Possible U.T.I. ?

My boy had struvite crystals and did not appear to be in pain to me - I only noticed because he too would pop in and out of the pan, but the pee balls were much smaller than normal.  Based on my experience, I would urge you to get to a vet ASAP - if he were to become blocked, it can be fatal in a matter of hours.  Any UTI can be very uncomfortable - I had one myself and believe me, it's no party. I still can't believe my Dante didn't act uncomfortable - but cats are notorious in hiding even real pain.

I beg you - please find some cash or dig up a credit card and call the vet, or e-vet, immediately.  If you're lucky, it won't be anything major - but these are symptoms you can't ignore.

I agree, paycheck to paycheck does suck .  Tell the office about the problems with peeing - that should just about guarantee an early appointment, especially if you already have a relationship with the practice.  With my guy, I took him to an e-vet - in our case, we were lucky, as he was able to pee, it just hurt a lot.  Doctor felt his bladder (it was empty), gave him a pain shot and a course of an antibiotic.  I was out of there at around $150 (an e-vet visit usually starts around $100 - I feel that we're paying for 24 hour availability, a fully staffed office, ready for surgery, if need be, all that).  E-vet faxed over treatment to my regular vet and told me to call regular vet the next day (of course this was all happening on Labor Day!).  I was to watch him closely and bring him in for an exam after we went through the antibiotics - unless he had issues.

Ok, so a week later went to regular vet - exam was about what you're said, and they also did a urine draw (it involves a big needle, I never watch).  Also, my practice is actually an animal hospital - they have an ultrasound machine and were also able to scan his bladder.  That whole deal was maybe $75.  Our case - Hills prescription food C/D was prescribed and I brought him in a month later for another urine draw - that was about $20 for draw and testing.  The Hills food is very rich - my guy is over 12 pounds and he gets 1/2 cup of dry, and a bit of wet every day - the initial cost for a 7 pound bag is, oh, around $25, but it lasts us a pretty long time. 

Now, I was lucky and we caught it fairly early.  Had Dante been blocked, he might have had to be catherized, or perhaps surgical intervention would have been required.  The e-vet's office said that would probably have been in the $700-900 range, about two years ago. Yes, that would have hurt my budget big time at that moment - but it would have been the surgery or sending him to the Bridge.

Has your guy been able to pee?  I hate to scare you, but if nothing is coming out, you may really have to contact an emergency vet.

Thank you for trying to get him in asap - even if it's just a UTI and not a blockage - oh, those hurt.  When I had a UTI I was just about in tears and left work to see my own doctor.

A way to save on the cost is to get the urine sample yourself. Take an empty litterbox, clean it thoroughly. Cut up plastic shopping bags and put those in there. Once he urinates in it, you can collect the urine into a clean container. 

We recently had a kitty with an UTI. Because I was able to get the urine sample prior to going, they didn't have to extract one, which saved money. She had an exam, a shot of painkiller, antibiotic shot and a course of oral antibiotics. 

Definitely need to see a vet though, these don't go away on their own. 

Good suggestion - I forgot about getting a urine sample yourself, because my guy simply refuses either the vet's plastic litter, or any homemade version - but he's a very stubborn fellow sometimes. I'm just happy he accepts Cat Attract!  

Woo hoo!  Crossing fingers that this was all a false alarm, but good for you about being so vigilant - and, with males and peeing issues, it's always better to be worried and look silly later.  I'm glad you're going to check in with the vet, just in case.  From what I've read, sometimes stress alone can cause urinary issues - and since your little guy wasn't happy about not being able go out on his own, well, I'm glad you're calling to get professional advice.   But let's hope he's just hunky dory. And darn that you're not able to barter the professional services - I know I'd dearly love having a professional massage done and it's certainly worth at least $100 around my area.

Please treat any sign of him blocking as an emergency.  It really is a medical emergency:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feline_lower_urinary_tract_disease#Urethral_obstruction

I don't know about the US, but in the UK it's often possible to negotiate installments with vets for something like this that is 1) unexpected and 2) potentially very serious..