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The litter tray

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Original poster

Urinary blockage :(

22 replies

Hubblez · 31/03/2015 23:20

Just need to vent! My boy was straining to wee yesterday and yowling in pain, so I phoned the vet who made me an emergency appointment. He was there all night and day and I picked him up at 8pm today.

They had done an operation to unblock his bladder and said he did a huge wee then, and 2 smaller bloody wees during the day, but have sent him home with 3 types of medicine

Luckily he was insured and his insurance covers £2,000 per condition per year. It cost £550 ish but I only had to pay £115 excess and money is tight at the moment

Anyway I got him home and he keeps trying to wee but nothing is coming out at all. I've given him his meds and he's eaten a full tin of food and has had some cat milk to drink. I've put him in a large dog cage overnight so the other cats don't bother him and so that I can see if he wees (left litter tray in the cage)

If he hasn't done a wee by tomorrow I will have to take him back in, does anyone know if the insurance will cover his treatment again since it's technically the same condition? Or if I'll have to pay the excess again? I wish they had just kept him in tonight aswell as now I am worrying about money again :(

Poor cat keeps head butting me wanting to be stroked and is acting fine but then will try to wee, can't do it and give up and lay down :( then rinse and repeat. Really don't know what to do, if the insurance won't cover it again then he will have to be put to sleep unless he starts weeing by himself but since it says per condition I hope it will continue up to the £2,000 limit - have never had to actually use insurance for anything before so not sure how it will work. I can probably borrow money to make up the excess if he needs to go back in but what happens if he is blocked again afterwards? He's only just over a year old for fucks sake Sad

Just had to write my thoughts to try and calm down.. and does anyone know about the insurance and if I would have to pay the excess again? I'll phone them tomorrow morning but don't know how I'm going to sleep now

OP posts:
Lonecatwithkitten · 01/04/2015 00:18

Firstly insurance yes if he has to go back in again this is the same condition and there should be no second excess.
He is young for this problem have they checked the type of crystal involved under the microscope to know whether they can be dissolved by diet or not?

LoofahVanDross · 01/04/2015 00:31

You won't have to pay any more to the vet. The excess covers his condition until he is well. So it won't matter how many times you trot back and to with his urinary issue.

I hoe he is feeling better and that you managed to get some sleep.

Original poster
Hubblez · 01/04/2015 00:54

I am still awake for now just cuddling him, he's being very affectionate but still struggling to wee and last time he tried he started hissing :(

That is a huge relief to hear that the insurance will still cover him though. If no wee tomorrow then I'll take him straight to the vet, he should be ok until then (which is what the vet said earlier but I'm still worrying!)

OP posts:
Original poster
Hubblez · 01/04/2015 00:56

They haven't checked his urine as far as I know but I will ask them to do this tomorrow, I did read about the crystals and special diets and looked into the food already but the vet told me not to. He was due back on Thursday for a check anyway

OP posts:
Original poster
Hubblez · 01/04/2015 13:18

He's back at the vet today to be unblocked, no wee overnight and he was very tender and in pain this morning, they did do a urine test and said he has small crystals but they don't know if that or spasms in his genitals caused it to reblock. I'm praying that he gets unblocked and stays unblocked this time!

OP posts:
PandaNot · 01/04/2015 13:25

You need a new vet! The crystals and a special diet should have been the first thing they checked although the spasms can cause it too but if he was blocked it's likely to be the crystals. He needs a very wet diet, my boy had problems even with the specialist dry food. Theres lots of evidence now that normal wet food is just as good as the specialist. You have my sympathies, it's very distressing.

The insurance will cover him until this is sorted provided you don't reach the limit.

Original poster
Hubblez · 01/04/2015 15:48

It's the insurance limit im worried about :( only have about £700 left on it now for this condition. I've ordered him some of the specialist food anyway but he was on dry food before with a pouch of wet before bed. Swapping other 2 cats to fully wet food now too

He is also a bit podgey so will need to go on a diet if he comes home safe but I'll make sure it's only wet food he has from now on

OP posts:
Original poster
Hubblez · 01/04/2015 15:50

Just to add, the specialist food that I ordered is a wet one by the way that says it has acid or something to help dissolve crystals, I think it's definately worth a try

OP posts:
PandaNot · 01/04/2015 22:48

Yes you can get wet special diet food too but my fussy cats wouldn't touch it! And because I have two cats it works out a lot cheaper to just feed normal wet food. My vet is very happy with this and he hasn't had a flare-up for a couple of years now. Initial blockage was five years ago.

