Has anyone else's cat made it through this?

[Stein71]

My 8 year old boy started vomiting, having diarrhea, and hiding yesterday. Usually he sits on me and purrs to wake me up, and I immediately thought it odd that he wasn't there when I woke up. Then I noticed vomit in the living room, but I have 4 cats so I didn't immediately suspect it was him. During the day I noticed him sitting in the litter box and refusing to come to me.

I thought maybe he wasn't feeling well, but around 3 am the next morning, I began to really worry he was dying as he wasn't moving or responding. He was having trouble walking, very lethargic, and would drink water until he vomited then try to drink again. By 7 am he was limp and unresponsive at times.

I brought him to the vet when they opened, he was deeply sleeping and not moving. They told me he had a complete blockage, his bladder was about to burst, and they would see what they could do. He was barely responsive when I left him at the vet's.

When the vet updated me this evening, they said they cleared the blockage, he was alert and sitting up a little, but his kidneys are in terrible shape. There was more blood than urine in his bladder. They won't know for a few days how bad the damage is. Only a month ago his kidneys were healthy, but he was struggling with UTIs and filled with crystals.

Has anyone had a cat make it through something so bad? The vet thinks he might have been blocked for days. I am worried I should have put him down this morning instead of trying to save him. I feel so guilty. Just the night before last he was perfectly fine, and now he might have to be put down.

 

[Nebaug]

Hello and sorry for your kitty to go through that. Unfortunately, they can’t speak and tell us when something is wrong. Since he already went through unblocking, if he is willing give him a chance. Some of them recover and with adequate diet can recover and not have any major issues related to that. Unfortunately, majority os blocked kitties don’t do well in the long run. Repeated blocking, uts, incontinence are some issue. It’s up to you to decide are you and your cat willing to go through all that and what quality of life is there first for your pet and then also for the rest of the family. The fact that you are here and feeling guilty … is telling. In the end you will make decision that is best for your kitty. Hopefully, it will all work out.

 

[kashmir64]

Hate to be the one to give you bad news, but blood in the kidneys is not good. My Mau died of kidney failure and it was quick...but not this quick.

That being said, don't jump just yet. See what the vet says and then make as educated a decision as you can.
Quality of life is more important than quantity, but he may have good days ahead of him yet.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

If your Vet didn't highly recommend euthanasia, then they must think he will pull through. They will probably suggest you feed him a prescription diet to prevent further blockages, and those do tend to help.

At this point in time, I would heavily rely on what the Vet tells you about his condition. As them to be frank with you.

 

[IndyJones]

Have you discussed a PU surgery with the vet?

Basically it's a gender reassignment surgery for cats. But the purpose is much different, it is a life saving surgery that Basically gives the male cat a vagina instead of a penis. So he is far less likely to block.

Generally it is very successful.

Perineal Urethrostomy Surgery in Cats

 

[Nebaug]

Have you discussed a PU surgery with the vet?

Basically it's a gender reassignment surgery for cats. But the purpose is much different, it is a life saving surgery that Basically gives the male cat a vagina instead of a penis. So he is far less likely to block.

Generally it is very successful.

Perineal Urethrostomy Surgery in Cats

That is great in theory but lots of cats have same problems (chrystals) and then there is issue of leaking urine . I know of cases of people going through with expensive procedure and then year later dumping a cat at a shelter because they couldn’t handle the side effects. l kind of feel that is not fear to the cat but also not fear to the people. Every single one said that they were never made aware of certain things and if they knew they would not go through with surgery. Not that l agree with them …… but not all vets are in business of helping

 

[Stein71]

Thank you everyone for your advice and suggestions. My buddy miraculously ended up with negligible kidney damage - one of his kidneys is perfect and the other is only a tiny bit damaged short term. It feels like a miracle.

Hello and sorry for your kitty to go through that. Unfortunately, they can’t speak and tell us when something is wrong. Since he already went through unblocking, if he is willing give him a chance. Some of them recover and with adequate diet can recover and not have any major issues related to that. Unfortunately, majority os blocked kitties don’t do well in the long run. Repeated blocking, uts, incontinence are some issue. It’s up to you to decide are you and your cat willing to go through all that and what quality of life is there first for your pet and then also for the rest of the family. The fact that you are here and feeling guilty … is telling. In the end you will make decision that is best for your kitty. Hopefully, it will all work out.

Thank you for your reply. I was a mess that night. It feels like a miracle but my buddy ended up with only a negligible amount of damage in one kidney and has a bright future ahead of him. I'm worried about him continuing to get these but I'm hoping that changing his diet might help. I'm feeling so much better about my decision now that I know it wasn't his time to go.

 

[Stein71]

Hate to be the one to give you bad news, but blood in the kidneys is not good. My Mau died of kidney failure and it was quick...but not this quick.

That being said, don't jump just yet. See what the vet says and then make as educated a decision as you can.
Quality of life is more important than quantity, but he may have good days ahead of him yet.

I'm so glad that my buddy ended up having good days ahead of him and it wasn't his turn to go yet. I'm hoping that changing his diet will help his issues get better.

