Strange behavior following a visit to the Vet and bladder tap.

Hey, all,

This is my first time posting here, prompted by some very worrying behavior from my cat that started manifesting after a visit to the vet to deal with, what I thought, was a pretty standard issue. So far, our vet hasn't been able to pinpoint anything since none of the symptoms seem to match up with anything she's seen before, and I figured maybe some of you who have more experience than I might know something. This all started when my cat, male, started having accidents on various objects. We have two other cats, so at first I figured it was a behavioral thing, but took him to the vet anyway just in case there was something more going on. At the office they told me that in order to get a urine sample they needed to tap the bladder with a needle while it was full, which it wasn't, so I left him in their care until they could get what they needed. After a pretty good amount of time and a few progress updates by phone, the office called me to say that they had gotten and examined the sample, but at the same time something had gone wrong.

They had actually tapped the bladder twice. The first time a small amount of blood came with the sample, explaining that this sort of thing can happen with the blood vessels in the area. They decided to get a second, cleaner sample, and in the process my cat had what was described to me as a seizure. According to the vet, he'd acted as if he was about to bite, lost control of his bowels, and his gums went white. They got their second sample and discovered crystals in the urine, which may have been causing him irritation and accidents. However, because of the episode they decided to run additional tests, discovering he now had a heart murmur that wasn't present earlier in the day. X-rays and blood work didn't show anything abnormal. He was injected with fluids to keep him hydrated while he recuperated. We took him home so that he wasn't left there overnight with a follow up appointment for the next day, with no additional episodes.

Prior to the next visit he ate and drank without a problem, but seemed lethargic, having trouble jumping on top of objects. I chalked it up to stress or fatigue after a full day with the veterinarian. When I took him back to the vet, the heart murmur was still present. The vet theorized that he might have cardio myopathy (as I understand a thickening of the heart muscles) that had somehow become apparent following the bladder tap. I was told that a blood clot may have been dislodged, causing the sound to become apparent and the episode once blood wasn't getting to where it needed to be. They decided to do more blood work to test for levels consistent myopathy. Which would take a day or two. Meanwhile my cat continued to be lethargic and have difficulty jumping. Today, I got the results backs, with normal blood levels. I declined to take him back to the vet today, just to give him a break, but at the moment both I and the vet are at a loss.

I apologize that this is so long, but I thought that giving as much info as possible. Has anyone here experienced anything similar or have any advice? Is there anything that is known to go wrong with bladder taps in cats that might have caused this?

I did not see the age of your kitten.  Heart murmurs are frequently heard in kittens. Sometimes they are indicative of problems and other times they fade away.  Murmurs can come as cats age. These rarely clear up in adult cats. It sounds like you have an adult cat and his situation is similar to my 16 year old. Diagnosed a few years ago with a murmur and likely thickening heart muscle. Is your kitty having difficulty breathing or coughing spasms? Make sure to share that info with his vet. 

If the crystals are causing pain sometimes when he urinates, that can cause problems  "out of the box".

The crystal formulation may have lead to bladder stones or kidney stones.  A high quality x-ray should have shown these if they were a large enough size. 

There are prescription foods (if your cat will eat them) that can change the PH of the urine to reduce the crystals and possibly dissolve stones. The correct food depends on the type of crystals that are forming. You may need to find him in an area where other cats do not eat his food. That is doable.  Make sure he has water, and at least two bowls, in case one gets tipped over by another household member. Switching to wet foods can get more water into them, and adding some water to that can help even more.

As you can image, bladder or kidney stones can be a painful irritant that can slow a cat down.  Heart disease will slow him down too, especially if it moves into some breathing restrictions.  His blood tests might also come back that he is low on potassium. Ask your vet if increasing that might also help reduce the out of balance of calcium to potassium that may be adding to his crystals.