Hello, new to this site, found it when searching for blocked cats. I am sharing Charlie's story, and if anyone has suggestions regarding diets after blocking, I am all ears.
I have two male neutered cats, Loki (all black) is 9 and Charlie White with Gray and striping) is 6. They have lived together since Charlie was 6 months and Loki was 2.5. I only feed wet food and they eat 3 times a day. I weigh their food, which is about 2 ozs for morning and evening meals, and about 1 oz before I go to bed. I never see them drink water, but they have access to it. Charlie is a healthy weight, Loki could stand lose a little, but is not obese. They are indoor cats with access to a catio on the back of our house. We have a pet door in the window which leads to our backyard into an attached Gazebo. They have a cat wall from Amazon in our living room that has a tree like pole they can climb, with a few different levels to climb and lay or play, and they have 3 cat trees. They have 4 litter pans, 2 on main floor, one in basement and one upstairs. I will admit, I scooped only about once a week and fully cleaned all pans once a month. This has changed after this incident, now I scoop after each usage.
I was unaware about urinary blockages in male neutered cats until Charlie was blocked. It happened Sunday, October 16th (well Monday at midnight). However, it is important to note that I had noticed on Saturday that Charlie had scooted on the floor a few times and again on Sunday, which is not normal for him - normal is once every few months or so. He was also licking his gentlemanly parts a lot. Sunday evening, I was going to bed, fed them their last meal which happened to be just before midnight, but Charlie walked away without eating. First sign that made me think something is wrong. Then he went straight to the litter box, looked like he was constipated, as his tail was shaking a bit, nothing there. He left, returned, tried again, same. I looked up constipation, found urinary blockage and that it was an emergency and off the the emergency clinic we went. They kept put a catheter, drew blood and an x-ray. Said it was caught early, that Charlie probably peed that morning. No blood in urine, nor did he cry out when trying to pee, no vomit. Just what I had seen. Tuesday morning he was sent home after removing the catheter which was in for about 24 hours and a successful pee. They said to make an appointment with my regular vet within 24 to 48 hours to get a urinalysis (they do not do that) to see what caused the blockage. From what they saw, no stones and blood work was good, electrolytes and all good. No organ damage, it was caught early. I made an appointment with my vet and the earliest they could see us was Thursday 10/20/22 at 9:30 am, which was 48 hours later. Thursday morning, Charlie had symptoms of being blocked, no interest in breakfast and went to the litter box, nothing. My vet said ok to bring him in at 8:30 and he was found to be blocked again. They catheterized him and kept him until Saturday, I picked him up at 4:30 pm, on Saturday 10/22. They do not have people at my vet stay overnight which was concerning, what happens if his fluids stop? What happens if he ripped out his catheter like he did on Thursday during his first day there and had to be re-catheterized? He will be ok I was told, they keep blocked cats overnight all the time. My fears came true, first night he tangled his fluid catheter and was not getting fluids. While he was not getting fluids, all the animals kept there had to listen to the beeping sound until morning when the first person arrived. Their hearing is so much better than hours, to imagine sick pets having to listen to that beeping noice while trying to rest makes me very sad. I considered moving him back to the Emergency hospital so he would have 24 hours supervision, but let him stay another night. This time, overnight he ripped out his fluid catheter, and his urinary catheter was kinked, so his bladder was full when the morning person came. I have all the notes because I asked for them in case I did have to take him back to the emergency hospital, they would know what my vets did. Saturday morning, they unkinked the lines and gave sub-q fluids. He came home later that day after a successful pee after catheter removal.
