Concerned with kitty's recovery from urinary blockage/catheterization

cherylspride

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Hi all! My 8-yr old boy Shelby became blocked at the beginning of September.  I brought him to the ER vet, he was catheterized for 24 hours, I brought him home, and after about a week he was back to normal.  The blockage wasn't related to any crystals, rather it was a mucous plug.  Fast forward to almost 2 months later, last Thurs. I saw him straining up against a wall.  When I went to pick him up, he cried out, so I immediately rushed him back to the ER vet.  They said he was blocked again, and catheterized him.  I had them do a full ultrasound, in which they found a ton of "sand" in his bladder, but the urine itself was crystal free.  A culture they took grew nothing, so it's not bacterial.  I brought him home with Prazocin (sp) to relax the urethra, Buprenex for the pain, and some samples of both Hill's CD, Hills CD stress, and Royal Canin SO food.  My concern is I brought him home on Saturday...it is now Wed. and he is still constantly straining in the litter box, leaving behind little drips and drops each time, but no solid stream pees.  I'm unsure whether this is residual irritation of the urethra from the catheter, or he's going to block again.  For those who have been through this, how long did it take for your kitty to return to "normal"?  I brought him to his regular vet for a re-check the other day, and she upped the Prazocin (sp), saying it's "the key" to keeping him from re-blocking.  I just can't bear to see him in this much pain.  When he's in the box peeing his little drops, he growls sometimes.  The vet showed me how to look at his penis to check its color (pink is good, purplish blue means blockage), and so far it's pink, but he's obviously struggling.  Is it time to consider the PU surgery, or do I give him a little more time to recover from the catheter?  
 

margd

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I've never had a cat block but I do know that after the catheter is removed, it is not uncommon for them to urinate only small amounts, rather than the usual flow.  It's been almost a week, though, so I'd be a little worried that the flow hasn't gotten closer to normal.   I'd call the vet and ask her how long it takes after unblocking for the urine output to normalize.  Hopefully members who have actually been through this will pipe in and let you know how long it took with their cats as well.

The fact that he's still in pain also concerns me.  The catheter was removed a week ago so I would think any irritation would have calmed down by now.  

Please let us know how he does.  Poor baby - these things do really hurt.  
 

missmimz

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This still sounds abnormal to me. He shouldn't be straining still or only urinating small amounts. I would at the very least call the vet and describe what's going on, you may need to bring him back. In addition to RX foods, if that's what you decide to continue using, get him on as much wet food as possible, ideally 100% wet, and if you don't already add water fountains to help encourage drinking. I'd even add extra water to his wet food. Water is the key to bladder health. Was his urine pH high? 
 
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