My Toby was diagnosed with CRF back in November. All told, it hasn't been a bad month. He took well to a switch to the K/D diet, and actually became more active than he had been in a while. He started to act poorly again about two weeks ago, and I took him in again. They redid his blook work, and it actually showed he hand improved, and gave him fluids, as he was dehidrated. I took him home again, and he did well for a couple of days, but then started to do poorly again. This time, the vet thought the symptoms pointed to a UTI, so I left him at the vets during the day, and picked him up again after work. They were hoping to get a urine sample, but he did not oblige. That was on the 12th.
When I got him home, he went right to the litter box, and then stayed their for half an hour, but produced nothing. I called the vet back, and took him back in that night. They catherized him, and ran a culture on what he produced. Nothing grew from that, but they put him on antibiotics anyway. Over the weekend things cleared up, and they removed the cathater on Monday, the 15th. He was able to urinate on his own, and I took him home that night. A few hours after I got home, though, he again was unable to produce any urine. I called them up again, and they suggested that it might be because of stress, and to wait out the night. If he hadn't done anything by Tuesday morning, I was to bring him back in.
Toby had a very poor night. He made frequent, useless attempts at using the litter box. In between, he just laid down, exhausted. I couldn't get a purr, or a meow out of him. He drank a lot of water, but refused to eat anything. I had him back at the vets the minute they opened in the morning. Again, they catherized him. Tuesday and wednesday after work I went in to visit with him for an hour. His mood seemed much improved, though he looked terrible and miserable with the cathater and collar on.
Thursday the office was closed, so I did not go to visit him, though they called me three times with updates on how he was doing. Friday they removed the catheter again, and I got to hold him. He purrred a lot, and was very interested in everything. Again, he was using the litter box on his own, but the vet wanted to keep him one more night, because of what had happened the first time. He said if all was well, I could pick him up on Saturday.
All was not well. He again was blocked Saturday morning. At this point, they did x-rays, trying to find something, and they found kidney stones. They explained to me that kidney stones are very rare in cats, but at this point they believed that this is what was causing Toby's problems. The only option they could give me was to surgically remove the stones, which scared me, and I think also scared them. My vet has never removed kidney stones before, though there is another vet in the area who has, and has agreed to help.
I visited with Toby again, who now was very tired from his (again) full bladder. They were going to catherize him again when I left. We made plans to go ahead with the surgery on Monday (today)
Sunday the tech called me, to give me an update. She said that when they inserted the catheter this time, it went in much easier than the previous times, plus, there has been no blood in the urine, unlike the other times. The vet thinks it might have just been a matter of getting Toby to relax enough, so they were going to try giving him valium through the day, to see if they can get his muscles to let go, and let him pee. That did not work, but my vet had read about another drug that might help. Turns out though, that it isn't carried in this area. So, he is trying to find it somewhere, and in the mean time the surgery is postponed.
Toby remains at the vets office.
I am very worried right now. I knew when he was diagnosed with CRF that we had limited time left, but I did not expect to have something like this happen. It doesn't seem like we can figure out what is causing Toby's problems right now, and I am hoping that someone here might have some insight. I want my baby to come home.
When I got him home, he went right to the litter box, and then stayed their for half an hour, but produced nothing. I called the vet back, and took him back in that night. They catherized him, and ran a culture on what he produced. Nothing grew from that, but they put him on antibiotics anyway. Over the weekend things cleared up, and they removed the cathater on Monday, the 15th. He was able to urinate on his own, and I took him home that night. A few hours after I got home, though, he again was unable to produce any urine. I called them up again, and they suggested that it might be because of stress, and to wait out the night. If he hadn't done anything by Tuesday morning, I was to bring him back in.
Toby had a very poor night. He made frequent, useless attempts at using the litter box. In between, he just laid down, exhausted. I couldn't get a purr, or a meow out of him. He drank a lot of water, but refused to eat anything. I had him back at the vets the minute they opened in the morning. Again, they catherized him. Tuesday and wednesday after work I went in to visit with him for an hour. His mood seemed much improved, though he looked terrible and miserable with the cathater and collar on.
Thursday the office was closed, so I did not go to visit him, though they called me three times with updates on how he was doing. Friday they removed the catheter again, and I got to hold him. He purrred a lot, and was very interested in everything. Again, he was using the litter box on his own, but the vet wanted to keep him one more night, because of what had happened the first time. He said if all was well, I could pick him up on Saturday.
All was not well. He again was blocked Saturday morning. At this point, they did x-rays, trying to find something, and they found kidney stones. They explained to me that kidney stones are very rare in cats, but at this point they believed that this is what was causing Toby's problems. The only option they could give me was to surgically remove the stones, which scared me, and I think also scared them. My vet has never removed kidney stones before, though there is another vet in the area who has, and has agreed to help.
I visited with Toby again, who now was very tired from his (again) full bladder. They were going to catherize him again when I left. We made plans to go ahead with the surgery on Monday (today)
Sunday the tech called me, to give me an update. She said that when they inserted the catheter this time, it went in much easier than the previous times, plus, there has been no blood in the urine, unlike the other times. The vet thinks it might have just been a matter of getting Toby to relax enough, so they were going to try giving him valium through the day, to see if they can get his muscles to let go, and let him pee. That did not work, but my vet had read about another drug that might help. Turns out though, that it isn't carried in this area. So, he is trying to find it somewhere, and in the mean time the surgery is postponed.
Toby remains at the vets office.
I am very worried right now. I knew when he was diagnosed with CRF that we had limited time left, but I did not expect to have something like this happen. It doesn't seem like we can figure out what is causing Toby's problems right now, and I am hoping that someone here might have some insight. I want my baby to come home.