Couple things.. Emergency vet sent me home with Gabapentin for pain and Prazosin for spasms. When I brought him home from my vet, they gave me Acepromazine for spasms saying this medicine has proven to be better than Prazosin. They told me to keep up the gabapentin every 12 hours but also gave me Buprenex for pain and an antibiotic until the urinalysis comes back. They had given him Veraflox while in the hospital, and antibiotic. They did X-rays and blood work, urine culture and urine analysis. Charlie had no stones, very little crystals and a bacterial infection they believe he got while at their clinic when he was catheterized, as the notes from his emergency visit showed no infection. I think it is important to note that Acepromazine may be more effective than Prazosin at controlling spasms. Also, they had him on 2 pain killers, not one. They really did not know why he blocked. Usually, it is overweight male neutered cats that eat only dry food, indoor cats with not a lot of environmental stimulation, and cats that are under stress. My feelings are that Charlie fits none of the above, except maybe stress from me not cleaning the litter pans more often and possibly from Loki, as sometimes their love-fests turn into hissy fits.
We were given the prescription wet food to take home. Discussed Weruva as their Cats in the Kitchen line is low in magnesium and phosphorus, and they now have a line specifically for Urinary hearth. My doc, who has been seeing all my animals for about 20 years and whom I love and trust said that the prescription food helps in ways that the non-prescription food doesn't. I am not a fan of the ingredients of the prescription food, but out of fear, I was trying to use it. For the most part, Charlie eats it, but sometimes he does not. My vet said at least 50% of his food should be prescription, that is it ok to give treats like real unseasoned chicken or turkey, churo, freeze dried chicken bites (I limit these due to them being dry). I add in chicken or turkey broth unseasoned and made after we cook meat for the dogs (we have 2 small dogs, too), to all of Charlies meals (and Loki's too) to get him to drink more fluids. I tried Tuna juice, but little worried since it may have phosphorus from the tuna. Plus, I do not make tuna often.
After we finished the Buprenex, I was told to continue to use the Gabapentin as needed. My thought, how will I know? Cats hide pain very well. But, I did know. If he seemed off, if he was not eating like he used to, which was cleaning his plate faster than Loki, if he started licking his manly parts a lot, if he seemed stressed, I would dose him. This seemed to help, and he seemed relaxed and most importantly, PEED normal amounts. For the first couple of days after all his other meds were done, I gave Gabapentin once daily, then once every other day when he would seem like he needed it. I separate the cats when eating, I bought stainless steal litter pans and clean them after every single usage to make sure i know that Charlie is peeing. While this may seem hard, its not. My cats generally pee 2 to 3 times a day. So, it is not hard to do this. At first, I had separated them so I knew exactly who peed in which box. Each had 2 boxes during separation. After about a week, I stopped, as we had to go back to normal at some point. Now, I simply count the pees, sometimes I see who goes in so I have a positive ID. I make notes in a book to keep a log so I do not forget who peed and when and how much.
We do not know what caused his blockages. I feel like the second blockage happened because he was only flushed for 24 hours and did not have all the medications he had after the second blockage. But, I now feel like this can happen again at any time. I have added BestPets4Life urinary and kidney health supplement into our routine. No way of knowing if this helps, but a family member uses this on their cat who blocked last year and so far have not re-blocked. I clean the stainless litter pans after ever use. My cats have to love this, and so do I actually. I have added 2 Feliway Optimums and 1 Feliway multicat plug ins to help alleviate stress. Sometimes I ask Google to play cat music to keep them calm. I try to play with them more and if their love fest turns into a hissy fit, I distract them with a laser pointer. In addition to the 2 bowls of water available for all, I bought 2 fountain waters as this is more attractive to cats. One was Catit. I still have not seen either cat drink from the fountains placed in other areas of the home. Need to keep the Feliway more than 4 feet from water fountains that have filters- this is after I asked them and a Feliway representative called me! I did not expect a call, but was delighted when I received it. They confirmed the 4 feet away bit.
Today, November 13th is the first day I feel like Charlie seems to be his old self again. I hope this continues and that he does not block again. He has not had gabapentin for the last couple days. I would love to avoid the PU surgery if possible. I have added this to my list of prayers and will continue to be diligent in watching for signs.
I am not a fan of the prescription diet foods from Hills and Royal Canin, but am still trying more than 50% with his meals as long as he eats it. Any suggestions about food after blockages that seem successful would be appreciated. Sorry for the novel!
