FLUTD Advice

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miri4191

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So, I was away for one night when I got a call that my father broke his leg, naturally I rushed home, and when I got here I noticed my cat seemed a little puny, he'd vomited and looked off, but nothing terrible. It was Sunday night so I decided to watch him until the morning, but I just had a bad feeling, I kept waking up to make sure he was breathing. It didn't make sense to me though, I thought I was probably overreacting, because how could me sweet, spunky little boy be his normal self on Saturday and be near death on Sunday, but he was, I just didn't know it. When I woke up Monday morning I just knew something was terribly wrong. He wouldn't even stand up. I rushed him to the vet to discover he had a urethral blockage. Seriously?! I've had other cats and I've never heard of this before now. :eek:hno:

My vet :nurse: removed the blockage, and left him on an IV overnight, while he was there being looked after, I started to look up information about obstructions like this.:surf:

So my cat didn't have a stone. He was plugged up with mucus and cells and his urine was too alkaline.

Right now he's still pretty poorly. He's laying beside me on a low heating pad sleeping. He's lost tone in his bladder and the vet keeps having to express his urine manually, but there is no new blockage yet. (Luckily the vet is literally three houses away) The vet wanted him to come home because he said Squeaker was abnormally depressed. I completely believe that, he's never spent a night out of my house and he's not used to not being with me.

He's not really eating or drinking yet, and I know he's not out of the woods. He's getting subcutaneous fluids when I take him to the vet two or three times a day to have his urine expressed, and get antibiotics and other medicine, I can't bear to hear his pitiful painful meowing, I feel so bad for him. It astonishes me how fast he went from being himself to being so sick. :( If my dad hadn't broken his leg, I wouldn't have been home for another day and Squeakers would probably have been dead!

So I want to get some planning for aftercare, advice from others who have gone through the same thing, because Squeakers is going to pull though! He can't not!

I want to do everything I can so that this NEVER happens to him again.

What worked for your cats that have had this type of blockage?
 
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vball91

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In a male, a urethral blockage can happen very quickly and become life-threatening just as quickly. It's so good you were home to notice it!

So the things that you can do to help prevent this to recurring are diet possibly including a urine acidifier, stress management and an herb to help with bladder inflammation. FLUTD kitties especially but all kitties really need a wet meaty diet. If you are feeding any dry, you need to get him off of it was soon as possible. Meaty diets are naturally more acidic than anything with grains/veggies. A meaty diet may not be enough at first, so you may need to add a urine acidifier (methionine) which would mean you will need to test his urine pH at home. He needs the moisture from wet food.

Stress can be a big factor for FLUTD kitties, so whatever you can do to reduce stress/enrich his environment will help.

And finally, you need to battle inflammation. It sounds like your boy had sterile cystitis (no infection, no stones although the too alkaline urine is troubling because crystals are more likely to develop in alkaline urine). A good herb for bladder inflammation in corn silk, either made into a tea or in powder form.

For right now though, you are doing the right thing with frequent vet care. The inflammation alone is enough to cause another blockage, so he must be monitored carefully. Given how much pain he's expressing, a pain med like buprenex or tramadol would probably help him feel more comfortable. An anti-inflammatory would be good too.
 
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miri4191

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Yeah...so I learned...though I can't help feeling that if I'd been acquainted with this earlier I may have picked up on it faster...I'll definitely be watching for signs in the future in case it happens again. Please please no!

Where would I get those things? Methionine and ph strips?

I've read about the stress...and me leaving certainly stresses him. I swear he'd piggy back on my shoulders all day if he could, but I can't stay home all the time and it isn't feasible to take him everywhere...although I'm terrified to leave him at home now, lest I come home to find him dead. I really can't in good conscience leave him at home overnight now, not when this could happen again.

The vet is giving him antibiotics and anti-inflammatory meds, he stuck so many needles into him today it made me hurt! He said he had an awful urinary tract infection too. I saw the urine sample they got, it looked like a cup of watery blood.
 

vball91

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I'm on my phone so I can't post links, but search for Phinex urine test strips. You want the kind that shows increments of .25 and has a minimum range between 5.0-8.0. Amazon is the best place to get these although you may be able to find them locally. There are different brands for methionine. You want l-methionine if possible, not dl-methionine. Solgar is a good brand. Again, you may be able to find locally at health store, but Amazon or iherb.com for sure.

Did the vet do a culture to figure out which bacteria is causing the problem?
 

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My kitty had repeated very serious blockages several times in a row back in 2001 despite doing all the right things to stop them recurring. My kitty was so distressed by having to be unblocked time and time again, and I worried so much as to how many episodes his body could take. So I chose to have a perineal urethrostomy surgery for my kitty (in 2001). I kept him on a special food for oxalate crystals afterwards, although in due course that was no longer needed as things settled for him. Other than a couple of minor bacterial infections in the first couple of years that cleared up quickly with antibiotics and which stopped occurring a few years later, he has had a perfect bill of health since that date (12 years ago now). I have zero regrets doing this surgery. It was the best thing for my kitty.

