Will my cat recover from his urinary blockage?
Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties:
My cat has a urinary blockage and is at the vet right at the moment. We had to admit him a second time since he became blocked again within a day. He has struvite crystals. Both times we’ve taken him in, the catheter was not able to be passed through to his bladder. The first time the vet was able to get the catheter about 85% in and the second time only about 30%. The vet though it may be a spasm so my kitty has recently been given an anti-inflammatory in the hopes that it will make it easier to insert a catheter later.
My question is what other possibilities are there if this latest attempt is unsuccessful? My vet mentioned that a perineal urethrostomy (PU) may not be very helpful since the obstruction is pretty far up the urinary canal.
Any further informaion for my own peace of mind would be appreciated.
~Josh
Siouxsie: As you no doubt know by now, urinary blockage is a very serious and potentially fatal condition which is much more common in male cats than female cats because of the male cat’s long, narrow urethra. We’re glad you got your cat to the vet promptly because you saved his life in doing so!
Thomas: Any time you see a cat — male or female — exhibiting the symptoms of a urinary tract infection or blockage, it’s critical that the cat get treatment as soon as possible.
Dahlia: We’re not veterinarians, and we wouldn’t presume to second-guess your vet on what he or she is doing to help your cat. We are quite certain, however, that treatments for stubborn blockages do exist (your cat is not the only one who’s ever had such a blockage) and we trust that your vet knows all the options available and is doing all he or she can for your kitty.
Siouxsie: We can reassure you that blockages are treated successfully in a vast, vast majority of cases.
Thomas: Once your cat recovers from his blockage, you’ll need to focus on prevention of infections, inflammation, or crystal development in the future.
Dahlia: You mentioned that your cat has struvite crystals. Struvite crystals are formed when the urine is too alkaline. Another type of crystals, oxalate crystals, are formed when the urine is too acidic.
Siouxsie: Generally, treatment of crystals involves a diet that helps to give the urine a proper pH (acid-alkaline balance) in order to prevent the development of crystals in the future.
Thomas: Your vet may recommend that your cat eat a prescription diet in order to regulate the urine’s pH. There are prescription diets available for cats with struvite or oxalate crystals, as well as an array of other chronic illnesses.
Dahlia: The late, great Sinéad O’Kitty (may she frolic forever in the mouse-filled fields and roll in catnip whenever she wants) used to have a problem with urinary tract infections, and our vet recommended a few things to help prevent future recurrences.
Siouxsie: First, always provide lots of pure water. The most economical way to make sure water is pure is to purchase a pitcher filter and only give your cats water that has been run through that device. This is particularly important if your tap water is chlorinated or has other chemical additives such as fluoride, because these chemicals not only make water taste unpleasant, they can increase the pH of urine (chlorine is very alkaline).
Thomas: Second, don’t feed seafood-flavored cat food. Ever. Our vet has found, through many years of work in the field, that for some reason tuna and other seafoods irritate some cats’ bladders and may contribute to development of stones or crystals.
Dahlia: Of course, make sure your cat’s litterbox is clean and that you are using unscented litter in an open-topped box. Dirty boxes, chemical scents, or covered toilwra can cause a cat to be reluctant to use the box. I mean, really! How would you like to have to walk barefoot over puddles of pee and pieces of poo every time you had to go to the bathroom? And scented litter in a covered box is a kitty gas chamber.
Siouxsie: Some vets recommend increasing the amount of canned food you give your cat, so that your cat consumes more water. Mmmm, gooshy foods!
Thomas: Finally, reduce the cat’s stress level as much as possible. If there have been major changes in the cat’s life, make sure to make time to keep things as normal as possible. If the cat is extremely anxious or stressed, consider using Feliway, a synthetic pheromone that promotes a feeling of calmness in cats.
Dahlia: So, Josh, we hope we’ve managed to reassure you a little bit, and that the tips we’ve given here will help you to prevent future infections and crystal development in your cat.
My 3 yr old cat Shadow had the same problems eralier this year. I wasn’t sure what was wrong with him. The only thing I noticed was that he was taking a real long time to urinate. Then I found blood in his urine and rushed him to the vets. He too had a hard time with the catheter. His blockage was at the entrance, so the vet manually removed the blockage by pressing down on his bladder. He put him on a strict diet of C/D both wet and dry. He was on it for almost 3 months and he’s good as new. Knowing this may happen again I’m more aware of him when he’s in the liter box and I feel his abdomen periodically to make sure nothing hard is forming again.
My boy, Norton is now 13 yrs old. He suffered at least half a dozen obstructions over a period of a few years, several years ago. We said goodbye more than once. Long story short, he had a perineal urethrostomy. He suffered one last obstruction a few months after the surgery, but made it through. Vet recommended C/D diet and that seems to have worked. Happy ending!
Thank you all for your insight. I’ve learned a lot over the last couple weeks and appreciate all your feedback.
