Cat With Urinary Blockage And Complications

[shadowsrescue]

My cat, Cisco quite quickly developed a urinary blockage on Friday. We rushed him to the emergency vet and had to leave him to be catheterized for two days. A urine culture was also taken which revealed a sample of over 50 crystals. This then led to an US of the bladder, kidney and other parts of the urinary tract. This came back clear, with no stone. His blood levels for kidney function were also in the normal range.

He did well on the catheter except he would not eat. The catheter was removed Sunday morning. Four hours later I received a call that he peed! Yet two hours later I received another call, that he was functionally blocked. This means, that there is nothing physically blocking the urethra, but his bladder and urethra were spasmming. He was under able to urinate. They were able to manually express the bladder. He was given more pain meds as well as something to try and stop the spasms. They felt as long as they could express the bladder it should resolve on its own. I called this morning and he was manually expressed over night and also urinated some on his own. The vet will see him later this morning.

I am very worried about bringing him home and there being a relapse. His diet before all of this was 85% wet food. I recently started transitioning to home cooked. His dry food amount was 2T per day also with some dry cat treats. I plan to stop all of the dry food/treats, but really do not want to go on prescription cat food for long term.

Any help/advice on how to manage this at home. Both how to quickly see that he might be blocking again. Also any food/treat advice.

Cisco was a feral/stray cat that I did TNR on in 2014. He stuck around for about 6 months after TNR and then vanished. He reappeared to my yard off and on for over a year. Then this past fall, he came back and decided to stay. He lived on my deck with my other 3 feral boys and was doing well. He then was attacked just before Christmas and the tip of his tail was bitten off. I had to catch him and get him a my vet. At this point his recovery was going to be 2 months or longer so I decided to socialized him fully and keep him inside. He most likely was a stray as he has done so well inside. This makes it a bit more challenging as I do not have much medical history on him.

Thanks for any help/advice.

 

[lalagimp]

Tom was given Prazosin for spasms. I switched him off kibble and he went through three different changes the first month. He moved to canned, then commercial raw, then homemade raw. When he blocked with crystals they said his pH was 8. I was watching his records they updated every 2 hours or so from the ER and he ate every time they offered it to him. When he came home he was trickling on himself and the floor and within the first 12 hrs he seemed pretty much back to normal except for the widened eyes from his pain relief. He got oral buprenex.
Things went well from December to February and I think it was Valentine's Day he blocked again. He had been diagnosed with FLUTD. His pH at that time was a 7 and the vet said his catheter went in with little resistance and she didn't believe it was an issue with crystals. Well someone screwed up his catheter and scraped his bladder wall and he was bleeding. They sent him home and said the bleeding would go away and it didn't and the hemorrhagic tissue blocked his urethra again.
So we was blocked twice in 48 hrs. We were in a panic. I broke down. I can't afford to keep unblocking him, whether it's his diet or his biology and we scraped the money together for surgery and he ended up getting his urethra reassigned.
We never really considered prescription diets because we want to feed him a pure diet and those formulas are full of crap ingredients and chemically change the pH, and can change a situation from having struvite crystals to end up having calcium oxalate stones. We have him on a maintenance of Cranberry Relief with his raw food even after surgery. I want to try to keep his bladder healthy.
He pees like a grown man. He gets loads of water and occasional bone broth in his raw and he'll still drink from the fountain. He's got tons of energy and next month he's getting his teeth cleaned. I've put it off the last six months because he's been to facility to facility to facility. He freaked out getting ready for his last followup to the surgeon so we didn't use the carrier and instead put him in his harness.
He'd been on dry his whole life at age 7 when this started. Every time he had to go back to the ER or the hospital in Virginia, he's never taken this situation with a grudge and has been social with everyone.
I've read catinfo.org several times and wondered why this happened more than once to Tommy. He's been hydrated up the wazoo when I changed his diet back in December.

 

[shadowsrescue]

Thank you for replying. I just heard that his bladder hardened again and expressing is no longer an option. They do not feel inserting a catheter is an option. We are going ahead with the PU surgery. I am just crushed. What an expense this has been.
Thanks for the reminder of bone broth. I have used it with several sick animals. I am going out to the store today to buy a whole chicken.
I hope that your sweet Tommy continues to do well.

