Acute straining in the litter box- Advice?

Well yes if it's a repeated problem an amputation may be in order but I wouldn't call it an eventuality. It is good you were watching him and caught this. The next 2 or 3 weeks will be nerve wracking making sure he pees. Check back with us after he is home many of us have had this issue with our boy cats. I'd make sure you go home with him with a bladder relaxer and a pain reliever. He will need both because he is going to be afraid to pee becuase of pain and associating pain with peeing. My Cat is also anatomically small and he is 6 mos post and is ok but still on the bladder relaxer every other day mostly I think for my peace of mind.

catinfo.com - Lisa Pierson DVM has a whole pictorial on blocked bladder. The red cat looks just like my beloved Lloyd kitty who had all of that done to him. It wasn't until 17 years later that my current vet stated "you know your cat does not have a penis"  deadpan. I don't remember the previous vet that did several catharizations mentioning that to me. Probably called it by the technical name. He lived toe 20, and only had maybe one incident at 17. He was fine.

He got his catheter out a few hours ago He has already peed with a nice steady stream. Hopefully by lunch time ( 6 hours from now) they will be calling me to pick him up-. Fingers crossed! 

We are 'lucky' that we are both not working right now so we can really watch him closely. That and he loves to follow us around the house, so we don't really have to search for him. Thankfully he hasn't really shown any avoidance for the litter box through all of this. Even last time, when he peed in his sleeping box, he seemed appalled by it.  He isn't eating anything for the vet... probably a combination of the scary new environment, pain meds, and different food.  If he doesn't come home today we are going to make the drive and bring him some food from home ( with treats mixed in).  I'm not to worried about him loosing his penis, I'm just bummed that the vet thinks he is small enough to warn me about it so quickly... she said he is really small. 

One good thing about this- I feel really comfortable with this emergency vet.  The staff is more than willing to talk to you, and I feel very comfortable with the level of care and attention Bear is getting ( when I called a few hours after we dropped him off they had already figured out that he loves belly rubs and chin rubs) 

Glad he is doing well!!!!!!

Sad news, he came home yesterday... and blocked again last night.  He is in surgery right now. He was in a lot of pain even with his medication. When we brought him back, the vet explained that he was really really small. 

Our other two cats are all kinds of confused, they just wanted to comfort him last night, and now they are wondering where he went again. 

Hope his surgery goes well. Lots of healing for Bear

Aww, poor little guy! It's common for them to re block within the first day or two of being home. They're at their most sensitive. Mine did & I had to bring him back for another catheter. Fortunately, he's been doing well since then. When you can, ask your vet for his recommendations of wet food. Food & stress are the 2 biggest contributors to FLUTD. If I knew this at your stage, I could've saved my kitty from more painful cystitis in the future. Hope you & the little guy feel better! 

He made it through the surgery like a champ.

The vet said his urethra was actually in really really bad shape... one of the worst cases she has seen. They had trouble putting the catheter in afterwards ( apparently it shouldn't be a problem). She said there must be some swelling closer to his bladder. She is warning us that there is a chance that he may continue to have trouble emptying his bladder if the swelling is due to injuries to his urethra closer to his bladder. They are going to watch him very closely... she mentioned that there are more surgical options to help him out if it is still a problem... and in the same breath said that they would do what they could to help us with the cost.... I'm getting worried because we paid over 3 grand already. sigh... there is not much choice though. 

So anyway, the techs all love him and are more than happy to give him lots of love and attention while he is there. One tech who wasn't working for the first two days he was there actually said that the other techs had told her about how sweet he was. 

We are definitely not looking forward to him having stitches for two weeks... and keeping a close eye in him and the girls to makes sure they don't mess with them. We will get through it though.

I'm glad Bear's come through his op ok. It always helps when the vet techs fall for your pet (every vet I've had my greyhound to has fallen for him...he even came out of a long vet stay with toys the staff had got him!)

I hope this is the last op he needs Good luck keeping everyone off his stitches. Would some kind of jacket to cover the area help?

