Penis Removal (blockage)

[Laney_Jane]

I'm so glad I found this forum!

When I spoke to the vet earlier he suggested 'penis removal' and I freaked out at how much this would put my cat through physically and mentally!

My little guy has been neutered but has also had about 3/4 bouts of urinary crystals that have almost killed him at times. Until I took him to another country where it flared up due to the stress of the move, the vet here has immediately suggested this removal. Nobody vet the UK had ever mentioned it to us as an option, and I feel they should have done by his forth time with the crystals! I feel a lot calmer now I realise how much it can help and prevent him having to go back into the vets in pain!

Question for people who've had the removal op..... how did your cats behaviour and peeing improve (or not) over the next few years? Did you ever have to take him back for other problems or side effects of the removal?

And tips for the maintenance... our little guy reacts well with grain free high protein food. Sadly when we moved we didn't buy enough over from the UK so we can't find it here (probably another reason he's got the crystals back!)


Thanks in advance for replies xx

 

[maggiedemi]

Have you tried feeding him all canned food? My cats get blocked up when they eat only half a cup of dry food.

 

[Laney_Jane]

He had the canned for a couple of years but we couldn't afford the specialist canned food so needed to find an alternative. Most others are either too expensive or full of additives he goes crazy on! He drinks quite a lot with the dried and it has worked for two years now. I think he just can't hack stress - anytime we have moved house it has flared up about a month after

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi, the Big Guy had this procedure when he was young (maybe two from what I recall off his paperwork I obtained from before we got him). He is neutered. No issues from the surgery then or now. The vet had his owners at the time begin feeding him wet. He was very stressed all the while that he was with these folks but no recurrence, so I always went with the thought that the only thing that caused it, for him anyway, was the dry food/not enough fluid for his kidneys to flush out his system. Oh, I also wanted to mention that I have a water filter on my kitchen sink faucet. I've read that distilled water is fine to drink in the short term but not as a permanent thing. To have a cat neutered is important. If they're losing weight/having health issues, the neutering isn't going to be the culprit. Anyway, I'll tell you what, he's not happy about anybody fiddling with his private area no matter how much I try and tell him that he needs a hair trim and if I'm late, any hanging dingleberries from sticky poo just make him nuts!!

 

[lalagimp]

Tommy will be 1 year modified next month. He eats a raw diet I make with less than 10 % bone, per Dr Pierson. He only got upset about the surgery the first day the cone was off, and he groomed his new pieces raw, and then he learned to not do that again. We had even given him an additional two weeks wearing that thing for more healing. He was placed on Prozac in 2016, before the blockages, so his stress was fairly well managed. I just took him off Prozac last month. Oh, and he was neutered when he was 2-3 months old, and didn't get his first block until he was 7 1/2 years old.

 

[Laney_Jane]

Hi, good thread to revive. So, the Big Guy had this procedure when he was young (maybe two from what I recall off his paperwork I obtained from before we got him). He is neutered. No issues from the surgery then or now. The vet had his owners at the time begin feeding him wet. He was very stressed all the while that he was with these folks but no recurrence, so I always went with the thought that the only thing that caused it, for him anyway, was the dry food/not enough fluid for his kidneys to flush out his system. Oh, I also wanted to mention that I have a water filter on my kitchen sink faucet. I've read that distilled water is fine to drink in the short term but not as a permanent thing. To have a cat neutered is important. If they're losing weight/having health issues, the neutering isn't going to be the culprit. Anyway, I'll tell you what, he's not happy about anybody fiddling with his private area no matter how much I try and tell him that he needs a hair trim and if I'm late, any hanging dingleberries from sticky poo just make him nuts!!

I mean the actual penis removal, he was neutred as a kitten but had had 4/5 incidences of crystals blocking him now. He is just 8. He hasn't had one for three years, but the vet has opened my mind as I didn't know there were any other options.

 

[Furballsmom]

I'm sorry I wasn't clear, yes my Big Guy had the penis removal.

 

[Laney_Jane]

I'm sorry I wasn't clear, yes my Big Guy had the penis removal.

It's ok - I misunderstand everything, thanks for clarifying!!

 

[Furballsmom]

Not to worry one bit!

 

[maggiedemi]

It's the dry food, I've seen it happen. They need the moisture of canned food. You don't have to go broke, there are affordable options.

 

[fodder]

My cat has had a perineal urethrostomy after having numerous bad blockages. It wasn't until after the operation that i learned about special diets that keep it in check. If i were you i would do a few things before getting the op.

Firstly, get your hands on some food designed for this issue. My cat has not shown any sign of crystals since i started feeding him royal canin urinary s/o biscuits. I don't give him this as a main source of food either. I simply give him a small handful per day and it has kept him crystal free for years now. If this method works for your cat to it ends up being fairly cheap.
To start with i fed him solely on urinary specialty food but it was quite expensive to do so and the result was the same.

