Urgent blocked male cat dilemma, please help

Xena44

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I'm so sorry... that's horrible. I tend to have the impression that cats sort themselves out and do the "natural thing" when they're out on their own terms, but I guess it's just because we don't see all the horrible ways in which they can just contract a problem for no reason and die. I feel so sad for all of them.
I think your notion that we just don’t see the horrible things that happen to them when they’re out on their own is exactly right. Keep on doing what you’re doing. He’s urinating a thin stream. That’s fantastic. I know it’s taxing on the wallet. I hear you loud and clear. My PU was done by a regular vet who I trusted. If the vet has experience and feels comfortable doing it, what more can one ask for? (Besides 3500+ smackers for a specialist to do it?)
 
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Fizzle52

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I also don't know if the percentage difference is enough to worry about. This is only my experience, but I have had two outdoor ferals die from blockages. Both were untrappable no matter what even once I knew what was happening and it was awful. However, my point is one was already TNRed, in fact for several years, and one was not. The one who was not neutered actually died first and was the younger cat.
I've been thinking about your response and actually was wondering - how did you know they were blocked, if they were untrappable and impossible to get close to? After neutering my kitty I want to let him roam and come back as he pleases, but am feeling anxious about not being able to check on him and his bladder and his pee patterns constantly...
 

jefferd18

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Just so you know, it’s my humble opinion that to let him out while he’s still having this issue is still a very real risk of him getting blocked while he is out and not making it back to you. If they block, the toxins build up very quickly and if he ends up in a life threatening situation while he is out, it could end up all bad for him. Here is something to consider. I understand you’re trying your best for him but letting him make these decisions while he is still full of hormones and is not quite acclimated to his new home instead necessarily in his best interest. How is he doing today? The meds will take time to undo the trauma In his nether regions. How is the zylkene working for him?
Urinary Gold - for Canine Urinary Tract Health

I agree with you. A sick animal will go off and hide and that hiding spot could be anywhere if he is outside.
 
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Fizzle52

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I agree with you. A sick animal will go off and hide and that hiding spot could be anywhere if he is outside.
You guys! jefferd18 jefferd18 Xena44 Xena44 fionasmom fionasmom catsknowme catsknowme shadowsrescue shadowsrescue and everyone who was so kind to be on this thread with me for a whole week – our cat was scheduled to be neutered tomorrow and today he was getting so frustrated and his bladder was hardening and as big as a grapefruit and I could only express a tiny bit of it and thought for sure that he was going to be fully blocked by tomorrow and we wouldn't be able to afford catheterisation again. He had scratched the (three!) litter pans to death and got the entire apartment floor covered in litter. My partner was driven nuts and decided to just put the harness on him and take him downstairs for a walk to destress him and would you know it – our cat walked into a patch of grass and PEED A STEADY STREAM FOR THREE WHOLE MINUTES. I want to cry, I can't believe this was all it took. It's still a big puzzle to try and figure out what this means for him and his living situation but for now... I'm just so glad that he's going to make it. Thank you so so so much for all your advice and patience.
 

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This is wonderful news and I am so happy for both of you....the cat because he feels better and you because there is finally some resolution to this. Repeat this as often as you think is needed and try to determine if this is the root of the problem. Even if there is some underlying issue, which there may be, that can now be addressed more calmly since his bladder is not going to burst. Please let us know how this all plays out. As I said yesterday, you really did hang on and fight the good fight for this cat.
 

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Please forgive me not reading through all the above responses. I did read through several and the original post; but I'm super limited in online time. So! Is like to just say what helped the little man we brought in from outdoors.
He had a blockage that had him in the vets for 3 days and 2 nights! Coast a small fortune. In the past, they said he had urinary crystals occasionally, but this instance couldn't find a thing wrong with him!:/
What worked for after (& his blockage was brought on by stress), was a diet change. Here's been on Royal Canin SO for 3 1/2yrs now and (knock on wood), not one problem since! I also had to cut his stress that caused it. Which was being out with all my other rescues. Her lives happily in a big bedroom that he shares with my son.
The thing I learned about this food, is that it makes them pee often. It's for cats with issues. I have 2 other girls on it that used to have UTI's often, and another that had to have kidney stones removed. She's also been great on it. Just know you'll buy more litter.😄 But worth it!
Also, I have an elderly cat with intestinal lymphoma Cancer. She's on chemo for it. But for the last year she's been taking cbd oil (that's salmon flavored) just for cats, and it's not only replaced her having to take daily steroids, but she's less anxious now. It's THC free,so she's not being drugged. Just helps both her inflammation as well as her anxiety. We have a lot of rescues and she's more comfy around them more now. Might be worth a shot. But tossing him outside, he'll ruin into many more chances at being anxious than indoors. And never advised before getting nipped.
Good luck and I hope it works out for you both!:)
 

