Emergency? Or no?

RuneKeeper said:

Alas, the risk of surgery failing is something that has to be considered with any medical procedure for either humans or animals. It's a gamble, and unfortunately, one can't get a refund if the surgery doesn't work. But also ask yourself if you would be okay with knowing your cat was put to sleep for a treatable condition. I'm not trying to be a jerk when I say that, but I just wouldn't want you to regret not getting him the surgery. I understand about finances, and a thousand dollars is a lot of money for care that might not work. It's a difficult position to be in and I'm sorry you have to deal with it. I hope for the best for you and your kitty.

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You do say this earlier in your post (and I don't mean to downplay the risks) but especially if your kitty is young-ish (10 or less) and otherwise healthy, there is no real reason to think surgery wouldn't work.  The condition is actually very treatable and almost always is treated successfully when owners can/do pay.

Good luck Sorry to hear he is peeing blood now.

Seems like the vet said there may be issues in recovery due to weight. If he is already not eating that is a HUGE problem as he may be sick to stomach from the build up already or liver may be involved.

What exactley are they doing surgery wise?  Did they place a catheter and flush him out at vet?

I had to euthanize a cat who blocked.  He had had trouble his entire life and was about 3 or so.  The vets only option at that point was for me to take him in to the 24 hour place and have the penis removed as he did not feel there was anything left he could do(he tried very hard)

The money was a factor but the main was the fact the vet did not think he would make it through the surgery in his shape/blood results. 
 

I don't remember the age at which Rolly had his bladder stones. I'd say he was 8-10 years old with no other health problems. He didn't pee, he just laid on his side and howled day and night, and even then, it took me three days to convince my mother to let me take him to the vet. But he recovered perfectly fine despite his weight and never had another issue with his bladder. While vets will always tell you about surgery risks, I think any vet who gives a crap will also tell you if they feel the risks outweigh the benefits. If the vet thinks your cat, for whatever reason, would have a high chance of not surviving the surgery, they wouldn't recommend the surgery to begin with. I think there's a chance of the cat not recovering in regard to any form of surgery, not just this kind.

He went to the vet and good news! We got a treatment(no surgery just a catheter and maybe a flush) for about 350$. We went ahead and did it...however pretty big issue....about 70% of his kidneys are damaged. We are waiting over a span of a few days to do some more blood tests to see if they improve. That's the problem with kidneys, you never know what they're gonna do, they can improve drastically, or get worse. There is some good news today though, he is eating again! Also there is less blood in the catheter. From what my mom said the vet thinks he may be doing better...so fingers crossed there is some improvement!

Thanks for updating us

Make sure kitty is getting as much water as you can.  I know you are largely dependent on your parents for her care but if possible be feeding her wet food.  The cheapest will be better than anything dry.

Raw might be worth considering too. I buy meats on sale so it costs me less than $1 per day to feed all three of my cats.

tulosai he isn't currently home, he is at the vets right now and they updated us, but since he was drinking while he was at his worst, I would hope he would continue drinking while he's recovering. And their diets are definitely going to be switched. The vet recommended a balance of wet and dry food for their diets, however I'm going to have my parents start to buy the higher end kind, not just whatever is cheapest in Walmart. What is an inexpensive, good kind of wet food you guys recommend? I can't have my parents spend a lot of money on expensive food, but I still want the food to be healthy.

MistyApples said:

tulosai he isn't currently home, he is at the vets right now and they updated us, but since he was drinking while he was at his worst, I would hope he would continue drinking while he's recovering. And their diets are definitely going to be switched. The vet recommended a balance of wet and dry food for their diets, however I'm going to have my parents start to buy the higher end kind, not just whatever is cheapest in Walmart. What is an inexpensive, good kind of wet food you guys recommend? I can't have my parents spend a lot of money on expensive food, but I still want the food to be healthy.

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Fancy Feast Classics (make sure it is the classics- the others vary wildly in quality and a lot of them are craptastic) are the cheapest decently good wet food out there that I know of.  They are not the most  amazing quality or anything, but they are far, far from the worst and better than several more expensive kinds.  Another plus is that a lot of kitties love them- mine get them sometimes as a special treat and you'd think they were feasting on the food of the gods or something.

Others can maybe chip in on other affordable good quality food.  Fancy feast isn't the cheapest but it isn't bad price wise and you can buy a 24 pack on amazon for $14 (classic meat flavors- poultry, turkey, beef).  VERY occasionally I will see them at my Target 2 for $1 but if not I can usually find them on sale for 66 cents each (3 for $2).

The only two flavors of Fancy Feast Classic that I feed my cats are Tender Beef (brown label) and Turkey and Giblets (olive green label) These are the lowest carbohydrate flavors, no gluten / wheat / corn / whatever additives.

At the two different Wal-Marts near me FF sells for 54 cents at one, 58 cents at the other.

One local Shoprite supermarket usually prices FF at 62 cents / can. Currently they have it priced at 54 cents / can plus a discount of 4 cents / can with your members card. And if you buy 30 cans there's an addition discount of $1.20.

Need I say that there are a number of cans stock-piling in my basement, added to every time I go to the grocery store?

I was planning on going with Fancy Feast, other websites say the same. The only problem is that I heard each cat is supposed to eat two cans? I don't think it will rack up too much money though since they will be on dry food too. I don't really want to mess with raw meat...I wouldn't even know where to start, plus I don't think I would enjoy cutting meat twice a day lol.

