Urinary Obstruction (crystals)....Any advice is greatly appreciated!

charrrlottte

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 29, 2015
Messages
30
Purraise
2
Hello there, 

My poor boy, Charlie, about 2 weeks ago had to take an emergency trip to the vet due to a urinary obstruction caused by crystals in his urine/bladder. He was there for 2 nights, and was treated with a catheter, IV fluids, and had his bladder flushed a few times. $1500 later, he came home with Prazosin (7 days) for genital spasms, Meticam (5 days), and an antibiotic (7 days). He got home about a week and a half ago, so he was finished all of his prescribed meds by this past Tuesday morning. He seemed perfectly fine all day Tuesday, all day Wednesday, and up until about 11pm on Thursday. Was his old self, cuddling, playing, eating, drinking, everything. But then all of a sudden last night, he starts frantically running around trying to pee on everything he possibly can, my laundry, in flower pots, on my bed, and there is blood in his urine. A pink tinge to the colour, and he was also passing small clots as well. I immediately called the vet and they prescribed more Prazosin, and a different pain medication for the next 4 days. When i gave both prescriptions to him last night at around midnight, he fell asleep right away, and woke up around 6 this morning, went straight to the litterbox and had what I would call a normal pee (about the size of a deck of cards), and then another one the same size about 2-3 hours later. I gave him a normal meal of the Royal Canin Urinary SO (pate mixed with extra water) this morning, and then another smaller meal at around 2 today. He seemed to be doing a bit better, not as uncomfortable, but just within the past two hours he has been in and out of the litterbox, and only peeing small amounts, about the size of half a golf ball or smaller each time. Will be keeping a very close eye on him tonight, but in the mean time I just wanted to ask this community a few questions...

If your cat has experienced urinary blockage due to crystals before, did they have any reoccurrence within the 2 weeks of coming home from the vet? What was their healing process like?

What kind of diet did you switch them too after the first occurrence of crystals/obstruction? Raw? Canned? Vet prescribed?

Any tips on making my apartment as stress free as possible, as I'm told this problem is greatly linked to stress?

Anyone out there have any happy endings after dealing with this problem with their cats? How did you treat it in the long term? Could definitely use some reassurance at this point 


Thank you so much in advance for any responses! Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!!! 
 
 

momcat55

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
May 29, 2015
Messages
2
Purraise
1
Location
Minneapolis MN
Hello ~
you need to get your cat on Rx Hills S/D (wet and dry) for at least a few weeks after his procedure. .. it actually helps to dissolve any more crystals. I still mix some in with my boy's Royal Canin SO even 2 months later, just to be sure. It's more of a short term diet, not meant to be long term maintenance like RCanin SO. Also, I've found the HIlls canned Rx food is much preferred over the Royal Canin canned, however I do use the dry SO. If your cat is still having issues I would stay on ALL Hills Rx at first -- it seems to work the best. Keep a close watch on him, and also leave the faucet drip so he will drink tons of fresh water. Or, you may want to consider buying bottled water for him if you think your tap water might be contributing to his problems -- I am currently looking into how the tap water may be making things worse, or even be part of the cause the whole problem??! Also, you may want to have him stay on an antibiotic for another 7 days... what was he taking? If it was Amoxicillin that is not very strong -- my Vet always prescribes Baytril for UTI, but you have to be careful with the dosage. Hope this helps :) 
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

charrrlottte

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 29, 2015
Messages
30
Purraise
2
Hello there, 

Thank you so much for your reply! Will definitely look into the Rx Hills S/D. Anything that would prevent more crystals is definitely worth a try in my books. He has never been the type to drink out of a faucet, but I will also look into buying bottled water for his 3 water bowls around the house to rule out any effect from tap water, that's a great suggestion, thank you. He was taking Clavaseptin 250mg pills, split in half and given to him in the morning and at night. He just had another pee, about the size of a golf ball, which is an improvement from earlier, so I'm hoping it will be resolved within the next few days. I think the fact that he has also had some diarrhea due to the food change might have contributed to him being dehydrated for the past couple days, which would maybe explain some more irritation from crystals...He also had a hard time with the catheter while staying at the vet, it came out in the middle of the night both nights he was there, and he came back home with his genitals extremely swollen and inflamed, which makes me think that his urethra may still be healing/spasming and causing some of the discomfort I'm seeing. 
 

