Male cat and ongoing bladder problems

[Mugsandpens]

I'm really worried about my male cat and wonder if anyone can help please? To be brief, he was having problems weeing and was given medication, looked at by the vet several times. He ended up having an operation which I think was something to do with the urethra, shortening it maybe? Sorry, I don't remember the exact details as my husband was managing all the vet visits and treatments and it was a couple of years ago.

Since then the cat's personality has changed. He was always quite nervous but very comfortable with our family. He now won't let any of us near him and spends most of his time hiding from us and everything else as well. He is constantly licking around his bottom and he wees everywhere and anywhere.

This has only really started after the operation. Before that, he was fully house trained, has a clean litter tray but prefers to go outside or wherever he is standing. We've taken him back to the vet's several times. He's been given antibiotics but other than that they say they aren't too worried about him.

I'm very worried though. He just hasn't been the same since the operation. I feel he walks quite gingerly and the constant bottom licking and weeing everywhere doesn't seem right. We also have another cat (his sister) and she doesn't show any of this behaviour. Is there anything we can do for him? I really can't bear the thought that he might be in pain and just getting on with it.

TIA

It could be stress, cats are quite sensitive. We use Feliway diffuser to help our cats as one of them kept weeing everywhere

Good grief I’d be furious if they’d done that to my male.

If he’s licking he’s in pain, why aren’t you aggressively pursuing this with the vet?

Hi OP,

I have a lot of experience with urinary issues in cats and unfortunately, urinary incontinence is a well-known side effect of the operation you describe. The procedure is called a perineal urethrostomy and is something that's very much a last resort when other less invasive techniques have failed.

I had a male cat who very nearly had to have this operation but luckily a third night at the vets on a catheter unblocked him and a change in diet/medication managed his condition going forward, but it was a close call.

I suspect your DH was informed of the potential side effects but chose to take the risk because the alternative to this operation would probably have been having your cat PTS.

Unfortunately it does sound like your cat is in pain and suffering as a result of the procedure. I think you need to go back to the vet (or a different vet) and speak about quality of life and/or learning to manage an incontinent cat long-term. I'm sorry.

That ^^
You could try cystophan which is fairly cheap on Amazon and/or d mannose as neither will do any harm

Thank you for your advice. The other option was PTS but we really didn't want to go down that route - he's young and really close to his sister. I've checked with DH and he wasn't told about incontinence being a side effect - in fact no side effects were mentioned at all.

I'll look into d-mannose and dystopian, thank you. We have been using Feliway as well but he's outside most of the time in the summer.

I don't actually know he's in pain - he just hasn't been the same since the operation. The vet was really good in lots of ways and the care they showed to the cat was great but obviously we should have been given a lot more information.

Strangely, it is good to know that incontinence is a side effect as that explains why he's weeing everywhere! The most recent urine tests have come back clear so no visible signs of infection. But yes, quality of life really needs to be looked at now. Thanks again, that's so useful to know.

Cats are great at masking. pain, so that fact that he's fussing around his bottom means something is very wrong there. I would get a second opinion at a different vets urgently. If this one didn't say he'd possibly be left incontinent then they aren't great. also, for what it's worth, cats do get distressed with being incontinent.

If he's licking his bits frequently that's probably a pretty solid sign that he's in pain - it certainly has been with all my males who've had urinary problems unfortunately.

It's a real shame you weren't told about the potential side effects and tbh I'd be pretty pissed off about it if I were you. It's a risky surgery and while it's great when it succeeds, the side effects when it doesn't are pretty bad.

Good luck with things going forward

Thank you to those who have posted - I really appreciate the kind comments. I have a couple of recommendations for new vet so hopefully I can do something to make him more comfortable.

At the time of the operation, we felt that we should do everything we could to make him well. The insurance only covered half the cost of the treatment, overnight stays, etc so it was a pretty big financial commitment.

I'm just really really surprised we weren't given all the relevant info as it's pretty crucial in just being able to care for him properly afterwards. I am going to speak to this vets again as well as I really want them to understand what the impact has been on my cat.

I'm so sorry to hear this. It does sound like he is in pain. I know how awful it is to have a cat who has had a blocked bladder, my cat went through it a few years ago, so my heart goes out to you. Our cat eventually had the operation your cat has had but it was a complete success. Our local vets didn't do it though as they felt they didn't have sufficient experience in doing it on smaller animals (we are in a rural area and they work with livestock a lot). However, we had insurance so our vet suggested he refer him to an animal hospital a few hours away. We did this and the surgeon there was much more hopeful as he did the operation often and told me he hadn't had any incontinent cats as a result. We were so fortunate our boy recovered completely but it cost our insurers the best part of £8,000!

The whole thing was a nightmare TBH. I hope you can find a solution for your cat but it definitely sounds like he needs help. Wishing you the best of luck.