Long story but need advice

[jl66]

I've been going through hell for the last week and a half. Looking for advise from anyone whose experienced these problems. Its be nice to hear some opinions as my head is just numb at this point.  I'll number questions for ease of answering.

Starting with my 2 yr old kitty JL licking his privates while hissing and growling. He then sat in his litterbox for 30 minutes unable to urinate. Aftering googling these actions I found out it must be urinal blockage. So i had to find a 24hr vet as it was midnight. They had to perform surgery immediately and just keeping him overnight cost me $850. They wanted me to transfer him to another vet for post-Op care for some reason though they didn't say why and i didn't ask(was too upset to think about it at the time).

The next vet placed in a catheter and ran fluids through him, did some tests and an X-ray to check for stones. After 2 days they pulled the catheter to see if he could pee on his own but he couldn't so they replaced the catheter. They told me that it was likely cause the first vet tore his urethra when placing their catheter in. This vet called the first vet about it seeing if they would cut my bill down from they're mistake but they wouldn't since its a "known complication" that can just happen.

So this vet wants to keep in the catheter for 10 days to see if it can heal up on its own at a cost of roughly $100 a day. So thats $1000 plus $650 for they're inital work. And if he's unable to urinate after this they want me to take him back to the first vet for a perineal urethrostomy surgery to completely remove his penis. That from what i've been able to google costs anywhere from $900 to $3000. And i'm already in some small debt from before this and i'm going in deeper and deeper.

1. Anyone have a male cat that had to have perineal urethrostomy surgery? How health did they stay after? Any more blockage?

To make matters worse i have a 7th month old female kitten at home who loves her big brother and misses him. Three days ago i go to visit JL at the vet and they tell me he has fleas, but i know he didn't take them in with him. They didn't have the decency to say he got them there. The vet gives me a flea comb to check my baby kitten when i get home then leaves me to spend some time with JL. I love on him for an hour at the vet's office then go straight home to check my girl kitten. VERY STUPID MOVE. AND! THE VET SHOULD HAVE WARNED ME! Sorry for the caps... I get home and run the flea comb through her all over. No fleas or little black dots of flea poop. BUT.. i wake up the next day and she is biting and scratching herself. I STUPIDLY brought them home on me and infested her. Now I have to get the fleas off her and my apartment...

I immediately ran out and got her a flea collar since its the only flea treatment i was familar with. She immedately started running around like crazy. I thought she was just upset with having something on her neck(never had a collar before). But when she stopped running she started panting like a dog. She was having some kind of reaction to it, but not a horrible one. I took off the collar. The next day i wiped the collar down a little and put it back on. Having been advised that collars are really strong at first and cats can build up a immunity to that bad reaction. I've taking the collar on and off a few times. Didn't want to leave it on her while she was alone. But the flea "problem" has been really minor. She's only scratching a little bit and only seen a few fleas around. Its been really cold outside and i keep it real cold in my apartment. That's probably kept them weak.

I was all set to kick this problem in the butt. I ran down to walmart and got some flea bombs and the walmart generic verson of Frontline... But now i'm worried on both fronts. I know flea bombs are alot of work and some nasty business. I have a cousin in my family that set off a flea bomb, then when back in to get something he forgot inside. He ended up having such bad neurological problems he was unable to work anymore. And now i'm reading reviews that people are complaining that the generic version of frontline has given their cats seisures and even killed them... I'm completely confused. I'm also worried if my cats get exposed to chemicals from the flea bombs. Cats are weird little things. Mine lick random stuff for no reason. Even if i vacuum like crazy and wipe down everything i can think of after they might get into something and get poisoned.. Time for more questions..

2. Anyone used Walmart's PetArmor that is a generic frontline? Or heard much about its safety?

3. Any non-bomb flea removal methods i can try? Only thing else i saw at walmart was powder i can spread out on carpet then vacuum up but its warnings seemed as scary as flea bomb warnings. Maybe wait for a real cold night.. evacuate my apartment and leave all the windows open and try to freeze the fleas to death? Sounds silly but i think it might help at least.

Sorry for the really long post but my head has just been killing me about all this stuff. Feels good just typing it all out.