catladyvettech

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
May 8, 2015
Messages
201
Purraise
59
Location
Sacramento, CA
First off, sorry to hear your kitty has this problem! FLUTD is a tough problem to have but it sounds like you're doing the right things! I agree with the other poster about trying Hill's food. There's s/d and c/d for urinary problems. Ask your vet what kind of crystals your cat had and which diet is most appropriate. Also, do you have a fountain for him to drink from? That can help encourage water consumption. You can add some table salt to his food too, although I don't know the particulars of how much/how often. Has your vet mentioned the possibility of adding an anti anxiety medication? Sometimes that can help prevent future urinary obstructions. Good luck, and keep up the good work!
 

momcat55

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
May 29, 2015
Messages
2
Purraise
1
Location
Minneapolis MN
Oh dear ~ yes, sounds like his little bum might really be hurting! :(  Hope he can stay on pain meds for a few more days until it calms down? I've had 2 cats with crystals over the last 10 yrs or so, and found the Hills Rx food seems to be the best overall, and yes, like the other poster said there is C/D and S/D -- the S/D is more for short term to use right after, or if he should start to show symptoms again...keep some on hand just in case.  I just recently learned about this food and wish I had known earlier so could've got him on it right away! The C/D is the more longterm maintenance food, and I've found the canned versions of both of these are much more tasty (according to my cats! ;) ) then the Royal Canin canned. I do however use the Royal Canin SO dry for snacks for my older guy for many years, only b/c of all the Rx dry foods it is the "least crappiest". Rx foods are not know for having the best ingredients, so once your Boy gets back safely on track (a few months?) you could also try giving him Wysong Uretic as "treats" too, just to give him some quality food to snack on.  Hope he will continue to improve each day  <3 Just keep a close watch on him like you are doing so you can catch any problem immediately :) 
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6

charrrlottte

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 29, 2015
Messages
30
Purraise
2
First off, sorry to hear your kitty has this problem! FLUTD is a tough problem to have but it sounds like you're doing the right things! I agree with the other poster about trying Hill's food. There's s/d and c/d for urinary problems. Ask your vet what kind of crystals your cat had and which diet is most appropriate. Also, do you have a fountain for him to drink from? That can help encourage water consumption. You can add some table salt to his food too, although I don't know the particulars of how much/how often. Has your vet mentioned the possibility of adding an anti anxiety medication? Sometimes that can help prevent future urinary obstructions. Good luck, and keep up the good work!
It was definitely a very scary and intense experience! I love that little guy so much, was absolutely heartbreaking seeing him in that condition. Will be calling my vet tomorrow about the Hills food, sortof wondering why they didn't suggest that to begin with since I know they have it in stock there. Will be saving up for a water fountain, but to be honest he has never been the kind of cat to be interested in drinking running water out of the tap, so I'm a little bit reluctant. He has 3 water bowls placed around the house at the moment, and uses every one of them, so that's my bandaid for now. The vet did mention anti-anxiety medication, but I wanted to try de-stressing my apartment for him before i resort to that. Maybe incorporate a little more play/exercise into his day as well and see if that helps, since he is an indoor apartment cat. The salt is a good idea too! Will try a tiny bit with his next meal! Thanks for all your help!
 
Oh dear ~ yes, sounds like his little bum might really be hurting! :(  Hope he can stay on pain meds for a few more days until it calms down? I've had 2 cats with crystals over the last 10 yrs or so, and found the Hills Rx food seems to be the best overall, and yes, like the other poster said there is C/D and S/D -- the S/D is more for short term to use right after, or if he should start to show symptoms again...keep some on hand just in case.  I just recently learned about this food and wish I had known earlier so could've got him on it right away! The C/D is the more longterm maintenance food, and I've found the canned versions of both of these are much more tasty (according to my cats! ;) ) then the Royal Canin canned. I do however use the Royal Canin SO dry for snacks for my older guy for many years, only b/c of all the Rx dry foods it is the "least crappiest". Rx foods are not know for having the best ingredients, so once your Boy gets back safely on track (a few months?) you could also try giving him Wysong Uretic as "treats" too, just to give him some quality food to snack on.  Hope he will continue to improve each day  <3 Just keep a close watch on him like you are doing so you can catch any problem immediately :) 
Yes, poor little Charles definitely has a sore bum. 
 Just gave him another dose of pain and anti-spasm meds, hoping he'll have a good sleep and wake up feeling a little better. Like I said above, I will definitely be grabbing some of the Hills SD tomorrow. Not sure why they didn't suggest it at first since they have it in stock, but now I know! I definitely agree, not so happy about the ingredients in the Rx food, but will definitely be feeding that for now. That vet visit sure was a shock and a scare. Thank you for the treat suggestion too! He's been missing them for sure, and I would love to still be able to spoil my baby every once in a while 
 
