Worried sick during his urinary blockage recovery.

[tmariee]

Hello,

On Friday 7/10 I took Milo to the vet because I noticed him straining in the litterbox and producing no urine. The determined he had a blocked urethra.  My vet was unable to pass a catheter through because the block was so severe, so I was sent to PVSEC hospital in Pittsburgh to get the PU surgery.  However, the vets at PVSEC were able to get a catheter in. One of his vets wanted me to decide wether or not to still do the PU surgery (she gave me absolutely no information or anything to help me decide) and the other didn't recommend it because it was his first time blocking.  I decided to not do the surgery on her advice, and he spent a couple days in the hospital. I was able to take him home on Sunday 7/12 because they removed the catheter and he urinated on his own. They made it seem like I'd take him home and he'd be normal.

(He's got struvite crystals in his urine. No kidney stones or anything else)
(He's on an antibiotic, pain meds, and Prazosin to "relax his urethra")

Now it's Wednesday 7/15 and I'm a total wreck.  I've got no idea what is normal after this kind of thing and what isn't.  

- He's eating fine (Royal Canin Urinary SO diet. Mostly wet, but I'll give him a small handful of dry when he really wants it, as he's used to eating wet and dry foods)
- He's NOT drinking very much water (but he never has. That's one of the reasons for the blockage, I suppose) I've got a fountain set up for him, and a still dish, both of which I change daily.
- He attempts to urinate very frequently. Straining for sometimes up to five minutes. Usually nothing or a couple drops comes out. Sometimes maybe a tablespoon sized amount.
- He acts normally other than after his attempts at urinating, where he becomes very aggressive with me when I stop him from licking at his penis.  It seems the attempts at urinating are very painful.
- He has urinated on himself several times since Sunday. He has NOT done that today. (For today as of 7:45pm he's only urinated a grand total of a golf ball size clump)

- He's wearing a cone for now because his penis is still swollen and irritated, and they don't want him to make it worse with licking.

I call the vet with concerns every day, and I'm told basically to keep an eye on him and monitor his urination.  And if he starts vomiting or not wanting to eat, then I'm supposed to call right away. (They don't want me to bring him in with every concern because he's aggressive with them and needs to be sedated every time he visits, and that's costly and stressful for him)

I've got no idea what I'm doing or what's normal. I've got myself worried sick about everything. 
I'm just interested in other people's stories or advice. Thanks.

 

 

[margd]

Bump

 

[capone]

Im there with you. My Capone cat had that crystal problems for 3 years. I had to put him down cuz of them. He is in heaven. I miss him. Keep your head up I will send my prayers out to you.

 

[margd]

I've only had a female cat with an UTI so have no experience with blocking but it would seem to me that he might still be sensitive from having the catheter.  I don't know about the small amounts coming out. - hopefully someone will chime in soon about that.

The main thing, in addition to what the vet is recommending, it seems to me is also to keep an eye on how much he's peeing, which you're doing.  If it grows less, I'd probably consider getting the surgery done, if I could afford it, but that's just me.  Did the vet give you an antibiotic in case there is an infection going as well?  

Here are two threads to check out:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/290554/urinary-blockage  (talks about medications)

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/252920/help-nervous-wreck-about-cats-urinary-blockage-recovery

If you search for urinary blockage you'll come up with a lot more as I'm sure this problem has been addressed here many times.

Hopefully that will help you until someone pipes in and lets you know if the small amounts of pee are normal.

Good luck.  I hope he (and you) feel better soon!

 

[heifzilla]

 
- He's eating fine (Royal Canin Urinary SO diet. Mostly wet, but I'll give him a small handful of dry when he really wants it, as he's used to eating wet

and dry foods)

Please try to keep him on the wet only.  Cats need as much moisture as they can get, especially ones that have previously blocked, and wet food is the ideal for this.  He should stay on wet food for the rest of his life.   

- He's NOT drinking very much water (but he never has. That's one of the reasons for the blockage, I suppose) I've got a fountain set up for him, and a still dish, both of which I change daily.

If he is eating mostly wet food, he will NOT drink much, but be assured he IS getting plenty of water.  You can also add some water to the wet so it's a little more mushy if you are worried.