Just to update all of you, my vet was finally able to pass a catheter. I’m not sure how after all the previous problems, but there could have been many contributing factors.
Either way my kitty just came home this morning and is looking and acting much better. He is now on the canned s/d diet and urinating on his own a little bit at a time.
The amount of urine is not as large of an amount as before he got sick, but he’s flowing and more seems to come out each time. I’m taking this a good sign and thankful he’s doing better.
My male cat has the same problem right now. I have taken him to the vet 5 days out of nine. He is being treated with an anibiotic and prednesone. I have switched his food to CD wet and dry. The vet assures me that a proper diet will help decrease the chance of this occuring again. Right now we are in the phase of getting the infection cleared up. This does take some time. As I said he has been fighting this for the last 10 days. I hope your cat and my cat have a great recovery. beecause they are a big part of the family.
My cat Auron (4) lost his battle with cystitis about 3 weeks ago, I was told nothing about a Catheter method just that his urinal tract was blocked and the best option was to euthanise. Brilliant to know there was actually something that could have been done!
Thank you so much for the info and comments :) My kitty is so very sick right now :( It is good to have comforting stories to lean on, of course, God first. But thanks again!
Richie, that is so horrible, I am sorry for your loss :( I can’t believe your vet would not tell you! That is wrong, I would complain aboutt hat one. mI however am dealing with the same problems as all you guys. My kitty was in the hospotal because he was blocked, just over a 3 weeks now, was cathetorized twice. Came home. Although he is finally acting pretty much like himself again, eating, drinking, playing, cuddling, he STILL has trouble peeing!! He still has all the UTi signs, peeing outside the box, crying after he pees (AFTER he pees, like it burns or something) licks himself all the time, doesnt pee huge amounts but pees. So my vet put him on another antibiotic (baytril). Its been a week now and I am not sure on any improvements as of yet!! Is this normal?? How long is this going to take? I know he was pretty inflammed and irritated down there cause he needed two cathetors but I think it wouldn’t still hurt after pee pee’s by now. Like I said, it’s been just over 3 weeks. I just want my little man to feel better :( I should note that I am bringing a urine sample to the vet as soon as I can get one so they can do a urinealisys to see if there are still crystals. If thats the case, that means the Medical Urninary SO food that he is on, is not working (he’s on both wet and dry but I am thinking of switching to all wet soon). Is this possible or id his uti just really not gone away yet?
What is C/D diet??plz help my cat is going through the same thing
Richie: that is very tragic and i would find another vet if you have other kitties. We all go to a cats only vet because she so much better than any of the other vets we used to use (2 of us have had UT probs which were never really resolved until we started seeing our current cats only vet). .
Mom tricks me into drinking extra water by putting it on some dried food several times per day. I drink the flavored water but leave most of the crunchies. I also eat canned food, the kind with chunks and gravy.
I had urinary tract blockage once and occasionally have mild attacks of idiopathic cystitis when I get stressed. When I was blocked I had to be catheterized, then take phenoxybenzamine 2x per day for 10 days, and have subQ fluids, 100 ml per day, for about a week. The phenoxybenzamine is an antispasmodic which relaxes the urethral muscles, and the subQ fluids keeps my urine diluted and makes me pee more. Initially I had to eat Royal Canin SO in the can, but now I’m not on a special diet. We just make sure I get plenty of extra water. If I have a mild attack and start having difficulty peeing again, I take phenoxybenzamine for a couple of days until I’m normal again, and if there is a lot of blood in my urine I have to take prednisone to reduced the inflammation. I’ve never had to take antibiotics.
I lost my beloved cat of 10 years Saturday due to a blocked urinary tract and I can’t help but feel guilty because I did not keep him on the special diet recommended by the vet after his initial episode which required surgery 2 years ago.This past 8 months I wasn’t able to financially maintain his special diet completely and I can’t help but feel I let my cat down and caused this second situation. I’m not sleeping good and I’m crying everyday and night out of guilt. Even though after the first episode I was told he still may never recover but he lived 2 more years and I can’t help but feel my actions shortened his lifespan.
My cat Oliver became blocked about 6 days ago and had to be taken to the emergency vet to be cathertized and held at the hospital for two days. He is under 2 years old so it is very surprising that this happened to him. we even waited until he was 9 months old to neuter him to be sure he was able to fully grow, I also might add he is a purebred American Shorthair. We treat him like our baby and it is very distressing to see him have to go through all of this. Our vet has suggested that PU surgery may ultimately be required but since it has only been 6 days we have decided to keep him on on his meds and see if he improves without it.
