Blocked Kitty Recovery Experience?

Well, This has been a long and painful experience for my little (18lb) 4 year old Maine coon. His name is Gizmo and he is in excellent health, except for blocking. I rushed him to the vet on Saturday Jan 3rd. The vet said he is at risk for blocking but hadn't blocked yet. We changed his diet and put him on an antibiotic and Uroeze. He blocked by Sunday morning.( first time ever!) They took him to the back room where I could hear him scream. They put a catheter in without waiting on the sedative to work! I was called back there an shown the crystals they were pulling out of him. He was using water to flush the bladder and I then asked for saline. I also did not see any lubrication.  He stayed until Monday at 9 pm with a catheter, they removed it and sent him home. He continued to urinate in spurts and I could see spasms , I kept calling the Vet through the night and they said he just needed to heal. I brought him back Tuesday and told them he kept peeing in small amounts and was MISERABLE! He was given Oncior and said he is just being a whimp. I was furious! I knew I should have taken him away the night they catheterized him! I at this point wanted a second opinion . He urinated through the weekend and I brought him to another vet and she ran x-rays, took blood work and gave him a urinalysis. Said he was very healthy and was rid of the stones. However, he had developed two different types of bacteria in his bladder. He was given Valium to ease the spasms and antibiotic ( we sent the urine sample to be tested to be sure the antibiotic would kill the bacteria). No improvement and he stopped peeing that night. He was catheterized again the next day. he just came home this past Saturday 1/17/2015. He was more comfortable and urinating a lot but he is still screaming. He is still on valuim and I have noticed he will stop crying as soon as I pick up the lazer light.( but not every time) I know he is being a bit dramatic but I brought him back this morning. The vet expressed his bladder and was happy with the stream.( and he wasn't as full as he has been) She said he is still in pain from the infection and catheter. He will be getting a steroid shot tomorrow and possibly kitty morphine. Has anyone else had this experience with a cat this vocal and sore?? I just want to be sure I am doing the right thing?? I am a fully independent collage student, and this is financially killing me. I do understand that there is to be some discomfort but jeez, I feel so bad for him! I wish I could tell him that it will get better and I wish he could tell me what he needs. He absolutely loves to lay on the heating pad and I feel like maybe it helps with the pain. It's the screaming though, man, It is the worst thing to hear, it breaks my heart!

I forgot to mention not only have the stones cleared fully but also the bacteria!!

No this is not normal they should have sent you home with pain medication. The normal post blockage peeing for a few weeks after is many trips to the litterbox and a tablespoon of pee at a time. He should just have the urge to go and not have to do any pushing to pee. He needs a better bladder relaxer to help him pee as well it's not working if he is straining still. My kitty was on an antibiotics, prazosin to relax his bladder, and burprenex for pain. That's the kitty morphine. I'm not sure why they only had his cath in one day but usually they keep it in 2. I would make sure you do not leave the vet next time without pain meds, a higher dose of whatever they are choosing to relax his bladder with. They need to make your kitty more comfortable so I am not sure I would wait for the adjustment in the meds Id call them now. There should be discomfort when they are blocked but after the pain should be controlled.

Thank you! My vet has said she doesn't want to put his kidneys through to much stress with too many medications, but he is miserable. I will call and ask about the medications you were given. two full doses a day of valuim is not making a dent in his pain management

Well the Valium is probably to relax his bladder and he should be on a relaxer for a few weeks. If he does have kidney damage from the blockage there may be limitations on this. My kitty's kidneys were fine after. The pain meds aren't for a long time just a few days to get him over this pain the bladder relaxer usually is a longer course.

Well, I got the buprenex. The vet wanted to speak to me when i picked it up and she wants to do the PU Suregery. I just feel like for his first offense that is a little extreme. Especially since it could cause him more problems. So, I didn't bring him in this morning instead I asked for prazosin, because he did show improvement on the buprenex. I'll let you know what she says, if she pushes the surgery I will probably get a second opinion.

I've been through 2 blockages with my kitty in 2 weeks (4y ago). He really wasn't very vocal at all. On a normal day, he's all talk. But during that time, he was really quiet. So my experience is quite different. 

I will say that pain medicine is imperative. This is a really painful problem for them. He was also given buprenex. It took time, but he recovered. You can search on here for dozens of others who have gone through blockages & also PU surgery. I agree that I'd be hesitant to jump into PU surgery after 1 time. Especially since it seems like the issues were made worse by less than stellar vet care at first. I'd definitely get a second opinion. Explain everything & hopefully you can get a clear explanation 1 way or the other. Sorry you're going through this. 

I don't think PU surgery should be a recommendation for a 1st time blockage. The name PU surgery is also too nice of a name for what it really is, an amputation of the cat's penis. When they call it that, I think most kitty guardians would have the same view as I do. Why would you do it after only one blockage? There are Cats that get blocked numerous times to a point that it interrupts their quality of life and jeopardized their life. I think at that point that is where it is advisable because the alternative is to euthanize and that would be a shame.

Thank You! I spoke to my vet about his progress through the night, and I told her I think we may be able to get over this with time and without surgery. I also told her I didn't think the Valium was strong enough for his spasms so we are putting him on prazosin. As long as he shows more improvement I honestly don't think surgery will be necessary. I just wanted to give him another chance, especially since it was a prolonged recovery due to two different problems.

The combo of the prazosin and pain meds should help him a lot. I hope your kitty gets some relief!!!

