Hi everyone,

So my little dude Taz has been having a bit of trouble. I just want to ask people's opinions on whether I'm doing what I should be doing right now. He's about 6 months old, and is not yet neutered. He has an appointment for neutering next week.

Last evening, i noticed he was licking his genitals, specifically prepuce, for a fair amount of time. So, i stopped him, and noticed that there was blood around the area, obviously spread around by his licking. He was meowing here and there, something I'd interpret as showing pain/discomfort.

He stopped after a while, but began again this morning, although i didn't see any sign of blood. I took him to the vet today. his prepuce was swollen, and there looked to be some irritation between his prepuce and scrotum, so the vet figured there was just external irritation, perhaps due to a scratch. She gave me an ointment, which as antifungal/antibacterial i believe, and said to keep him from licking more, and use a cone collar if i have to.

After getting home this evening, from the vet, things seemed to become a little worse, or at least i realized what was going on. He was actually bleeding from inside his penis... not from licking things raw.

sorry for being graphic and all, but i want to make sure that all the details are discussed since i'm concerned for his health.

So... I figure that he likely has a urinary tract infection. although he doesn't often try to pee and fail to do so, and seems to mostly be peeing in normal amounts (a few times with relatively smaller amounts) he often licks after he uses his box. But.. I have to wait until tomorrow to contact the vet. Well, if he appears to be in more agony on an ongoing basis, i'll contact an emergency service, but for now i'm just looking for home remedies to hold him over until tomorrow. I'm assuming the vet will prescribe some antibiotics, but for now, i want to know what i should be doing.

Went to the pet store, purchased chewable tablets for promoting urinary tract health. it includes cranberry, ascorbic acid, parsley, corn silk, uba ursi, couch grass root, slippery elm, butcher's broom, marshmellow root, and horsetail. i've given him one tablet so far.

one other detail i will mention is that, when blood does come from his penis, it appears as if he has an erection.. well, i'm not sure if its an erection, but he exposes his entire penis, and seems to be 'pumping' or doing something like that.... perhaps its just effort to pee? i'm not sure, but is it normal that you'll see a cat expose his penis like this if he's having a urinary tract infection?

I'm looking forward to everyone's feedback.

Thanks,
Brian[/i]

poor little guy... yep, it was an urinary tract infection, but he's licked him self so raw that he's now infected externally too... looks so painful, but only seems to bother him once in a while.. feel so bad for him , although, he's on his way to feeling better soon with his antibiotics (baytril) and the topical hibitane. only time now will heal.

thankfully, given the symptoms, this is the best outcome i guess

appreciate your reassurance in my care, bundles of bengals!

Brian