not peeing after catheter

Hi there,
A quick question about our little buddy. Sorry if it's a little long. Junior was at the vet for 3 days recovering from having a crystal blockage removed. He had the catheter and I.V. We got Junior home and he was fine for a couple of hours then he went into the litterbox and started to strain to pee again. He did this about a dozen times and my Wife and I got really nervous. We took him to a 24hr emergency that night and they recatherized him. It went in real easy with no signs of crystals or mucus. They left it and drained his bladder, they emptied I.V. solution that was still in his bladder. They then took the catheter out and gave him some anti-spasmatic medication to see if that will relax his muscles enough for him to pee on his own. We had him home for the day with no luck, no pee in his litterbox. We took him to the Vet before they closed and she felt his bladder and it was really small. She said that he will be fine for the night but if he doesn't pee by the morning we have to take him in again and they will express his bladder. He has been eating, drinking some, and lots of purrs and kisses but no pee. We are hoping that his muscles are still spasming causing him to think he has to pee. Is this normal for a kitty that has gone through everything that he has (catheter, I.V.) not too pee right away? He hasn't been drinking that much and his abdomen isn't sensitive when we touch it. We don't want to take him back to the Vet if we are over-reacting, but we will if we have to. We Love the little guy so much and we hope this problem clears up soon. Any advice or experiences will be greatly appreciated as soon as possible. Thanks.

Not actually that normal no, sounds like there might be something else going on and perhaps a surgery is needed to open up the passage. It could be FUS (Feline Urological Syndrome) and if that is the case, you want to feed him cat food that is low in magnesium. Hills Science Diet makes one specifically for this. FUS is more common in male cats than female, though no one really knows why.
Good luck with kitty, he must be in such discomfort.

You are not over reacting. If it were my kitty i would be insane with worrie! Stay in contact with your vet. As you probebly know by now, urinary blockage is very serious. Set up a direct hotline to the vets office...camp out in his/her driveway, what ever it takes!

Well we brought Junior back to the Vet and she felt his bladder and it wasn't enlarged, it was still relatively small. They will keep him for the day and monitor how he does. We should get him back later on tonight, I miss him already I'll post later and let you know how he is doing.

I am having the same exact problem currently. My little Midnight doesn't appear to be cooperating with the prescribed meds. He's only dribbling. Very anxious to hear your outcome. I'm worries about having to do surgery, we've already spent well over $800 so far....

Sometimes, surgery is the only option. It is always helpful to find a feline only vet (if possible) and get a second opinion. Even a vet school is great, because if there is a problem and the students can learn from the procedure, you can volunteer your animal and get a drastically reduced cost for the procedure. I had to do this one time with my horse. Where it would of normally cost us $5,000.00 volunteering him for temporary study cut the bill down to $2,000.00

Some vet schools specialize in small critters, but the one near me only does farm animals.