Xena44

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You guys! jefferd18 jefferd18 Xena44 Xena44 fionasmom fionasmom catsknowme catsknowme shadowsrescue shadowsrescue and everyone who was so kind to be on this thread with me for a whole week – our cat was scheduled to be neutered tomorrow and today he was getting so frustrated and his bladder was hardening and as big as a grapefruit and I could only express a tiny bit of it and thought for sure that he was going to be fully blocked by tomorrow and we wouldn't be able to afford catheterisation again. He had scratched the (three!) litter pans to death and got the entire apartment floor covered in litter. My partner was driven nuts and decided to just put the harness on him and take him downstairs for a walk to destress him and would you know it – our cat walked into a patch of grass and PEED A STEADY STREAM FOR THREE WHOLE MINUTES. I want to cry, I can't believe this was all it took. It's still a big puzzle to try and figure out what this means for him and his living situation but for now... I'm just so glad that he's going to make it. Thank you so so so much for all your advice and patience.
AWESOME!!!!!!!!
 

Xena44

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You guys! jefferd18 jefferd18 Xena44 Xena44 fionasmom fionasmom catsknowme catsknowme shadowsrescue shadowsrescue and everyone who was so kind to be on this thread with me for a whole week – our cat was scheduled to be neutered tomorrow and today he was getting so frustrated and his bladder was hardening and as big as a grapefruit and I could only express a tiny bit of it and thought for sure that he was going to be fully blocked by tomorrow and we wouldn't be able to afford catheterisation again. He had scratched the (three!) litter pans to death and got the entire apartment floor covered in litter. My partner was driven nuts and decided to just put the harness on him and take him downstairs for a walk to destress him and would you know it – our cat walked into a patch of grass and PEED A STEADY STREAM FOR THREE WHOLE MINUTES. I want to cry, I can't believe this was all it took. It's still a big puzzle to try and figure out what this means for him and his living situation but for now... I'm just so glad that he's going to make it. Thank you so so so much for all your advice and patience.
AWESOME!!!!!!!! He maybe a dude that needs to be outside (with supervision). Maybe take a chunk of the grass and dirt where he urinated and bring it inside And Put it in the litter pan. The transition isn’t always as smooth for some formerly outside kitties. (As you’ve found out!). Some cats need more outside than others. I do let my cat icky in my fenced yard under my close supervision only as we have a lot of predator birds around here. And he's definitely an indoor kitty. But he does love to lay in the grass and sniff. I think the change of scenery and stimulation of his senses is a good thing. please keep us posted. This is a real learning experience. And I sooooo (as well as everyone else) wish him and you well!
 
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Fizzle52

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AWESOME!!!!!!!! He maybe a dude that needs to be outside (with supervision). Maybe take a chunk of the grass and dirt where he urinated and bring it inside And Put it in the litter pan. The transition isn’t always as smooth for some formerly outside kitties. (As you’ve found out!). Some cats need more outside than others. I do let my cat icky in my fenced yard under my close supervision only as we have a lot of predator birds around here. And he's definitely an indoor kitty. But he does love to lay in the grass and sniff. I think the change of scenery and stimulation of his senses is a good thing. please keep us posted. This is a real learning experience. And I sooooo (as well as everyone else) wish him and you well!
Thank you! He definitely has insane bladder control if he's been managing to think himself to a near-death situation just from being too stubborn to use the litter boxes at home... ha! He's getting neutered today so I do want to get some hypo-allergenic soy or wood litter to mix with the soil and grass so that his incision doesn't get infected when he comes home.
 
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Fizzle52

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This is wonderful news and I am so happy for both of you....the cat because he feels better and you because there is finally some resolution to this. Repeat this as often as you think is needed and try to determine if this is the root of the problem. Even if there is some underlying issue, which there may be, that can now be addressed more calmly since his bladder is not going to burst. Please let us know how this all plays out. As I said yesterday, you really did hang on and fight the good fight for this cat.
Thank you for sharing in this relief and joy! We're all still a bit confused because he was fine for the first 4 months living confined (and coexisting with the dog) in the apartment. So it's either that he actually wasn't fine at all, and the stress had slowly built up over 4 months, or that his hormones started kicking in a few weeks ago and that stress and frustration somehow interacted with his urinary tract and caused him to have cystitis. I guess this disease is so poorly understood that we can only speculate? In both scenarios I suppose he needs to be neutered. Just feeling a bit anxious about having to keep him indoors for the recovery period, and hoping that he doesn't have problems peeing in the next couple of days!
 

