Blockage, UTI and dealing with it :(

[jenny31052]

Hello everyone,

last Tuesday I had to rush my 8 years old kitty to the emergency vet because he was blocked... I came home very late that night from work to find him laying down in a unusual spot for him surrounded by vomit, and and bloody urine...

At the vet ER they were able to unblock him with a catheter, and did a cysto to relieve the bladder. I was horrified to see that the urine that came out was practically red, and thick... I cried right there in front of the all vet staff...

It was 4 am in the morning by the time he was unblocked, so I decided to take him home and take him to my regular vet at 8am..

There, they ended up putting another catheter on, and he stayed overnight, taking fluids, and antibiotics...

They wanted me to leave him one more night, but we were at the end of out budget (spent $1800 in two days).. they agreed in letting me taking him home with the catheter, meds,and fluids to do 3 times a day (SQ)...

They preferred to keep the cath on over the weekend, so I wouldn't end up spending another $500 at the vet ER if he blocked again while they were close...

So far he is doing good.. he is definitely himself as far as personality goes, wants his belly rubbed, purrs, and eat... he is confined to the bathroom and his urine has been clear for the past 2 days...

Tomorrow (Monday) they will take the cath out, and hopefully he will slowly get back to normal...

However, I'm terrified now... I'm terrified that after all this, he will be too afraid, and sore to urinate, and block again...

Is anyone's kitty been through a severe blockage? How was the "after catheter" part?

 

[ldg]

Aw, I'm so sorry hun! MANY, MANY of us have been there. :nod: Too many of us.

We left our kitty at the vet overnight when it happened. But it is scary. And, in fact, he did block again after a week or two, but we caught it right away, so he just needed his bladder expressed. The vet said if he blocked again, he'd need surgery to remove his urethra (it's called Perineal Urethrostomy).

The most important thing you need to do knowing your cat makes crystals is change his diet. If he eats kibble, he needs to be switched to canned, and you need to add a little water in to each meal. He needs a grain-free diet, with low carbs and LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of water. I switched mine to an all canned diet, added water to each meal, and they were peeing like racehorses. Keeping the urine dilute is the absolute main thing you can do to prevent it from happening again.

You might want to learn more about it: http://www.catinfo.org/?link=urinarytracthealth

 

[darlili]

My boy never blocked, but was diagnosed with struvite crystals.  My strong recommendation....work with your vet regarding any diet suggestions, and if the vet suggests a prescription food, please consider that suggestion seriously.  My boy hates wet food (got him as an adult, and he just loves his kibble).  So he gets Hills C/D (prescription) dry and as much wet as I can get him to take, without stressing him.  I also invested in a water fountain for him.  

Thankfully, he's been doing well for several years now.  

 

[cheshirecat]

My boy spent two days in the hospital because he was blocked.  Since then he has been on a prescription diet. 

It's expensive but he is worth it.  It's been over a year since his diagnosis and so far he has been fine.  But I still worry and watch him like a hawk. 

 

[orientalslave]

I have a friend with a cat that blocked several times.  She watched him like a hawk to make sure she didn't miss signs of it starting, but as the vet said, it couldn't go on so he had the PUS surgery.  She had to watch him like a hawk afterwards as if he managed to start licking the area he could have destroyed the work with no second attempt possible.  However it has been a great success - that was 3 years ago I think, and he is happy and healthy.

 

[jenny31052]

So, they took the catheter out a few hours ago... so far urine hasn't come out in a full stream, but it is constantly dripping like a leaking faucet...

He goes to the litter box every 10-15 minutes, and I find little clumps after he gets out...he then lays on the towels I placed on the floor, and I can see clear urine coming out almost non-stop - at least it doesn't stay stucked in there...

I'm still doing SQ fluids 3 times a day, and he is on Amoxicillin for 30 days... I have to assist-feeding him with a siringe because he doesn't care for the wet food :/

Ugh... I just hope his urethra starts healing from the trauma of the catheter.. I so wanna see a stream coming out, instead of just leakage!

 

[darkeyedgirl]

I have a story for you that may give you hope.

In early 2005, my cat Snickers, who was 14 years old at the time, suddenly developed Struvite crystals. I found him the same way - laying in a weird place, bloody urine, hunching over to pee. Took him to my Vet and they unblocked him (got all the crystals out, did the cath, etc.). They told me to switch his food to 'urinary tract health' labeled dry and give him a can of wet food per day (I forget what kind it was, but it was specifically for cats with urinary issues, low in ash or something..???)...

Snickers never blocked up ever again. He always drank just fine, peed just fine, everything was great. In April of 2009, he was diagnosed with liver disease. He was 19 years old at the time... this was 5 solid years after his awful blockage!!!!  I put him on daily meds for his liver, and he'd go in every week for fluids (I was too scared to stick him myself with the bag of fluids, even though he just laid there and didn't seem to mind when the Vet did it, they surely grew fond of my little guy).

He lived until December 30, 2009. I noticed on Christmas Day, he had blood on his nether regions when I picked him up to hold him (he loved being held, all his life, like a baby). I set him in the litter box to see if he seemed stressed; he didn't, but he didn't pee much, and it had blood in it. I took him to the Vet the very next morning, and they let me know he had NO crystals, and his liver tests actually showed his liver had improved; however, his kidneys were failing, his body temperature was only 98 degrees (cats are supposed to be 101 degrees normally), and since my Vet and I go waaaaaay back and they were VERY fond of Snickers, she said, "I think it may be time". Let me tell you, I wasn't ready for it, even though I knew it was time!

To make a painful story short, I let him go 3 days later. He did spend a whole day at the Vet with fluids and spent time on a heating pad, but I knew I was just extending his death, not extending his life. My guy lived a long happy life and those AWFUL crystals never came back - his body just gave out... he would have turned 20 years old in May of 2010, but I think his sister at the Rainbow Bridge was calling to him! (She died a year prior of old age as well).

Anyhoo Snickers healed quite well from the trauma of the catheter, and with a little adjustment in his diet and some severe hover-mothering by me, he was just fine!

I hope your lil guy does the same.

 

 

[mouche]

My furry son Roscoe went through this about four months ago, took him to the vet and found out after xrays and ultra sound that he was blocked, they kept him for two days on the catheter, he had crystals, he has been doing very well and they put him on a special EXPENSIVE diet. I add more water to every meal, he can never have dry food again, he took to wet food like a fish in water, he loves it. I had no idea feeding him only dry food could lead to this. I feel for anyone who has goone thought this with their kitty, it is not fun for them, but my baby did really well and has been great!!!