Male cat had Crystals and blockage

Hi all

I'd like some advice about my 2 year old male neautered cat, Toby, who suffered a blockage about 18 days ago. He blocked twice at the emergency vet and was flushed out. I immediately put him on Hills prescription wet food but unfortunately , the timing of his illness was an issue as I was booked to travel abroad shortly after this happened; as he was peeing erratically once home, often outside of the litter box, I paid for him to board at my vets for the duration of my trip (12 days) and they kept an eye on him and regularly tested his PH levels. On collection I was told that he was still peeing frequently and in small amounts but he was doing well and his ph was down to 6. I was given lexicom to use if necessary.
The first few days back at home after his boarding were great, with him seeming almost back to normal though still peeing small amounts and more frequently than pre-blockage. I Continued to use the hills prescription wet food but also introduced their prescription dry food in small amounts. I did not give him any loxicom.
Today I have been very concerned to find Toby peeing all over the house outside of the litter boxes which are all fresh and clean. He must have peed 5-6 times in the space of an hour and a half, all quite small amounts but not tiny and in different parts of the house! He even gave out a little howl when I went near during one of his urinations.
Obviously I rang the vet who didn't seem too concerned as he was still urinating. They advised me to start with the Loxicom again. Several hours later, he is peeing less and seems a little better but I'm concerned that I'm perhaps doing the wrong thing/very paranoid that he will block again and obviously worried about the struggle to stop him from constantly peeing outside of his litter box!
Does any body have any advice, please? I'm wondering whether this is normal behaviour almost 3 weeks after a blockage!
Btw he is gobbling up any prescription food wet or dry (which he has had far les of) and I can even mix in water and a cystaid tablet.

Any advice appreciated!

Thanks [emoji]128522[/emoji]

I'm not a fan of RX foods, but with that said if its working for your cat that's good. Most of the time blockages are caused by dehydration from feeding a kibble only diet. I would put him on 100% wet food only, or at least for the time wet food only RX food. Additionally, add water to his wet food to increase his water intake, and buy a water fountain to encourage drinking. I'd also make sure you're giving filtered water, as some places have tap water that's high in calcium or things that can trigger urinary issues as well. Here's some other tips.

http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/urinary-tract-disorders-in-cats/

I totally agree with @missmimz response.  I have one cat who my Vet described as a "crystal making machine".  My Vet said "any wet food is better than any dry food".  I fed this cat primarily RX wet urinary food, but also mixed in some high quality regular wet food to increase acceptance.  I also simmered chicken wings, necks, backs to make broth which I then froze in small containers.  I added this to the wet food.  Also, I  buy Ultra-Purified water which has no minerals in it at all to use in the water bowl, which is also an elevated bowl.  Cat has been crystal and blockage free for over 10 years.  Cat's kidney values are perfect which is great considering almost 16 years old!

The key here is HYDRATION...lots of fluids constantly flowing through those kidneys!

Thank you both for your reply.

He is urinating less frantically now and generally using the litter box. However, the new diet or pain relief seems to be making him constipated; this morning he finally went for the first time in a few days and I think it was very uncomfortable for him as they were pellet like, this triggered another bout of frantic peeing both in and out of the box. Anyone have any further advice for this issue?

I've stopped all dry food and he is eating Hills c/d wet with added water, Cystaid and Loxicom pain relief.

Thanks

It could be the pain relief slowing him down.  Combine that with possibly "litter box aversion" due to feeling pain from urinating when he goes there...for whatever reason.  Cats have good memories!    My Vet recommended I add 1/8 teaspoon Benefiber to the wet food once a day.  This worked.  I would ask your Vet about this, or any other recommendations he might have for easing the constipation problem.

I think when he gets these issues resolved, and thus has no more pain when using the litter box, he will not fear it.

moffen84
Many members here use Miralax to help their cat's contipation. It does not add fiber, but works with water in the intestinal tract. Again, with any medication, you should check with your vet

Other members give their cats unsweetened canned pumpkin. You want to use plain pumpkin and not pie filling. Pie filling has spices that are not good for cats.

Thank you for the advice RE constipation.

I'm getting increasingly worried about Toby as he another cystitis episode this morning, lots of little pees around the room with some howling. Again, he had been for a poo right before that seemed pellet like in consistency.

