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Original poster

Any vets around? Cat's pee pipe problem - when do you call it a day?

123 replies

RGPargy · 22/04/2008 08:48

Hi

My male cat has developed a pee pipe problem, in which crystals are forming in his uretha, preventing him from passing urine.

Anyway, it started on Friday when i noticed he was acting peculiar and holding his back end down so i rang the vet and was able to take him there straight away. She had a feel and said his bladder was HUGE and that she was going to keep him in and insert a catheta (sp?). While he was in, they removed the catheta to see if the bladder would fill up again and unfortunately it did so they had to reinsert it. I brought him home on Sunday night as he was very depressed all weekend (naturally) and the vet thought that he might perk up a bit if he was at home and this might aid his recovery. I had to give him special urinary food and also medication. I had to take him back yesterday to find out the situation and although he was acting fairly normally all the time he was home, unfortunately his bladder had filled up again and i had also noticed him spending about 10 minutes in one spot in the garden trying to have a wee, but it seems that he was not able to do so.

Last night i got up to the baby and noticed that again he was acting weird. He kept trying to wee anywhere he sat, including various places on my bed! In the end i had to shut him out of my bedroom because there's no way, if he were able to, that i or DP were going to be peed on in the middle of the night!

This morning he looks very depressed again and it seems we are back to square one. The medication isn't working, nor is the urinary food that's meant to dissolve the crystals.

The vet said that he might have to be hospitalised for 2/3 days again and have a catheta reinserted but if all this treatment isn't working, when do we say enough is enough?? He's obviously very unhappy. The vet said the worst case scenario would be to amputate his penis () but this seems really macabre!!!

Also, to be very honest, the bill so far is around £500 and we are very very stretched financially. I dont know how much more we can take, cost-wise!

Advice anyone?

TIA.

OP posts:
Original poster
RGPargy · 28/04/2008 12:47

Hi emilia. Unfortunately they couldn't fit him in at any other time. Not long to go now.......

OP posts:
emiliadaniel · 28/04/2008 13:45

Well good luck with your appointment later. Let us know how you get on.

Original poster
RGPargy · 28/04/2008 15:06

Hiya

It went well at the vets. I told the vet that he had been quiet and had been taking his time trying to pee but she said his bladder wasn't that big but gave it a bit of a squeeze anyway. She said that it could possibly still be sore for him so he might just be waiting til his busting for a wee before he goes to the loo.

Another check up on Friday.

OP posts:
emiliadaniel · 28/04/2008 17:42

Hi RGPargy. What medication is your cat on?

Original poster
RGPargy · 28/04/2008 22:17

Hiya

He was on four tablets a day (nightmare!). Now he's on two.

He was on 5mg (i think) of diazepam twice a day (now finished);
A capsule whose name i cannot remember now;
10mg Prednicare twice a day, from tomorrow reducing to one a day;
1 tablet of synulux twice a day, finishing Tuesday.

AFter that, he'll just be on the steroids, 1 tablet a day for the next week and then 1/2 a tablet a day for the next week, then 1/2 tablet every other day for a week. Think that's what it is anyway (instructions aren't to hand atm).

Oh he also has some special biscuits that dissolve the crystals. Is it bad for my other cat to have them too if she doesn't have the condition?

OP posts:
emiliadaniel · 29/04/2008 14:10

Hi

It sounds like he is having all the right medication. Was the capsule called Cystease? If he does a lot of straining but his bladder isn't actually blocked the diazepam may be very useful again. It won't hurt your other cat to eat the prescription diet (although it will be expensive for you) but it is very, very important that the one with the problem doesn't have anything else at all.

misdee · 29/04/2008 14:17

i was going to direct my sister here but see she is already here. her cat NEMO has had several bouts of FLUTD, one quite recently when he was being fed elsehwere. he is a gorgeous cat and SGK is very good with spotting his symptoms early now. he is a mini celeb at the vets though lol.

Original poster
RGPargy · 29/04/2008 16:25

Hi

The capsules were dibenyline.

He was acting strange again this morning and trying to pee everywhere, but as well as it being a bit sore for him at the moment, i think it had mitigating factors:

  1. There was a lot of catawalling (sp??) outside this morning and the other cat was hanging around even when i got up so he probably didn't feel comfortable to go outside until the cat was gone;

  2. It was raining and he hates the rain!

Now that it has stopped raining, i've seen him go out a few times for wees but dont know if he actually went. He seems a bit brighter now than what he was this morning too. Hopefully that means he's been.

I'll keep an eye on him tho and will whip him back to the vets before Friday if i think he's blocked up again.

I hope he doesn't have to have another stay tho because i'm going to have to have a cut off point at some point on the amount of money we can reasonably spend on getting him better. It's nearly £750 at the moment!

What worries me too is that he wont let me near him at all. Every time i go near him to scarpers off, which means that i haven't been able to give him his meds so far today.

OP posts:
beautifulgirls · 29/04/2008 16:44

If there is any chance he could be blocked again get him back to the vets asap. Their kidneys can only take so much if they get blocked and your vet would rather see you and tell you all is ok than deal with a severely ill cat later on. It will also cost more to deal with a severely ill cat at that point too.

Dibenyline is good stuff for this type of case too.

emiliadaniel · 29/04/2008 16:54

FLUTD has a number of predisposing factors, not least of which is stress, so you are probably right about the cat outside not helping. Have you tried a Feliway diffuser? The crystals are also more likely to form when the cat urinates less often, which tends to be the case in cats who can't or won't go outside.

