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Boy cat has a blocked urethra...any experience?

31 replies

wheresmymojo · 21/06/2021 11:36

My boy cat (who is the absolute apple of my eye and furry soulmate) has been very ill for the past week.

He had a UTI which was treated but then became a blocked urethra.

Last week he was taken into the vets for 3 days and catheterised and put on a drip. He came home at 6pm on Friday looking still quite poorly, by 11am Saturday we were rushing him back to the vets as he seemed more and more ill. Didn't want to move very much, not eating and his 3rd eyelids were almost half closed.

On Saturday morning the vet was starting to talk about putting him to sleep (we were heartbroken) however things seem more positive now.

His bloods have shown his kidney function has massively improved - one marker is normal and the other is only slightly raised.

The vet said the catheter went in much easier this time so may not be a blockage this time but spasms from previously having a catheter in.

Since they started him on antibiotics on Saturday he has become more perky, they have found out he has anaemia probably a result of the underlying UTI so are treating that. He still hasn't eaten yet but hoping he will today.

He is only 5 years old.

I made the mistake of consulting Google and came across a page which just had lots of people from the US on it who had all lost their cats this way.

Does anyone have any experience of a younger cat going through this?

Did yours recover or did you have to PTS? Sad

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Internetio · 21/06/2021 11:47

oh, Flowers blocked cats are a horrible experience!

I wish I had a positive tale, my 2yo boy was the runt of the litter so tiny, and had been 'done' and ate dried cat food (so a prime target for urinary blockage), he ended up at the vets fairly early because he was acting odd and trying to pee on things he would never usually dream of peeing on (cushions etc). The vet checked and said he was blocked, catheterised and he was in hospital for nearly a week, came home and it happened again, we went through the same process (not covered by insurance the 2nd time) and discussed that if it happened a 3rd time we would PTS as he was a fairly independent outdoor cat rather than a lap cat and I felt that if he was to get ill out and about he would crawl somewhere and end up dying in pain. Sadly, within days it happened again.

The vets know what they are doing, it's not uncommon unfortunately. I would be guided by their experience, but in our case it just kept happening and without locking him in the house and watching him like a hawk he could have died horribly and in pain.

I hope your lad has a happier ending.

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wheresmymojo · 21/06/2021 11:54

Thanks...sorry to hear about your boy SadThanks

He is the soppiest ever lap cat and I desperately miss him while he's at the vets. His poor sister has been crying for him too.

There is an option of a surgery which is effectively a sex change op for a cat which has good results but we're already quite a way through our £3k insurance limit and have no savings due to COVID Sad

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DobbyTheHouseElk · 21/06/2021 11:59

My cat had this. He lived to the age of 16. He was diagnosed when he was 9months old.

He had a special prescription vet food, which wasn’t more expensive than a good quality cat food.

He was offered the sex change, but I didn’t want to do surgery like that in him. He had meds for a while and with the prescription food he was different cat.

Royal Canin High dilution urinary food.

He died in the end of diabetes after a long and happy life.

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MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 21/06/2021 12:03

Yes, we nearly lost ours when he was 3 to exactly the same circumstances,he's 6 now.

Antibiotics worked as did the catheter(which was so traumatic for him we have already decided that even though we have insurance we wouldn't put him through that again and it would be time for a 'big sleep')

Now he has wet food only and no dry whatsoever. So he has about 4 or five pouches to compensate for not having dry food. No cat treats either as they are dry apart from Lick e Lix and Aldi cat sticks.

Cystaid capsules in his food daily- MUCH cheaper online that from the vet.

Small amount of water added to his pouches to increase fluid intake and he will drink cat milk too.

3x a week he'll have raw food too.

He's been fine since and no flare upsSmile

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MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 21/06/2021 12:05

Just wanted to say our cat wouldn't entertain the specialist food but Purina seemed to be ok and in jelly rather than gravy as that had less thickener iirc- although it's night on impossible to get it at the moment. Just cutting dry food seemed to work though.

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Grumpyoldpersonwithcats · 21/06/2021 12:09

Going through this at the moment too. One of my cats (10 year old) has been in hospital this weekend with a blocked urethra. I get him back this afternoon. We'll get recommendations about diet going forward etc. when we pick him up.
Hope your cat recovers well - I'll let you know what the vet says to us.

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wheresmymojo · 21/06/2021 12:14

Thanks all. We have been on a real rollercoaster and were sobbing in the vet car park on Sat morning after they mentioned putting him to sleep.

I'm so glad I asked for his bloods to be re-done to help us make a decision as we basically decided if his bloods were bad (I.e. showing a fair amount of kidney damage) we would let him go rather than put him through more pain only to have chronic kidney disease anyway but that if they weren't too bad we'd do everything we could to give him a chance as a young cat.

