Penis Removal (Blockage)

darlili · Aug 4, 2008

First, good luck with the surgery - from what I've read, it's often a great success for these poor boys.

I'd talk to the vet about doing the neutering at the same time for reasons cited above. And, just for plain old 'smells better in the house' reasons, neutering of a male is a good idea - and for umpteen other reasons as well, as noted above.

BTW, if you like this vet, ask his office what e-vet to use. My vet works with an e-vet and the e-vet's practice was polite, professional, quick to triage and see patients, and faxed the records immediately to my own vet so that my practice was up to date when I came in with my boy on Monday morning from a Sunday evening e-vet visit. It isn't unusual for e-vets to transfer patients back to their own vets the next morning, unless you are lucky enough to have a huge e-vet practice near-by.

For what it's worth, some people swear that distilled water is better for male cats and urinary issues, but I don't believe there are any studies of it. But, since I got my fountain, I've been using distilled water. It's a dollar a gallon; I clean the fountain and replace the water once a week, and so far my two have never needed more water, even though they're certainly drinking more than they did before. Also, distilled makes it easier to clean the fountain. You may want to encourage your boy to drink as much water as possible. If a fountain isn't in the works right now, maybe just change out his water bowls frequently and plop in ice cubes when the weather is warm.

laureen227 · Aug 4, 2008

so sorry for your bad e-vet experience - mine were really nice!
sending &

for sweet Bear - &

for you!

ETA: i'd ask about neutering at the same time as the other op - probably won't cost that much more [much of the cost is anesthesia & aftercare, i would suspect].

mews2much · Aug 8, 2008

What is the Pred for? Pred is what has caused some of Cocos bladder problems. Her last infection was caused by the Depo shot. Baytril worked great for her. I hope your cat feels better. How long does eh have to be on C/D. Coco has been on it almost 2 years and now I am using can Royal Canin Urinary also. He can still get crystals but at least he will not block anymore.

katkisses · Aug 8, 2008

Well Bear did not get any better and on Monday he had the surgery. Turns out he had to be neutered for the PU, so there was no persuading my mom to have him neutered, lol.

I got him back Wed, with an e-collar, Meds (Pred & Batryil), A bag of c/d, and instructions to use shredded newspaper instead of litter & to bring him back in 10 days to remove the external stitches (the internal ones will dissolve).

He looked so pitiful, both front legs have shaved patches from IV, his belly was shaved at the e-vet, and his shaved rear end-geeze, he is half way naked! At first I felt very, very gulity, even knowing that there were no other options, but seeing him cut up and bruised so badly really made me feel bad.

Shortly after I brought him home he bled about a teaspoon of blood, I called the vet-he said that is normal, and to just leave it and DO NOT clean it (no blood since then). Next day (yesterday) the redness was not as bad, but today there is barely any redness (it was mainly on his belly), and it is healing up nicely! I have him set up in a kennel (42x38x21) with his food, water, LB, and a carrier to hide in because I am worried if he runs around he will tear open his stitches. (and oh yes, he has mastered eating and drinking with the e-collar, I thought that I would have to assist him, nope!) He gets supervised play time though.

He has been a trooper this past week, and clingy-er than ever! He used to be a cats cat, now he's a peoples cat, lol! Right now my tough boy is resting on top of the carrier I put in the kennel, I put it in there thinking he would want to hide in there and recover, but nooooo, it's far better to sleep on TOP of it, rather than IN it, hahaha.

It was a very hard decision to make, and that first day was super hard, but he will now have a very happy, unblocked, and long life. We both thank everyone for the vibes! I know that things could still go wrong, but he is healing so nicely!

BTW: My vet does emergencies after hours (his personal cell #) and will meet you in the middle of the night at the clinic, but we took him to the e-vet being it was 11pm-thinking that the e-vet would be perfectly capable, and nice to us... guess not. You better bet I will call MY vet if there is another emergency (god, I hope there will be no more next times!)

katkisses · Aug 8, 2008

(For those of you who are wondering, I deleted my post because it wouldn't let me edit it, and pasted what I had originally wrote in a new post, after she had replied)

Pred is for pain and inflammation. The vet wants Bear on the c/d for the rest of his life, the ingredients are icky (one ingredient being 'pig fat'), but I am not saying 'no' just yet.

