Blocked Cat (flutd)

[katherynek]

Unfortunately, my 10 month old Galileo had a urinary obstruction over the weekend and had an emergency procedure done that was $2,000. Almost all my husband and I’s savings. We had a feeling he was going to block because a little over a month ago he was straining to urinate. Seemingly like a UTI but the vet said he wasn’t blocked, in fact his bladder was super tiny and nearly empty. She could tell his urine was concentrated, had some blood, and that his ultrasound showed crystals forming in his bladder. We made a bunch of changes - got him a kitty fountain to drink out of and had two other water bowls around the house, we began giving him wet food 50% of the time (for dinner) and added water to it, then we gave him the perscription C/D Hill’s brand dry food for breakfast. I know stress can be a factor, and he is indoor (legally we have to). So we’ve tried enriching his environment - puzzle feeders, LOTS of toys, scratchers, two cat trees, etc. He honestly doesn’t appear stressed but maybe I’m just not noticing it. Unfortunately, pet insurance will not cover another blockage since it’s pre-existing (accepting recommendations for insurance companies that will cover it and are legitimate! But not hopeful!)

DOES ANY ONE HAVE ANY SUCCESS STORIES!? If so, what did you do?? Trying to save up $4,000 to get his anatomy altered but that could be a year from now, maybe even more. We will have to put him down if it happens again within the next few months, unfortunately. Looking for holistic recommendations as well. Prescription meds, any thing! Has anyone been successful? Or atleast been able to keep a blockage at bay for a year or longer?

TIA

 

[maggiedemi]

Have you ever tried canned food only, no dry food?

 

[abyeb]

I’m so sorry to hear that your cat is going through this. I’m glad that you found TCS, we’re a supportive community of cat lovers, and we all want to help Galileo.

Here’s an article detailing prevention and treatment of FLUTD: Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (flutd)

Feeding canned food, as Maggiedemi said, is helpful in preventing FLUTD flare ups, as it helps keep cats hydrated, and thus diluting the urine. You can even add extra water to wet food, up to a 50:50 ratio of food to water.

 

[lavishsqualor]

I agree with abyeb and maggie. You have to get H2O into your cat. Feeding nothing but wet food and adding even more water is a great way to do that. I'm so paranoid about my cats blocking that they practically have to lap up their food because it's so diluted. They're used to it so they don't mind.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Galileo.

 

[LTS3]

Avoiding seafood can help, too. Seafood can cause urinary issues in some cats. Fish can be in any food, both canned and dry, even if the formula says something like "chicken".

See if you can get help with the vet bills from one of these organizations:

No Money For Vet Care? How To Find Help And Save Your Cat's Life
Financial Aid for Pets

 

[katherynek]

Have you ever tried canned food only, no dry food?

I have not but I’m going to only do the prescription wet food now. Especially with all these responses in favor of it!

 

[katherynek]

Avoiding seafood can help, too. Seafood can cause urinary issues in some cats. Fish can be in any food, both canned and dry, even if the formula says something like "chicken".

See if you can get help with the vet bills from one of these organizations:

No Money For Vet Care? How To Find Help And Save Your Cat's Life
Financial Aid for Pets

Thank you! I’m going to look into this IMEADIATELY

 

[houseofnine]

I think there is a pet insurance company called petplan that covers prexisting conditions. It is not cheap, but I have a friend who recommends it.
I'm so sorry you're going through the FLUTD problem with your boy. Hooper was eating mostly wet food, little or no fish, but still got blocked. In his case, it was partially stress/ "holding it too long" from litter box avoidance due to aggression from another household cat. He's on the Royal Canin SO wet food, and no dry food at all. He has his own room & litter box now with a tall, swing-open baby gate that he can squeeze through, but the bully cat cannot. If you have the space, this situation might help him mellow out. Best of luck, I know how hard this is both financially and emotionally.
PS: We have 12 cats and at least 13 litter boxes. You can guess we don't have many people over. =)

 

[lalagimp]

Tommy blocked twice and I immediately called to have CareCredit raise my limit. Less than 2 days later, he was blocked again, so we did surgery.
Lay it out for you:
November 30 16
first blockage, crystals confirmed, dry food only
Changed to canned food immediately
Moved to homemade raw New years day
February '17, blocked again
Took him home from ER stay, and then he quit being able to pee and had heavy blood in his urine
ER says he was blocked again.
I was crying my eyes out to my boyfriend that I can't afford the payments. He said to get him unblocked this last time and we'll find a surgeon and he'll help me pay for it.
The surgery went on the Best Buy Visa and my American Express card.
Surgery was $2400. Most of the ER visits were around $2000.

