Cat hasn’t peed since yesterday (post blockage)

[Murphys_mom]

Hi! First time poster, here! I’m needing some advice…sorry for the long post, it’s been a long two weeks. So last Monday, 11-15-21, i noticed my 3 year old kitty Murphy was frequently in and out of his litter box and not producing urine. I rushed him to our small town vet and they kept him overnight with fluids and a catheter. This vet didn’t run any tests, but said they thought it was crystals because his bladder was big and hard. They sent him home the next day (catheter still in place) and told me to keep him in the bathroom and monitor his urine output. He was producing urine, but it was difficult to keep track of the amounts because the catheter had no bag attached so he was just dribbling urine everywhere. On Wednesday afternoon i took him BACK to the vet and had the catheter removed. He was sent home with Hills Science Diet dry C/D food and amoxicillin, no pain meds or muscle relaxers. On Thursday, he was peeing in his litter box very small amounts (dime size) about every 20 minutes. On Friday, he began throwing up immediately after eating and peeing blood on our carpet. He was still eating and drinking, so i monitored him through the night and he seemed to be doing better. On Saturday, he wasn’t able to urinate at all, so i took him to the nearest animal hospital about an hour away. They placed another catheter, ran urine and blood tests and X-rays, and kept him until Tuesday. They said he was blocked due to stress, probably from the first catheter being placed and removed without any pain medication/muscle relaxers and it being painful for him to urinate, and they didn’t find any stones or crystals. They sent him home with my mom (I was out of state) and he seemed to be doing well. They gave him amoxicillin and gabapentin. He stayed with my mom from Tuesday to Friday (yesterday) and he was eating, drinking, playing, and going to the bathroom perfectly fine. I picked him up yesterday evening when I got back to town. He did use the litter box at my moms house right before i picked him up around 4:30 pm. He has not peed or pooped since then. It’s now 1:30 pm Saturday and I’m getting concerned, but I’m thinking maybe he’s just still adjusting to being back home? The medicine makes him sleepy, and he is still eating and drinking regularly and he has been acting normal. Again, sorry for the long post!!! I just don’t want to traumatize him with another vet visit if I’m overreacting.

 

[Stargirl0623]

Please get in touch with your vet about this IMMEDIATELY, as he probably needs to go back! That's nearly 24 hours with no urine and, unfortunately, once they've blocked once they're at high risk of reobstruction, especially in that first week afterwards. If he's not acting like he's in distress that's a positive sign, but these things can escalate quickly so please watch him and be prepared to bring him back in. Gabapentin can constipate them, so the lack of poop isn't a concern yet, but the lack of urine is.

(My cat went through this a few months back. Not to scare you, but he ultimately did need a surgery to correct his urinary tract in order to stay clear after he reobstructed several times in a row. I feel for you so much--this is absolutely miserable, and the lack of certainty/how quickly they can change when they're going through this is an utter nightmare. If you have any specific questions or need an empathetic ear, please know you can reach out!)

 

[fionasmom]

Welcome to The Cat Site! I am sorry that this crisis is what brings you here. Any lack of ability to urinate, especially in a male cat, is a really slippery slope. He may pee within the next few minutes, and maybe he has or not, but even if he does the problem is not solved. It is intermittent but recurring, at best, which means that you are waiting for the other shoe to drop....suddenly he can't pee and then you have another emergency on your hands. As I understand your post, you have conflicting information from the two places that he went. First one said crystals, but seems to not have verified this (?) and the second did tests and did not find stones or crystals. Given that the second place did do tests, they may be correct but you still have a cat who is not peeing.

Both places gave him amoxicillin. There is some chance that without doing a culture that it is not the right antibiotic for his specific infection. If that is the case, it might explain why he was better for a few days at your mom's but now seems to be worse again.

Feline Idiopathic Cystitis

If there are no other issues in the bladder which are causing the blockage, he may have what the above article discusses. This is something that can be triggered by stress, but that does not necessarily mean that if your cat relaxes that it will all go away. It is considered a painful condition and that has to be addressed. The second vet did tell you that he thought that what the first vet did caused pain and irritation.

The bottom line to this is that if you sense that your cat cannot pee, despite the fact that you really have tried to resolve this, he needs a vet once again. If he has not peed since you posted, I would go now.

