My Experience With Blockages and PU Surgery

[Columbine]

Oh no I'm so sorry to read this update. Hang in there I really hope you can pull him through with syringe feeding :cross: The video at the start of this thread might help [thread="227858"][/thread]

Mega vibes for your little boy

 

[lisaandsawyer]

My cat had the surgery about 2 months ago and he is having the exact same problem! He has been put under again and the vet has checked it all out and says everything is normal and it is a behavioural thing as the licking/scooting comes and goes. But he just seems to irritated when he is licking and scooting. Would be interested to hear other cat owners experiences with this.

Mr Frank has anything improved with your kitty?

 

[ninjaspethuman]

Hello! My cat Ninja had the PU on Dec 23rd after three blockages. They sent his home with me as early as possible, because he's truly upset and angry with them; will only accept meds and care from me.

They say I'm supposed to be gently cleaning the surgery incision twice a day to keep it from crusting and becoming hard. I am alone and the amount of cleaning he will allow is minimal. No one seems to mention this aspect of care or whether it was hard for them.

I can't tell whether what I've done is enough. The area looks solid to me ( a blood plug?) and not clear which part is supposed to be staying open. Can anyone post some normal post surgery site photos so I can see how he is supposed to look?

He seemed to be doing ok, but last night, was struggling with (but able to) urinate and defecate, and there was some bleeding in the urine and in the box, and at the incision site. He kept trying to go again, though he had already gone, and was upset and vocal. I finally took away the litter box. Eventually he calmed.

Questions are;

Photos of a normal incision, healthy, in the first days after surgery?

How much cleaning/warm compresses did you need to do, and how did you make it easier?

What if they won't drink water; is wet food enough? The feeling I got was that maybe he had a blood plug, and because he's not drinking enough water, he may have been straining to poop, and maybe that cracked things open some.

I am going back to the vets to look at him this morning, but any advice would be welcomed.

 

[lisaandsawyer]

Hi. The cleaning is difficult and because they are sore they wriggle away. I too live alone and ended up having a family member stay with me to do the cleaning. Or some vets will let you bring him on daily so they can help with the cleaning. I had to do this on days I was alone and couldn't get it done. They didn't charge me for it. I had to check 3 times a day but only cleaned gently with a damp cotton bud when it looked like cleaning was needed. Usually once or twice a day.
My cat had similar symptoms of weeing small amounts a lot and having blood in his urinewhen he had cystitis hopefully that's all it is.
Have you tried mixing water into his food? If he has dry food put a little bit of warm water on it just enough that it doesn't go soggy- a vet recommended I do this when I was having a similar issue. Mine only has wet prescription food with water mixed in now. That has helped stop the cystitis as well as help him urinate. Good luck I hope your kitty is okay. It's such a difficult thing to go through for you and your cat but you will eventually get there.

 

[ninjaspethuman]

Thank you!

I had a VERY helpful vet technician this time! She cleaned out the plugs, drew me a diagram to explain what was where, and then showed him to me, clean. Now I know what I'm doing at least. For others- ask for this! No charge!

She said that regular triple antibiotic ointment (neosporin or generic) - WITHOUT pain meds in it! Can be gently applied to the side stitches around the pee site (tear shaped) after a very gentle swab cleaning of that part (no antibiotic). That helps other debris slide away and not collect/ingrain.

I feel a lot better, and she gave me long swabs to help.

Also he has two pain meds and Valium. She suggests staggering them, so he is always a little doped up- may help with the process.

Hugs to all!

 

[lisaandsawyer]

Glad to hear he is okay x

 

[dadofmiles]

Hi, I just wanted to post. I read all these posts and feel for everyone that has gone through this. I have an 8 month old kitten Miles that started exhibiting symptoms around Christmas and developed a complete blockage on the 13th of January. He has been at the vets office ever since and been unblocked and then blocked again. Within the last week he blocked at least partially 3 times and the vet that has a ton of experience doing the PU was of course gone to a conference. We were about to take him out and go to another vet when we found out our vet was coming back a day early and we had the surgery scheduled for this morning at 9AM. When our vet arrived and learned what was going on she checked his bladder and said since he wasn't blocked at the present time she wanted to send him home and get him on some of the prescription wet foods to see if we would be lucky enough to get the crystals to dissolve instead of putting him through the operation. I think she is concerned as I am with him only being 8 months old that his urethra might not be big enough for the operation to be a success. So I went from expecting to see him going into surgery to being CAUTIOUSLY optimistic that I can feed him enough watered prescription wet foods and possibly flush him out and maybe dissolve some of the crystals. Please send Miles some good wishes and I will keep you posted as to how things go. I feel as if I know some of you from the emotional posts you have shared. Anyway, thanks for listening.