The emergency vet cost us about 1,200 and we have spent near an aditional 400 at our regular vet taking him in for check ups, additional medication and to have his bladder expressed twice a day. our estimate for surgery to correct this is anywhere from 900 to 1,100 dollars. We feel he is TOTALLY worth it. but as you can see it is quite the financial burden, not to mention he will have to be on a special diet for life and a case of food which is 24 cans of the s/d or c/d diet is about $42.
we have a very good highly recommended vet but i feel sometimes that she thinks we are nuts for waiting it out. i just want to give him every chance to heal, his attitude is improving every day and even expressing his bladder seems to be getting easier, i think it is only right to give him the opportunity to let his body heal with the aid of medicine before we consider going a surgical route, and no it isn’t about the money.
No where online and no one that I have talked to seem to be able to give a set amount of time it takes for a cat to recover from a UTI let alone a blockage so I am just trying to be patient and loving with Oliver. I hope that by the time we make it through the 10 day supply of medication we see some significant improvement.
Marie just reading your story, u must not blame yourself. Try to think of the wonderful 10 years that your beloved cat had with you. He is at peace now.
I think my 17 year old cat has this problem although he has urine tests 2 days ago which were normal ph.
He is in and out of the litter tray but not doing much, when he does pee he howls at the end of it. It’s now the weekend so we are just sitting it out til the vet opens. I would not put him through the surgery at his age to be honest anyway. He had anaesthetic a month ago for xrays and did not recover very well.
Has anyone had a normal ph urine test on a cat with a urinary infection or blockage.
After reading all these posts, it seems to me that this condition never goes away. I can’t imagine putting him through the caths and/or surgeries, to most likely be in the same place and have to put him through it all again. My 6 yr old male has been going through this for a month. He was perfectly fine and then one day started growling and hissing out of the blue. I took him to the ER Vet and they concluded that he may have an infection (gave him an injection of antibiotic, anti-inflamatory and pain meds). They were unable to get a urine sample (good beause his bladder was empty, but bad because we didn’t know what was really going on).
I followed up a week later at the vet and got another anti-inflamatory injection and was instructed to get a urine sample. I managed to get one last iThurs was told of the sulvrite crystals and got the same recommendations (gel medicine to break down the crystals and wet only scrip diet). I don’t have the food yet, but have been giving him the gel and he hates it. I have to confine him and force it down. I feel so sorry for him. The anti-inflamatory injections are only temporary. The first round, lasted less than 10 days. The second, hasn’t seemed to help at all. He growls after urinating and hisses every day with the exception of yesterday (at least while I was home). He still excessively cleans the area, which tells me the discomfort is not subsiding.
On that note, If you’re trying to get a urine sample, the only thing that worked for me (asside from having the vet keep him a night) was buying a new box and filling it with aquarium stones and to be honest, I think it was a bit of miracle that it happened at all. I just happended to sense he had to go and I picked him up and coaxed him to the new box and he went. The vet said to place saran wrap in his box, which didn’t work at all, as I suspected since he’s far too picky. I actually got the aqaurium pebble tip from the receptionist.
H’s still not going in any of his boxes (he has 3) at all and I have to keep him confied in a room that he’s already destroyed while I’m at work all day. Even when I’m home, he’s going on the living room floor, practically right in front of me. He’s also urinated on my bed (which forced me to close that room off as well and this is where he likes to sleep). I’ve switched him to wet food only twice per day and since he’s not used to just eating wet food especially at fixed times, he’s eating very little and not drinking much water. I have a bowl of water in every room (which I change daily). I even purchased a fountain, which he won’t use. I tried to get him interested, but he won’t have it.
It just seems like the humane thing to do is to put him down. It breaks my heart to think about this, but his quality of life is diminishing and after 3 weeks of treatment, changing things around, nothing appears to be helping. More than all that, he’s still in pain and discomfort every time he urinates and I would feel HORRIBLE if he were to go through the pain of becoming blocked (especially if I’m at work) because I was too selfish trying to keep him around.
Lastly, my asst spoke to a friend over the wknd, who happens to work in a vet clinic and she was a little more “real” about the situation. Her intial reaction: “oooh, that’s not good.” I’m hoping to speak to her today and get her experience and opinion about how this will liklely end. Although, like I said, reading these posts have pretty much answered that already. I think the vet is trying to be optimistic for my sake, as most of them (not in Richards case) never want to have to make the final decision.
The sad part of it all, is that he still has the same personality (adorable, crazy, naughty, lovable all wrapped into one), it’s so hard to let him go. I’m just getting to the point where I have to accept this and do the right thing for him. It seems like all I think about is what I want, meanwhile, his quality of life lessens each day. He won’t suffer, be in pain and confused about why I’m changing everything any longer. I know it will be a peaceful transition. As difficult is that is to write and think, I’m feeling more and more it’s the right thing to do.
As of now my cat ( 1 year old ) is still in the hospital. He was admitted on Sunday because of a blockage. The vet seems to be optimistic but it is a long process.First the talked about taking home Saturday and then Monday.My Bill so far is reaching 3000$. :(((
We want our baby back. Hoping for the best.
Thank you Jeanette Im really trying to let the guilt go and I appreciate your words of comfort.