 

[Murphys_mom]

Please get in touch with your vet about this, as he probably needs to go back! That's nearly 24 hours with no urine and, unfortunately, once they've blocked once they're at high risk of reobstruction, especially in that first week afterwards. If he's not acting like he's in distress that's a positive sign, but these things can escalate quickly so please watch him and be prepared to bring him back in. Gabapentin can constipate them, so the lack of poop isn't a concern yet, but the lack of urine is.

(My cat went through this a few months back. Not to scare you, but he ultimately did need a surgery to correct his urinary tract in order to stay clear after he reobstructed several times in a row. I feel for you so much--this is absolutely miserable, and the lack of certainty/how quickly they can change when they're going through this is an utter nightmare. If you have any specific questions or need an empathetic ear, please know you can reach out!)

Thank you for the response! My local vet doesn’t open until Monday and I can’t afford another $1500 emergency vet bill back to back so i don’t know what to do. He hasn’t acted like he needs to urinate at all since he’s been home, just eating sleeping and playing. The previous times I took him into the vet he was in and out of his litter box frequently and constantly trying to urinate with little to no urine. So I’m wondering if he just doesn’t have to go yet? The whole time he was with my parents, he was using the litter box 1-2 times a day which is normal for him. This has been so frustrating and I feel so bad for my little guy! I know the last few weeks have been so stressful for him and if this is stress related like the emergency vet thinks it is, i worry another vet trip will just make it worse

 

[Murphys_mom]

Welcome to The Cat Site! I am sorry that this crisis is what brings you here. Any lack of ability to urinate, especially in a male cat, is a really slippery slope. He may pee within the next few minutes, and maybe he has or not, but even if he does the problem is not solved. It is intermittent but recurring, at best, which means that you are waiting for the other shoe to drop....suddenly he can't pee and then you have another emergency on your hands. As I understand your post, you have conflicting information from the two places that he went. First one said crystals, but seems to not have verified this (?) and the second did tests and did not find stones or crystals. Given that the second place did do tests, they may be correct but you still have a cat who is not peeing.

Both places gave him amoxicillin. There is some chance that without doing a culture that it is not the right antibiotic for his specific infection. If that is the case, it might explain why he was better for a few days at your mom's but now seems to be worse again.

Feline Idiopathic Cystitis

If there are no other issues in the bladder which are causing the blockage, he may have what the above article discusses. This is something that can be triggered by stress, but that does not necessarily mean that if your cat relaxes that it will all go away. It is considered a painful condition and that has to be addressed. The second vet did tell you that he thought that what the first vet did caused pain and irritation.

The bottom line to this is that if you sense that your cat cannot pee, despite the fact that you really have tried to resolve this, he needs a vet once again. If he has not peed since you posted, I would go now.

Thank you for your response!! From what I was told, My local vet is small town and more targeted for cattle and horses, so they don’t have the technology to run tests like the emergency animal hospital did. I’m thinking he did have crystals initially, but the prescription food helped dissolve them and then he reblocked due to stress from being back and forth and locked in the bathroom for a few days. As for the amoxicillin, the hospital staff said his cultures came back clean with no infection, they just wanted him on an antibiotic to prevent infection from the catheter being removed. I’m hoping that he is just still adjusting to being home. He hasn’t been straining to urinate or even acted like he needs to urinate, so maybe he just doesn’t have to go yet? I’m at a loss. My vet isn’t open on the weekend and I really can’t afford two $1500 emergency bills back to back

 

[Stargirl0623]

Thank you for the response! My local vet doesn’t open until Monday and I can’t afford another $1500 emergency vet bill back to back so i don’t know what to do. He hasn’t acted like he needs to urinate at all since he’s been home, just eating sleeping and playing. The previous times I took him into the vet he was in and out of his litter box frequently and constantly trying to urinate with little to no urine. So I’m wondering if he just doesn’t have to go yet? The whole time he was with my parents, he was using the litter box 1-2 times a day which is normal for him. This has been so frustrating and I feel so bad for my little guy! I know the last few weeks have been so stressful for him and if this is stress related like the emergency vet thinks it is, i worry another vet trip will just make it worse

I understand your concern, and the financial impact is definitely real! Still, an obstruction is very painful and can do severe organ damage very fast, so I would watch him VERY closely and be prepared to take him back in at the first sign of discomfort and/or if he continues to not pee.