Have To Decide: Second Bladder Surgery Or Try Diet Change First?

[serval]

Hi everyone,

My 12yr old cat Charlie had a urinary blockage 3 years ago. Now he has been diagnosed with a bladder stone. The vet said that I can try to change his diet (Royal Canin Urinary + Calm) and have another xray in 4 weeks to see if stone is dissolving or do surgery to remove the stone now. She seemed 50/50 until she saw in his records that he had already had bladder surgery 3 years ago and then she recommended trying diet first as long as I can keep an eye on him in case he blocks again.

I'm having a hard time with this decision as the last time he blocked it was on a Sunday evening, involved $1700 trip to ER to be catheterized and the ensuing surgery to unblock him and remove additional stones at my vet. There was talk of possibly having to do the perineal urethrostomy procedure but fortunately it was necessary.

Her reasoning for not wanting to do a second bladder surgery unless diet change fails was that it is somehow harder to do a second one. I'm assuming that means harder for Charlie and riskier perhaps. But the possibility of him blocking again seems to carry much greater risks.

Anyone have experience with this? Particularly with second bladder surgeries - was it more difficult on your cat?

Thanks,
Erin

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I can't help much - Feeby had bladder surgery 10 years ago, but they were oxalate stones which generally don't dissolve with diet. Being a female, she is much less inclined to have a blockage as dangerous as it can be for male cats.

But, I will tell you that since her surgery, she has been on both RC SO and Hill's C/D - dry only at first, and a few years back I added canned of both as well. Knock on wood, she has been stone free since.

If you choose to 'wait and see' - presuming Charlie will eat canned food, and they have RC Urinary & Calm in canned, give him as much of that as you can to help with the moisture content which should aide in flushing out his bladder better than just dry. Or, if there is no canned version, get him a water fountain (if he doesn't have one now) to help encourage him to drink more. You can ask your vet if low sodium chicken broth would be OK to add to his water to see if that might help him drink more.

I hope other members, who have had an experience closer to yours, will come along very soon and offer their insights!

 

[verna davies]

Not the same experience as you but I am currently dealing with a similar issue with one of mine. He has been on RC Urinary SO wet only for 5 weeks. I add a couple of tablespoons of water to each sachet and he is urinating more. I wont know if it has helped until his next scam in a week or so but in your position I would try the diet first before opting for surgery.