My cat doopy has been peeing blood for more than a month--lots of it. She has had several ultrasounds, a contrast x-ray, and a cystoscopy, plus tons of blood, urine workups. There are masses on her kidneys, but there is no blood supply to them, so they are probably not cancerous; there is some abnormality in her bladder, but they have no idea what it is; biopsies from her kidneys and bladder have all come back inconclusive, due to small size of samples. Her blood and urine always test normal, and her hematocrit level (for anemia) is about one point below normal. she is on an iron supplement.
Her most recent tests were done at a veterinary teaching hospital, and they're stumped as to what's going on with her, and recommend exploratory surgery. She's 11 years old; my regular vet is hesitant at putting her through this, esp. since no one has any idea what it is--and it being a teaching hospital, they're always amped up to do surgery. AT the same time, it's the only next step. (oral steroids did not work--the only thing that stopped the bleeding was a post-surgery dose of meloximin, which has too many risks to give her on a regular basis)
The blood is really alarming--her urine (she pees in a box with no litter in it) is dark red--there seems to be as much blood as urine. She herself seems to feel ok much of the time (eats, wants to go outside sometimes), but she has bad days.
My main question: has anyone ever experienced this kind of chronic bleeding with your cat?
and/or have people had luck with exploratory abdominal surgery?
(sorry to go on so long but it's a complex situation and I wanted to give all the info I have)
Thanks--
Her most recent tests were done at a veterinary teaching hospital, and they're stumped as to what's going on with her, and recommend exploratory surgery. She's 11 years old; my regular vet is hesitant at putting her through this, esp. since no one has any idea what it is--and it being a teaching hospital, they're always amped up to do surgery. AT the same time, it's the only next step. (oral steroids did not work--the only thing that stopped the bleeding was a post-surgery dose of meloximin, which has too many risks to give her on a regular basis)
The blood is really alarming--her urine (she pees in a box with no litter in it) is dark red--there seems to be as much blood as urine. She herself seems to feel ok much of the time (eats, wants to go outside sometimes), but she has bad days.
My main question: has anyone ever experienced this kind of chronic bleeding with your cat?
and/or have people had luck with exploratory abdominal surgery?
(sorry to go on so long but it's a complex situation and I wanted to give all the info I have)
Thanks--
I guess I'd look at it this way - have you exhausted all other options you can think of? If so, I'd go for the surgery.
)