 

[ninjaspethuman]

Warm wishes to you and your kitten!!!

 

[pushylady]

for Miles to continue to get better without the PU surgery!

 

[dadofmiles]

Hi, thanks for the warm wishes for Miles. Just wanted to give an update. With the prescription canned food and adding water to his diet and not allowing any dry food at all, he is much improved. I'm still being cautious, but am very optimistic for him. Just wanted to let everyone know. Thanks again for the warm wishes!

 

[walterwhite]

Hi, everyone!

The Internet is a fairly scary place when it comes to PU surgery / horror stories! This thread has been real helpful in comparison.

My bud Walter is 4yo Maine Coon. Sweetest mild tempered dude, survived his brother who passed of FIP two years back.

Two weeks ago I noticed him trying to pee in the carpeted corners of my Apt. Made an appointment with a local vet, found out he was blocked. Catheter in, etc. He was to have the catheter removed three days later, wait for him to pee, free to come home. Unless of course, the second XRay shows 4 stones.

Fast forward through a lot of tears and panic attacks, he headed to a specialist an hour north for the PU surgery. While I've seen many "three strikes" comments, I opted to.. Avoid this happening again. With the 4 stones in play that the first XRay did not show.. The options were to flush them back into the bladder and essentially hope for the best, or do the PU.

We are on Day 10 post PU, Day 14 of this whole debacle. Overall, he is doing well. I think if anything, it's me that's been the wreck. I've slept on the couch (and worked from home) with him since he's returned. Tried to keep my younger cat away, eventually conceded, now we are all on the couch. Thankfully the little one (Norman) seems to understand something is amiss and to be kind. They cuddle, but no bathing or playing. Seems to really have helped both of their overall moods, as Norman spent the first two days hissing at post-op Walter and screamed for hours at a time when I separated them.

Stitches are set to come out on Monday, and we'll uh..
Cross our fingers that he continues to improve and that life can return to normal. This has been a h*!# of a time.

The weird stuff that I've seen:

Someone really should warn you what the rear will look like. A nightmare. Walter was SO pumped to be home, a literal strut in his step, but the second he turned around.. Shudder.

So much poop. I haven't come across this side effect much on the web, but it's been like caring for a human child. Checking, wiping, etc. Was likely a medicine issue (Buprenex & Ammox). Seemed to happen mainly when he would sit up and double over to lick his tail.. Just uh.. Slid out (TMI?). As he is a white cat.. I've done my best to gently clean him when he will let me, and unfortunately trim down matted parts of his long previously super pretty hair. The things we do.

For the most part he is using the box (clumping litter, wouldn't use Yesterday's News, and I double check his rear whenever he's done). Here and there he tinkles a tiny bit on the floor or furniture, but he's going through some changes, nothing to worry about at this point. Little bit of blood earlier today, I assume some of the scabbing was snagged as its all cleared up now.

He refuses to eat the suggested food (Hills), and the Vet advised me to get whatever wet food he would take into him for now, and work on his picky diet after. Still not sure how to tackle that, but we've come this far.

Fountains are great, get one. This post was so long, sorry!

I'll post another update next week. High five to everyone who has experienced and made it through this mess of a surgery and recovery. Right now I am seeing a light at the end of the tunnel (just knocked on wood).

 

[dadofmiles]

Glad to hear Walter is improving. Hope he is still doing well. I just wanted to give an update on Miles. Was hoping we were going to be able to avoid the surgery, but after 3 weeks things started going downhill again and he is scheduled for surgery at 9am in the morning. I hope I can get some advice as I'm already very worn out from weeks of ups and downs as far as his urine output, worrying about more blockages, etc. and now I know I am looking at weeks of a very stressful recovery time.

 

[pushylady]

Ah, I'm sorry to hear Miles has to have the surgery. Best wishes for tomorrow. :cross: Hopefully this will sort him out though, after the recovery period. I hope you have got some good advice from this thread that will help with his post op recovery.

 

[dadofmiles]

Hi, I was hoping to get some advice from some of you that went through this. It has been 2 1/2 weeks since the surgery and as long as I keep the collar on Miles everything is fine, but if I take it off and he licks the area sometimes within 30 minutes he is bleeding so I'm still keeping the e collar on and trying every few days without it, but so far still bleeding when he licks the area.

 

[furmama7]

Hi All. I accidentally started a new thread, being new, instead of replying, but have figured it out and am on now on this one.