- He attempts to urinate very frequently. Straining for sometimes up to five minutes. Usually nothing or a couple drops comes out. Sometimes maybe a tablespoon sized amount.

This is normal for several days after being unblocked.  Hie urethra is swollen and irritated, and is spasming.  Have you ever had a bladder infection?  You feel like you have to pee every 5 minutes...that's what he is going through as well.  As long as he is producing some urine, it's ok.  

- He acts normally other than after his attempts at urinating, where he becomes very aggressive with me when I stop him from licking at his penis.  It seems the attempts at urinating are very painful.

Right now it IS painful for him.  Make sure he keeps on his pain meds.

- He has urinated on himself several times since Sunday. He has NOT done that today. (For today as of 7:45pm he's only urinated a grand total of a golf ball size clump)

Producing urine is good, even a small amount!

- He's wearing a cone for now because his penis is still swollen and irritated, and they don't want him to make it worse with licking.

He should been sent home with a cone.  I'm glad he is wearing one now.  Leave it on him 24/7 for at least a week.  Otherwise he will lick and everything will stay swollen.  You know how it feels to have the sandpaper tongue lick your hand?  Imagine that on your eyeball for 10 minutes without stopping.  That's what it's like on his penis right now.  Ouch.

I call the vet with concerns every day, and I'm told basically to keep an eye on him and monitor his urination.  And if he starts vomiting or not wanting to eat, then I'm supposed to call right away. (They don't want me to bring him in with every concern because he's aggressive with them and needs to be sedated every time he visits, and that's costly and stressful for him)

This is all good advice.  The more stressed he is, the worse things will be for him.  You also need to try to relax a bit (I know it's hard!) he can sense you're stressed, too.

I've got no idea what I'm doing or what's normal. I've got myself worried sick about everything. 
I'm just interested in other people's stories or advice. Thanks.

I am a emergency vet tech, so I deal with these cases all the time .  Everything you are experiencing is normal.  As long as he can urinate, it's fine.  If he goes in the box and cannot produce urine, or he starts to vocalize when in the box, or starts acting otherwise not himself, get him to the vet.  Good luck and I hope this helps!

 

[tmariee]

I'm just worried about how little he is urinating.  The doctors at PVSEC told me he needs to urinate at least a golf ball sized amount every 6-8 hours. He hasn't been doing that. Especially today. Today it was a grand total of one golf ball for the whole day. And that's if I were to smoosh all of the tiny tiny amounts he's been producing. I just don't know how little is too little. I'm worried about him having problems with his kidneys if his bladder is staying so full all the time.

 

[tmariee]

He just attempted to urinate and was grunting and produced nothing. I'm worried.  He's barely produced any urine today.

 

[heifzilla]

You can try to feel his bladder and see if it feels hard.  Have him stand normally, and you take your hand and cup it around his belly right in front of his back legs.  Push up gently and squeeze.  If you can feel a hard, ball shaped structure, that can mean he has a full bladder that he can't empty right now.  Everything else back there should be squishy.  If he is a super fat cat, you might not be able to feel anything at all.

If you are really, really concerned, take him to an emergency vet to be checked out.  If he's not blocked again, it costs you a few bucks.  If he is, you will know for sure and get it taken care of.

 

[margd]

Does the vet have an emergency number for you to call?  It seems to me that you need to know how long this can go on before it's an emergency.  By "this" I mean trying to urinate and not being able to.  Poor little guy.  He must just be miserable. 

 

[tmariee]

 
You can try to feel his bladder and see if it feels hard.  Have him stand normally, and you take your hand and cup it around his belly right in front of his back legs.  Push up gently and squeeze.  If you can feel a hard, ball shaped structure, that can mean he has a full bladder that he can't empty right now.  Everything else back there should be squishy.  If he is a super fat cat, you might not be able to feel anything at all.

If you are really, really concerned, take him to an emergency vet to be checked out.  If he's not blocked again, it costs you a few bucks.  If he is, you will know for sure and get it taken care of.