Original poster
RGPargy · 29/04/2008 17:16

beautifulgirls - i will keep a close eye on him.

emilia - What's a feliway diffuser?! Since the other cat got chased went away he has been outside a good few times going (or trying to) go for a wee. I hope he has been because we dont want any crystal reformation!!

OP posts:
emiliadaniel · 29/04/2008 17:23

A Feliway diffuser is something that you can plug in at home (like a room fragrancer). We can't smell it but it contains a pheromone that is relaxing to cats. It can be really useful for helping with stress related conditions, especially when you can't eliminate the stress, such as a neighbours cat. You get it from vets and if it helps you can get refills for it.

Original poster
RGPargy · 29/04/2008 20:06

Oh wow, that sounds useful! I'll look into that!

OP posts:
misdee · 29/04/2008 20:54

can u get him to use a littertray for a little while to keep an eye on how often he is going?

ExtraFancy · 29/04/2008 20:57

Hi RGPargy, my cat had this problem last week - I started a thread on it somewhere. We didn't have insurance either, and it came to more than £600! Luckily we had enough room on a credit card to cover it.

Our cat had to go back for a checkup as although his bladder hadn't blocked again, he was peeing small spots everywhere. He was given some anti-inflammatory medicine and given an injection of something, and within 24 hours he was back to his old self

I have just finished cleaning every single carpet and soft furnishing in our house, and the whole thing was a lesson in the value of pet insurance , but he is fine now (on special diet) so it was worth it!

Hope your moggy is back to his old self very very soon

Original poster
RGPargy · 29/04/2008 21:36

Misdee - been down that route already and he just wont use a tray now!

ExtraFancy - it's horrible isn't it!! Thankfully you had it covered on the credit card, but unfortunately we dont have one of those either! Mine is also peeing small spots everywhere again. It would be interesting to know what the injection was. Tablets tho are a complete pain to get him to take. I really have to battle with him. Most of the time i get DP to hold him while i try and force his (very strong) jaw open. It's like his jaw is nailed shut! Would be interesting to know what the injection is.......

He's now in the cupboard under the stairs hiding in the darkness and warmth (the boiler is in there). I will take him back to the vets again tomorrow. I really dont know how much more treatment they can give him. He's been like it for nearly two weeks now. What else could they do for him?

OP posts:
SparklyGothKat · 30/04/2008 00:49

the injection is to relax the bladder (I believe) Nemo has it each time I spot that he is having another bout of FLUTD, and within a few days he is back to normal. Costs me £40 a time (and no , its not covered by the insurance, as we didn;t have insurance when he first got this, although he wasn't actually diagnosed with FLUTD until 3 months after we took after insurance) but it does work

Original poster
RGPargy · 30/04/2008 08:17

Hmmm i wonder why he's not had this injection?? I might query it when i get him to the vets today.

OP posts:
beautifulgirls · 30/04/2008 11:55

I can only imagine that the injection was probably diazepam injectable, that you already have in a tablet form. I can not think of anything else that I would use other than the obvious injectable antibiotics and anti-inflammatories that are likely to have been given straight away anyway. Most injections given for this condition will only have a relatively short term effect and may need to be followed up with the tablets anyway. The only possible exception is an antibiotic called convenia that lasts for 2 weeks once injected. It may or not be the chosen antibiotic given for various reasons that the vet will decide upon.

crackpotdog · 30/04/2008 20:43

RGPargy - whats the latest?

Original poster
RGPargy · 30/04/2008 21:53

Hi everyone

The prognosis is not good. He had another flare up and so i whipped him down to the vets first thing this morning. I saw a completely different vet this time and we went through the history of what's happened to the cat so far. He said to me that basically we have to draw a line in the sand somewhere. He said i have done everything possible for him and that he wouldn't think i was a bad person if i were to draw the line there and then. He also said that he could always give him one more catheter and it could clear him for a couple of years - there was just no way of telling. He put me in another room on my own to have a think about what i wanted to do. During this time Scratch was sitting in front of me looking up at me with his huge green eyes, looking so worried, bless him.

Anyway, i decided that i just had to give him one last go. He is now back in the surgery, although i'm a bit disappointed because no one has called me tonight as promised to let me know how he got on. He's having the catheter in for 48 hours and will then have it removed and will stay in for a few more days. If he blocks up again after the cathetar is removed, then we will have to probably draw the dreaded line.

OP posts:
ClairePO · 30/04/2008 22:21

God don't go by what that one vet says - it sounds like they're giving up very easily. It could be just that there is still sweeling and soreness. I'm glad you're giving another try for your cat.

ExtraFancy · 30/04/2008 22:21

Oh RGPargy I am so sorry. It's such a horrid situation to be in

Original poster
RGPargy · 30/04/2008 22:28

Claire - This is the third vet i've seen now and they've all more or less said that a line has to be drawn somewhere. This will be his fourth catheter in nearly two weeks so he's obviously not getting better for whatever reason. I do hope this time clears him tho. Poor little fella.

ExtraFancy - horrid, isn't it. Thanx for your sympathies

OP posts:
caspercat · 01/05/2008 14:31

Hi RG, been following the developments. Sorry to hear he's back in again, i think you were right to give him another go, but also i guess you have to be realistic now re his prognosis. So for you both, i hope they've got him on some good painkillers. Will be keeping everything crossed for a good outcome.
BTW, it's a bit off that they didn't contact you last night, after they said they would. Unless there was a huge emergency in, it's really not on. I hope you got an apology when you spoke to them this morning.