Time, patience and perseverance is what will get you through this! My cat went through this from April to October last year and it's only now in the last month or so that we have been able to finally relax. He had PU surgery, not once, but 3 times! He's now a happy and healthy cat and his quality of life is amazing! If you search the site for Theodore you'll find my post here. I'm not going to go into the full story but when you have time, have a read.

How is Gizmo??

Gizmo has his kitty morphine and prazosin. He urinated a lot while I was at work. He is being more active and loving tonight. I'm hoping he may not need to urinate again tonight that way he has a chance to have his second dose of prazosin first thing in the morning. He isn't crying when I try to love up on him. Instead I have a purring, playful kitty.

Looks like his pain has been controlled better and at least he is more comfortable that's good!!

Yes, this is an improvement from last night. Just have to see if he pees easliy next. Last night he kept looking for a spot after peeing very little. He would cry while he looked. Unfortunately he is discouraged from his box. I have added a few more and changed the litter brand.

He did better last night, still cried however it wasn't as bad. I left for work this morning and his meds had kicked in and he was sleeping. So, I hop he urinates more comfortably today He is finally giving me large puddles!

Poor baby! My Taffy is a maine coon too, and when he was one, he had crystals once and a blockage.  That is when I became aware of what kind of diet to feed him.  We were lucky.  A round of antibiotics cleared him up, they may have given him pain meds too I believe.  Taffy had been on dry food until that point.  I immediately put him on wet food, and we were lucky enough that this was enough for him, and he has not had any further urinary issues.

One thing I would NEVER do again, ever, don't ever, ever feed him dry food again.  Now, 5 years later, my boy gets a few pieces of dry, as a treat, and that is all he gets.  Feed him only wet food, and it's better if you get the classic or pate style, and mix some warm water in with the food, make it a little soupy.  I feed my boy 3 times a day.  I know that may be hard, if you are a college student, but even if you can only give him two good size meals a day, it would be better than giving him a bowl of dry during the day.   Cats do not need 24/7 access to food (unless they are sick and malnourished and not eating enough), it is OK for them to get be a little hungry in the middle of the day. 

I feel like the vet might have been too soon to recommend PU surgery, especially if he IS now peeing.  There are some vets out there (not saying for sure this one is like this) that push for everything, it's how they make lots of money.  They probably figure, yeah, your a college girl, but you'll either get money through care credit or you'll ask a relative.  Not saying that PU surgery is not sometimes warranted, because I know there are times it is.  But I'd want to try diet first.  Now, although I'm not a big fan at all of the vet food, in the case of urinary issues, sometimes in the case of urinary problems, it does help.  Royal Canin I think most cats prefer over the Hill's, from the people that I know who have used it.  Most cats don't like it at all, it must taste awful, because many don't want to eat it.  Lucky for me, Taffy would eat anything, so he switched readily over to canned food.  Someone on another message board that I know who has recently been going through some problems with UTI's  in her cat, a vet told her that although there is no proof of this, but that the chicken wellness was a good food for cats with UTI's, and the ones she had seen responded very well on that food.  It is a food that I have already been feeding my cats most of their life, the chicken and the turkey.  I'm no vet, I'm just telling you what I have heard, and that my cats have eaten mostly Wellness all their life, and have not had any UTI's, crystals or blockages, since Taffy's problems when he was 1 and we switched him over to canned.  It's worth a try.  Three or even four smaller meals of wet food, with water mixed in, that is what my cats eat.  If you are feeding smaller meals like this, you don't have to feed like 1/2 the can in one sitting, I give my cats about 1/4 or 1/3 of a 5 ounce can at each meal, and some eat slightly more than others, depending on the size and appetite of each cat.  

My cats don't lay on a heating pad, but my daughter got a heated throw blanket for Christmas, and the cats are in love with it! I keep it on low, and switch it off after a while, and it has an automatic shut off on it.  

I hope that things will improve with your cat.  You may want to ask around, see if you can find a vet who is good with cats, or is a cat only vet, ask people you know that have cats who they use, and why they like them.  It has taken me many years to find a veterinary practice that I love and trust.  They have 4 vets, one is money hungry and wants to make your bill $500 every time you walk in the door, no matter for what, and then we two who you can tell wholeheartedly are into helping animals first and foremost.  I know they are in business and have to make money to run the business, but I don't want to be taken advantage of and have unnecessary things pushed on my cat either.  Hopefully you can find one that you trust.  

I believe, and my vet believes also that diet is the key to good health.  And not to say that cats on good diets don't ever develop problems anyway, but most of it is directly related to what they eat.  At least that is what I believe too.  I'm no expert, I'm just speaking from my own experiences, having been through the same problems you are having with your cat.  Best of luck.  I have a daughter in college too, I know how stressful this must be to have to worry about your kitty, who you can tell that you love very much.  

Thank You! Yes, I do love my spoiled furrbaby

This handsome boy is taking a nap from playing all day! He has made drastic improvements in the last 24 hours! He is like new! No more buprenex!!! He is the happiest and most affectionate he has ever been! Thanks everyone for all your help!

[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <woNotOptimizeForBrowser/> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]He should be on pain medication.

The Valium is given to relax his bladder muscles.

Barratt has had a blockage once before.

I wouldn’t do a PU on a first time blockage.

The Proposing should help him tremendously.

Just is patient.

Please keep us updated.

I’m glad his pain is being controlled.

I feel so sorry for him.