 

chrissytina

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
May 30, 2015
Messages
3
Purraise
1
I'm sorry you had to go through that, it's so stressful, I know. My kitty cat, also named Charlie and who also looks a lot like your kitty in the picture (he's a Ragdoll) also had a full blockage about two years ago.  Charlie had a rough time for about two weeks after the surgery.  It was a bit hard for him to control his pee (he would go on the floor) and I think he was just in a lot of pain and stressed.  But after a while he got better and it's been two years since any problems (knock on wood).

I went through a lot of different kinds of foods including all wet food and all sorts of fancy foods and even a home-made diet over the next year.  In the end, I found for Charlie the best food was Royal Canin prescription S/O. For two years I only fed him this in wet (no dry).  After two years my job changed and I had to start feeding dry again because I was gone for long periods of time throughout the day.  So I now feed dry S/O with wet 2X per day.  He's been fine on this diet.  Charlie also take 5mg of amitriptyline every day.  I think this has really helped him keep stress levels low (he was very high-strung before).  

I've noticed that when he does get stressed he starts peeing a lot more and visiting the box frequently.  This has happened twice since the blockage - once when I was on vacation away from him and once when I had to watch my mothers cat for a few days and the new cat was in the same house as Charlie.  Other than those two times, he's been okay.

Good luck with your Charlie, I hope all goes well!!!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #8

charrrlottte

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 29, 2015
Messages
30
Purraise
2
Thanks so much for your response chrissytina. So cool that our cats are so similar with the same name! Charlie's dad is a Ragdoll, and his mom is a Siamese. 
Really reassuring to know that he hasn't had any reoccurrence of the problem since the initial incident besides a few hiccups. 

Was also considering Amitriptyline, although my Charlie isn't a particularly high strung cat. He's usually extremely laid back, but he is an indoor apartment cat, so he definitely does get bored. Am going to try encouraging more play and have a couple more "safe place" hiding spots around the apartment. Maybe a window bench or two. I'm a little bit weary of antidepressants, but will definitely consider if all else fails. 

Thanks again for your response! 
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #9

charrrlottte

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 29, 2015
Messages
30
Purraise
2
Went to the vet after work today, and she prescribed a week's worth of Prazosen and pain killers. Hopefully that will allow him to completely heal without too much discomfort....keep your fingers crossed for him! Good vibes always welcome...
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #10

charrrlottte

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 29, 2015
Messages
30
Purraise
2
He seems to still be struggling a little bit, have been reading up about the use of Apple Cider Vinegar in very small doses to acidify his urine pH...seems to be a large online community supporting it, and it can't hurt...will update tomorrow. 
 

sueasinsue

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Feb 3, 2014
Messages
40
Purraise
2
I agree 100% with CatLadyVet Tech-get him on prescribed food immediately. My cat Blue went through the same thing, my vet recommended Royal Canine SO and he has been on it ever since. DO NOT feed him any treats or table food though-the prescription food alters the ph and destroys the crystals, giving him table food or other food items like treats screws that up. I would not even try the vinegar or any other non-prescription food items. I know the ingredients aren't all that great in RC but ya know what? I never want my little guy to go through what he went through again so the RC SO is what he eats.

When this happened to my cat I was at my wits end, it took Blue about three weeks to act normal. He was in a lot of pain and I had to give him pain meds, antibiotics and medication for 3 weeks. It took him about a month and a half to pee normal, he would go multiple times, small amounts. Finally he came around, and started peeing normal, I buy him the canned RC SO as well and he gets that as his treat on weekends. At first he wouldn't touch the wet food but now he loves it. I also bought him a water fountain, you'll be shocked how much water they consume once they start eating the RC SO. 