 

[lalagimp]

I wasn't going to do the surgery because of the expense and the trauma but my boyfriend said Tom's good for it and that even if it only gives us a few more months before another emergency, that it was money well spent. 3 blockages and a surgery in the DC area ran us up to $10,000.
There is always the risk of stricture after the surgery so we knew that it may not 100% resolve this ongoing issue so you've got a road to go down with worrying about his condition during the blockages, the surgery, the recovery and then just trying to get back on with life. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't listen to Tom pee and end up smiling, but every day I see him in there I will always listen to Tom pee. It's my job.
I haven't made my own broth but the boys will use this one Ever since Tom got this diagnosis we've got both our males on the same stuff together. He's now 8 and the other guy is 5 and I hope he never has to go through this. I don't want anyone to have to go through this. I didn't even know this was a thing until December. They don't warn you about this in kitten school.

 

[tsalt]

Just chiming in to say that I hear you re: listening to pee! Ha. Every time Jack goes into the box I tell my husband to mute the TV or to stop talking--need to listen for that stream! Ah, what a life this is....
Sending healthy thoughts to both Cisco and Tom. My cat hasn't experienced a blockage yet but he's been close and it sounds incredibly stressful.

 

[Clancy's Mom]

Shadowsrescue, I don’t have any expertise here but did want to say how much I admire you for all you’ve done for the kitties.

 

[shadowsrescue]

The surgery went well and he might come home today. I am a bit anxious about his home care. I have read many experience complications. He will be in a spare room of his own so my other two can leave him alone.

Any tips for home care or what to look for? I bought the special litter (Yesterday's News) and also a soft e collar.

 

[lalagimp]

Tommy had a soft e collar until he figured out a way to pop it back and try to lick himself. He was on the loveseat for at least a week. We put down the electric blanket and then a white sheet on top of it to watch for bleeding. I ended up using Equisicat litter from Petsmart instead of yesterday's news. It doesn't change color when it's wet but the pellets puff up when they pee so you know what to scoop. Constipation is a thing. If not from the buprenex pain relief, then because the whole area is new and uncomfortable so don't be surprised if he doesn't poop for 2-3 days at a time for the first 2 weeks. I purchased some pet steps to line up sideways along the front of the loveseat so he could get up and down more easily. We didn't let the other cats around him for the first two weeks except a few times his sister insisted on checking up on him and she freaked out about the satellite dish around his head.
I wrote about it a few times on my blog and had pictures of the tales.
» PU Stop and Eat the Flowers

 

[shadowsrescue]

Thank you so much for the advice. I loved reading your account.
I hope to be prepared since he might make it home later today. I am anxious about caring for him. Fortunately the spare room is still his "safe room" when we first brought him inside. We were just getting ready to make it back to the guest room. I imagine I will be sleeping in the room with him at night, but we will see. I do have a wireless ip camera in the room so I can see him when I am not in there.

So much to think about....

 

[lavishsqualor]

Cisco is incredibly lucky to have you, RedTop. You are a wonderful guardian to him.

 

[lalagimp]

Ah. Yeah I forgot about that. My boyfriend slept with him for the first two weeks. The first week Tom was on the loveseat, and he was on the couch. Then Tom started adjusting and went to sleep in between boyfriend's legs. He'd tell me about Tom's bathroom habits through the night. They let Tom come home the very next evening. Some people have left their cats at the hospital for up to a week, either for monitoring or for difficulty urinating, but the inflammation that my bub had was minimal since we had him catheterized for 2 days straight to surgery. My heart skipped when I picked him up because when he realized we were taking him home he started softly talking to everyone he was so excited and drugged. The entire family went to get him.
I love using cameras. I'm so glad you have one. I pop in on the feeder webcams to check in on the dining room. I found out a week ago that I locked Tom in the bedroom during his lunch just as I was about to go into a movie and drove back home. Piece of mind. We didn't have the server running to use the cameras in the living room during his recovery but we're mostly SAH so we juggled our times. We did take the cone off when he ate and it's funny how he'd behave for his father to put it back on, but he'd run from me and learned how to scoot under the sofa in about .5 seconds. He's ridiculous.