I have two male neutered cats, Loki (all black) is 9 and Charlie White with Gray and striping) is 6. They have lived together since Charlie was 6 months and Loki was 2.5. I only feed wet food and they eat 3 times a day. I weigh their food, which is about 2 ozs for morning and evening meals, and about 1 oz before I go to bed. I never see them drink water, but they have access to it. Charlie is a healthy weight, Loki could stand lose a little, but is not obese. They are indoor cats with access to a catio on the back of our house. We have a pet door in the window which leads to our backyard into an attached Gazebo. They have a cat wall from Amazon in our living room that has a tree like pole they can climb, with a few different levels to climb and lay or play, and they have 3 cat trees. They have 4 litter pans, 2 on main floor, one in basement and one upstairs. I will admit, I scooped only about once a week and fully cleaned all pans once a month. This has changed after this incident, now I scoop after each usage.
I was unaware about urinary blockages in male neutered cats until Charlie was blocked. It happened Sunday, October 16th (well Monday at midnight). However, it is important to note that I had noticed on Saturday that Charlie had scooted on the floor a few times and again on Sunday, which is not normal for him - normal is once every few months or so. He was also licking his gentlemanly parts a lot. Sunday evening, I was going to bed, fed them their last meal which happened to be just before midnight, but Charlie walked away without eating. First sign that made me think something is wrong. Then he went straight to the litter box, looked like he was constipated, as his tail was shaking a bit, nothing there. He left, returned, tried again, same. I looked up constipation, found urinary blockage and that it was an emergency and off the the emergency clinic we went. They kept put a catheter, drew blood and an x-ray. Said it was caught early, that Charlie probably peed that morning. No blood in urine, nor did he cry out when trying to pee, no vomit. Just what I had seen. Tuesday morning he was sent home after removing the catheter which was in for about 24 hours and a successful pee. They said to make an appointment with my regular vet within 24 to 48 hours to get a urinalysis (they do not do that) to see what caused the blockage. From what they saw, no stones and blood work was good, electrolytes and all good. No organ damage, it was caught early. I made an appointment with my vet and the earliest they could see us was Thursday 10/20/22 at 9:30 am, which was 48 hours later. Thursday morning, Charlie had symptoms of being blocked, no interest in breakfast and went to the litter box, nothing. My vet said ok to bring him in at 8:30 and he was found to be blocked again. They catheterized him and kept him until Saturday, I picked him up at 4:30 pm, on Saturday 10/22. They do not have people at my vet stay overnight which was concerning, what happens if his fluids stop? What happens if he ripped out his catheter like he did on Thursday during his first day there and had to be re-catheterized? He will be ok I was told, they keep blocked cats overnight all the time. My fears came true, first night he tangled his fluid catheter and was not getting fluids. While he was not getting fluids, all the animals kept there had to listen to the beeping sound until morning when the first person arrived. Their hearing is so much better than hours, to imagine sick pets having to listen to that beeping noice while trying to rest makes me very sad. I considered moving him back to the Emergency hospital so he would have 24 hours supervision, but let him stay another night. This time, overnight he ripped out his fluid catheter, and his urinary catheter was kinked, so his bladder was full when the morning person came. I have all the notes because I asked for them in case I did have to take him back to the emergency hospital, they would know what my vets did. Saturday morning, they unkinked the lines and gave sub-q fluids. He came home later that day after a successful pee after catheter removal.
Couple things.. Emergency vet sent me home with Gabapentin for pain and Prazosin for spasms. When I brought him home from my vet, they gave me Acepromazine for spasms saying this medicine has proven to be better than Prazosin. They told me to keep up the gabapentin every 12 hours but also gave me Buprenex for pain and an antibiotic until the urinalysis comes back. They had given him Veraflox while in the hospital, and antibiotic. They did X-rays and blood work, urine culture and urine analysis. Charlie had no stones, very little crystals and a bacterial infection they believe he got while at their clinic when he was catheterized, as the notes from his emergency visit showed no infection. I think it is important to note that Acepromazine may be more effective than Prazosin at controlling spasms. Also, they had him on 2 pain killers, not one. They really did not know why he blocked. Usually, it is overweight male neutered cats that eat only dry food, indoor cats with not a lot of environmental stimulation, and cats that are under stress. My feelings are that Charlie fits none of the above, except maybe stress from me not cleaning the litter pans more often and possibly from Loki, as sometimes their love-fests turn into hissy fits.
