Acute straining in the litter box- Advice?

[hexiesfriend]

How is your baby doing ??

 

[pisces7386]

Bear is even closer to normal! He is off all his medications at this point ( antibiotics, anti nausea, anti acids, pain, and bladder relaxers). We got a refill on the pain meds just in case. The first day he was supposed to be done with the pain meds ( 7 days post surgery) he was very cranky and vocal at us, which is very very out of character for him... actually he has never made that noise at us before.  We have been giving him a tiny half dose of his pain meds whenever he seems really uncomfortable. Today is day 11 and he hasn't had any for over 24 hours now. He is eating well, although he doesn't want to eat in the kitchen on the tile floor... I imagine it is cold on his shaved bum. We put a towel down for him to sit on. He is also starting to want to play.. so now we are working on keeping him quiet and not letting the girls antagonize him too much.  He is sleeping through the night again ( hoorray!!!!!!!!) so now I can sleep on the couch rather than stay up with him all night. 

When it comes to his bladder he is doing better, but not as good as I could hope for.  He still has peeing 'sessions' where he will pee small amounts several times. When he stopped the bladder relaxers he was set back about 2 days in terms of his piddle size and the number of visits, but now he is back to just 4 or 5 piddles per session and the piddles are getting bigger again. The hard part is that he won't pee in the box if there is still a piddle clump in it. We have to scoop in between every single time he pees.  I am looking forward to the day when he pees once and is done.  He is also still leaking when he sleeps for a long time... I've been doing a lot of towel loads. I guess this is normal. 

He has been pooping more than normal... which is unfortunate because it is obviously painful for him at this point.  His scab actually keeps lifting every time he poops... and last night it pulled all the way off and was hanging by one of the stitches... we cut it off.  His incision seems really wide in the middle ( the edges are stitched up pretty tight) but it looks clean and pink and only bleeds a little after a bowel movement. He really wants to lick it now that he is feeling better.

Only 4 more days before he gets his stitches out!

 

[pisces7386]

Bear is starting to act almost completely normal now... which is good, but also frustrating because he is much harder to keep calm... and to keep from licking his incision. He has spent a lot more time wearing his cone this past day and a half because every time we turn around he is trying to lick. He is watching birds at the window like he normally does and he is even trying to wrestle with the girls. He is eating almost normally at meal times now..he doesn't quite finish his portion... but we are still adding a large amount of water, so the volume is increased from normal. We are also leaving him alone at  night now (with his cone of shame). 

He isn't having peeing 'sessions' so much anymore. He just makes a visit or two  many times a day. 

Only two more days  until he gets his stitches out!!

 

[pisces7386]

Update-

    Bear got his stitches out on Friday. He was such a good boy. They didn't need to sedate him, he just sat there for belly rubs while they did it, lol.  They gave him to go ahead to lick- no more collar!  That afternoon he peed nicely a few times in a row.. and then kept trying and trying until his bladder was completely empty and he was just squeezing out a bloody drop or two for each visit. the Vet told us to give him the bladder relaxer (prazosin) and give him his pain meds to calm him down ( bupronorphine). It knocked him out in 20 minutes... thank goodness. The surgeon recommended we keep him on the bladder relaxer for a few days and give the pain meds as needed. He did it again yesterday (Sunday) morning.

   Now he is peeing smaller and smaller amounts with each visit to the box.  Today started early at 4:30 with almost a tbsp sized clump... but with almost 20 visits to the box already today, he is down to a little tiny mounded teaspoon size clumps and he is  pushing to get them out (we were up to 1/3 to 1/2 cup sized clumps before the stitches came out)... I'm getting worried, but the vet techs are saying that he is fine as long as he is passing urine.

Has anyone else's cat had such a big step back after the stitches were removed? He is acting pretty normal, playing with his favorite toy and eating his food with some convincing... he seems a little uncomfortable sometimes, but I could be crazy. To top it all off my husband is away for work this week, so I am on my own until Sunday Bear doesn't like it when either of us is gone... so that might be his uncomfortable looks. 

Sigh- I just need this to be over and Bear to be peeing normal again. 

 

[rlavach]

That's a really tough call. Anytime the amount of pee reduces, its concerning. The fact that he is still producing is great, he's not blocked. You said you started him up on the prazosin & pain meds again. So he's been continuing with small pees even with the meds? 

Its hard to keep track, but he's been blocked twice now? If the vet already said last time that the urethra looked a lil messed up & difficult to put a catheter in, then it'll probably take quite a while to get back to normal. Have you given the office another call?

 

[pisces7386]

rlavach- Yes to all.

I called the vet again today, because there has been no change... They said to bring him in so they could take a look under sedation.  He is going in for a PU revision surgery tomorrow. He was doing so well up until he got the stitches out and it all went bad so quickly.  He peed 47 times yesterday... I kept track. It is heart breaking. I feel so bad that we have to put him through this again.

I feel horrible, but one of the upsetting things is that we have to start all over again with the urine leaking, the medications, keeping him calm, not letting him lick, trying to keep him eating... all of it all over again. I am so tired from these past three weeks, I just don't want to do it again.

One nice thing- at least we know what to expect this time around. 

 

[rlavach]

I'm not surprised that the PU surgery was suggested. Seems like after 3 blockages in quick succession, that is often the best bet. My boy only had 2, so he's ok. 

There are tons of threads on here regarding PU surgery experiences. It is a long & sometimes hard road after, but there are many success stories. I was actually watching Aloha Vet & they did it on a goat! Who knew!

Anyway, I wish you & Bear many happy vibes. Your a great cat momma & I'm sure you'll be there for him. I'll be thinking of you tomorrow! 

 

 

[pisces7386]

Thank you, the vibes are definitely needed right now.

He actually had a pu surgery two and a half weeks ago when he re-blocked within two days of his first blockage. He was doing great until he got his stitches out last Friday.  He isn't re-blocked now, but he isn't able to pass anything more than a few milliliters at a time ( yes, I got a syringe and squirted water into the litter to figure out how much liquid it takes to makes clumps the same size that he was producing, lol). The surgery tech said they are probably just going to do a revision to clean out scar tissue and make it larger, but they might have to do other stuff, they'll let me know. Right now the surgeon who has been working on bear is in surgery with another pet, but she will call after she is done.

 

[pisces7386]

Update- Little Bear finally had his pu revision today. He did awesome; the vet said his urethra was in much better condition this time around. She removed some scar tissue that was making his urethra very narrow again. She feels confident that this will be the fix for him. I feel comfortable with this; She warned us with the first one that there was a good chance that he would have complications and he did... now she says this should be the fix and I believe her I got to go in and sit with him for an hour before his surgery today- he was so happy to just chill in my lap!  He may be home as early as tomorrow night, but i might push for him to stay for another night just to be really sure that he is ready to come home. I don't want to take any chance right now. 

 

[detmut]

good news