I'm sorry your little guy is going through a tough time.  Hopefully the surgery solves his problems and that the doctors' worry about blockage at the bladder base is only irritated inflammation that dissipates with healing.   I have no experience with the PU surgery, but my cat   had bladder cancer so I am well practiced with cat peeing issues.  The masses were throughout his bladder, but the most troubling for his immediate health was the mass at the trigone area, or start of the urethra, which presented quite a block for urine flow.  We had a stent (think arterial stent) put in his urethra that actually pushed through the center of the (non-removable) mass, that essentially extended the urethra opening more to the center of the bladder.  My cat continued to pee small amounts about a hundred times a day, but he never had a repeat block for the rest of his life (about 2 years).  The doctors believe the constant need to pee small amounts was driven by his smaller bladder space because of the masses.  As long as everything was flowing, I was happy.  There is no question this procedure extended his life beyond what the doctors thought possible with his terminal condition.  

This procedure is not that common with male cats because of their tiny anatomy.  Generally, with male dogs, the stent goes through the penis and is placed appropriately in the urethra.  My cat had open bladder surgery, which he came through with flying colors.  I would think a male cat with PU surgery might be able to have this kind of procedure done externally.  I'm not saying your cat needs this, but only wanted to confirm that there are options.  It wasn't inexpensive, but as I said, it was a life extender for my cat.  

I hope your guy heals quickly!

My cat had the same issue a lot of swelling closer to the bladder at the bladder opening. It does resolve after 2 or 3 weeks. When you get him home and have a question as to whether he is going you can always take him back to the vet to have them check to see if the bladder is empty. They can also teach you how to check to see if the bladder is empty. As long as it's empty you are good. I had to take my cat back 2 times and they were false alarms as his bladder was empty. If you bring him back suspecting blockage again make sure the vet tells you the bladder is full before making any decision to cath him again. It may save another catheterization. What's happening to your boy is not uncommon the cath may just have been taken out too early. My baby's urethra looked bad too that does heal.

Thank you LCat4! I have to admit I was really wondering what the next step could be. Hexiesfriend- we called 4 times in the 18 hours he was home on Thursday;  I think they are starting to recognize my voice The hardest part for us is that it is an hour drive to the vet. Its a tough drive for Bear. 

Bear seems to be doing much better today, peeing large amounts regularly ( I think this means the swelling has gone down in the upper urethra).  I guess his pain and pain meds are the bigger problem, They had to adjust his dosage and were monitoring his vitals closely. He also has only eaten very small amounts. They are keeping him one more night just to be sure he is good to come home (they didn't want to take any chances after his first return). They are giving him an appetite stimulant and he is starting to act more like his lovey self.  The techs are all so funny because he is a favorite and they are all happy to see him acting more like himself again. 

On a funny/sadistic note: Bear's penis is now worth more than our wedding.

Question- My vet said we can only use pelleted newspaper litter because we can't risk any clumping litter blocking the wound/opening. as of this past evening Bear is refusing to use that stuff and keeps rubbing longingly on the storage box of clumping litter ... he has been doing this for 5 hours now. 

Did you all have to switch to non clumping litters? Forever? I don't know if the we can do that; we went through some litter box avoidance when we tried other stuff a year ago.

( update- we gave in and let him try the clumping litter, he peed a little then was willing to use the newspaper stuff... not sure where to go from here)

Aww, poor little guy. We switched over to non-clumping pine afterwards for all 6 cats. We tried to do it kind of gradually & they all took to it. We've been using it ever since. Personally, I really hate the dust that comes off of clumping litter, so I'm really glad that they took to the more natural non clumping type. Best for them & me! 

Good News! the tech who relayed the Vet's direction about the litter 'overstated' the importance of it being the newspaper stuff. I spoke with the vet directly today and she even gave us the go ahead to let him use the clumping litter ... we just need to check his wound to make sure nothing sticks to it... wipe it with warm water if there is anything there. We also got some on the corn cob clumping stuff to offer him a gentler option that was more his style.

More good news- He has been eating like a horse today ( and drinking all the extra water we are adding to his food)! He has actually eaten the amount of food that he normally eats. We also halved his pain meds today and he is doing good... showing just a little discomfort as we near the time for his next dose.

