and didn't dismiss us, so that's good.

and thank you for the tip! We have a new kitty litter made out of wood pellets so i might try to catch some urine before it gets soaked up.

[ZennaBug]

I'm glad you got the poor kitty in to the vet.  It's so awful when your furbabies aren't feeling well, I don't blame you for being worried (and frustrated).  I've had urinary infections a couple times and they are the worst!  So I'm glad that they gave you the antibiotics for Nala and I hope she's feeling better soon.

Finding a good vet can be so tough, I just switched to a new place and I think I like them.  Hopefully this new vet will be good at listening and giving thorough checkups.

[kezrob23]

RC Urinary is exactly the food our vet recommended to us. I think we are going to go with that one + wet food and mix it up for them.
I'm sorry to hear that your kitty is so sensitive though! She is lucky she landed with you and is getting all the love and care she needs ^^

You are also lucky with your vet! Back home in Serbia I had a wonderful vet. My mom was also teaching his kids so he was prepared to do anything for us at any time of day. He even agreed to operate on a mangled pigeon that I found on the street, turned out he fixed her really well and she lived with us happily for the rest of her life. here, however I can't seem to get that personal connection with vets even though we take all our cats to the same place But at least today I had an impression that the new girl there listed to all we had to say and didn't dismiss us, so that's good.

and thank you for the tip! We have a new kitty litter made out of wood pellets so i might try to catch some urine before it gets soaked up.

i know. she was adopted from a shelter, so i'd hate to think what would've happened if anyone else got her. food and health issues were no problem for me, we had 2 at my mums that were always at the vet, plus i nursed my partner's cat thru 9 months of feline aids but all of that contributes to the excellent vet care we get, between me, my sisters and my mum, we reckon we paid for the clinic's refurbishment and extension so they have to treat us as VIP's  the rc urinary is really good, my miss biatch has had no issues since being on it, i took her off once to see how she'd go, and it was straight back to the vet - i think there might be a wet version of it too... it's a nuisance tho when you have other cats that don't need to eat it - my mum's were both on different script foods, one of whom would eat everything in sight. she used to have to stand guard while they ate!!!

[Vintergatan]

Zenna, yes it is really hard to find a good vet and yet that is probably what matters the most to me, especially here. If I get neglected or misdiagnosed by my doctor, I have some protection, but animals here have none! Although this vet office has already fixed two of our cats and operated against hernia on the third and it has all been done well so i'll give them the benefit of the doubt

Oh poor little darlings! I had no idea that there was a feline version of aids although I do know that my mom and my gran (that have always had many cats) had to battle cat plague (at least that's what they called it, not sure what it was exactly but by the sounds of it it was horrible), but that was before I was born.
You have such an amazing family though, to have taken care of so many fragile kitties

As for the new food, we had to shoo away our ever-hungry male constantly last night so he wouldn't eat all of the urinary food! It was crazy! He even knows he's not allowed to eat from that bowl and is usually fine with it, but this time, it was war

Now off to give Nala her medicine ^^

[kezrob23]

it just goes to show, no matter where we are in the world, our furbabies are all the same you are so right about needing a good vet, we can tell our dr what is wrong with us, but our pets need someone to talk for them. our lovely vet always referred to herself as aunty dianne, she was a true animal whisperer, i'm sure of it. i hope the rc works for your puddy, and mr pud doesn't eat it all