Xena44

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Thank you! He definitely has insane bladder control if he's been managing to think himself to a near-death situation just from being too stubborn to use the litter boxes at home... ha! He's getting neutered today so I do want to get some hypo-allergenic soy or wood litter to mix with the soil and grass so that his incision doesn't get infected when he comes home.
How about dirt? We had a pregnant mama that was hanging around the worksite. We brought her in or actually she came in when she was about to give birth and we gave her litter and she didn’t know what to do with it so we filled the pan with dirt and she urinated in it
 

Xena44

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Thank you for sharing in this relief and joy! We're all still a bit confused because he was fine for the first 4 months living confined (and coexisting with the dog) in the apartment. So it's either that he actually wasn't fine at all, and the stress had slowly built up over 4 months, or that his hormones started kicking in a few weeks ago and that stress and frustration somehow interacted with his urinary tract and caused him to have cystitis. I guess this disease is so poorly understood that we can only speculate? In both scenarios I suppose he needs to be neutered. Just feeling a bit anxious about having to keep him indoors for the recovery period, and hoping that he doesn't have problems peeing in the next couple of days!
The cat mind is a deep and mysterious place. 😻
 

jefferd18

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fionasmom fionasmom and jefferd18 jefferd18 - I am so sorry that your little charges had to die like that. Outside, they are forced to drink contaminated water. I have had only one cat that had that happen & he was easily unblocked; we had moved into town and I had been letting him drink tap water. Coincidentally, I began having kidney issues & my old-school urologist told me to drink only well water or filtered water, not tap and not water bottled in plastic. Both the cat and I cleared up and any further UTI symptoms quickly abated with marshmallow root.
The cat mind is a deep and mysterious place. 😻


I am so thrilled for both you and your kitty cat! He has been in my thoughts and prayers all week.
You can buy cat grass and keep it inside too. I am glad to hear that he is harnessed trained and I would keep it that way.
 
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Fizzle52

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I am so thrilled for both you and your kitty cat! He has been in my thoughts and prayers all week.
You can buy cat grass and keep it inside too. I am glad to hear that he is harnessed trained and I would keep it that way.
That's so lovely of you... thank you! I didn't know what cat grass was until now! Sounds like a fantastic idea. I'm (maybe wishfully) hoping the neutering calms him down and doesn't make him want to go out so much anymore.
 
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Fizzle52

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How about dirt? We had a pregnant mama that was hanging around the worksite. We brought her in or actually she came in when she was about to give birth and we gave her litter and she didn’t know what to do with it so we filled the pan with dirt and she urinated in it
Interesting... I don't know what on earth is up with my cat! It's not like he didn't know how to use litter for the past few months, you know? It's weird that he just mid way decided that he would not pee and would rather die if it wasn't in grass.
 

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Xena44 Xena44 's suggestions shows how the knowledge gained from the experience of doing a very good deed can help many others in the future, especially any visitors to this thread. The same with F Fizzle52 - this is a very interesting case - it's become a tale of The Cat Who Would Pee Only Outside. I believe that memories of the pain likely had something to do with that. You might still try marshmallow root/slippery elm to soothe the urinary tract; it also works to soothe the digestive tract (in people with IBS, it can bring relief to sore bottoms after colonoscopy). Are you avoiding all fish and seafood? My Maine Coon would get bladder issues if he had any type of fish/seafood in the ingredients. As it is with your boy, he needed to become inside/outside. Very vigorous play helped tremendously when we moved into town; I used my horses' lunge whip as a teaser toy & replaced that with a retired fly fishing rod with a teaser attached to the end so that his play was across-the-room dashes and leaps high into the air, higher than I am.
 
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Fizzle52

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Xena44 Xena44 's suggestions shows how the knowledge gained from the experience of doing a very good deed can help many others in the future, especially any visitors to this thread. The same with F Fizzle52 - this is a very interesting case - it's become a tale of The Cat Who Would Pee Only Outside. I believe that memories of the pain likely had something to do with that. You might still try marshmallow root/slippery elm to soothe the urinary tract; it also works to soothe the digestive tract (in people with IBS, it can bring relief to sore bottoms after colonoscopy). Are you avoiding all fish and seafood? My Maine Coon would get bladder issues if he had any type of fish/seafood in the ingredients. As it is with your boy, he needed to become inside/outside. Very vigorous play helped tremendously when we moved into town; I used my horses' lunge whip as a teaser toy & replaced that with a retired fly fishing rod with a teaser attached to the end so that his play was across-the-room dashes and leaps high into the air, higher than I am.
Absolutely! I am going to make a proper post somewhere so that others who are in my situation might have one extra option to look into in the future. What do you mean by memories of the pain? I’m very curious! Ah I switched to chicken for a bit but gave him some of his favourite tuna anchovy canned food last night because I thought we’d cracked the code! I only read that they may be a little higher in phosphorous levels, which could be a problem if there’s a physical obstruction... is there more to it than that?

He’s still on the cranberry and corn silk supplement but I will look into the marshmallow root and slippery elm just as a precaution!
 

jefferd18

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That's so lovely of you... thank you! I didn't know what cat grass was until now! Sounds like a fantastic idea. I'm (maybe wishfully) hoping the neutering calms him down and doesn't make him want to go out so much anymore.
He shouldn't be as frantic to get outdoors after he is neutered but some cats do like to go out every now and then, especially if they got into the habit of doing so. However, It will more than likely become a thing of the past with him.
I personally would love it if my cats would walk on a harness and take their business outside. ;)
 
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