 

[Stein71]

If your Vet didn't highly recommend euthanasia, then they must think he will pull through. They will probably suggest you feed him a prescription diet to prevent further blockages, and those do tend to help.

At this point in time, I would heavily rely on what the Vet tells you about his condition. As them to be frank with you.

I'm so glad that the vet didn't recommend euthanasia and my buddy ended up pulling through with minimal damage. I'm going to change his diet up and hope that helps him a bit

 

[Nebaug]

I'm so glad that the vet didn't recommend euthanasia and my buddy ended up pulling through with minimal damage. I'm going to change his diet up and hope that helps him a bit

Diet and control the level of stress. Easily stressed kitties tend to get more problems with that. Very happy for the outcome!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Yes, this is good news.

 

[Robyn5678]

My brothers cat was that bad. He came home from work and the cat wasn’t moving and laying in a puddle of blood and puke. . He brought him to the vet and they pretty much said had he waited a few
More hours the cat would have died. His cat ended up being in the hospital for several days because the blockage kept coming back. He did end up having the surgery to reroute his peeing. That was like 10 years ago and he’s doing great.

 

[Zuni Monster]

That is great in theory but lots of cats have same problems (chrystals) and then there is issue of leaking urine . I know of cases of people going through with expensive procedure and then year later dumping a cat at a shelter because they couldn’t handle the side effects. l kind of feel that is not fear to the cat but also not fear to the people. Every single one said that they were never made aware of certain things and if they knew they would not go through with surgery. Not that l agree with them …… but not all vets are in business of helping

Our cat Simba, got blocked three times in four weeks. We took him for PU Surgery at the Colorado State Veterinary Teaching Hospital which is one of the best vet hospitals in the country. They told us the surgeon who did his surgery was one of the best in the country. He has been great ever since. No leaking urine, pees like a champ. We've gone on vacation numerous times and had the a neighbor visit every day and still didn't have any problems. We still have him on Royal Canin prescription wet food out of an abundance of caution.

Best money we ever spent. We realize during that 4-week period he just wasn't right even though he wasn't completely blocked. He didn't eat well, didn't seem to have much energy. For him, the only thing that seemed to work was the surgery. Oh and BTW, he was a couple pounds overweight prior to blocking and has now lost 2-3 pounds and looks great.

 

[Nebaug]

Our cat Simba, got blocked three times in four weeks. We took him for PU Surgery at the Colorado State Veterinary Teaching Hospital which is one of the best vet hospitals in the country. They told us the surgeon who did his surgery was one of the best in the country. He has been great ever since. No leaking urine, pees like a champ. We've gone on vacation numerous times and had the a neighbor visit every day and still didn't have any problems. We still have him on Royal Canin prescription wet food out of an abundance of caution.

Best money we ever spent. We realize during that 4-week period he just wasn't right even though he wasn't completely blocked. He didn't eat well, didn't seem to have much energy. For him, the only thing that seemed to work was the surgery. Oh and BTW, he was a couple pounds overweight prior to blocking and has now lost 2-3 pounds and looks great.

I’m so , so happy for Simba and hopefully he will never ever have any problems related to that. It is fantastic!! See there are happy endings for some. And a great vet.

 

[kashmir64]

I'm so glad that my buddy ended up having good days ahead of him and it wasn't his turn to go yet. I'm hoping that changing his diet will help his issues get better.

I am so happy for you. Usually kidney damage doesn't end well. I've lost a couple to it.
I can't tell you how happy I am that this isn't as bad as I thought. Blood in urine is not a good sign.
Way to go kitty.

 

[Lynn M]

We lost our Pablo in November. He'd had a PU Surgery 15months before, just 6weeks before Simba. He was on the c/d food... but it doesn't prevent certain types of crystals. Since Pablo had the PU surgery he didn't completely reblock, but a cluster of sticky crystals built up in his bladder, which acted like a cork. It didn't show up on the XRay or the brief ultrasound, bloodwork or urinalysis we'd had done as a checkup just 3weeks before. When he went to the litter box 13x in 2hrs I took him to the vet suspecting an infection. Especially when the vet felt him and his bladder was empty. But days later he still wasn't acting right and his appetite was diminished. Only when a more in-depth ultrasound with a full bladder did the situation come to light.
We would have had to have his bladder cut open and scraped out. Another surgery and it had been a rough 2weeks after the first. Then what on earth do we feed him to keep this cluster from reforming, since it had done so in only 15months? And seeing anyone other than Mommy and Daddy was always traumatic for him so even more trips to the vet would have been misery for him. So we put him down. The vet did post-mortem open his bladder; he said the lining was pretty beat up from the cluster tumbling around, it would have had a tough time healing had we gone through with surgery.
The $2000 for the special surgeon who did the PU surgery ($4000 all said and done) was well worth it since he never had any incontinence. He did have 15 happy months. If only he hadn't had the kind of crystals that the c/d food doesn't help with. RIP my sweet awesome Pablo. Mommy and Daddy miss you so much.