It has been almost three years since Blue blocked and he has been fine ever since. So yes this is stressful and there is a lot of information out there, I was overwhelmed by what I should or should not do. Listen to your vet, get him on the prescription food and try not to worry. That's the advice I wish someone told me when this happened to me.
 

rlavach

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Oct 1, 2014
Messages
284
Purraise
72
Aww, so sorry you and your cat are experiencing this. I also have a cat who has been blocked, twice in 2 weeks! So I can definitely sympathize. There is light at the end of the tunnel! First, I brought mine in due to lethargy & very small amounts of bloody urine. They put in a catheter & kept him for a few days to flush the bladder. My vet actually showed me the crystals she extracted in a test tube. She said she's never seen that much in her life! He was 2yo at the time. We brought him home, but didn't know to buy the Rx food, so he ate regular stuff. He was back there with another blockage less than a week later. After that, we got the Hills S/D to dissolve for a month & then Hills C/D forever onwards. 

Thing is, he would only eat dry food. No one explained to us the importance of wet food, so we let him. Through the next 5 years, he hasn't blocked again, but he's had cystitis. So moments of stress on the bladder where it gets inflamed & he'll produce small amounts of bloody urine again. Thankfully no blockage. I came on this site to find answers too because it kept happening. The last bout was in Oct 2014 after a 2 day vacation I took. We switched him to all wet diet now, but it was a slow transition. He now eats about 25% Hills Rx C/D stew formula, then the rest is Cats in the Kitchen lamb or chicken, also Nature's Variety Instinct rabbit or lamb. He doesn't have any fish food. I also add lots of water into his meals & he has the chicken Fancy Feast Broths on occasions, with more water added. He's been great since! The true test is in a few weeks when I go away for a 1 week vacation. Lets see!

Most recently, our vet explained using products like Feliway plug in to help reduce stress. Also, lots of play time. She specifically mentioned the prey and pounce type toys. So the wand with a string & feather on it kind. That mimicking of natural behavior of hunting is apparently very good for them mentally. Then that affects their body. We've also had several fountains. Lots of love and attention is important. His problems started at 2 & he's now 7. You can definitely get through it. You just need to invest the time into finding the right combination of food & play that works for you cat!
 

nansiludie

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 14, 2014
Messages
2,171
Purraise
1,213
I had a cat blocked with crystals/mucous, he was fed a mainly dry diet and I suppose had gotten stressed as I rearranged the home a bit. He was in the hospital for a week. I fed the canned Hills C/D rx food for a month and then transferred over to canned cat food, Friskies Pate with turkey and giblets mixed with extra water. I do suggest no dry food, at all, regardless if its rx or not. I am including a link to Dr. Pierson's blog dedicated to cats, especially urinary issue-prone cats. I was feeding half dry and canned food to colony cats and I lost a male from being blocked. So strictly wet food or raw homemade food, which I prepare according to Dr. Pierson's blog.  http://www.catinfo.org/  I do mix extra water in his food to help keep the urine dilute and bladder flushed. If you stay with the rx food, please stick with canned, it is high in moisture, lack of it has been shown to contribute to urinary/kidney issues. Also stay away from fish flavored cat food as they contain all the bone which is higher in phosperous. I do agree with the others, I wouldn't try the apple cider vinegar as he more than likely will smell it and not eat or drink anything, as it's acidic. Cat urine is actually naturally acidic when cats are fed a canned or raw diet, its the carbs in dry food or foods with lots of veggies or gravy that make it alkaline.
 
Last edited:
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #14

charrrlottte

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 29, 2015
Messages
30
Purraise
2
Thanks all for your responses!


