Fozzi scheduled for surgery 8-11-06

Our poor boy has been having major problems urinating that past few weeks and its really gotten bad. The vet found crystals in his urine. A diet change and a month of antibiotics and some relief...until early this week. Fozzi was trying to pee everywhere he could with no results. Poor guy would just strain for a few minutes and not even leave a drop. We just let him try where he could. We took him in on Tuesday and an x-ray revieled a monster crystal in his bladder. Even the Vet was shocked by the size of it. He is scheduled for surgery on Friday, but the poor guy was so bad this morning we took him in today for some relief so it may happen today. They are going to send the crystal off to find out what type is was so we can get him on the correct food to avoid this again.

Cross your fingers for Fozzi.

Good luck Fozzi and Orange Krew, you are both in my thoughts and prayers.

well the 10 o'clock update is not good. He had a complete blockage for more than 24 hours which caused Ketoacidosis (high acid in blood). He is on a catheter now to drain the bladder and then we have to wait for his acid levels to drop before the surgery. Thankfully they gave him a sedative and he is now sleeping with an empty bladder.

One of the biggest problems with sick cats is the inability to know when they are sick. They just dont communicate like we do. We noticed him breathing hard yesterday, but it went away shortly (this was the effects of the ketoacidosis basically poisoning his body). Knowing we were scheduled for surgery in a few day we really didnt jump the gun. In retrospect we should have. But Fozzi never moaned or showed pain. He just sat there lethargic and grumpy looking. This makes it hard for us as cat parents, but at least he is at the vets now and hopefully on the road to recovery.

Thanks for the crossed fingers everyone.

It just keeps gettin' better...

His potassium levels are dangerously high and he needs 24 hour monitoring so he's off to a vet facility that can do that. It is now highly suggested the he get a periurethral rectomy (SP) once his system stabilizes. I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t know much about it but one of the gals at our regular vet had it done on her kiddo and recommended it to us.

As far as i know they basically turn a male cats goods into female parts, thus allowing the urethra to be a much larger tube so he can urinate easier. Anyone have any experience with this?

Candice went throught this with Mittens a while ago here is the link to her thread.
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72381

Hope he is OK
Anne

Bless you Fozzi, we are sending good vibes for your complete recovery.

My Aunts Cat had this surgery and he did really well he lived to be 17 years old too

oh poor Fozzi! lots of good recovery/get well vibes for your orange baby

Any updates on your baby? How long has this been going on...
I pretty much the same thing going on with my orange guy....
We've been through a lot, and would be able to help!
unfortunately, we are not done yet...

Originally Posted by tangerine

Any updates on your baby? How long has this been going on...
I pretty much the same thing going on with my orange guy....
We've been through a lot, and would be able to help!
unfortunately, we are not done yet...

Click to expand...

Thanks again for everyones well wishes...

I dont know how long the crystal has been there. I assume its taken years to get so big. We only started to notice his difficulties peeing the past two months. We took him to the vet as soon as he showed signs. Our vet did the antibiotic routine and diet change with urine samples every few weeks. It wasnt until a few days ago that we noticed all his effort to only produce a few drops, then yesterday nothing and his mood changed fast.

The update. He was taken to a 24 hour observation clinic where they are monitoring his blood levels. He has a catheter in and an IV and is very sedated at the moment. The Vet just called us and said his numbers are dropping closer to normal and hopefully he will have his surgery tomorrow. The removal of the crystal and his "sex change". With luck we may have him home Saturday....his 5 brothers are looking around for him....and his dog brother knows somethings not right...its a sad day here.....

Thanks for checking in everyone, it makes it easier for us.

Hope your little one is doing better today.

Just curious, do you give your cats tap water to drink? Reason I ask is my Misty (rip) had the same problem to a slightly lesser extent when he was a younger guy. After he recovered my vet suggested I give him only bottled water to drink, the tap water I had been giving him contained some kind of minerals that caused the crystals to form. I never gave him tap water again, only spring water, and for the rest of his adult life he never had another problem.
Since then ALL my cats drink bottled water, never from the tap, and we haven't had a problem since. If your boy is a tap cat, ask your vet if this may help.
Get well soon Fozzi

How is Fozzi today? I am sending prayers and vibes to you and Fozzi.

I have a friend who's cat had that procedure as well, at the age of 2 and is now 13 years old and since then has suffered only a single UTI. I will be keeping fozzi and you in my thoughts and prayers.

Oh poor Fozzi. I am so sorry he (and you of course!) is going through this. Its good news that his numbers are dropping and he really is in the best place until he gets better.
I agree it is so hard to know when they are not feeling right, or if you are overeacting.
Fozzi is in my thoughts, I hope he feels better soon.

Originally Posted by TunaQueen

Hope your little one is doing better today.

Just curious, do you give your cats tap water to drink? Reason I ask is my Misty (rip) had the same problem to a slightly lesser extent when he was a younger guy. After he recovered my vet suggested I give him only bottled water to drink, the tap water I had been giving him contained some kind of minerals that caused the crystals to form. I never gave him tap water again, only spring water, and for the rest of his adult life he never had another problem.
Since then ALL my cats drink bottled water, never from the tap, and we haven't had a problem since. If your boy is a tap cat, ask your vet if this may help.
Get well soon Fozzi

Click to expand...

Today's news update....Fozzi's blood numbers are back to normal

The vet called first thing this morning and told us more about the periurethral rectomy surgery. The main concern was his urethra was so tight and the original catheter was difficult to put in the periurethral recotmy surgery seemed the only thing left. However today the surgeon said they have been putting in catheters all night with no problems. He was very bruised from straining and that is why the original was so tight. Anyway, the surgeon told us the bad side of the procedure and told us in all honesty, if it were his cat he would not have it done. This is the news I wanted to hear. After reading what Candice went through with Mittens I was concerned. Scar tissue and infections from the surgery, and peeing all over the house were not things we wanted.

The surgery will happen some time today to remove the crystal and once they are in there they will determine if his urethra is in fact to tight and call us about going further...

He mentioned changing the diet for the entire household as well as getting him off tap water. That is something I never would have thought of in a million years. And yet it makes so much sense.

Thatâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s all we know right now. As soon as the surgery is over I'll update.

Thanks again for everyones well wishes...it does help a lot.

That's great news! Here's hoping that the crystal surgery is all he needs and that he gets back to his loving home as soon as possible!

FOZZI made it out of surgery fine and is in recovery now. Hopefully we can bring him home tomorrow. They removed hundreds of crystals , but the best news is he did not need the periurethral recotmy. the vet said he was open enough not to cause problems. However they are sending the crystal off to find out what kind it is and then its diet change in the house.

Thanks to everyone and we'll be sure to tell Fozzi about all of you who were checking in on him.

We sure hope this is the end...

I just found this thread and I'm glad Fozzi is going to be ok!

i do hope this is a positive outcome. i know a couple of people who have had this op done, and their cats have done really well afterwards, both would recommend it. One was also recommended to use bottled water only due to the water in her area.

Oh that's good news!!

That is such great news!!!