Secondly, this is something i wish i had found before getting the op to. After my cat had his OP but before i knew much about diet to control it he had a couple of crystal incidents. He didn't get blocked(because he had the op) but he was still in pain and quite uncomfortable.
During this time i found a solution. I made up a mix of apple cider vinegar,cranberry juice and water. Feeding him this through a syringe gave him near instant relief and the crystals would almost instantly disappear. I gave him this every time i noticed crystals or any sign that he was uncomfortable.
The solution was made up of around one cap full of apple cider vinegar, one cap full of cranberry juice and then around 200ml of water or just fill an average cup. It is heavily diluted so as to be more palatable but still works wonders. Also, only a small amount needs to be given, i would say approx 10ml or around 2 teaspoons.

Having said all of that. If your cat gets blocked it is an emergency and you shouldn't mess around with trying the above stuff. Get straight to the vet.

If you notice crystals but your cat sis still peeing then try the A.C.V cranberry solution and see if it helps.

Ultimately diet is the key to success in long term treatment.

As for the surgery. My cat dealt with it just fine. It has certainly prevented any blockages but it is definitely harder to keep clean. I regularly clean my cat all around that area with a very soft cloth and keep the area shaven as much as possible to try to keep things as clean as possible.
In the end i had to feed him a special diet to maintain good bladder ph anyway.

 

[Furballsmom]

fodder great information! If I may inquire, what is it that tipped you off to knowing your cat was having the start of a crystals episode, besides him being uncomfortable/in pain?

 

[fodder]

After the first blockage i watched him carefully. Obviously when he was completely blocked he was acting distressed so that one was easy but post op i simply checked him after each urination. The crystals are visible, they look like sand and so if i noticed any sign of them i gave him the A.C.V mix.

There were times i noticed his behavior change before i noticed any crystals. Licking at the area more than usual, restless, meowing for no real reason etc etc.

Since starting him on a consistent dosage of the urinary s/o diet there have been zero flare ups though. I still keep ACV and cranberry juice in case.

 

[Furballsmom]

I see, thank you very much.

 

[Yanaka]

Did you move to the US? Even if you haven't, I'm sure you would find canned food that is in your budget and will help your little guy before going with the operation? Do you feed dry right now?

 

[lavishsqualor]

The dry food you are feeding him is absolutely the culprit. Cat's with these kinds of issues simply cannot eat dry food. There are affordable options in wet food.

 

[fodder]

The dry food you are feeding him is absolutely the culprit. Cat's with these kinds of issues simply cannot eat dry food. There are affordable options in wet food.

I agree with you for the most part. Adding more water to the diet helps tremendously however it is maintaining the correct PH balance that is important. While i would also suggest switching to wet food and even adding water to that wet food if your cat will eat it, that won't necessarily fix the problem.

My cat uses the Urinary S/O dry food and it has kept him clear of crystals for around 8 years now. Before that(when he developed the crystals) he was on a total wet food diet.

 

[Laney_Jane]

Thanks everyone all the useful information. My cat licks and meows a lot when he has a flare up, although this time we didn't get the meowing... He just kept putting himself to bed instead of sitting with us. Basically, it you see a cat's behaviour change usually something is up!

Re the dry food.... Before we moved we fed him dry food for over two years and he has not had a flare up, but we have him on one cystaid tablet per day to prevent... Vets orders.

I would like to ask those of you who feed wet food.... Is is always prescribed food especially for crystals? Do you also have to give tablets too?

 

[Laney_Jane]

The dry food you are feeding him is absolutely the culprit. Cat's with these kinds of issues simply cannot eat dry food. There are affordable options in wet food.

Do you feed him the prescribed wet food, or normal wet food? The prescribed food e.g. hills c/d or whichever, usually is twice the cost. or quadruple the cost of the dry

 

[fodder]

Do you feed him the prescribed wet food, or normal wet food? The prescribed food e.g. hills c/d or whichever, usually is twice the cost. or quadruple the cost of the dry

This is why i ended up with the method i currently use. At first i changed my guy to solely wet prescription diet food. It worked but the cost was high. It was $35 per week roughly.

Eventually over time i tested different things. I was reluctant to try dry food, even though it was designed for this issue just because i knew that water intake is especially important for this problem. It however worked just as well as the wet food. I then tried re introducing normal wet food back in to his diet while each day giving him a small amount of the biscuits. He has been crystal free ever since.

I buy a 3.5kg bag of royal canin urinary S/O. It costs around $70 and last for around 3 - 4 months and that is giving it to 2 cats.

What i do is feed them both normal wet food twice a day and in between those 2 meals give them both a small amount of the royal canin biscuits.

Not sure if i made it clear before but my cat had this problem BADLY! he fully blocked twice, had the perenial urethostomy and still got bad crystals until i started the above.

I have never used any pill form of medication. I assume it is just to increase the acidity of the urine and re balance the PH which the prescription food will do on it's own. There is another form of urinary crystal where the urine is actually too acidic but it is much more rare.

I think everyone is afraid of the cost of permanent prescription food for their pet but in this case a small amount added to their normal diet will most likely be sufficient so it doesn't end up costing much more than you are already paying for food anyway. The way i do it costs me at maximum $6 per week for 2 cats.