Hello! My cat was blocked 6 days ago. Not sure if recovering correctly.

Hello everyone!

Sex: Male

Age: 2 yrs

Neutered: Yes

Diet: Wellness Core dry in the mornings / Wellness Core wet in the evenings

My kitty was taken to the vet last Friday for a blockage. He was drained and flushed with a catheter and the culprit was struvite crystals. I have just finished giving him his prescribed bupremex, cerenia, and prazosin, I have a few days left of the Amoxi-drops. I will try my best to keep this as brief and detailed as possible.

FRI: Taken to vet after noticing straining and producing no urine and yowls of pain. He was drained and flushed with a catheter and given fluids. The culprit was struvite crystals and mucous at his penis tip. 

SAT: After being able to urinate on his own a few times he was discharged at 3PM. He went straight for the water bowl upon arrival and drank heaps of water. He was refusing to eat the prescribed Hills C/D food so I blended the canned food with water and syringe fed him. At about 9PM I noticed that he hasn't used the litter box once, I was getting worried. At 1AM he was leaking pink tinted (bloody?) urine in random areas throughout the house in small puddles so I assumed he wasn't blocked but he was still attempting to squat around the house.

SUN: I took him to a different vet (vet#1 was closed) he made a mess of his carrier with urine before I even got to the vets!. They expressed his bladder and got a significant amount of urine out of him.  The said that he's not blocked but he's refusing to be expressed. There was tiny visible amounts of blood and mucous. After a urine culture test he had said there was not any crystals or bacteria but there seems to be some sort of debris in his urine but he could not tell what they were or where they were coming from. The vet had prescribed more bupremex to help with the pain and I was told to keep an eye on him. 

MON/TUES: He was a bit lethargic from the meds I'm guessing. I've been syringe feeding him on both days. He does go to the litter box frequently but they are quarter sized wet spots. He was also attempting to squat again in different areas of the house.

WED/THURS: He seems like his old self now. He has energy to play, he is starting to eat the prescription canned food on his own (not so much, but it's an improvement) and is drinking water again. He is also not squatting anymore in other places. What concerns me is that when I check his litter box he is still only urinating in quarter to 2x2 inches wet spots in the litter.  I observed him urinating (good thing he's not shy) and I see droplets to tiny streams back to drops again. 

I attempted to express him myself but I have no idea where the bladder is or what it feels like, I also don't want to squeeze it too hard either. 

I'm not sure if this means he is on the road to recovery or if I should still sleep close to him (I miss my bed).  I also switched his litter to Worlds Best Cat Litter over the traditional clay litter to see if it might help with this "mystery debris" in his urine.

Any advice or suggestions would be immensely appreciated. Due to a crazy time at work for me I'm unable to watch him 24/7 like I'd like to and I've spent nearly all of my rainy day funds on this and other previous accidents the last few months.

Thank you!

Oh, I had forgot to mention that he has had a previous UTI about 6 months ago and was given a shot and he was all better within a couple of days.

Hi! I have a male cat age 5 yrs who has been having urinary problems. He also has been to the vet several times including an overnite stay doing the catheter thing. My Buddy is a very stressed out pussy cat due to the fact that we have several other cats with one male that he doesn't particularly get along with. Not only that but he's been a "scaredy Cat" since he was a baby.

The Vet told me that stress has a lot to do with the problem so they put him on a medicine called Clomicalm which helps tremendously to calm him down. They also recommended Methigel which is a gel that can be put in his food or it can be given by hand (if you're lucky enough that they like the taste) or what I do is smear it on his front paw or leg and he licks it off that way. It works great! I've also changed his food to Purina One Uriinary Tract Health Formula. It's a lot cheaper than the prescription food that they wanted me to get and is working just fine. I had ALL my babies eating a better food but the VET told me that it has been proven that the better foods actually harm male cats when it comes to this problem.

He has been doing very well. ALL of my cats like the new food and since all are either spayed or neutered I figured it would help if any other of my boys came down with this problem. (Hopefully it won't happen)

The Methigel I got from my Vet. I don't know if you can get it online. I haven't checked into it. It's around $13.00/tube.

Good Luck!

 

I also give him more wet food since moisture is what he needs most. His urine spots will get bigger as he gets over this problem.

FYI....the Methigel works like cranberry only ALOT BETTER!!! Once he is better you can cut back on giving it to him. Right now Buddy is at once a week.

Thank you for you for telling me about your experience! I will definitely look into the Methigel and Purina brand as well.

I have also heard that stress may be a cause as well. If stress is the issue I wonder what may be causing it. He's home alone from 7AM to 4PM, always has fresh distilled water, litter box is always clean, I keep my apartment at a cool 76 degrees, he has a few toys laying around that he likes and he is my only pet.

My vet has also told me something similar. I was told that the Wellness Core and other similar grain free foods could actually be the reason why it caused his pH imbalance as well as not getting in enough water.

Thanks again!

I would be very concerned with the dripping / small stream that he doesn't become reblocked. Given you said that your kitty now has energy to play, it's a good sign. If he were to become blocked again and he weren't treated, toxins would build up in his blood and he would not have energy to play and if continually left untreated, would from uremia (toxic blood).

Also, if your kitty was trying to urinate and was blocked, he'd most likely (although not all the time be crying / howling) when trying to urinate.

I suspect your kitty may also have a FLUTD episode (feline lower urinary tract disease). I think it has an updated name these days, but it doesn't matter. Treatment for this is: pain meds, fluids (subcutaneous if you can or a drinking fountain to try and encourage them to drink MORE on their own) and if needed, prednisone if the bladder is inflamed.

Again, I would be very vigilant in watching your kitty and keep him nearby and if he starts to cry while urinating, then I wouldn't hesitate to take him to see your vet or even to the emergency hospital in the middle of the night if needed.

Have you ever thought that he may be stressed because he's Alone? Maybe someone to play with would be an option also. It's worth thinking about.

Just a word of warning - it can be dangerous to try express a cat's bladder unless you've been shown how by your vet.  You were wise to back off on this!  A full bladder can rupture if not expressed properly.  

As for how your cat is recovering...  I've never had a blocked cat (knock on wood) but have read many posts from people who have.  Many cats do just produce small amounts of urine at a time after they've been unblocked and this is apparently part of the process.  Just for your own reassurance, however, I would call his vet and double check that this is okay with your cat.