MistyApples said:

He went to the vet and good news! We got a treatment(no surgery just a catheter and maybe a flush) for about 350$. We went ahead and did it...however pretty big issue....about 70% of his kidneys are damaged. We are waiting over a span of a few days to do some more blood tests to see if they improve. That's the problem with kidneys, you never know what they're gonna do, they can improve drastically, or get worse. There is some good news today though, he is eating again! Also there is less blood in the catheter. From what my mom said the vet thinks he may be doing better...so fingers crossed there is some improvement!

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Did the vet diagnose you cat as having crystals. Generally after this kind of problems vets recommend a prescription food for the cat.

blueyedgirl5946 said:

Did the vet diagnose you cat as having crystals. Generally after this kind of problems vets recommend a prescription food for the cat.

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I'm actually looking at kidney friendly foods for him. I'm thinking Hill's Prescription Diet k/d, it seems to be the cheapest and the only bad review on it is the price, but that comes with all prescription foods. Cats seem to love it, which will make my boy very happy if he comes home. We will be buying dry and wet food, and mix them. I've heard that some vets recommend some foods that are just more expensive...and aren't really worth it.

He's home! His kidneys improved and their levels are well into the normal. The vet actually gave us the same food I was going to buy for him, for about two bucks cheaper! It's dry food though...however since my mom is already angry about the 556$ bill, I don't think I'll push it. He's peeing and pooping normally, but is making frequent trips to the litterbox to pee only a little...this is because he just got the catheter out so he is still a little irritated in that area. Here he is, a lot more alert and active than before!

I would encourage you to familiarize yourself with this site, www.felinecrf.org. I suggest you start with the nutrition page. http://www.felinecrf.org/nutritional_requirements.htm

Based on my own experience with two cats diagnosed with crystals, my recommendation is you need to follow your vet's advice. The same thing can happen again to your cat if he isn't eating the right foods going forward.

We will be following the vet's advice to a 'T'. She said that once this bag of food runs out, we may be able to try a cheaper, but still prescription, brand of food, but for now she wants nothing to bother his kidneys. The problem is, my cat is not eating! I'm going to wait till tomorrow and see if he eats, it's a new food, but he had been eating canned food at the vet, so I'm worried that he's either stressed, or the wet food ruined his appetite for dry food. We will be bringing him in again in a couple weeks to see how his kidneys are doing, he may not be out of the woods yet..

Wet food is better for cats (especially with these kinds of problems) anyway since they get more water intake. A lot of cats don't drink as much water as they need since naturally they get most of their liquid intake from their prey.
 

I've read that lol! Since I'm using dry food, I googled how to get cats to drink more water. A lot of sites suggested fountains..which obviously my mom won't even consider buying. However it says you can also mix water with the food, and guess what, he started eating because of it! Not a lot, but I found out he also ate canned food this morning, so he won't be that hungry. He is kind of odd atm lol, he won't really do anything but lay under my bed unless I offer him something directly. He layed under my bed the entire time we were at the movies, and only when I got home and scooted his butt out and showed him his litter box, he peed a lot more than he was. He will eat food(sometimes) if I manage to get him interested in it, however whenever I offer him water and am persistent enough, he always drinks. He is definitely more active now, and very affectionate. He is constantly begging for attention when he isn't wandering around the house lol!

PS: We have a bit of a problem with our other cat. If he is even in the same room with my 'sick' cat, he hisses and throws a fit, then leaves. Do you think that they will be friends again with time? They will have to share a kennel in a couple of weeks when we move, so I'd like them to get along. 

Share a travel carrier?  Or share a large cage/room at a boarding kennel?  Honestly either way I would not make them share.  If it is a carrier then it could end in death. 
 

Aww, I'm so very glad to hear your kitty was able to be treated and he's doing well! And don't worry about your mom complaining - mine did the same over my cat's similarly expensive bill and she got over it. Heck, when she heard my female cat would need $5000 worth of surgery, she had a fit, but offered to get a loan for me to pay for it. I ended up not doing one of the surgeries.

I'm not sure what kind of food you're feeding your kitty, but when my Rolly was recovered from his blockage, I was told to feed him a urinary tract/bladder health formula from Purina. It's expensive, about $20 for a 20-pound bag (well it is expensive when, up to that point, the kitties were eating Meow Mix), but he never had another urinary issue again and neither did the other kitties (they didn't NEED that food like Rolly did, but I figured it couldn't hurt for them to have it too). I'm assuming the damage to his kidneys is/was temporary? Usually 70 percent is the magic number for renal failure; did the vet bring that up? I'm not sure if he's at greater risk for full blown kidney failure or if he's almost there already. Hopefully not if your mum's complaining about his current bill because I think in order to sustain a kitty with CRF, you have to give them IV fluids for the rest of their lives.

Adding water to food is good too. Add some hot (not boiling, just hot from the tap) water to canned food. It will dilute the food, but should also help bring out the scent a bit more and your kitty will have a bit more water in his system. If you can afford a few cans, try some chicken, turkey, or beef baby food. Generally it's just meat and water, so Kitty would not only be getting pure meat protein, but a little extra H2O too. As far as behavior, I think he'll act more and more normal with time. He's only been home for a day, and while I'd suggest watching for behaviors that could indicate a problem, don't fret too much about his normal behavior. He'll most likely be back to normal before the week is up. He could just still be nervous about the vet's- most cats don't go regularly for such invasive things as catheters, so he's probably just a little scared.

And I think the kitties will get along again eventually. My cats usually fought when they came home from the vet's because they smelled different and probably like some other animals. Give it a little time and I think they'll come back around to one another again. Cats are weird like that. I don't know if they'll be good in two weeks, but if you can, I would suggest not sticking them in the same kennel if you can avoid it. Unless you and your parents want to listen to cats screaming the entire car ride and a probable vet visit when one or both cats gets injured from fighting.