Fatty has bladder stones...

I suppose this will be long, and I apologise for that in advance!

Thursday I came back from school to visit my fiance and our two cats. We've been together for 8 years and had both boys the entire time. I'm 26 years old and it was a HUGE decision for me to leave everyone behind and go back to school to finally do something that I want to do, and be able to make a difference (Veterinary Assistant). I come home to visit every other weekend.

Anyhow, Thursday evening I was playing with Fatty on the bed (11yr old), and noticed blood streaks by his penis (hard to see, theres LOTS of fur, and he just happened to move his legs the right way for me to notice), I checked the litter box and didnt notice anything unusual, so kept in mind that if I noticed anything odd, I'd call the Vet in the morning. (11 pm by this time)

The next morning I awoke to him using the litter box every 10 min or so, and bloody urine in small dime size amounts. Also drinking lots. Other than that, he wasnt acting different, or straining, just the PU/PD and bloody urine.

We got him to our vet that afternoon for an x-ray which revealed 2 bladder stones. Thankfully, i cuaght it before he was able to block (can you imagine if I wouldn't have noticed??? The fiance never would have!), and he's now on Clavamox 2ce a day, and only allowed to eat Medi-Cal Dissolution to help dissolve the stones.

Unfortunately, they weren't able to do cystocentesis to get a urine sample, as his bladder is small, and he's a bit heavier. So I was up at 5 am Monday morning sitting with him and an empty litterbox waiting for him to pee. Thankfully he did, and it took 4 times of peeing his little dime sized amounts to get enough for a sample, poor boy! Again, this is now Monday, and the urine is still filled with blood after being on Antibiotics for 2 days.

The results came back from the urinalysis as bacteria, and struvite crystals. But it is unknown why he still has blood in his urine. They gave us some MORE pills, now to help with soft tissue spasms and pain when peeing.

Tuesday I had to head back up to school, and leave the poor fiance home, stuck with giving this kitty 2 pills 2ce a day and meal feeding the boys seperately. (extremely hard, since they've always been grazers) I have so much guilt that I can't be there to do all this, and I feel horrible that I've left it all on my fiance to do. hes never pilled a cat before. But he's doing well, I'm very proud!

Anyhow, the update of the moment is that he's peeing slightly larger amounts less often and with less blood, and eating fine (despite his anger of not getting treats!).

Is it normal to see blood for this long? it's been since last Thursday, and it is getting less bloody now...thankfully. his attitude has been good, and he doesn't strain, was just going often, and everytime I saw him in the box, a small bit of pee did come out, even if only a bit (i watched him like a HAWK all sat and sun!)

I just hope this gets better soon, i feel so helpless being stuck up here and not being able to do anything!!! All I can do is hope and pray that this clears up!!

Sorry for the extremely long post!!!

Poor Fatty. (cute name )

The vet didn't recommend he stay in and be so called flushed out ? Sounds to me like he is blocked if only small amounts are coming out .....this can get very serious fast...he needs to be watched very close...and I am sure your doing that ..My vet told me the food doesn't work fast enough....if blocked for to long they can cause damage to their penis and even bladder...I hope your fatty gets better real soon....Good Luck

Thanks for all the advice! It's much appreciated!

Because they did the xray and the stones are so big and only in the bladder, they've suggested the antibiotics (for the bladder infection), and the food for now.

But we are keeping a very close eye on him and looking for any signs of discomfort or straining in the litterbox, because I'm very worried that he may become blocked when the stones do start to dissolve. They said that because the stones aren't in the urethra, there was no reason to put in a urinary catheter and flush. But the option is there should things not improve. They also mentioned a possibility of surgery...but I don't want to think of that road right now!

But for the moment, with the last update I got from my fiance, he seems to be getting better, and less blood is in the urine, and comming out in larger amounts, and not going as often.

And thank you for the advice regarding the food changes, good to know, and I will definately look out for that!

And thanks...his true name is Fatty, but affectionately goes by "Jubbs", poor boy isn't that fat, but his puffy fur does nothing for his thighs!

Just a quick update:

I talked to Steve tonight, and Fatty was much better today for his pills. He has even less blood in his urine, and slightly larger pees.

