Previously Blocked Cat. Normal Recovery?

[Apollothecat]

hello! I have a three year old male kitty named apollo. About a month and a half ago I brought him to the vet because he started peeing outside the box. They said there was some blood in his pee, gave me two weeks of antibiotics and sent me on my way. I have him the antibiotics and he seemed to do better until about a month ago when I woke up to him heaving his body as he tried to squat anywhere in the room to pee and nothing would come out. He was crying and growling which was very unlike him. I immediately brought him into the vet and after X-rays and blood work said he was completely blocked and needed to be catheterized. Long story short, I ended up realizing this was not the vet to go to because AFTER putting in the catheter and telling me apollo needed a two night hospital stay, he vet told me they wouldn't be in the next day so I would need to take him somewhere else to recover. So I did and in the crate on the way to the next vet he pulled the catheter collection system out and we both ended up traumatized from the experience. He went to a new vet who attached a new collection system and kept him two nights. I brought him home and he had pain meds and another two weeks of antibiotics. He's also on c/d prescription dry food and does drink a fair amount of water (especially from my drinking glass!)

When all that was done, he seemed back to normal behavior wise but was still peeing outside the box. I bought new litter, new boxes, and all that jazz because he seemed to associate the box with pain. Nothing worked until I brought him with me on a trip to my parents house this weekend. Immediately he started peeing in the box and has been for three days. But he pees when he goes are golf ball sized and it worries me that they are so small. Could this be because he is still irritated or is it a sign the crystals are forming again? I'm just super worried because I've drained my small savings buying new food and paying for the blood work, catheter, X-rays, hospital stays and all of those things I don't think I'll be able to pay if he blocks again. Which would honestly break my heart because even the new vet told Me apollo was one of the nicest cats he'd ever seen. Any advice or anything for a poor single cat mom with little finances left to help my baby if he blocks again?

 

[lalagimp]

Nothing positive to say on the finances. We just put $10,000 into Tommy. He blocked in November and we put him on wet food. That time was likely crystals. He blocked again twice in February, which was likely cystitis, and then we put him into surgery because we couldn't afford these mystery blockages to keep recurring. S/D is the strongest that can be given for 2 weeks to dissolve crystals and then C/D is often used for maintenance. We decided we don't like what they put in those prescription foods so we've been making homemade from Catinfo.org
I did a consult with the retired vet that runs that show and we talked about lowering the mineral content by using more boneless meat, talked about a supplement that may support bladder health, talked about his stress levels and temperament.
I'm sorry that you had to go through the ordeal with the vet transfer. Sounds like we would have went through that as well if I hadn't just taken him to the 24 hr ER in the first place. Our vet office doesn't do aftercare and I had to make several calls to find a surgeon that was familiar with the procedure we chose to put him through.
One of the best things you can do for him is try to get him onto the wet food. The dry still has the chemicals to lower the pH, but the wet will actually have your cat taking in more water than he is drinking on his own, and will continue to dilute the urine. Golf balls have me worried too, but any urine is better than no urine.