My Rags getting bladder tumor antigen test

Rags has been at the animal hospital since Wednesday morning. She can't pee without  a catheter and the vet says she has never seen a blocked female. Three years ago Rags had a bout with cystitis and it was treated and cleared up. She's been fine, or seemed fine, all those years. She recently started having problems and got blocked. The vet has tried antibiotics and anti-inflammatories, but the swelling hasn't gone down. Today the vet did an xray and the urethra is enlarged. We're doing the bladder tumor antigen test to see if that enlargment is cancer or something else. Even if it is something else (inflammation or damage from inflammation) if the vet can't figure out what medicine to use to get rid of that swelling so she can pee on her own, it doesn't look good. Has anyone here had the bladder tumor antigen test done before?

Sorry to hear about Rags.. I hope other's dome along with some knowledge on the bladder tumor antigen test. I also have a concern with your vet saying that he has never heard of a female cat blocking. Females can block as well. Males tend to do so more due to the narrow urethra but female cat's can block as well. AWW poor baby Rags :rub: I hope you get an answer from this test as to why she has this swelling. :cross: Loads of vibes coming Rags way tonight

Thank you for the vibes! Actually, the vet didn't say she had never heard of a female cat blocking, only that she has never treated one before and she's been a vet for 22 years. It's not as common as males and she just hasn't had to treat it in a female before. I hope to hear something back about the test sometime tomorrow.

:cross: For a good test result

Bad news. The test is positive for bladder cancer. The vet is trying a drug called peroxicam to see if it shrinks the swelling. If it does and she can pee on her own, I can take her home and keep her on the medicine for as long as it works for her. If it doesn't do any good she'll have to be put to sleep.

I'm sorry to hear that.
Hopefully this medication will work for her and she'll have a good quality of life for a good while yet.

Fingers crowd the medicine works for your Rags. Such a difficult thing to hear.

Bad news. Rags had to be put to sleep this afternoon. I stayed with her for a long time at the vet before they did it. My vet is really wonderful. She gave us lots of time and tried to get Rags sleepy with a tranquilizer, but Rags fought the tranq. She wanted to stay awake. The vet gave her some gas to make her go to sleep and she got the PTS drugs while she was sleeping. Before that she was so alert. Even though I know she was never going to get better, it was so hard to see how normal she looked. She was on some painkillers, though, so she was feeling pretty good. The drug that was supposed to shrink the swelling and let her pee without a catheter didn't do the job and the vet said it made her feel sick. We tried everything. I'm so sad.She looked out of the window a lot before the gas made her sleep. I wish I could have taken her outside. I asked her if she would wait for me to join her someday. I hugged her a lot and she gave me lots of cheek rubs. This is so hard. I'm having her cremated and I will scatter her ashes around the yard where she liked to hang out when I let her out sometimes. I can't believe we were together only 4 years. Seems like she's always been here.

So sorry to hear this.  Hope in time the fact you did your best for her, and the pts was the right thing at the right time will help comfort you.

I have never scattered any of my cat's ashes - I want to take them with me whenever I move, and will be mixed with them in the end.  Instead I look for something lovely for them - not an urn or a casket.  Something I would like to have in the house anyway.  But each to their own.

I am so sorry the medication didn't work and you lost Rags much sooner than you had expected

Thank you. I've had a difficult couple of days, but I'm starting to feel a little more peaceful about it.

Ragsy crossed over tonight is in the Crossing The Bridge forum, where you can all offer your condolences.