He called to vet today to update them, and asked if he could get the wet Dissolution for Fatty as well, since he's not to impressed by the dry. (he still eats it, just not as much as we'd like!) Anyhow, we were told originally that we couldn't give both the wet and dry and had to do one or the other. However, the technician called Medi-Cal rep to find out if we can do both, and we can. He wouldn't be getting that much wet, about 2 tablespoons a day, just to help keep him moist! I'm very scared we'll have to go thru the whole constipation thing again.

I'm so impressed with this clinic's customer service! Thank goodness there's some good clinics like this out there!

He'll be going tomorrow to pick up some cans of food =)

I hope he likes the food.
My cat hated it.
My sisters cat had teh surgery last Nov for he stones.
You have to be careful when they shrink they do not get stuck in the tubes.
Good Luck to you.

Mews2much- I was just wondering what food you put your kitty on after the Dissolution? I was told possibly Medi-Cal Preventitive...

Ps. The sad thing is, the other cat likes to food better than the one who needs it! I've caught him trying to sneak a few nibbles well I was home! We do have to meal feed them seperately now, which has been a challenge!

I do not know what the food you are using is.
Coco was on S/D to disolve the stones then was put on C/D.
She had Royal Canin SO and Purina Ur also.
She likedthe Royal Canin So the best.
She hated the food and Meeko would alsways try to eat it just like your cat is.
Coco has crf now so we had to take her off urinary food.
Minight had the surgery and is on the C/D ad Roya Canin SO.
Do you have those in Canada?

glad he's doing better. My sister's cat Hurricane, one of whose nicknames is 'Fatty' (he really IS fat), was suffering (don't know if it's resolved yet) from blood in his urine. He's been in for a urinalysis and some other stuff. She's also taken him to another vet for a second opinion and putting him on different food (don't know what kind).

Sorry, the food is medi-cal dissolution, (i think medi-cal is partnered with royal canin?), but yes, urinary s/o is one of the options for afterwards, but I'm not sure if I want to use it, as it's high sodium, and his colesterol is already a bit high!

I'm so sorry to hear about CoCo

Starfish, I hope Hurricane feels better soon, did they put him on antibiotics, or anything?

And just another Fatty update: he's definately getting better, hardly any blood noticable now, and he's pooping too, so I don't have to worry about constipation as well! *whew!* Apparently Steve has become a "pilling machine" I'm so glad he's able to handle all this while I'm gone...he's definately a hero!!!

My cat with stones/crystals ...would only eat the dissolution formulated food in the begining for a few days...we tried them all wet and dry....so in the end we just kept him on a canned food only diet to get the extra water so he would possible pee more and flush things out himself....plus different kinds of meds of course...I hope Fatty eats the canned

I am so so sorry that Fatty is going through this. It sounds like you guys are taking care of him. Sending lots of vibes his way.
And a lot for you, too, while you are away from him.

Good luck with your education, you know it will all pay off in the end.

Thank you for all the positive words and support! It means the world to me, thank you!!!

He's been okay with the food...he'll eat the dry, but perfers the wet. So he's currently eating both! We've also done what the Medi-Cal rep said to do: mix water in with the dry food to make a gravy. But he'll only drink the gravy and not the food, so that's not an option anymore! But Steve say's he's been eating about 1/2 cup of the dry per day and 1/4 can of the wet with water added to make a gruel...he loves that!

I do think that the worst part of this has been that I can't be there to monitor everything, but Steve mentioned that maybe it's for the better that I'm not there, since I'm such a "s"mother, LOL And he's right, I babied him so much while I was home those few days, and i think it annoyed him that I'd hover over the litter box everytime i heard him get in it! It might be best that Steve, who is very laid back, is taking good care of him without being in his face all the time. (but it's hard not to when one of them are sick!)

I also read somewhere that it's common to have blood in the urine until the stones have dissolved because of the irritation of the stones against the bladder lining. This made me feel a bit better, because he is peeing normal amounts now, but steve said it was a bit pinkish today, and I got all worried.

I'm going home this Friday, and can't wait to see him (and of course Spliffers!).

Again, I can't thank you all enough for being so kind to me! Sometimes you just need to hear those words to make you stronger. And thank you for the good vibes, i just know they're working for him!!

Thank you, that's reassuring to know!