Post Amputation, No Pee or Poop

[KatDad]

Hi everyone, my first post here and I’m looking for some help. Wednesday (Oct. 26th) my male cat had his rear left leg amputated following a sever self trauma incident on that same foot. I brought him home Thursday morning, where they said he had peed just before I came to get him.
He has not peed since.
He is on a fentanyl patch and gabapentin.
He is eating and drinking normally. Happy as can be. I don’t really know what else to do here because every time I call the vet and tell them he still hasn’t peed, they ask questions about an obstruction. He has been obstructed several times in the past so I know what to look for and
he is showing no signs of obstruction.
If anyone can give me a general idea about what might be going on, I would greatly appreciate it!

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi
Has he tried, ie has he entered the litterbox? Are you sure he hasn't urinated where he's sleeping?

 

[KatDad]

He’s shown no interest in urinating. And any time I put him in the litter box he sits or lays down and just wants attention. No urine where he sleeps. However small update: shortly after making that post I called the vet(for probably the 8th time since this started) and asked if he could have his fentanyl patch removed today instead of tomorrow.
brought him in and while we were there, once again brought up his urinary issues. Vet pressed on his bladder and we did have urine so no blockage!
So far the working theory is the fentanyl patch was making him too lazy to actually use the bathroom but his bladder wasn’t distended so we are hoping he pees in the next few hours.

 

[Furballsmom]

It's so challenging when they can't tell you what's happening. Bless your heart for being such a good caretaker for him! Let us know how things progress

 

[fionasmom]

I am going to add that 6 years ago my GSD had an amputation due to melanoma. For the record, he recovered splendidly, lived until this year and essentially passed from old age related complications. When I brought him home from the surgery center the same thing happened to us. He would not urinate. He had never been blocked or had any urinary problems, but he was seriously not urinating. Because I had experience with fetanyl patches before, I removed it ( I did return it to the clinic) and waited a few minutes as I prepared to load him into the car for another run to the hospital. As we got to the garage, he peed a massive amount.

I am glad that you have solved this for your cat.

There is a very helpful support group and website for amputee pets:
tripawds.com

We have amputee cats members here on TCS from time to time. Thank you for taking this step to save his life. Most pets who are amputees adjust very quickly. Rear leg is slightly preferable to the front leg, if you have to rate this, as it bears less of the body weight. Please let us know how you cat does.

 

[KatDad]

Thank you all so much for the responses, kind words, and information! After almost 3 days without urination, he finally did it! I’m fairly certain it was the fentanyl patch that was preventing him from having an interest in peeing.
He is adjusting very well and very rapidly to his new condition and when feeding him this afternoon, he was running circles around me!
Only thing left now is to have his sutures removed on the 7th. Thank you all so much again for the support and I hope anyone else who runs into this issue can find an answer.

 

[AzulWhitebelly]

Hi everyone, my first post here and I’m looking for some help. Wednesday (Oct. 26th) my male cat had his rear left leg amputated following a sever self trauma incident on that same foot. I brought him home Thursday morning, where they said he had peed just before I came to get him.
He has not peed since.
He is on a fentanyl patch and gabapentin.
He is eating and drinking normally. Happy as can be. I don’t really know what else to do here because every time I call the vet and tell them he still hasn’t peed, they ask questions about an obstruction. He has been obstructed several times in the past so I know what to look for and
he is showing no signs of obstruction.
If anyone can give me a general idea about what might be going on, I would greatly appreciate it!

 

[AzulWhitebelly]

Might check into negative reactions to fentanyl and gabapentin... If you decide to reduce meds after consulting your vet, I'd hope it's a gradual tapering .

 

[Furballsmom]

Thank you all so much again for the support and I hope anyone else who runs into this issue can find an answer.

Thank you so much for a great update!