I feel awful now because I have to go to work and leave him. It's now over 3 weeks since he blocked and I'm worried turned aren't improving since with the c/d diet . I'm also wondering if he needs antibiotics?

Any further advice much appreciated!

Certainly diet is very important for this problem. Like others have said keep him on the wet food. The prescription diet from hills(urinary s/o) has kept my guy free from this for years now.
the problem as you know is ph balance. When it is too alkaline you get crystals so you need to raise the acidity of his diet.
Have a look in to using apple cider vinegar and cranberry juice. Just a small amount of those 2 combined, diluted heavily with water will help him a lot. It really makes a big difference and its super cheap.
You can find heaps of information about it online. The amount most sites recommend seems excessive i.m.o as i just gave my guy 2 small syringes per day and it worked wonders.

Try to ensure he doesn't get any biscuits. Sometimes neighbours will leave them out for their cats and it can really be a problem if your guy gets in to them.

Lastly, with the urinating outside of the litter box. That is a very normal for them to do after a bought of this. They associate it with the pain they felt and are reluctant to start using it again.
It can take a while but you can slowly reintroduce him back in to it when he is better. I used to put my guy and his litter box in the bath tub so even if he didn't want to go in the box he could see it near by and smell the litter. Id also reward him if he went in the box. It wasn't too long before he figured out it wasn't going to hurt him.


 

Hi

Thanks for the information about apple vinegar and cranberry juice.

My main confusion at the moment is his inconsistency as some days he seems fine, peeing a handful of times in the day in the litter box then other days he has short cystitis pees in quick succession out of the litter box - lately this seems to be limited to the morning and the last two times has been after relieving himself of constipation. Is it possible that the pain of deficating brings on a bout of cystitis?

You don't have to use cranberry juice exactly. I've been using NaturVet Cranberry Relief in Tommy's raw since his surgery for repeated blockages.
2 scoops twice a day for 1-2 weeks and then once a day, twice a week after
It's an extract you sprinkle in their food. Tom eats raw and while I can taste it on my finger, he has no aversions to it in his food.

Please DON'T start adding cranberry juice/other additives without asking your vet what type of crystals your cat has. Crystals/blockage can develop when the urine is too acidic or too alkaline!

My cat's pee was too acidic and adding MORE acidic ingredients would have resulted in another surgery! 

In that case the food from the vets would also be bad as it raises the acid levels in the urine. Are you sure your cats urine was too acidic? I know that acidity going too high is also not good but iv never heard or read any information about it causing struative crystals that are visible.. Usually the crystals that you can see after they pee  form when the Ph is above 7 meaning fairly alkaline.
I know there is calcium oxolate crystals too but do cats pee those out? i was under the impression that they weren't present with calcium oxolate.

Seen as Moffen84 said the vet had told him the ph levels had lowered to 6 i assume they were too alkaline before.

I don't know how, but Science Diet C/D is able to magically help cats with both acidic and alkaline urine. So, yes, depending on the cat, it can be appropriate.  

re constipation: I add 1/4 teaspoon of Vets Best Hairball control to my cat who sometimes gets mildly constipated as a maintenance dose. Talk to your vet as it might affect pH of the cat. 

Take home message for the OP, which seems obvious as none of us are vets who have actually seen your cat: talk to your vet before adding stuff that people on the internet suggest. 

My cat Vincent is having urinary issues. He was at the vet for 3 days with a catheter inserted because he became blocked. I brought him home 3 days ago and he’s on prazosin, an antibiotic and Valium if he starts flipping out/overstressing. For those of you who’s male cat had surgery for this problem, what kind of surgery was it? How much did it cost? We’re there any complications?

Also, his diet has been changed to Royal Canin S/O dry food which he absolutely hated.

I’m lucky to never have had a cat with urinary blockage but the surgery is basically to remove the penis so the urethra is shorter (so there is not so much urethra to get blocked). The problem, as with any surgery, is scarring. In the case of surgery on the urethra, that scarring can lead to stricture (narrowing) so you are back to where you started from. So if you do go with surgery, find someone who has lots of experience with it.

Good luck and let us know what happens.