 

[shadowsrescue]

He is home, but things are NOT going well. He did urinate at the vet hospital 3x today. Once home, he went straight to the litter box. He has been there at least 5 times. Not a drop has come out. This last time he strained so hard that the small blood clot fell off. He did eat a tiny amount of chicken and then some wet cat food with bone broth. Yet after just a bite or two he goes to the litter box.

He hates the e collar. He bangs it into the walls trying to get it off. I tried a donut type one, but he was able to reach back to the incision. He does not have stitches so I don't have to worry about sutures.

He finally fell asleep and I snuck out of the room. I work from home so I will be here 24/7. I do plan to sleep with him. I brought our large dog crate up too. If he doesn't settle, I will have to put him in the cage. Yet I do think the cage is a bit large. There is no way I can leave him alone in this room all night. So it's either stay or put him in the cage and hope he doesn't try to hurt himself.

This is certainly not going to be easy.

 

[lalagimp]

He may not even have enough urine built up to expel but may still be having spasms.
The last time Tom blocked before we took him for the PU he had totally lost his appetite so I'm hopeful because he's still trying to eat. Feel free to call the hospital back and ask how long they want you to give him to urinate before you're back in a danger zone. How does he not have sutures? Did they staple him?
I have a crate but we never used it because I wanted him to try to feel normal, but if he was going to risk hurting himself I would put him in. It's got enough room for a litter box and a cat sized area to lay in. The dog twisted her knee one year and that's the only reason I even have it. We had to lock Stew up the first day after his neuter to watch him because he was kind of feral. Their safety first.

 

[shadowsrescue]

We went back to the ER at 10:30 last night. He was not urinating and straining. He had a small blood clot at the incision site and it feel off while he was straining. Good news is no blockage, bad news is that he is still having spasms and thinks he has to go. They gave him fluids and Gabapentin for the nerve pain and to sedate a bit. Next step will be to try an antidepressant that off label is used to help cats calm down. I think I may need the entire bottle for myself!!

We got home at 1:30 am. Cisco rested until 3 am. Then the littler box crap started up. He was so upset that he was crashing into all of the walls in the room. Banging on the door with his cone and meowing up a storm. It was awful. I tried getting him into a large dog cage, but he got his paw stuck and just would bang the cone. My husband came in around 3:30am and we put him in the carrier for awhile. He did calm. My DH stayed with him the rest of the night. He did urinate around 4 am. I was up before 7 ( too many other animals to feed!). I did get Cisco to eat! I then gave all his meds. He is still up with DH resting.

This is just a nightmare. If he doesn't pee by 4pm, we have to take him back. I am trying to get him to drink and even giving him some syringes of water. He is not happy with me at all.

 

[lalagimp]

The boys are on Prozac. They still act like themselves but it has really taken the anxiety down when they couldn't get their spraying under control after we exhausted everything.
You're being diligent. I know it feels terrible.

 

[pushylady]

I hope he starts to pee today.

 

[lavishsqualor]

Wow, poor guy. He really is incredibly lucky to have you and your husband. You guys are doing everything you can.

 

[shadowsrescue]

Cisco had been doing really well. He was urinating and pooping. Then he got some diarrhea. I suspected the Clavamox. Surgeon suggested we try another dose or two, but the diarrhea did not stop. Once the clavamox was stopped, the stool started to reform.

Now it has been 36 hours since last diarrhea and 25 hours since last pee. I called the vet as I am concerned it has been so long. He is eating just fine and drinking water. He seems a bit tired today or maybe depressed. No trips at all to the litter box. We are either with him 24/7 or we have a camera running and recording to know what he is up to. The vet feels he may be in the process of rehydrating. Yet if he hasn't peed by tomorrow morning, back we go.

Please send the pee our way!

 

[Columbine]

Only just seen this. Sending you and Cisco a ton of for a smooth and speedy recovery

 

[pushylady]

Has he peed today?