Cat couldn't pee, now having odd relapses...

About two weeks ago while I was at work my wife noticed our cat Odin was repeatedly going to the litter tray and acting like he was peeing, but nothing was happening.  He was acting lethargic and was getting bloated, so she immediately took him in to the vet. 

The vet didn't find any crystals but there was some blood in his urine. They cathed him under anesthetic and he had some diarrhea. They sent us home with anti-diarrheal meds and a med called bethanechol to help his bladder contract. 

We took him home and very slowly he improved over the week. He didn't eat much and at first he was spotting urine all over the place, but he was going  and it was clear, and every day it was an improvement.

He wasn't pooping, and after the first day or two of no stool we took him off the anti-diarrheal medication (with the vet's ok). 

On Monday of this week he was completely back to his old self, though still no poops. Then just as we were about to go to bed we noticed he was visiting the litter box again every few minutes. He was otherwise acting ok, and the visits were producing small spots of urine so things were at least flowing. When we got up the next morning, however, we found him drooling and panting and in obvious pain, with hot ears. We took him back to the vet where they took xrays and blood work, and gave him a painkiller. While at the vet he pooped, solid.

The xrays were clear, showing only some minor inflammation. He both peed and pooped at the vet. We took him home that afternoon and already he was acting 100% better. The vet sent us home with some more bethanechol and was supposed to call back with the blood test results.

The next day Odin was up and about, acting just like his old self- happy and active and eating like a horse. The vet called and said his thyroid and kidney levels were both on the high end of normal but that both could just be a reaction from stress. We had him send in for a more detailed bloodtest which he was supposed to call us back with the results yesterday.

Just now my wife called to say he was in the tub, not eating, and was drooling again, his ears hot. His eyes are a bit wet. He's visiting the litter box frequently but peeing and pooping normally. She's got a call into the vet but he's in surgery. She just now messaged me that he's vomited a bit of bile, is acting as if he's having stomach cramps, and his nose is running. We were looking into it and it appears everything that he's doing now is a side effect of the bethanechol. We're still waiting to hear from the vet but I know a lot of people here have had similar things happen and have probably given bethanechol to their cats before.

It's the only thing we can think of that would cause this. What do you guys think? 

Vet just rang back. We're stopping the meds.

Sounds like a good call. I hope everything goes back to normal!

So this morning Odin was still drooling and refusing to eat, but worse he was unable to urinate again, and his bladder was swollen and hard. We took him into the emergency vet and they are going to be holding him for 48 hours. They had to recath him. Blood values show his kidney levels are elevated as is his white count but the vet thinks this is due to his being unable to pee, so the toxins are backing up a bit. They're going to repeat his blood test tomorrow and see how those levels are doing. 

Vet called about three this morning. He's developed a heart murmur, and his heart and kidneys are enlarged. He has fluid in his lungs. They stopped his fluids and gave him lasix (sp?) and are monitoring him to try and see if this reduces the swelling. His kidney values are still high, his thyroid levels are high, and his spleen is also enlarged and showing problems. 

I'm sorry to read about Odin being unwell, I hope that he is improving.

Thank you. We talked to the vet again about two and a half hours ago. They had taken him off the fluids and his renal values were back to normal, the fluid in his lungs has cleared, and he seems to be perking up. He's still not eating, so that's still a bit of a concern, and he's now got a snotty nose, so he's getting antibiotics for that as well. His urine has been regular and clear, so they're taking his catheter out around 4 this afternoon. Depending on how he does after that's out, we should be able to take him home with meds tonight.

Fingers crossed!

Bless him, it's so good that he is improving.

Fingers crossed that he comes home with you tonght.

How is Odin doing? I hope that he is getting better.

I'm sorry, I don't have good news. The vets took his catheter out on Monday afternoon and signs were that he would be able to go home with us that night so long as he was able to pee on his own. We called the vet about 7 pm that night and found out he still hadn't peed, but it had only been a couple hours since the cath was out. We talked about it and decided to leave him under monitor at the vet overnight that night as well, just to be sure he was peeing and continuing to do well before we took him home.

The next morning the vet called, he was blocked again, unable to pee on his own. And despite being off the IV fluids he was getting crackling sounds in his lungs again and his blood pressure was going up. The vet thought there might be a small growth or a stricture in his urethra. He'd mentioned before doing a surgery (a urethrostomy I think it was?) if he kept blocking, but when we asked about that he said that the condition he was with the blood pressure and lung sounds that putting him under anesthetic right now was a bad idea, especially as it had taken him a couple days to throw off the anesthesia he'd gone under for  the first catheter when he originally blocked. Unfortunately with the antibiotics and treatment and how he was reacting to the IV fluids, it would be several more days in the vet before he even had a chance to get up to the point they felt comfortable doing the surgery.

I talked it over with my wife and we decided the kindest thing at this point would be to let him go. We really had no other choice- we didn't want to keep him suffering for several more days on the slim hope he may get strong enough for a surgery he likely wouldn't survive. The vet said his pattern of blocking was highly unusual and they were pretty much baffled by what was going on...and this is one of the top vet hospitals in the country. 

My wife is pretty devastated, understandably. I'm not doing to terribly well myself. She lost her other kitty Frejya to lymphoma about a year ago, and of course I just lost my baby Simon six months ago to FIP. Our other kitty Athena seems to have stabilized from her weight/kidney issues which is good but we don't know how long that will last. 

But, the good news is that Ripley, our one year old black rescue kitty, is doing fabulously, and that we recently heard from my BSH breeder and our new baby boy will be coming home in about a month. She was beyond kind enough to offer a new kitten to us after Simon passed away, despite the fact she was not obliged to considering it was FIP and not a genetic condition that took him away from us. 

It's a bit of mixed emotions at the moment because of that- feeling happy and excited over the new addition but devastated over Odin at the same time. I wish he'd gotten to know his new little brother

RIP Odin. Your Mamas loved you and will never forget you.

I'm so sorry for your loss, to you and your wife, heartbreaking.

You did everything that you could for him and you obviously loved him.

Taking care of your other kitties and new addition will help, bless them.

Thank you.

The team are very sorry to hear of your loss @ravynwriter  .  You did everything you could to keep Odin well and comfortable and it is never easy when this can not be sustained.  It must be particularly hard having lost Frejja and Simon so recently.  

We hope that you are able to take strength and comfort from Ripley doing well, and with the news that Ripley will be joined by a new boy will be joining you all in a few weeks time.  Your emotions will be pulled in all kinds of directions but hopefully the joy of a new arrival and Ripley doing well will start to be stronger than those of loss.

 Threads are locked after someone has suffered such a loss, as a sign of respect. We invite you to place a tribute at http://www.thecatsite.com/f/19/crossing-the-bridge  as an enduring testimony to Odin.