Since then the signs have been reasonably positive if he would just eat!

I'm dreading him having a reoccurrence so we will be very much 'on it' in terms of everything we can do once he's home to prevent that.

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MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 21/06/2021 12:17

We have our cat lick e Lix and spooned cat soup in his mouth with a syringe over a few days. I remember it taking a while for him to get his appetite back, it seemed to coincide with him coming off the Metacam pain killers.

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wheresmymojo · 21/06/2021 12:48

That's a good idea...I read somewhere about making chicken broth too.

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MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 21/06/2021 12:52

I think I did that too- I boiled a chicken thigh in a small amount of water and have him that. Also a dollop of cream on my finger,basically anything to stimulate his appetite

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Howmanysleepsnow · 21/06/2021 12:52

Mine had this age 4. He ended up on a course of diazepam to stop further spasms (it did make him walk into walls whilst doped up though!) followed by a special diet.

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Internetio · 21/06/2021 12:53

with my other old boy I use to slow cook chicken drumsticks, strip and finely shred the chicken and mix it with the cooking jelly, that and lick-e-lix kept him going once he had no teeth and he never ever turned it down!

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DobbyTheHouseElk · 21/06/2021 12:53

Once my cat was stable, he didn’t have anymore flare ups.

When it was rough, it really was bad. He was sedated and home with me I made him a nappy and held him over the litter tray. It was hard, but I’d have done anything for him. They covered him in vasaline and put a cone on him so the urine didn’t burn him with the catheter in. I said I’d rather have him home with me nursing him than being in the vets overnights.

The vets bills were really scary high at one stage. But I got him through it.

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wheresmymojo · 21/06/2021 13:02

I think I may say that to them when they call to update today and bring him home.

As long as his bladder isn't blocked anymore I can give him more frequent care here than at the vets if it's just nursing / feeding / cleaning.

Will see what they say...

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DobbyTheHouseElk · 21/06/2021 13:32

My vet was a 5 min car drive away if he took ill in the night. Actually he was calmer home with me. Sometimes it’s brought on by stress. I don’t know if it was for my cat. He was so laid back.

He always knew I was helping him. I felt I could give him all my attention so the vet let me bring him home.

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Tinselandlights · 21/06/2021 13:47

Our gorgeous rescue boy had this three times. He's now no longer with us but not because of that. It never recurred and he was a much fitter cat afterwards, probably because of changing his food.

The first and second times were so close together they were basically the same occasion. The third time it happened he had a week in the vet's and they talked about a penis removal. He was so uncomfortable.

We changed his food, brought his litter tray inside and moved his water away and it never reoccurred. We think the stress of another cat in the garden was what had kicked it off. He was happy and had years more fun with us.

The best of luck to you and your boy Thanks

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MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 21/06/2021 16:02

@Tinselandlights moved his water away? Do you mean away from his food bowl?

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Biscuitandacuppa · 21/06/2021 16:10

My cat had it when he was only young about 2, he had his penis removed to straighten the bend in his urethra and he went on specialist food. He never had a blockage again.

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Tinselandlights · 21/06/2021 19:00

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor yes, the vet advised to move the water away from the food, and to put the litter tray much further away (they were in different rooms before but still quite close.

The specialist food really helped - and gave him a glossy coat too!

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wheresmymojo · 22/06/2021 13:16

Vet called today and we can bring him home...

His kidney markers are back to normal so no longer term damage done to them. His liver markers aren't great but that may just be because he's barely eaten for days. When she expressed his bladder today it seems to be unblocked.

So fingers crossed if we can get him eating and using the litter tray over the next 12 hours he'll be on the road to recovery!

We're en route to pick him up now and I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a sob when I see his little face since the last time we saw him I thought we were going to have to put him to sleep....

Anyway here is the man himself before getting poorly 🥰

Boy cat has a blocked urethra...any experience?
Boy cat has a blocked urethra...any experience?
Boy cat has a blocked urethra...any experience?
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MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 22/06/2021 13:25

@Tinselandlights thanks, I'll move the water away. What was the reason for it,do you know?

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MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 22/06/2021 13:26

Lovely new OP!! Get some cat soup ready Smile

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MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 22/06/2021 13:26

**news

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HamSandwichKiller · 22/06/2021 13:34

He's so pretty 😍 fingers crossed he's on the mend for you.

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Wimpeyspread · 22/06/2021 13:38

This happened to my cat twice - once when he was 2 and then again 2 years later. No problems since, no long term damage, he’s now 9 and absolutely fine. Very scary at the time though

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