Just wanted to share in case you have any issues getting things to settle down.
 
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miri4191

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I'm sure the vet did a culture, but he didn't tell me what bacteria it was.

I really hope this is just a one time thing for Squeakers, it's awful. He still can't make it to the litter box, luckily we've employed puppy pads and frequent washes to keep him from sitting in his urine and he still won't eat or drink on his own. The only way I can get food in him right now is to put baby food on my finger and wipe it on his mouth so he licks it off, same with the water. He just won't try to do it on his own yet....really how long is this supposed to go on? He hasn't eaten in two days, today will be three, except that I finally though of mushy baby food. He can't walk very well. He's finally able to hold his head up and sit up and even take a few incredibly wobbly steps before he sort of sags to the floor. But he has much more movement and alertness than yesterday and he doesn't sound like he's in agony anymore.

I can't imagine him having to do surgery...neither can I afford it...I just have my fingers crossed that I can get him back to normal from this episode. I really wish he'd try to eat and drink on his own though, how else is he ever going to get any strength back?

I'm glad your kitty is doing so much better now Scarlett.
 
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vball91

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If he hasn't really eaten in 3 days, now you need to start worrying about him developing fatty liver on top of everything else. It's good he's getting subq fluids frequently to prevent dehydration, but he also needs food. It's good you are able to finger feed him some, but I doubt you are going to be able to get enough food into him that way. Have you discussed syringe feeding with your vet? It's not that difficult to learn, and it can literally be a life-saver when a cat feels too ill to eat on his own.
 

dearambellina

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As most of these guys know, my baby just had an episode a lot like your boy's. 
What helped my Baxter the MOST was completely taking him off of dry food and giving him two cans of wet food mixed with water a day.
I promise you, my kitty was just like your boy. He would pee out of the box (if he peed at all) and in the end I had to find a ride and rush him to the ER vet. : [

But taking him off dry and switching him to full time wet + water was the biggest factor in saving my cat's life. And he also hasn't had an episdoe since, where before he would have one every other week.
 
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miri4191

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I have been giving him water and such with a syringe periodically, he's finally drinking on his own a bit. Victory! I'm getting a little catsip down him (he loves that.) and water, I've even tried tuna water to entice him, but no real improvement in food yet. Vet said he'd put him back on IV nourishment tomorrow if he doesn't start eating. Question, if Squeakers isn't ready for solid food yet, would it be reasonable to ask for something like a liquid formula temporarily, to avoid an invasive IV unless absolutely necessary. Just to give him nutrients to keep his strength up? He's got to be losing weight from this. I can handle syringe feeding him until he can eat...even though it makes him very grumpy. I want my little troublemaker back.

I'm sorry your cat went through this too. :( Squeakers is such a dry food baby though, he usually only eats a little wet food, how can I get him to accept more wet...when he starts eating at all. Prevention, prevention, prevention!
 

vball91

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You can use any really smooth pate formula canned cat food for syringe feeding. You may need to blend it with water first to make it easier to syringe. Higher calorie food would be good.
 

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I have been giving him water and such with a syringe periodically, he's finally drinking on his own a bit. Victory! I'm getting a little catsip down him (he loves that.) and water, I've even tried tuna water to entice him, but no real improvement in food yet. Vet said he'd put him back on IV nourishment tomorrow if he doesn't start eating. Question, if Squeakers isn't ready for solid food yet, would it be reasonable to ask for something like a liquid formula temporarily, to avoid an invasive IV unless absolutely necessary. Just to give him nutrients to keep his strength up? He's got to be losing weight from this. I can handle syringe feeding him until he can eat...even though it makes him very grumpy. I want my little troublemaker back.

I'm sorry your cat went through this too. :( Squeakers is such a dry food baby though, he usually only eats a little wet food, how can I get him to accept more wet...when he starts eating at all. Prevention, prevention, prevention!

It really irritates me that so many do not recommend syringe feeding! It is a lifesaver and much cheaper and less stressful than an IV. You need to get the largest syringe you can find and a watery pâté ( hills ad is the perfect consistency but you can water down any wet food). 29 cc is about an ounce and you want to try to replace the amount of food your cat was eating. I aimed for about a can of the A/D for my 9 pound cat. I wraped my cat up in a towel and gave him several meals throught the day and it was much easier than I thought it was going to be and I am so thankful I did it instead of spending thousands on hospitalizing him which would have stressed him out more.