Yep, your right, he can still get crystals but he will be able to pass them now.

mmc32879 · Aug 8, 2008

I'm really glad to hear everything went well. I've had my cat Marley for 2 years now, he's 2 1/2 now. I've only had females before him and don't have much experience with males. UTI's are something I am concerned about because I have heard how dangerous they can be for males. I have a Fresh Flow fountain because I know that it's importiant for him to drink water, and he does drink out of it a lot. My other cat is a female, she is currently having some sort of kidney problem we're in the process of diagnosing, (she is loosing a lot of protein in her urine). I was actually hoping and praying she had a UTI, but the vet said that's not what it is. But due to that she drinks a lot more water lately so the fountain is really grate (although she still prefers a dripping faucet), but I highly recommend them. But does anyone know any other ways to prevent UTI's in males, like diet or supplements?

katkisses · Aug 8, 2008

Males get blocked by crystals, which, if I am correct, can cause an infection. I've never heard of UTI's being a big concern in male cats, just crystals. Which is what Bear had, and what Cody had earlier this year. Ways to prevent crystals: all wet diet low in ash and magnesium (you can add water to it too, you need to get as much water in them as possible), keeping the box clean, and always have freash water avalible. Signs are straining to pee with no or little pee comeing out (comonly mistaken for constipation) with a painful abdomen, not able to retract penis, licking genitals alot, ect. I do not know that much about UTI's, but I believe that you meant crystals.

laureen227 · Aug 8, 2008

Originally Posted by MMC32879

But does anyone know any other ways to prevent UTI's in males, like diet or supplements?

really depends on the type of crystals/stones your cat is prone to. most cats have issues w/struvite crystals, which can be treated w/acidifiers [most commercial cat foods have these already added, tho]. Chip is prone to the oxalate ones, tho - produced by too acidic urine. so i add stuff to his food to counteract the acidifiers he gets in the regular food.

mmc32879 · Aug 8, 2008

Right now Marley's not prone to anything. I'm just wondering if there's anything you can do as a precaution. Like for people they say cranberry juice is good for urinary function, is there something like that for cats?

laureen227 · Aug 9, 2008

Originally Posted by MMC32879

Right now Marley's not prone to anything. I'm just wondering if there's anything you can do as a precaution. Like for people they say cranberry juice is good for urinary function, is there something like that for cats?

that's one of the common acidifiers used. look at these kibble ingredients, for example [this is one of the ones i've used, btw]: Chicken, Salmon, chicken meal, whole grain brown rice, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), oatmeal, whole grain white rice, potatoes, cracked pearled barley, millet, turkey, duck, flaxseed, natural chicken flavor, salt, choline chloride, chicory root extract, dl-methionine, potassium chloride, taurine, carrots, peas, apples, dried skim milk, kelp, cranberry powder, rosemary, parsley flake. Vitamins and minerals.
& here's a wet, same brand: Chicken, salmon, chicken liver, turkey, duck, chicken broth, whole grain brown rice, whole grain white rice, oatmeal, potatoes, barley, egg product, guar gum, flaxseed, kelp, carrots, peas, apples, dried skim milk, cranberry powder, rosemary extract, parsley flake, dried chicory root, taurine, vitamin A acetate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, niacin supplement, d-calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, thiamin mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, vitamin B12 supplement, biotin, folic acid, menadione sodium bisulfite (source of vitamin K), copper sulfate, calcium iodate, and sodium selenite.

booktigger · Aug 9, 2008

I am glad he has come through this fine, and that he had to be neutered, he will be much healthier now, there is no risk of testicular and prostrate cancer. If your water is hard, it could be an issue, you might want to use some kind of water filter to help him, and make sure he gets as much moisture as possible.

aswient · Aug 9, 2008

I'm so happy Bear is going to be fine. Continued recovery

katkisses · Aug 15, 2008

Well he had his stitches removed today! He is healing just fine, but he does have some urine scald like babies get, since he wasn't able to wash himself (e collar) and the vet told me DO NOT CLEAN HIM UP. He got some powder for it though, and it should heal up soon. The vet did say if he was licking at it too much to put the e collar back on and let it heal some, but so far he hasn't been licking at it that bad.

He was such a good boy when they were taking the stitches out, the vet and vet tech were amazed at how good he was being. She also really liked the way I fixed his e collar, lol. He was making a sore above his anus from the e collar when he tried to get at the stitches, so I bought some aquarium air-tubing, sliced it all the way down, cut it to fit his e collar and taped it in place. The vet is going to submit my idea somewhere and if they like it she will get $50 and she said I would get half.

I am so proud of my baby!

mews2much · Aug 15, 2008

I am glad he is better.

cc12 · Aug 16, 2008

I am glad he is better too.

momofmany · Aug 16, 2008

I just caught this thread! I had the "penis removal" talk with my vet on Thursday about my Muddy. He hasn't blocked yet, but has recurring cystitus issues and they found crystals for the first time on Tuesday. Please keep us up on how Bear is doing post surgery? I will eagerly look for your posts.