My vet tried explaining to me where the bladder is as well. I can't seem to be able to find it. I feel what I think is his stomach? farther up from where you said to feel, which feels full and hard, but I can't feel much of anything else.

 

[nansiludie]

I would strongly suggest you do NOT try to feel the bladder, if it was full, it would very easy to accidently rupture the bladder. If he peed today and does not cry or repeatedly try to use the litter pan with no results. I say it is safe to wait until morning but if he starts making repeated trips or is crying, then he may be blocked. Have you tried adding a little additional water to the canned food? Did the Vet send him home with any anti-spasmodics or anitibiotics?

 

[tmariee]

He barely peed today. Over the course of the past few days, including today, he makes very frequent trips to the litter box, usually producing nothing. I have told that to my vet, who said this is okay as long as he is producing urine sometimes.  The medications he is on are: Buprenorphine (3 day long injectable for pain) Prazosin (0.5mg every 12 hours to relax the urethra), and Convenia injectable (3 week long antibiotic)

 

[heifzilla]

If you are feeling something round and hard in his abdomen, take him to the vet.   You should not feel the stomach, it is much farther up, almost to the ribs.    Just take him to the emergency vet and let them look at him.  Better safe than sorry! 

 

[nansiludie]

 
He barely peed today. Over the course of the past few days, including today, he makes very frequent trips to the litter box, usually producing nothing. I have told that to my vet, who said this is okay as long as he is producing urine sometimes.  The medications he is on are: Buprenorphine (3 day long injectable for pain) Prazosin (0.5mg every 12 hours to relax the urethra), and Convenia injectable (3 week long antibiotic)

That sounds well, the medication he is on. I do agree with Heifzilla, in this case, you may need to take him back to the Vet. It may have been better if he would have gotten daily antibiotic drops/pills rather than the injection for two reasons, one I have read of cats having a nasty reaction and passing away, two, it doesn't seem to work as well as daily given medication.

 

[heifzilla]

 
I would strongly suggest you do NOT try to feel the bladder, if it was full, it would very easy to accidently rupture the bladder.

If done gently, it should be ok.  Keyword is GENTLY.   The only time I have ever seen a bladder rupture from palpation is when someone is pressing hard because they are trying to express the bladder.  If the bladder is so full that it is near rupture, the cat will usually be vocalizing and painful, even on pain meds.    But I understand your concern.   It is a risk. 

 

[margd]

Please let us know how it goes!

 

[tmariee]

When I tried to feel for his bladder, he didn't react.

 

[margd]

@TMariee   How is Milo this morning?  I had a Milo once - a beautiful ginger tabby - so am very partial to cats with this name.  Hope he's on his way to recovery.

 

[toontastic]

I seem to be in all of these health posts of late. Floyd seems to have picked up everything along his 5 short years.

In terms of bladder problems Floyd's had to deal with an awful lot. At the age of 2 he suffered a urethral rupture. We hadn't noticed the problems he was having as he looked like he was trying to do a poo rather than a wee. He would often go 24 hours without a wee. He would always wee after doing a poo though. He was taken to the Vets with constipation which is when the urethral rupture was spotted on the xrays and a large mass. The mass turned out to be the little guys huge bladder which was blocking his intestines and so he was constipated as well.

3 years on we still have a few problems but he's living a happy life. He's now on myatonine daily along with cystaid twice daily due to him still having problems with his bladder refusing to contract. He also takes phenoxybenzamine. He's had all sorts of tests to see why but no real reason for why he let's his bladder get so large. The tablets stop him getting blocked and relax his muscles so that he doesn't tear himself again.
Unfortunately due to him having to be relaxed we get the occasional leak but we've learned what blankets to use so it doesn't make a mess around the house and we've learned to use surgical spirits when there is a small accident on the carpet.

He still gets about 3 infections a year due to not emptying his bladder but again they are manageable.
I would suggest an x ray even if he is passing as Floyd was still able to pass which is why I thought it was constipation more than his bladder. We were/are lucky that we have great insurance.

 

[toontastic]

I would also suggest getting the urine cultured if it hasn't been already. No point pumping him full of antibiotics if you don't know what infection if any your attacking.