- Joined
- Jul 18, 2014
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Hello there, I am new to the world of TheCatSite, but I think I'll be sticking around!
My partner and I have four cats at present. One year ago this past May, we found them in my mother's shed. They were three weeks old. Their mother was a stray who sadly passed away a day before we found them.
We are currently in the midst of a crisis situation.
On Monday, I noticed Charlie straining. I Googled like a madwoman and read on numerous sites that we should get him in as soon as possible, especially if he wasn't passing anything at all, as that could be fatal within 24-48 hours. I saw him attempt to pee twice, and nothing came out. My partner and I went right to emerg.
The vet confirmed that Charlie was indeed blocked, but in the very early stages. They said we could wait until morning to see our regular vet (this was around 2am). We went home with Charlie doped up on pain meds and antispasmodics, going quite batty (all our cats react to pain meds the same way---they go NUTS).
Our regular vet (we'll call him Dr. Nope) x-rayed and saw no stones, and said they would proceed with unblocking, but said that in a cat so young, it might be a sign of future trouble. He hinted at euthanizing. I immediately thought "He's one year old. No WAY."
The call to describe the surgery was disturbing. They said they had trouble getting the catheter in (this confused me, he was completely knocked out, so would have been immobile...) so they had to use a different instrument to make room for the catheter. I didn't know anything about the procedure, but it sounded to me like this was a mistake.
My suspicions grew stronger when Charlie came back to us the next day, prematurely. The early discharge was due to a blood clot blocking his catheter, which caused them to remove it before they were sure he was unblocked. He still couldn't pee on his own, but they said to watch him and that he would hopefully start to go.
He came back covered in his own urine, leaking bloody drips constantly. I was very upset. We sat with him most of the night, and helped him go by massaging his lower abdomen. He couldn't go on his own when straining, only when he relaxed could he spurt small amounts. I felt so bad for my little guy, and mad that he hadn't been helped.
The next day, we called Dr. Nope's office and told them of his condition. They said they were "very busy with a lot of sick animals" and that they could re-assess the situation once Dr. Nope came in later in the day at 1pm. Their attitude was that if Charlie couldn't go on his own in the next few hours, they COULD re-attempt the catheter, but we would really need to consider euthanizing or a PU surgery (which meant that we would then have to find a vet who was comfortable enough to perform this surgery, as Dr. Nope was not).
At this point, I had had enough. I didn't like the lack of options we were being given, I didn't like the way they talked about euthanizing a one year old cat, and I didn't like the fact that it seemed really uncommon for a cat's catheter to get blocked with a blood clot. I called another vet.
The new vet was fabulous (though, of course, very expensive). She was experienced, knowledgeable and so caring. I knew I'd made the right choice in spite of the cost.
From what she told us, Charlie had an infection, and an inflamed penis/urethra, which was more than likely the new cause of his difficulty peeing. We asked if blood clots were common in this procedure, and she explained how it could happen, but did not confirm that it was a common occurrence.
I'd like to know what your experiences are with blocked cats. I know there is one other thread on here (that's how I found this site!) about blocked kitties, but I'm wondering if anybody knows anything about blood clots/blocked catheters, and what your thoughts are on the "instrument" that the doctor used to help get the catheter in, which seems to have done some damage. I'm concerned that this made matters worse.
The bill is going to be huge. Dr. Nope's bill is already $930, and the new vet is shaping up to hit $1300. I'm going back to school this fall and this is all going on credit, so I would really appreciate if you could share our fundraising campaign on Facebook, Twitter, etc. by right-clicking and opening the links below. If you have the cash yourself, any donations would be greatly appreciated! You can also check out pics of our four-cat brigade there too.
GoFundMe Campaign
Donate to the Bean!
Facebook Page
PayPal Donations for the Bean!
If the links get weird, you can search for "Help give Charlie a fighting chance" on Facebook, and "Help us give Charlie a fighting chance" on GoFundMe.
My partner and I have four cats at present. One year ago this past May, we found them in my mother's shed. They were three weeks old. Their mother was a stray who sadly passed away a day before we found them.
We are currently in the midst of a crisis situation.
On Monday, I noticed Charlie straining. I Googled like a madwoman and read on numerous sites that we should get him in as soon as possible, especially if he wasn't passing anything at all, as that could be fatal within 24-48 hours. I saw him attempt to pee twice, and nothing came out. My partner and I went right to emerg.
The vet confirmed that Charlie was indeed blocked, but in the very early stages. They said we could wait until morning to see our regular vet (this was around 2am). We went home with Charlie doped up on pain meds and antispasmodics, going quite batty (all our cats react to pain meds the same way---they go NUTS).
Our regular vet (we'll call him Dr. Nope) x-rayed and saw no stones, and said they would proceed with unblocking, but said that in a cat so young, it might be a sign of future trouble. He hinted at euthanizing. I immediately thought "He's one year old. No WAY."
The call to describe the surgery was disturbing. They said they had trouble getting the catheter in (this confused me, he was completely knocked out, so would have been immobile...) so they had to use a different instrument to make room for the catheter. I didn't know anything about the procedure, but it sounded to me like this was a mistake.
My suspicions grew stronger when Charlie came back to us the next day, prematurely. The early discharge was due to a blood clot blocking his catheter, which caused them to remove it before they were sure he was unblocked. He still couldn't pee on his own, but they said to watch him and that he would hopefully start to go.
He came back covered in his own urine, leaking bloody drips constantly. I was very upset. We sat with him most of the night, and helped him go by massaging his lower abdomen. He couldn't go on his own when straining, only when he relaxed could he spurt small amounts. I felt so bad for my little guy, and mad that he hadn't been helped.
The next day, we called Dr. Nope's office and told them of his condition. They said they were "very busy with a lot of sick animals" and that they could re-assess the situation once Dr. Nope came in later in the day at 1pm. Their attitude was that if Charlie couldn't go on his own in the next few hours, they COULD re-attempt the catheter, but we would really need to consider euthanizing or a PU surgery (which meant that we would then have to find a vet who was comfortable enough to perform this surgery, as Dr. Nope was not).
At this point, I had had enough. I didn't like the lack of options we were being given, I didn't like the way they talked about euthanizing a one year old cat, and I didn't like the fact that it seemed really uncommon for a cat's catheter to get blocked with a blood clot. I called another vet.
The new vet was fabulous (though, of course, very expensive). She was experienced, knowledgeable and so caring. I knew I'd made the right choice in spite of the cost.
From what she told us, Charlie had an infection, and an inflamed penis/urethra, which was more than likely the new cause of his difficulty peeing. We asked if blood clots were common in this procedure, and she explained how it could happen, but did not confirm that it was a common occurrence.
I'd like to know what your experiences are with blocked cats. I know there is one other thread on here (that's how I found this site!) about blocked kitties, but I'm wondering if anybody knows anything about blood clots/blocked catheters, and what your thoughts are on the "instrument" that the doctor used to help get the catheter in, which seems to have done some damage. I'm concerned that this made matters worse.
The bill is going to be huge. Dr. Nope's bill is already $930, and the new vet is shaping up to hit $1300. I'm going back to school this fall and this is all going on credit, so I would really appreciate if you could share our fundraising campaign on Facebook, Twitter, etc. by right-clicking and opening the links below. If you have the cash yourself, any donations would be greatly appreciated! You can also check out pics of our four-cat brigade there too.
GoFundMe Campaign
Donate to the Bean!
Facebook Page
PayPal Donations for the Bean!
If the links get weird, you can search for "Help give Charlie a fighting chance" on Facebook, and "Help us give Charlie a fighting chance" on GoFundMe.
