Urinary Block recovery - WORRIED!

Hello, all. I'm new the site. I found this place by stumbling around doing research on feline urinary blockages.

My cat just got out of the hospital on Saturday after being treated for a urinary block. He had a to have a catheter put in twice before he could urinate on his own. He did not, thankfully, have any crystals or stones. Since I got him back, he has been urinating in very small amounts, which I have been told is normal. He's also on special food.

He has not been urinating as much today as he did on Saturday and yesterday. He has urinated 2-3 times, but in very small amounts. However, he is not sitting in the box straining, and his behavior seems pretty normal.

Should I be worried that he may be re-blocking?! I'm pretty paranoid because I can't afford another hospitalization (I'm a grad student with no money).

Also, it's extremely hot here in Ohio today (the high was 93), so he's acting a bit lethargic. However, I'm assuming that's from the health and not because he doesn't feel well. Does the amount that cat's urinate change in the heat? How frequently should he be urinating? When should I get worried?

Thanks!
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Hi - I've been through this with my male cat. My vet said as long as he is passing something, even if a small amount, he should be ok. But... keep a very close eye on him. How tiny is tiny? dribbles? Like the size of a pea or larger? Also, keep several water bowls around the house, not just one. Sometimes when you place a bowl in a new spot it peaks their interest and they tend to drink more.

Thanks so much for the input! I would say that the spot in the litter box after he urinates varies in size from about a dime to a nickel - he must have more urine in him than that!

That's a good suggestion about the water bowls, I will do that!

What caused the blockage if he doesn't have crystals or stones. I think he should have more volume than what you are describing. What is the special food for? Is it to acidify his urine? It doesn't sound to me like you are getting the whole story, or maybe you omitted a lot of info?

The other posters have given good information/suggestions; mine would be also to discuss the matter further with the vet and find out why he was blocked! In my Samuda's case, he had crystals and was prescribed Methigel methionine gel supplement to help keep his urine acidic and help avoid production of crystals. We lived in an area with very poor water quality, and he didn't want bottled water, but since we moved from there, he's been FINE (over 3 years) and not on the Methigel any more. Methigel does enable a cat to eat a wider variety of foods, which is why I opted for it instead of using one (rather unappealing) Rx type of food for him, in my multicat household...

Keep us updated, won't you?

Originally Posted by gailuvscats

What caused the blockage if he doesn't have crystals or stones. I think he should have more volume than what you are describing. What is the special food for? Is it to acidify his urine? It doesn't sound to me like you are getting the whole story, or maybe you omitted a lot of info?

Click to expand...

I don't know the OP's story, but it could likely be that the blockage was due to cystitis; inflammation in the bladder that is idiopathic (no known reason). The majority of blockages that *aren't* due to crystals/stones fall in to this category.

To the OP: I would call the vet at the first sign he's having trouble. If he's drinking enough, he should have more than a dime size of pee. As you may have learned, cats can reblock within a matter of hours, and it's a life or death situation, especially with male cats.

You didn't mention if he's eating wet food; it's the best thing to feed cats with uti problems. Leo had several uti issues... his first blockage revealed crystals; however, none of his subsequent blockages showed anything like that. After multiple hospitalizations and catheterizations (is that a word?) he had pu surgery. He now eats predominantly wet food (it was about 50/50 before) and I add warm water and mash it up into "soup" to ensure he's getting enough water. Feel free to pm me if you like.

And re: affording the vet bills, you might want to check out Care Credit. They have a card specifically for vet bills. It works like a credit card in that they pay the vet, and you reimburse them. You get a "promotional period" to pay it off with no interest. I have 12 months to pay off the bill from Leo's surgery. It was a godsend, as I couldn't have dropped the cash at once. (I was a poor grad student a year ago!).

Thank you all for your replies.

They are actually not sure what caused the blockage in his case, but they are guessing dietary change . . . I discussed it with the vet and he said that it could also be the water. We just moved from Maine to Ohio, and the tap water in Maine is fantastic. However, in Ohio, the water tastes really minerally, so it could have been a mineral build up. He's now drinking filtered water. The food is Hil's Prescription c/d pet food. He's on a combo of dry and wet. It has controlled levels of minerals, though the Ph level of his urine was always fine . . .

He's currently on an antibiotic and and another drug (can't remember the name off hand) that will help relax his urethra.

He's actually urinated a bit more since my last post (though still not a whole lot), which is comforting. He seems to urinate more in the evening - is that typical? How much urine does an average cat put out? I've never really paid close attention before because my cats have never had a problem with this.

I'm such a worrier, and this whole experience has been pretty traumatizing, honestly!

I have three male cats, one with crystals (controlled by acidification of his system). the non-crystal cats urinate once a day, a little bigger than a baseball.. the other (not because he is a crystal cat) urinates twice a day, the size of a lemon. Clumps that is. Frequent trips to the box with little volume is the sign of a problem. In your case it might be from thhe irritation of the catheter, but you should call and ask your vet. They should not charge you for phone calls as follow up of the procedure you just had.

My vet actually called me today to check up on my cat. I told them that my cat was urinating on his own, but not a huge amount, and the vet said that as long as there is a circle in the litter box, even if it's a small one, that he's okay and that his urethra is probably still irritated from having a catheter in it for five days. He has a check up on Saturday . . .

In the meantime, I have another question. For those of you who have had cats with this problem, does it normally recurr, or could this be the only blockage that he ever has?

Thanks!

I'm glad your cat is doing well. I don't know if your cat will have recurring issues or not. I know if I did not acidify my cats system, we would have ongoing problems, likely to result in blockage or death. He develops crystals which are dissolved in an acidic urine. Not sure why they develop, or why his PH is not the norm for a cat. Perhaps it was his early months living in the elements as a stray. Not sure.

Each cat is a different story, obviously. My vet said that if the first occurrence is at a young age, it is more likely to be a recurring thing. Of course, there are young cats that have a blockage once and no more problems, but according to my vet, the general trend is young cats who have a blockage are more likely to have another blockage. Hopefully that won't be the case for BB.

never thought that maybe my water is triggering UTI in my cat. His PH levels were very high couple months ago and he had UTI. He was put on meds and new diet. He has UTI back but PH level is normal now. Should i get bottled water for him?

Both my males have had issues at one time or another. Popeye was completely blocked, catheterized, sent home with meds and a couple days later completely blocked again! I was so afraid I was going to lose him. He is defintely testing the 9 lives theory.
Next option was the PU surgery. I bought a cat fountain, added cranburry powder supplement to his then canned c/d (I switched to another brand shortly after) and did what I could for prevention also. He too urinated small amounts for quite a few days following. He healed up over 2 weeks time and hasn't had a problem since.

My other one (Kirby) has had 2 UTIs in his 10 yrs. The most recent being a few months ago...I'm attributing it to his love of my dog's food and my dog will let him eat it! I supervise mealtime now.

I have new furniture and this prevention thing is fresh in my head (He peed on my couch the first time) I'm going back to the primarily canned, plugging the fountain back in and adding cranburry a few times per week.

It's very scary...I hope your cat gets better soon!