 

[carolina]

Hi, so sorry about your kitty and your troubles.... but before I go any further, I wanted to say this:
Remove the flea collar immediately - That reaction you are seeing on her is poisoning, and yes, it can kill. It has in fact, killed many many pets.... Please, do it now.
Do NOT get flea bombs. Do not get over the counter flea medications - they can do some serious harm to your baby - including death.
Go to the vet, and get it there.
If at the pet store, get Advantage or Frontline.
If you use it quickly, you can avoid infestation - I have had fleas, and have never had infestations. I have had a cat completely infested inmy house for quite a few days (Gracie) My home did not get infested.
Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum.
This is not where you want to save money......

In regards to your kitty in the blockage situation.... So so sorry
Yes, there are members here at TCS who have had this surgery - I would open a new thread with the name of the surgery, and asking for help, though....
And yes, as far as I know, they do recover well, and it is a successful surgery.
I also know a person outside of TCS whose kitty has had it - he is just fine :nod:

Hope all gets better your way..... I know how stressful it is..... I know how getting in vet debt when you are already in debt is.... I just went through it.... but that's what we do for them..... they are our babies :heart3:
Hopefully all is going to work out in all fronts for you....

 

[kiomi]

Hey,

As for the flea problem, i agree with the above, remove the collar, and get frontline drops. I've used these multiple times on my cats (and have to again now), they're just drops that you have to put on the back of their neck, on the skin. This will get rid of the fleas most effectively, and as far as i know is even better than flea collars. There's also a spray (not sure if from frontline or other brand) that you have to spray on them and rub in. They usually don't like this very much, so the neck drops are your best bet.

As for the blockage, my cat just went through this and is still recovering. He didn't have to have the surgery as there was no damage due to the catheter, but it was a serious situation nonetheless. It's probably best that he stay at the vet as long as possible. If you do take him home you'll have to watch him very closely because he may block up again, and that's an emergency.
I've learned that such a blockage can be fatal within a few days, our cat got himself locked up, and possibly due to stress go a urinary tract blockage. he had no access to fluids and we didn't know where he was or that he was ill. He was on the verge of death when he finally came home.

I'd say let the vets do their work, and if you take him home, watch him very very closely, lots of fluids and wet food must be given. You'll also probably need to administer antibiotics.

Best of luck and vibes for your kitties!

 

[farleyv]

All the above!

OTC flea meds are bad news.  The web is full of horror stories about these.

Look into Care Credit.  See if your vet is a member.  You can find details online...just google.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I'm am so sorry you and your furbabies are going thru ALL of this.  I also agree with everything everyone above as said.  It's such a shame all of this had to happen, and none of it was your fault (and it really sounds like most of it was actually one Vet or another's fault, And picking up fleas AT the animal hospital is simply disgusting.  Are they treating JL for them while he's there?  They certainly should be, since flea bites on an already sick cat could cause more damage.  I would think just the maneuvering around to scratch at them after his surgery wouldn't be good. 

for JL, for your other kitty, for your attack on the fleas, and

for YOU

 

[denice]

As far as the flea problem along with using the Frontline or Advantage a lot of thorough vacuuming every day for several days will help get rid of the fleas.  After vacuuming take the vacumn outside to empty the cannister or take out the bag to throw it away.  You can cut up the flea collar and put in the dustbin or bag to kill fleas that get picked up.  I haven't had experience with the blockage or surgery. 

 

[jl66]

Well good news. That bad kitty of mine pulled out his own catheter but the good news is he is peeing on his own and i can go pick him up tomorrow.

I haven't had the flea collar on my girl for a couple of days but i did use the OTC flea meds to her already. But its the same active ingredients to regular frontline and from what i've read most of the complications from it are people using the Dog version of it on cats or allowing the cat to lick the liquid. Actual reactions from non-user error are rare and can happen with Frontline as well.

I'm just gonna vacuum like crazy and not flea bomb. If they're infesting they are doing a poor job of it with the cold. I've walked around for days in white socks and not picked up any fleas on them. That was my mothers advise on checking for fleas.

Sorry this is probably my last post. I got a PM message that my user name isn't appropriate and i need to change it but i'm not gonna bother since i seem to have a handle on my problem. Sorry for the bad name. I'm just used to using it for everything online. Not used to using a forum that's this clean.

 

[Anne]

Glad to hear JL is better. I just went ahead and changed your username to JL66 for you. You're more than welcome to hang around or return to post in the future - just please use the new username (same password). Thank you!