Muddy's urine was very acidic and since he won't touch C/D, they gave me pills that will neutralize the PH in his urine. They are called UriKare in case you want to ask your vet about them. I'm going to pick up PH tester strips to monitor him while he's taking them. The vet warned me that cats on this medicine cannot eat C/D type food or it would swing the PH too far in the other direction. I would like to avoid any surgery on him so I'm hoping this will help prevent any further crystals.

mer636 · Aug 17, 2008

wow you baby has had a crazy ride hasnt he! I just caught this post and am very glad to hear that he is healing well and everything is going smoothly for the both of you

crazyforinfo · Aug 19, 2008

Originally Posted by KatKisses

Well he had his stitches removed today! He is healing just fine, but he does have some urine scald like babies get, since he wasn't able to wash himself (e collar) and the vet told me DO NOT CLEAN HIM UP. He got some powder for it though, and it should heal up soon. The vet did say if he was licking at it too much to put the e collar back on and let it heal some, but so far he hasn't been licking at it that bad.

He was such a good boy when they were taking the stitches out, the vet and vet tech were amazed at how good he was being. She also really liked the way I fixed his e collar, lol. He was making a sore above his anus from the e collar when he tried to get at the stitches, so I bought some aquarium air-tubing, sliced it all the way down, cut it to fit his e collar and taped it in place. The vet is going to submit my idea somewhere and if they like it she will get $50 and she said I would get half.

I am so proud of my baby!

I am glad to hear everything is going ok. Lucky had this surgery done 5 years ago. He did get a stomach and UTI a month after the surgery but nothing since. I hope this does the trick for Bear.

katkisses · Aug 24, 2008

Bear is all healed up! He's back to terrorizing the other cats, lol! He loves his c/d but after he finishes up the 10 lbs that I have I think I will put him on an all wet diet, probably nutro, depending on their ash/mag levels. I am investing in a drinkwell platinum too. He even stopped leaking.

I have grown fond of his 'hair cut' too. They have his rear shaved, and it sort of looks like pants, but the cutest thing is that when he is laying down he has baby butt cheeks

It is the

CUTEST thing,lol!!!

Originally Posted by Momofmany

I just caught this thread! I had the "penis removal" talk with my vet on Thursday about my Muddy. He hasn't blocked yet, but has recurring cystitus issues and they found crystals for the first time on Tuesday. Please keep us up on how Bear is doing post surgery? I will eagerly look for your posts.

Muddy's urine was very acidic and since he won't touch C/D, they gave me pills that will neutralize the PH in his urine. They are called UriKare in case you want to ask your vet about them. I'm going to pick up PH tester strips to monitor him while he's taking them. The vet warned me that cats on this medicine cannot eat C/D type food or it would swing the PH too far in the other direction. I would like to avoid any surgery on him so I'm hoping this will help prevent any further crystals.

If I were you I don't think I would do it. It doesn't prevent crystals at all. They are just incapable (well there is still a very small chance) of getting blocked from the crystals. My vet said that Bear is still prone to having crystals, but he just wont get blocked because of them now. In fact the only reason I had it done was because he couldn't come off of the catheter, when they took him off of the catheter he plugged up again, if he hadn't plugged up again I wouldn't have had the surgery. Now, if he blocked later on down the road I would have considered it. If you haven't already, you might want to switch over to an all wet diet, most high quality wet foods are lower is ash/mag than c/d. The extra moister helps keep the bladder flushed, and wets ash/mag is always alot lower than dry. Good luck with your baby, I hope he gets well soon!

momofmany · Aug 24, 2008

Originally Posted by KatKisses

If I were you I don't think I would do it. It doesn't prevent crystals at all. They are just incapable (well there is still a very small chance) of getting blocked from the crystals. My vet said that Bear is still prone to having crystals, but he just wont get blocked because of them now. In fact the only reason I had it done was because he couldn't come off of the catheter, when they took him off of the catheter he plugged up again, if he hadn't plugged up again I wouldn't have had the surgery. Now, if he blocked later on down the road I would have considered it. If you haven't already, you might want to switch over to an all wet diet, most high quality wet foods are lower is ash/mag than c/d. The extra moister helps keep the bladder flushed, and wets ash/mag is always alot lower than dry. Good luck with your baby, I hope he gets well soon!

I'm so glad to hear that Bear is feeling better and back to terrorizing his buddies!

I switched Muddy over to wet a long time ago and stay on as high quality food as he will eat. He had bladder inflamation for a while, and only got crystals after he was switched to quality wet. But I agree, we won't consider the surgery unless he gets blocked to the point that medication can't control it anymore.

Penis Removal (Blockage)

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