I have been reading & reading about PU on here and I am just utterly depressed.  My 6 year old Siamese boy, Polo, has now blocked twice in a week and had a partial block last year.  My hubby is starting a new job next week but has been unemployed since December and this is taking an emotional toll on me/us (kids included) because we don't have the funds.  I have a care credit account that I opened to pay for this and I have already gone over my limit. I am just so sad that this is happening because it is so ridiculously expensive, that I can't keep up! 

Polo went in on Monday and is still there.  When they took the cath out yesterday he re-blocked almost immediately. I have been crying my eyes out because this is happening to my sweet boy.  He is such a sweet & laid back cat.  He is def a candidate for PU surgery and there is a very reputable vet almost 2 hours away that does it at a discount (they only do surgery and teeth - no wellness visits) and I am willing to do that, provided we can come up with the funds, but it seems like there is so much more that goes into it other than the surgery i.e. recovery issues.  They do not keep him overnight, hence the discounted fee which I don't even know if I can afford.  Why does money have to rule over the heart!?!?!?! I want my boy to have the same chance as everyone else bu I am not capable or fortunate enough to be able to do that.  My heart just wants to kick money's butt to the curb.  

Latest update this afternoon is Polo is doing great and the vet says "he's a total mush" because he is really a sweet, super-loving, laid back boy. 

I guess I am asking for prayers for Polo and any positive advice, if there is any, out there. Who knows, someone may know something I don't.  We love our boy SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much & our house is not the same without him and I am desperate for hope!!!  Thanks for listening.  

 

[ursulalynn]

furmama7

Oh man - I've been there!!! I am sending lots of positive thoughts to you and your baby.
When my boy was going through all this I was an absolute wreck. He's my first cat and the absolute light of my life, seeing him in pain was the worst! And on top of that, the financial strain! Oh goodness. I also got CareCredit and between that and my credit card, I barely scraped by, but on my low single income I will be paying it off many years to come.
One thing that did help immensely was GoFundMe! A friend encouraged me to try it, and I wrote a post about kitty and the immense medical bills. Friends, family, and coworkers could donate if they wanted. All those $5 add up! I made sure to thank everyone profusely and post as many updates as I could. It didn't cover the cost, but it took the pressure off a little bit!
Sending lots of love, and keep us in the loop!

 

[ursulalynn]

furmama7
Here is mine, if you want an example!!!
It was immensely helpful!

 

[furmama7]

@ursulalynn  

Thanks SO much for your response. That is so awesome that you did a GoFundMe!  That actually crossed my mind but time is of the essence and it's not on my side.  He has been in the vets since last Monday & when they pull the cath out he reblocks.  I prayed sooooooooo hard & took a chance that paid off & is the best that I can do for my beautiful, sweet boy who deserves and long, healthy, happy life...one of the vets is going to adopt him and do the surgery tomorrow on her day off!  I am going to sign over the papers today. There is no better person to take care of him if he is not with us, than her!  We were a wreck all last night but happy at the same time.  If you love something, set it free... and we love him like CRAZY! So it is with a heavy heart that we turn him over to a new home.  

 

[tiffanybc]

Hello
I have come across this forum due to my cat having blockage. I've been told by the vet that it's usually 3 strikes for it then it's highly recommended to due the pu surgery. My cat, gatsby, is now on his third blockage. I've been a bit scared of him having the surgery but reading this forum has helped me decide that it's a good choice. He's been at the hospital for 4 days and I know that he's been stressed out there and so have i. (He's very spoiled and hasn't been away from me for that long)
Is there anything else that I should know. I've read so much but I feel like there's more to know. My poor baby will be going through the surgery tomorrow. Please I would like to know more about this procedure if you guys could help me I would appreciate.

 

[ursulalynn]

T tiffanybc
As with any surgery, there are risks. Especially with an animal as little and delicate as a kitty. It's good that you are weighing your options. I'd confirm with your vet, but essentially I chose to have the operation done because if my boy blocked again it would easily kill him - particularly if I were at work or something when it happened.
Basically, they remove the exterior urethra. The base of this, from what I understand, is where blockages build up (just inside the interior part). The vet removes the exterior urethra (no more penis) and opens up the urethra enough that small particles can pass through the opening without obstructing.
Once it heals over, the kitty can pee through the new hole like normal. It is a little weird at first but they get used to it quickly.
After the surgery recovery (keep him MELLOW and CONFINED, and keep his cone ON to prevent complications), it's really just a matter of making sure he only eats his prescription food and stays hydrated. I mix water into my boy's wet food just to make sure he gets enough.
The only issue I've had since is a couple urinary tract infections, which happen because his... erm... holes are closer together now, so the likelihood of cross-contamination increases. But a round of antibiotics cleared those up.
As of now, he is a healthy thriving little man (although he looks a bit funny when he squats to pee).
Best of luck to you, whatever your decision!

xoxoxo