Age: 6

Sex/Neuter status: M/Neutered

Breed: Domestic Shorthair

Body weight: 17 lbs

History: My cat has been eating dry food for his entire life and he was recently having issues urinating. Last Thursday, took him in to the ER to get checked and they found that his urethra was blocked and could not urinate. After the X-Ray results, we found he has no bladder stones. They stuck a catheter in him, gave him some IV and he was good to come home the following day since he was urinating well.

The Dr currently has him on Buprenex, Prazocin, and Orbax. The Dr is also trying to switch him over to canned Hills C/D food but he did not like it. The Dr said I could try other canned foods and I bought a flurry of them with him liking a grain-free IAMS purrfect canned food. He eats about 2 a day. 

Clinical signs: Over the past 3 days since he has been home his amount of urination has gone down significantly. It went from going to the litter nearly every half hour with urination leading to clumps about the size of ping pong ball, to its current state which was him urinating about 6-7 times today total. Each urination is about the size of a ping pong ball and one a potato chip. 

He currently does not drink much water but does have his appetite back. With the medications he is on it really sedates him so he does not move much.

Also ever since coming home, his urine drips out of him with an occasional quick stream instead of a steady stream. But it does drip quite fast when it does.

I called an emergency clinic and they advised me to take him in

but also said as long as he is urinating it is okay. And if I was worried to take him in.

Should I be concerned with such a significant drop in urination?

How much urine should I be expecting?

I am worried since I read a lot of stories online where their cat passed away within a 24 hour window of the same issue. The only difference is my cat is peeing just not as much as he previously was. 

How does his current output compare to his output before he got sick? Is it possible the amount you were seeing after he first came home was an actual increase over normal because of the IV and now he is just getting back to his regular output?

I recently adopted a 2 year old cat who will only eat dry food and came down with an UTI so I was asking this same question about when to worry about reduced urine output. She got back to normal before I had to take her back to the vet. Her normal sounds very similar to what you are describing as your cat's current output.

I sympathize with your dilemma.

Thanks, before all this he was urinating pretty large chunks. Chunks larger than the size of an iPhone 6. And I believe this was usually twice a day, but thats just speculation since I have two cats and its hard to tell who's is who. 

I think with all this worry it might be best to just take him into the vet for a follow-up. I had already planned on doing so but later in the week instead of only a few days afterwards. It is so worrisome taking this on when urinary blockage is such an urgent fatal problem if left alone. 

I can totally sympathize with you because I've been in the same position. It is common for the urine output after catheterization to be reduce for a bit. This is often due to inflammation of the bladder & urethra. The medicines usually help to reduce the inflammation, but its not immediate. It is also very common for a cat to reblock soon after. Mine did. We brought him in & they were able to release it pretty easily. Since mine had a catheter twice, he did dribble pee for quite a while. It wasn't fun, but I was just glad he had output! 

I'm with you & would much rather bring him in, than wait it out. I hope its something fast & easy!

Yeah I made an appointment to bring him in for a follow up on Thursday and until then I will be monitoring his urination. 

I spoke with the vet and his thoughts aligned with the responses in here so thats good to hear . It was still a little vague as to how much urine I should be expecting but it seemed emphasized that any urination was better than none and as long as he is urinating then it is okay. 

Just a side note, but I hate giving my cat his meds since he gets so sedated and just looks so out of it. Gotta do what you gotta do though

Here is a picture of him! His eyes get really dilated once his pain killers set in.

I'm glad you made the appointment.   Absolutely better to be safe than sorry.    He's a real beauty, btw.    Poor guy.   I hope he feels better soon.

Aww, what a sweet face! In my experience, its the pain meds that makes them loopy. But like you said, they don't know that you're actually helping them!

Urinary Obstruction in Male Cats

https://www.acvs.org/small-animal/urinary-obstruction-cats

if you haven't already, there are over-the-counter urinary cat wet food -- Friskies Special Diet and Purina Pro Plan Urinary Tract Health.