Another serious cat issue - Toffee has kidney and bladder stones

Toffee (see other thread) has been losing weight this past 10 days. We did not know why. Tests revealed that he had kidney stones and bladder stones all over the place. I know a lot about this - one of my cats had multiple blockages a decade ago culminating in a perineal urethrostomy. My horse died of urinary blockage a year ago as it was too far gone to save him. We do not know if this is leading to Toffee's inappetance and weight loss so I could also do an ultrasound to make sure nothing else is evident (i.e., no cancer) before moving on dealing with kidney and bladder stones.

I am meeting with the vet surgeon tomorrow to discuss and weigh my options. I am not going to wait around for Toffee to block. I have time to react and make decisions in a non-emergency manner. Given the tough road ahead with Rexy's illness, I have to act now so that Toffee's situation does not become a dire emergency at a time when my mind will be somewhere else.

What a mess. Things go from bad to worse with my kitties.

I'm numb with shock tonight.

Oh wow, you sure have  a lot on your plate right now that you are dealing with.  The good news is that surgery usually corrects both of these conditions.  You will however probably have to change the diet.  Canned food is best with low or no carbohydrates.

My gosh you are really getting it handed to you lately. For that I am terribly sorry. I agree with cprcheetah's post. Urinary is an emergency even before it becomes an emergency, if you know what I mean.

Many warm vibes to you and all of your kitties.

Advice needed.

Toffee's ultrasound showed no kidney stones, just mineralization of no major concern in kidneys. NO signs of cancer so presumed the weight loss/inappetance is not due to any cancer. The bladder has quite a lot of stones. They recommend removal with surgery etc. I have to decide whether to get an emergency vet to remove stones this weekend just to get it done and eliminate the possibility of blocking asap but this would be with a vet that I do not know, or have the vet at the same clinic who did Toffee's teeth do this procedure on Tuesday.

It is measuring the risk of Toffee blocking, with the benefits of having a vet I know will do a superb job do this surgery (the clinic is good and I am sure that all of the vets could do this surgery, but I don't know the vets at all, and I do prefer for someone I know to do surgery on my cats). Not sure if you guys have any thoughts on urgency. FYI, I am a layperson expert on blocking - Duncan kitty went through several blockages a decade ago so I know how to feel a bladder to recognize if it is blocking and other usual signs etc. What would you do in this position? There are no rights or wrong, and I won't blame anyone for advice given if things go wrong - just curious whether to rush into this on Sunday probably, or wait until Tuesday.

From what you're describing, and if this were my cat, I'd wait until Tuesday. I just wouldn't wait until Fat Tuesday.

Obviously watch him this weekend and if it blocks, then you know what needs to be done.

I've been watching his pee at least once daily and normal stream of urine. I am feeling his bladder too and no big fat hard bladder in there. He is beginning to pick up his eating etc. So I am confident we can make it through to Tuesday.

Is there any danger to his kidneys (they have somewhat elevated creatinine but nothing major - about 200 or so I think) having general anesthesia on November 26 for dental surgery and then in a few days time (end of December)? He gets IV fluids before and during surgery. In this case, I would guess the risk of blockage and damage that could do even if caught before fatal if I don't do surgery is probably greater than risk of surgery? What else can I do to protect kidneys during surgery?

A creatitnine of 200 would be extremely high normal is about 1-2 I think.  As for protecting the kidneys if he has kidney issues ask them to start the IV's a few hours before surgery and continue for a few hours after surgery.  Also ask for inhaled anesthesia only instead of injectable.  http://www.felinecrf.org/anaesthesia.htm  Talks about the risks etc with anesthesia.

cprcheetah said:

 
A creatitnine of 200 would be extremely high normal is about 1-2 I think.  As for protecting the kidneys if he has kidney issues ask them to start the IV's a few hours before surgery and continue for a few hours after surgery.  Also ask for inhaled anesthesia only instead of injectable.  http://www.felinecrf.org/anaesthesia.htm  Talks about the risks etc with anesthesia.

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FYI, the labs use a different scale/units in Canada!! I forgot to mention that. Our okay range for creatinine is up to 150 or 200 or thereabouts. Above that is beginnings of early CRF. Late stage CRF is creatinine of 400+. It is just a different system. And even here, different labs and vets quote slightly different normal range. Toffee is high normal or early low-grade kidney issues in our system.

Scarlett 001 said:

 
FYI, the labs use a different scale/units in Canada!! I forgot to mention that. Our okay range for creatinine is up to 150 or 200 or thereabouts. Above that is beginnings of early CRF. Late stage CRF is creatinine of 400+. It is just a different system. And even here, different labs and vets quote slightly different normal range. Toffee is high normal or early low-grade kidney issues in our system.

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He He, I forgot about that.  I was gonna say, that's the highest I've ever heard

cprcheetah said:

 
He He, I forgot about that.  I was gonna say, that's the highest I've ever heard

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Right now your best defense is appropriate nutrition, hydration, and make sure he's urinating. If he's just high normal in his labs, I'd say that the benefits of surgery outweigh the risks.

What's he eating?

Just a quick update. I am right now heading into the vet clinic to drop Toffee off for overnight stay (surgery tomorrow morning to get bladder stone removal). Decided to put him on IV fluids overnight before surgery (24/7 vet clinic) to give his kidneys the best chance of getting through this just fine. My Duncan kitty went into anaphylactic shock in October and I now have a real aversion to putting my kitties under since then. Toffee and Duncan are not related although they were raised together.

I will update once this is all over and done with.

One stressful situation after another...

((((Hugs for you)))) Keep us posted on his progress.  Will keep you both in my thoughts.

Surgery over (yeah) and Toffee will hopefully come home this evening. My New Year's Eve present.

His bladder stones were the size to get caught in urethra so good job we did this. Not huge, but lots of them. Also, one of his teeth from dental that we had flagged as needing a look during anesthesia due to improper healing of hole had to be restitched and such and might have minor infection. We seem to have a few possible culprits for his elevated WBC and also for decreased appetite (in addition to arrival of new kitten in home).

Will update again if anything to report.

Awesome news!

I am so happy for you and Toffee!

A bit of a rough first few days post-surgery, but things are stabilizing and Toffee is feeling much better. I still wonder if his weight loss was actually maybe due to his tooth issue that developed after his last dental (hole did not heal well after his canine was pulled out). It sounded as if it could have been quite sore. He was checked a few weeks after the dental and all looked fine, so the tooth issue must have developed after that time. Either way, the bladder stone finding was good to know about (btw he had no bladder infection associated with them - results came back on that).