Carolina (a poster on here) has a great thread on syringe feeding with a video and there are numerous videos on YouTube.

As for transitioning to wet check out catinfo.org for tips. Putting a topper on the wet like treats or kibble works well. You can also get forti flora to sprinkle on which is like kitty crack.
 
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miri4191

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The vet gave me some special prescription food today. I've blended it up with water and have been syringe feeding him today. He gave me Nutical too but Squeakers doesn't seem to like it.

Yeah, I've been syringe feeding him just fine. it seems like a much better alternative to an IV unless he goes downhill or something. Now if this was our other cat...no way would he let me do that, but Squeak is handling it, he fusses a bit but, I've gotten half a can of liquefied food down him today. He's still not eating on his own or using the litter box yet and his urine is still bloody.

Kitty crack huh? :p

Man he just has to start improving more, back and forth to the vet, watching how much he drinks, how much he pees, stopping for feedings periodically. I'm getting exhausted and if I am he has to be twice as tired. I wish I had a magic wand to make him feel better.
 

franksmom

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The vet gave me some special prescription food today. I've blended it up with water and have been syringe feeding him today. He gave me Nutical too but Squeakers doesn't seem to like it.

Yeah, I've been syringe feeding him just fine. it seems like a much better alternative to an IV unless he goes downhill or something. Now if this was our other cat...no way would he let me do that, but Squeak is handling it, he fusses a bit but, I've gotten half a can of liquefied food down him today. He's still not eating on his own or using the litter box yet and his urine is still bloody.

Kitty crack huh? :p

Man he just has to start improving more, back and forth to the vet, watching how much he drinks, how much he pees, stopping for feedings periodically. I'm getting exhausted and if I am he has to be twice as tired. I wish I had a magic wand to make him feel better.
I am really glad the syringe feeding is going well! Even with a squirmer it works if you wrap them in a towel or use the super cool kitty bag Carolina uses in her video. I really think with the added nutrition and liquid from the syringe feeding you should start to see some improvements soon!

Fortiflora has animal digest in it which is the same stuff they put on dry food to make it so addictive. It is also the same stuff they put on temptation cat treats and you can actually crush those up and put it on the wet food instead of the forti flora if it is hard to find or too expensive at the vet ( my vet charges $40 for a box of Fortiflora!).
 
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miri4191

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I'm still feeding Squeakers with a syringe, my vet sent me home yesterday with an antibiotic and some capsule for his kidneys to try over the weekend and see how he does. We'll go back on Monday  for a check-up. Hopefully we don't have to go back to twice a day visits for shots. He's recovering so slowly, still not eating on his own.
It's hard to get enough food into him and I can feel him getting skinnier. I don't feel like I'm doing a very good job, but when he starts to fuss I have to stop for a while. I don't want to stress him out...and the food just ends up on me when he starts to squirm.

He's not even interested in his temptations or any food that isn't liquified and fed to him by me. I'm making good use of my magic bullet with all of this, I never thought I'd be using it to make cat food. It's seriously handy with all of this though.
 
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vball91

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I know it's hard, but you are saving his life and helping him to recover. Try to be calm and explain to him what you are doing and why. Cats can pick up our emotions, so if you are stressed, he will be too. It may take a while because of how sick he was, but the more food you can get into him, the better. Even though he doesn't feel like eating yet, he needs that food and water.

Hang in there. You are doing a great job.
 
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miri4191

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Thanks vball. After watching Carolina's video I came up with a new method that has helped me get more food into him today. Instead of just using one syringe and refilling it, I'm filling up four at a time and using them one after the other, I got ten 3ml syringes in him just in one sitting today, usually I get half that amount in one go. It gives him less time to get fussy.

Does anyone here have experience with Azodyl?
 
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miri4191

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Squeakers has started to tremble in his torso, his legs and head aren't trembling but his belly is. It looks like he's shivering but I've been keeping him under blankets so he can't be cold. Could this be a side effect of his antibiotic or something I should be more concerned with? He's never done this before.
 

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What antibiotic is squeakers on? And it could be a symptom of the meds, but I will need to know the antibiotics and meds he is on to tell you. Otherwise, if no side effects of tremors or trembling are part of the side effects it could be a bigger problem than we thought.
 

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Squeakers has started to tremble in his torso, his legs and head aren't trembling but his belly is. It looks like he's shivering but I've been keeping him under blankets so he can't be cold. Could this be a side effect of his antibiotic or something I should be more concerned with? He's never done this before.
I have had animals tremble after anaesthetic, but I agree with the above poster that it could also be a side effect of something he is on. His body has gone through a lot so that could be why, but I would for sure have him seen by a vet. Good luck!!
 
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miri4191

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My baby died just after midnight tonight. I just don't know what to do without him. He was my baby.
 
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