Urinary Tract Blockage

My 5 year old male (neutered) cat Ollie started having difficulty peeing this morning and began straining outside of the litter box and leaving a just a small dribble of urine. We took him to the vet this afternoon and apparently he's developed a urinary tract infection with a blockage. This is the first time he's had this condition. The vet said she hoped that he may be able to pass the blockage tonight and prescribed the antibotic Antirobe and gave him a tranquilizer to ease his straining. She advised that if we didn't see improvement by tomorrow we should rush him back to the clinic where he'll have to be sedated and the blockage removed (I assume through a catheter).

Has anyone else had to have a procedure like this done? I'm concerned with having to have Ollie put under anestetic since he also has a heart murmur, even though the vet said they would have a veterinary cardiologist standing by. Has anyone else had good (or bad) results with Antirobe? How soon did your cat find relief using this drug?

Sandra

A blockage comes from the PH of your cats urine being either to acidic or to alkaline, which causes crystals to form in the urine. These crystals can clump together and cause a blockage (this is most common in male cats) of the urethra making it so the cat can't pee. When the cat can't pee the urine start backing up, and the kidneys can't filter it out of the blood stream (because there is no place to put it) and it causes the blood to become toxic to the cat. A "blocked tom" can be fatal if not treated, so the anesthetic is the least of your worrys. Clindamyacin (Antirobe) is a good antiobiotic. Your vet may recommend a special diet after this to keep this from happening again (it regulates the PH of the urine so that the crystals aren't formed).

Hi Sandra,

I'm sorry to hear your cat is dealing with this I just wanted to share that my cat Tyler tolerated being cathed several times, and then having an indwelling cath during a 4 day hospitalization well. He had been found to have bladder stones (as it turns out Oxalate versus the easier to deal with struvite), but blocked after a free floating hematoma developed post-op after surgery to remove them.

I hope your kitty can pass what is causing the partial blockage, and that all goes well,

Thanks for your feedback. We talked to the vet about ways to prevent this from happening in the future and she suggested switching to the Wellness brand of dry food ... we just did this a month or so ago but I guess it was a little too late.

Ollie didn't have any luck passing the blockage last night and is no better this morning. We're going to take him to the clinic first thing and hopefully they'll be able to help him through this.

Thanks again.

Sandra

Don't worry he will be fine, this is a pretty common thing. Chances are with him having a heart murmur (also depends on what grade of mumur he has) they will probably use an inhalant anesthesia as opposed to an injectible, which is safer for him.

My cat Eddie, is recovering from a blockage. He had to be put under and have a cath done to remove the blockage. He is now on prescription food and is finishing up his antibiotics this week. I was told by my vet that once a cat has this problem, they are more suseptible to them in the future. I hope all goes well for you and your cat.

We've just returned from the clinic and thankfully (somewhat) Ollie did not have to have the catheter. They suspect his blockage is actually a mucas plug with inflamation of the bladder which is apparently very common in males but not usual in 4 year olds. They did a urinanalysis to test potassium levels which are normal, xrays to rule out stones, as well as blood work which we'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out the results. The vet was actually able to express some urine manually which gave Ollie some relief and taught us how to do it at home. We'll have to do this periodically and keep him comfortable at home and wait until he passes the blockage assuming the blood work doesn't come back with anything new. No more hard food for him (which he's thrilled about) ... apparently this can be an ongoing condition which is aggravated by hard foods, even premium cat foods. The tests were costly but worth it to know what's going on and how we can best help the little guy.

Thanks for all your help.

Sandra

Sandra,

I must admit Tyler does not complain about his wet food only diet now though he's retained his rights to be quite finicky at times as to which wet food!

That's good news your fellow was not completely blocked and that they could manually express his bladder (with Tyler the day he was hospitalized, they no longer could do so).

wishing Ollie all the best,

I'm surprised they didn't put a catheter in immediately We've had cats come into our hospital that the owner's had no idea they were so sick until they were examined and found to be blocked and blood work was done revealing some kidney damage or worse. It is great your vet is working so closely with you, watching for total blockage Cats so hate to be catherized

We didnt even know Emmet was blocked until he was 48hr into the blockage..Blockages are so very serious...they dont sound it but they are, I almost lost my emmet to this condition, and i know many on here have lost a beloved cat....just make sure to watch him, follow the directions to a tee....and if he does anything out of the ordinary "BRING HIM BACK TO A VET" Once blocked in 48hrs it is an emergency situation then usually in 3-6 days a coma sets in and then death........... I am so glad you caught him right away....
Also on a lighter not Emmet also loves his wet food diet