We were given the prescription wet food to take home. Discussed Weruva as their Cats in the Kitchen line is low in magnesium and phosphorus, and they now have a line specifically for Urinary hearth. My doc, who has been seeing all my animals for about 20 years and whom I love and trust said that the prescription food helps in ways that the non-prescription food doesn't. I am not a fan of the ingredients of the prescription food, but out of fear, I was trying to use it. For the most part, Charlie eats it, but sometimes he does not. My vet said at least 50% of his food should be prescription, that is it ok to give treats like real unseasoned chicken or turkey, churo, freeze dried chicken bites (I limit these due to them being dry). I add in chicken or turkey broth unseasoned and made after we cook meat for the dogs (we have 2 small dogs, too), to all of Charlies meals (and Loki's too) to get him to drink more fluids. I tried Tuna juice, but little worried since it may have phosphorus from the tuna. Plus, I do not make tuna often.
After we finished the Buprenex, I was told to continue to use the Gabapentin as needed. My thought, how will I know? Cats hide pain very well. But, I did know. If he seemed off, if he was not eating like he used to, which was cleaning his plate faster than Loki, if he started licking his manly parts a lot, if he seemed stressed, I would dose him. This seemed to help, and he seemed relaxed and most importantly, PEED normal amounts. For the first couple of days after all his other meds were done, I gave Gabapentin once daily, then once every other day when he would seem like he needed it. I separate the cats when eating, I bought stainless steal litter pans and clean them after every single usage to make sure i know that Charlie is peeing. While this may seem hard, its not. My cats generally pee 2 to 3 times a day. So, it is not hard to do this. At first, I had separated them so I knew exactly who peed in which box. Each had 2 boxes during separation. After about a week, I stopped, as we had to go back to normal at some point. Now, I simply count the pees, sometimes I see who goes in so I have a positive ID. I make notes in a book to keep a log so I do not forget who peed and when and how much.
We do not know what caused his blockages. I feel like the second blockage happened because he was only flushed for 24 hours and did not have all the medications he had after the second blockage. But, I now feel like this can happen again at any time. I have added BestPets4Life urinary and kidney health supplement into our routine. No way of knowing if this helps, but a family member uses this on their cat who blocked last year and so far have not re-blocked. I clean the stainless litter pans after ever use. My cats have to love this, and so do I actually. I have added 2 Feliway Optimums and 1 Feliway multicat plug ins to help alleviate stress. Sometimes I ask Google to play cat music to keep them calm. I try to play with them more and if their love fest turns into a hissy fit, I distract them with a laser pointer. In addition to the 2 bowls of water available for all, I bought 2 fountain waters as this is more attractive to cats. One was Catit. I still have not seen either cat drink from the fountains placed in other areas of the home. Need to keep the Feliway more than 4 feet from water fountains that have filters- this is after I asked them and a Feliway representative called me! I did not expect a call, but was delighted when I received it. They confirmed the 4 feet away bit.
Today, November 13th is the first day I feel like Charlie seems to be his old self again. I hope this continues and that he does not block again. He has not had gabapentin for the last couple days. I would love to avoid the PU surgery if possible. I have added this to my list of prayers and will continue to be diligent in watching for signs.
I am not a fan of the prescription diet foods from Hills and Royal Canin, but am still trying more than 50% with his meals as long as he eats it. Any suggestions about food after blockages that seem successful would be appreciated. Sorry for the novel!
I have never heard of Cornsilk and D-Mannose, but thanks to you, will research this! 