I think it is worth trying to find a cat specialist though if you have a cat with a chronic condition.

Could you give the insurance company a call and ask them about the situation? At least then you'd know the position for sure and be in a position to make informed decisions if need be.

RubbishMantra · 02/04/2015 14:09

How's your lad? He's the lovely white floofy boy isn't he?

Healing thoughts. Flowers

Original poster
Hubblez · 02/04/2015 15:57

It isn't the fluffy boy who is poorly, my black and white boy is. White fluffy boy is fit as a fiddle and being as annoying as ever haha

The vet phoned and said that he still has a catheter in but is comfortable and not in pain anymore, they need to try taking the catheter out at somepoint though which is the bit I am worried about, if he can still wee after its out then he should be ok though it'll probably be tomorrow that they try it

OP posts:
cat234 · 03/04/2015 15:39

Check with your vet what crystals they are, as different ones need different diets. Generally the diets alter the pH of the urine to prevent crystal formation, and help dissolve any stones. You need to make sure you have the right diet, otherwise it may change the pH in the wrong direction for the crystals your cat has and actually make it worse.

Original poster
Hubblez · 03/04/2015 22:59

Ah ok! He is home now since this morning and doing ok and has been doing lots of small wees all day. He's being really affectionate and is eating and playing and won't leave me alone, looking good :)

He's back tomorrow for a check up so I'll take the packet of food that I have and see what the vet says. Thanks for the heads up!

OP posts:
thecatneuterer · 03/04/2015 23:04

That's good. You haven't had much luck with your cats recently have you?

Original poster
Hubblez · 04/04/2015 01:27

Hey TCN! No I haven't! I must be cursed or something, they're all happy and active in themselves they just seem to like getting a random serious issue each and they're all so young too :( - it must be the white deaf boys turn to get poorly next!

Thank god for pet insurance though, I am going to upgrade all their policies I think, it's only a couple of pounds more and I don't want to go through all this stress again worrying about reaching the limit, though fingers crossed that no insurances will need to be used for a while!

Sorry for whittering away in this thread constantly Blush it's been the most awful week though and writing everything down has helped somehow Smile

OP posts:
RubbishMantra · 04/04/2015 13:12

I'm glad your boy's recovering.

I'd have been in bits too.

VikingLady · 04/04/2015 13:17

Our neutered tom had this but to a far lesser degree. Long term I was advised to never feed him fish or fish flavoured food. For some reason that can trigger bladder crystals.

cozietoesie · 05/04/2015 13:13

How's he doing?

Original poster
Hubblez · 06/04/2015 03:18

He is doing great now! (hope I haven't cursed anything by writing this Confused )

Still very strangley affectionate - maybe he thinks I am going to ship him off back to the vet if he is naughty haha. Doing lots of little wees still but not sitting and straining for ages, just in, small wee, and out. I think it hurts him to wee but he's still on meds and the vet said he would be tender cos of the 2 operations

Myself on the other hand... my sleep schedule is totally screwed up from monitoring him and worrying about him Grin but worth it to see him back to normal! Still going to be paranoid about him reblocking but he's on the vet recommended 'special' food now so I am hoping this will help him, there's not much else I can do unfortunately

Bloody cats eh? Who'd have them!Grin

OP posts:
Costacoffeeplease · 06/04/2015 06:38

Glad he's doing better, in case the vet hasn't explained, this can be very serious in male cats, if left their bladder can rupture and they can die, it can happen very quickly. A friend of mine had to have their cat's penis removed as it just kept blocking, even on special food. He's absolutely fine now and hasn't had a problem since his op, but just so you're aware how strip it can be. Hope he's much better on the special diet

Costacoffeeplease · 06/04/2015 06:39

How 'serious' not strip!

sugarplumfairy28 · 06/04/2015 21:00

This brought back so many heart breaking memories, our Suru was only just over 2 years old and was taken to the vets with a blocked bladder. He was in there for 9 days, had a catheter for 7 of those after 3 failed attempts to remove it and have him wee by himself unsuccessfully. The vet blamed it entirely on the food he was on, and that this food was fundamentally not suited to neutered males. I think perhaps a little scare mongering as she explained the penis removal and then suggested a hugely expensive new food for him.

In the midst of all this we also had to go abroad for a few days which we simply couldn't cancel. So not only had a massive vet bill but a massive phone bill to, so lucky my mother in law loves the cats as much as we do.

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