Lighting a candle for him right now!
I’m sorry that your kitty has these problems too. I’m in East Tennessee. Is there anything you do for your cat that really seems to help besides urinary food/distilled water/canned food?Oh so very sorry to hear this. Where are you located? I hate this - I just got my blocker off a week of antibiotics because I thought he was starting to go downhill again. It’s awful.
Hang in there, don't look back and don't look too far ahead - it's too stressful for you both and he needs you to be as calm as you can be.only tiny amounts are coming out.
I’ll have to wait until the morning last time when he was only at the emergency vet for a few hours, he came home feeling real good. Excited, happy, didn’t attempt to pee until about 12 hours later but peed pretty normally. I think maybe I should have asked if he could come home last night, maybe he would’ve been better off... and less stressedHang in there, don't look back and don't look too far ahead - it's too stressful for you both and he needs you to be as calm as you can be.
Can you call the vet and ensure that this is what they expect, is this normal?
I’ll definitely look into this, thank you so much. He seems to be doing a bit better today, but doesn’t feel well at all. I’m hoping that I can avoid that surgery at all costsHave you tried or looked into adding cornsilk? I have a cat who blocked twice. We then elected to do the PU surgery. It was hard on my cat and the recovery was a good 3 weeks. Unfortunately due to a certain medication he blocked again 2 years after the surgery. Yet he has recovered and is doing well.
I started added D mannose and cornsilk into his diet last year. There is a really great facebook group called Feline Lower Urinary Tract. It is a private group so you have to get permission to join. Yet boy is there a wealth of info on the site for cats with Lower Urinary issues.
Thank you so much I’m going to start researching/orderingHere is some info on D Mannose:
D-Mannose for Cats
I buy cornsilk from Vitacost and sometimes Amazon if they have it. It must be alcohol free. https://www.vitacost.com/natures-answer-cornsilk-alcohol-free-2000-mg-1-fl-oz
The dosage for cornsilk is to start with 7 drops 3-4x a day. This can be mixed into wet food or you can mix with some water and syringe. After 30 days, if the cat is better you can reduce to 2-3x per day. My cat will be on this for life. I use D mannose as needed if I think his urinary habits are changing. I look for frequency and size of urine clumps.
The cornsilk will really help with inflammation of the bladder.
It takes about a week to notice results, but be consistent with both. Even if you feel he is getting better, I would still look to ordering these supplements. He may be prone to this for the rest of his life.
Thank you so much. This is the most heartbreaking thing ever. I’m trying to deal with it. Yesterday was the first time someone mentioned that antianxiety medication could help a lot, and I’m kicking myself that I didn’t think of it. I have no idea why I didn’t. I would’ve started him on something the day after the emergency vet when I took him to the regular vet, and it would’ve had three months to really work and kick in. I’m so mad at myself. I do have some Gabapentin that was prescribed to Cc that I thought about trying to give him, if it’s an emergency and I can’t get him back to the vet in time... him and Cc weigh the same amount, but if I did do that I wouldn’t give him the full dose. I’m not sure, that’s probably a big no-no when they’re not prescribed to him. The emergency vet gave him some buprenorphine, but it doesn’t seem to have helped him, either. Where do I buy the d mannose and corn silk? I was looking it up but I wasn’t sure if there was a specific place. Hopefully he starts peeing and the inflammation goes down enough where I can get him some antianxiety meds and find money for the PU surgery. But I’m supposed to start a new job, which requires me gone from 8-430 and then sometimes long after hours into the night... I’ll just have to take it one step at a timePoor Tuck. I am so sorry you are going through this. I have been through it before and it's so hard. Last year when my cat blocked again he had a really hard time. My boy also had spasms and was in a lot of pain. I used buprenorphine, but it didn't do very much and the prazosin didn't help much at all. We switched to gabopentin and this helped. Yet the taste is terrible and getting my cat to take it was very difficult. Yet it really helped to relax him. What anxiety meds is he on? They can take up to 6 weeks to work and many of them are quite sedating.
Even if you are able to do the PU surgery do try to start the d mannose and cornsilk. You will still need them moving forward. Also you might want to read up on the Pu surgery. It is a life saving surgery, but it is a difficult recovery. Tuck will need to wear a cone to keep from wrecking the stitches. He will have to be kept away from the other cats yet also monitored and watched carefully. When you spend lots of money, you don't want the cat to pull out the stitches. Special litter is needed for the first few weeks after surgery. This is so the clumping litter does not stick to the incision.
After my cat had the pu surgery we were back to the ER vet 3x. He was still straining and having spasms. This is common, but you really have to monitor. The gabapentin really helped him. He also hated the special litter (Everyday News) so after a week, I had to sprinkle in a bit of his clumping and that helped. Be prepared for bleeding. Also his back side will be shaved and part of his belly. It can be a bit daunting.
I am not trying to scare you, but just want you know that Pu surgery is a life saver for many cats, but it's not a bring the cat home and all is well. With my cat, we hardly left him alone the first 3 days home. He hated the cone and a few times he was able to get it off. He went right to his back end and tried licking and biting at the stitches. I know some vets recommend caging the cat if you are not able to watch.
I wish you and Tuck the best and I hope you can work out a solution that will help you both.
Thank you! Other than what they just gave him, he hasn’t been on anti anxiety meds. No one ever suggested it, with as many times as I called for meloxicam, when I brought him in, etc. I’m frustrated I didn’t think of it in November, it should’ve been the obvious choice as a way to cut back his anxietyAlso what anti anxiety meds is he on? My boy was put on Prozac after his PU surgery. All was fine for awhile, but then he started having urinary retention. He had pees as large as softballs. Eventually he blocked again. This was because of the prozac. It is an unusual side effect, but it can happen so watch carefully. My boy would hold his pee for 24+ hours. The prozac made it so that he could not pee unless his bladder was extremely full. Fortunately once off the Prozac he returned to normal. He is now on Cornsilk 2x daily and will be for life.