We were trying to switch to natural stuff last year because we hated having so much garbage from the clumping clay, but they were having non of it and would poop or pee outside the box.... so we just went back to the clay. Maybe we will give it another try after we get settled down again. 

Good to hear Bear's recovering well. Fingers crossed that this is the last procedure he'll need.

I used regular litter with mine and he was ok. This is hard for everyone because of the fear. As long as he pees you are good!! Follow him around if it makes you feel better he will forgive the invasion of privacy[emoji]128515[/emoji]

I had been reading this conversation in bits and pieces over the last week or so, trying to make sense over my cats very painful and very expensive problems... Almost $8,000 later, and a pu surgery, I am hoping to be nearing the end. Rereading this all tonight just confirms the damn whirlwind of panic this shitty condition causes! But here's to the cats who have suffered, died and those who lived on... As a vet tech I'm always amazed at how different things are when they're happening to YOUR babies. Can't help it. Thank you for sharing your experience here, it certainly helped me. Let's all make sure to share!

Thomas- I'm glad this helped you feel not so alone. It really is so scary because every move they make, every time they pause as they step into the litter box, every time they breath a little fast , you start second guessing the reason behind it. I've been on the verge of tears at least twice a day for a week now. I've been calling the vet so often that I am sure they recognize my number on the caller ID now Once I say my name, half of the front desk ladies start the conversation with 'how is little Bear today?"

Hexiesfriend- We took his cone off pretty much as soon as he got home and (between my husband and I) have been within a few feet of him since then. He just looked so uncomfortable with it on that we figured it could only help to make him more comfortable (and heal faster) without it. He doesn't mind us being in his personal space... actually the opposite, we are going to have to wean him back off of us after he no longer needs constant supervision next week. I foresee more sleepless nights as he cries outside our bedroom door. He has always been 'emotionally dependent' on us.. actually, we think this blockage may been started by stress when we were away for several weeks.

Another update-
He accepts the corn cob litter. He doesn't love it, but he is willing to use it.

He is eating a lot of little meals, 1/2 to 1 oz at a time (with extra water, of course) I am thinking about starting to limit his food intake, except that I really want him to get as much liquid as possible.. and he won't just drink liquid without food in it. He is healing though, so extra food isn't the worst right now... also he lost about a pound over the last week. He is loving his sardines ( in water, no salt added) this week! We had given him an appetite stimulant 3 days ago and we have another for tonight, but he is eating so well we might skip it (per the vet's directions)

He only has 2 more days of antibiotics, anti nausea and anti acids. He is becoming an expert at pill taking! ( his urine culture came back negative for uti, but they gave him the antibiotics anyway since he had the surgery and the wound is so close to his butt).

Speaking of his butt, He pooped yesterday afternoon! Hooray! Five days in and we have officially made it to every milestone we were waiting for- Peeing, eating regularly, acting more normal and pooping. It was a small amount and very soft, but at least we know he isn't constipated. We cleaned his butt afterwards... he didn't know how to feel about that, lol.

We got a little heating pad out for him yesterday and he has spent most of the time since sleeping or chilling on it. He is definitely cold, he keeps trying to wrap up under a blanket on the heater; it makes for very cute pictures.



**If anyone is going through this and has questions or just needs to talk you can feel free to send me a message** I am not an expert but I know I felt a lot better having people to talk to about it.

Back on the roller coaster-
We noticed his wound was more pink and moist today. He was also leaking a lot of urine while he was just laying on the heating pad. We called the vet and they said to bring him in. They took a look at him and said the incision is doing fine; the scab is just starting to lift and we are seeing healing skin under it. He also got mad at them and peed on them ( hehehe) and they were pleased with the strength of his flow. They don't know why he would all of a sudden be leaking a lot though.

I am kinda nervous because he is being very sleepy. He is responding to stuff around him, but if nothing is happening he is sleeping on the heating pad. He was more animated a few days ago... but we are decreasing his pain meds, so maybe he is just feeling it a bit more now and that makes him not want to do as much.