His surgery was uneventful. He had a great recovery. Next month will be a year since his last blockage.

The ER didn't want us to take him to surgery. Dr Pierson even told me she wished we didn't do surgery, but it came down to either saving him or putting him down. We were stretched and we agreed, one more blockage and we would probably have to be without him, so we did the PU.

 

[houseofnine]

Tommy blocked twice and I immediately called to have CareCredit raise my limit. Less than 2 days later, he was blocked again, so we did surgery.
Lay it out for you:
November 30 16
first blockage, crystals confirmed, dry food only
Changed to canned food immediately
Moved to homemade raw New years day
February '17, blocked again
Took him home from ER stay, and then he quit being able to pee and had heavy blood in his urine
ER says he was blocked again.
I was crying my eyes out to my boyfriend that I can't afford the payments. He said to get him unblocked this last time and we'll find a surgeon and he'll help me pay for it.
The surgery went on the Best Buy Visa and my American Express card.
Surgery was $2400. Most of the ER visits were around $2000.

His surgery was uneventful. He had a great recovery. Next month will be a year since his last blockage.

The ER didn't want us to take him to surgery. Dr Pierson even told me she wished we didn't do surgery, but it came down to either saving him or putting him down. We were stretched and we agreed, one more blockage and we would probably have to be without him, so we did the PU.

lalagimp
I have to state the obvious and say that your boyfriend and Tommy are both keepers, as are you. What a great family of good people.

 

[katherynek]

Tommy blocked twice and I immediately called to have CareCredit raise my limit. Less than 2 days later, he was blocked again, so we did surgery.
Lay it out for you:
November 30 16
first blockage, crystals confirmed, dry food only
Changed to canned food immediately
Moved to homemade raw New years day
February '17, blocked again
Took him home from ER stay, and then he quit being able to pee and had heavy blood in his urine
ER says he was blocked again.
I was crying my eyes out to my boyfriend that I can't afford the payments. He said to get him unblocked this last time and we'll find a surgeon and he'll help me pay for it.
The surgery went on the Best Buy Visa and my American Express card.
Surgery was $2400. Most of the ER visits were around $2000.

His surgery was uneventful. He had a great recovery. Next month will be a year since his last blockage.

The ER didn't want us to take him to surgery. Dr Pierson even told me she wished we didn't do surgery, but it came down to either saving him or putting him down. We were stretched and we agreed, one more blockage and we would probably have to be without him, so we did the PU.

Were you able to do the surgery during the blockage. What I mean by that is - did you have to pay $2000 to unlock him then $2500 to get the surgery? Or were you able to just get the blockage removed during the PU surgery? My vet also isn’t super into the surgery but the ER vet basically said my options were - put him down relatively soon (next blockage) or get the PU surgery. My vet just wants me to make sure he gets fluids. No surgery. No euthanization. But I’m not made of money! I can’t just pay for every blockage until he dies of old age

 

[lalagimp]

When he blocked the third time, there wasn't much time to comprehend it, and he hit the three strikes rule. That credit limit increase I had just requested covered the third blockage, and then that card was maxed. We left him at the ER for two days while we made calls and worked with scheduling. Dr Brown hadn't performed a PU in at least a decade, although he's been in practice for geez I think at least twenty years. Other places couldn't get him in for weeks, and some around $4,000. One hospital referred me across state lines, and I told them that was fine as long as we could get a great level of care. The receptionist in Virginia said it's 2 1/2 weeks out, but let me ask our surgeon. Turns out Dr Nguyen would take him in 2 days at $2,400, and the plan was to just leave Tom in the ER with the cath, and then take him directly from the ER to Virginia without removing it. Let the VA hospital remove it when they prep him for surgery.
So Tom had two days for inflammation to go down, got surgery, then came home the next evening.

 

[humanracer]

I know you may not want to hear this but I had to my cat to sleep because he was blocked. I was offered a very expensive operation, which my insurance would not cover, but I felt that it would put the cat through lots of stress and financially I could not afford the ongoing care. I had to make a decision there and then as he was in pain so decided to put the cat to sleep. I still feel bad about it. I totally understand what you are going through. Research is being done but the majority of blockages have an unknown cause. They say some cats handle stress in an abnormal way and this can contribute. My other cat now has wet food as was previously on dry only.
I wish I could have saved my cat but I know that there was a high chance he may be blocked again as my vet said second and third blockages are not uncommon.