He has been on an exclusively wet diet since he got home from his initial vet visit on May 17th, I have been feeding him Royal Canin Urinary SO canned, and recently got him some Hills canned as well(the one for stress/right after the blockage), and I am adding as much water as I possibly can to it at each feeding. He doesn't seem to mind if it is quite soupy, so that's definitely a plus. I did add the tiniest little bit of apple cider vinegar to his food yesterday at noon, and again at night, and he ate every last bit of it. I am doing so because of the OVERWHELMING positive response to doing this for this exact problem on other forums online. I am not discrediting the opinion of my vet in any way, and I am following her instructions exactly, but honestly, adding a teeny tiny bit to his food cannot hurt anything in the short run, especially if it isn't discouraging him to eat or drink at all. Struvite crystals form in an alkaline environment, which is why it definitely makes sense to me to ***slightly*** (I'm talking less than 1/8 of a tea spoon, people) acidify his food while he is still having issues urinating. He had a normal sized pee in the middle of the night, and another one this morning, and was doing well compared to the last 3 days.(
<---me while listening to him having one of the the biggest pees he's had since he's been home!!!
) Not perfect, but it looks like progress to me. When i got home from work today he was having some genital spasms, but I am pretty sure that was unfortunately happening because I wasn't able to give him his Prazosen (anti-spasmodic) until I got home from work, which was about 1.5 hours after he should have gotten it (every 8 hours). It's been an hour since I gave it too him and he seems to have relaxed quite a bit. From the looks of it it is the spasms that are causing him the most discomfort at the moment, and they could apparently be caused by damage done by the catheter, an inflamed badder/urethra, or by residual crystals. Hard to tell which or if its just a big combo of all 3, but will hopefully be trying to get a urinalysis done on him this Friday. Was planning on going today, but work ran longer than expected. 
 
Last edited by a moderator:

nansiludie

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 14, 2014
Messages
2,171
Purraise
1,213
Actually meat-based diets such as the canned food, make cat urine naturally acidic whereas dry food with the carbs and grains in it make the urine alkaline. The extra water must be helping well. I do hope that the apple cidar vinegar doesn't make him have acid reflux as I have it when I eat anything with vinegar in it. Extra cooked meat might help.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #16

charrrlottte

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 29, 2015
Messages
30
Purraise
2
This has been such an emotional rollercoaster. One hour he seems fine, back to my normal sweet boy peeing like normal, and then next he's running around my room trying to pee on everything he possibly can and growling when I try to touch him...The main problem to me seems to be the spasms, so I am wondering if the prazosen loses it's effects the longer it's been used (since May 17)....I am going to be consulting with my vet tomorrow as well as bringing in a urine sample....

Really at a loss of what to do besides call my vet for the 100th time...I hate seeing him like this...this is so incredibly frustrating...
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #18

charrrlottte

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 29, 2015
Messages
30
Purraise
2
He woke me up at 6am, 2 hours before his next expected dose of the anti-spasmotic & pain meds, searching around my room for places to pee & peeing on my bed.... Still peeing, small amounts, but still peeing which is a good sign...gave him his pain meds and prazosin at 8 am, and he calmed down after that, and had one medium sized pee, and a couple other small ones. Called my vet, and she recommended an anti-anxiety medication for him (Acepromazine), and told me to give it to him 30 mins before I expect him to start freaking out about the spasms, which is usually around 5-6 hours after his dose of prazosin. Gave him the acepromoazine about 45 minutes ago, and he's calm, and kneeding/purring my blankets at the foot of my bed...I feel really bad for sedating him like this, I did not want to to come to this, but I really have no idea what else to do at this point. He is just so incredibly uncomfortable and nervous when he's running around straining like that, and I can't imagine that him doing that is helping him heal. I wasn't able to get a urine sample before i left to pick up his meds, so I will try again tomorrow...A friend who's cat has had the same issue before recommended a product called "Cranimals Gold"(cranberry powder), will try adding to his food to help with any infection he might have, as well as bladder/urethra discomfort, and urine pH. Will not be using the Apple Cider Vinegar on top of this powder, switching to this only because I thought this supplement had a little more to offer than ACV. 
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #19

charrrlottte

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 29, 2015
Messages
30
Purraise
2
After the Acepromazine and then additional pain meds an hour ago, he is quite tired & has been sleeping quite a bit. He also hasn't had a lot to eat or drink today, and hasn't had a decent pee since this morning...Fingers crossed he'll eat something once he wakes up...
 

kueluck

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
May 26, 2015
Messages
11
Purraise
2
Location
Winston Salem NC
This sounds all to familiar to me from Jan 2014 thru Oct 2014.  I recommend they take x-rays of his bladder to make sure there are not stones imbedded into the bladder wall.  I lost my beloved Oliver from this last year.  We followed his diet to the letter but it returned later on in the year.  I don' t mean to scare you, but just make sure the little man isn't suffering. 
 
Top