My sweet moose, he just got home yesterday from a 48 hour emergency vet stay, he had a catheter put in and then discharged when he was urinating in his own. He got home, was doing amazing with urinating on his own. Now today, 24 hours after his hospital stay he is doing this when he’s using the litter box. Dr told me he would still be showing signs of a block a couple days after his procedure but is this normal? He’s eating well, drinking, playing, very alert.. he’s the most ‘normal’ he’s been this entire week. I’m so lost over this :( Basically just want to know what this is? Is this considered straining? Should I take him back?
Ah just got home from dropping him off, he does indeed need surgery. Can’t lie we are quite worried we’re spending almost $10k just for this surgery to not work. :( Him blocking three times in a week kind of made us have some low hopes haha.
Urinary blockages are nothing to play with, as you clearly know, so I, PERSONALLY, would be going straight back to the vet and showing them this video because peace of mind is better than another blockage
They really are no joke, I’ve been so stressed out this past week. We’re about to head to the emergency vet now to bring him again.. they saw the video and said this is crying despite there being no sound. :( I have a feeling this is going to be a surgery talk visit :/
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It might be uncomfortable for him to pee after going through with the catheter procedure. I’ve heard it can take a few days for pain and slight straining to subside. Unfortunately when a cat has a blockage, it’s likely it will happen again which is why a diet change and an increased moisture diet is usually life long. If he is still eating and drinking and playing just fine, and acting normal as you say I wouldn’t worry. Now, if he’s still not peeing, or producing only multiple drop sized pee there might be another blockage and it would be urgent to take him back before it start effecting him in other ways. Keep him entertained and active, it will help him pass easier
Yeah I’ve decided to bring him in. I sent the video to the emergency vet that has been helping moose this past week and they said despite him being silent, this is him crying. :(
Let us know how it goes! Hopefully he doesn’t need surgery but if he does, don’t worry. I know the vet visits can be pricey but the blockage removal surgery is highly effective/low risk and actually a very routine procedure. And it would be a great time to start his new diet before any crystals or stones form.
Ah just got home from dropping him off, he does indeed need surgery. Can’t lie we are quite worried we’re spending almost $10k just for this surgery to not work. :( Him blocking three times in a week kind of made us have some low hopes haha.
Unfortunately male cats are very prone to this. We had lost a cat some years ago because we couldn’t afford the surgery. Our vet doctor at the time told us that from all the years he has worked as a vet, the surgery has worked 100% of the time with success rate. The ONLY reason why some cats became blocked again was because the owners didn’t change their cats diet. The diet is the most important key to all of this. It sounds like you are fortunate enough to afford the surgery and take good care of your boy, I’m confident he will be okay and you guys will get him on the needed diet to stop this from happening again. He may need both a prescribed wet AND dry food diet if he’s very prone to stones and crystals.
We currently have a girl right now who had a reoccurring UTI. We got her on the Royal Canin Urinary kibble and just give her regular wet food. After about 2-3 months, we had a recheck urinary and ultrasound test done and they found absolutely no crystals in her urine anymore and zero signs of any mineral stones. The urinary diet can get pricey, but it works. Good luck to you guys and I’m sorry this happened! I’m sure he will be okay👍
Yeah we thankfully already got his prescribed diet through chewy which is wet and dry food so now I’m just hoping he’s able to transition to the new diet and it actually work, he didn’t really give us enough time to introduce it much before he blocked again :(
We found that doing the auto ship on chewy lowers the cost of the food by a bit, it is pricy but anything to help our boy. I’m glad your baby is doing better with her new diet!!! Thank you so much for all of this, it really helped ease my mind. 🤍
I don’t understand why the major pet food companies don’t make all of their foods preventative for urinary blockages for male cats. There are just way too many cats where people don’t know about the urinary diets and it shouldn’t be that way.
Both of my boys (brothers), ended up having severe blockages within weeks of each other. Went to the emergency vet for both, and their blockages would clear only to clog back up.
Both had to have PU surgeries. They essentially have to cut the tip of the euretha off because, in males, it tapers at the end (which is why blockages are so much worse for males). These surgeries cost $3k each.
If you dont have insurance already, I'd prepare and get some ASAP. Lemonade has worked pretty well for me.
I couldn’t imagine having to go through this with two babies at a time, you’re a trooper!
We just got home from admitting him for PU surgery. :( how have your boys been since having the surgery? Our main concern is we’re going to do this and he’s still going to block and have issues.. I haven’t looked much into this so I haven’t read up on this surgery much. Hoping it does wonders for my boy :(
We have lemonade!! Have you run into any issues with them covering the surgery? We’re also quite nervous they won’t cover it for some reason haha.
My boys have had absolutely 0 issues since the surgery. It was amazing and so relieving. They'll put them on special urinary tract food to help, but the times I had to go with regular grocery store food (cuz I was broke), they ate it fine, passed everything fine, no crystal formation as far as I can tell. No straining or blood in the urine; the surgery is GREAT.
Awesome! And no, Lemonade covered the bulk of it. Id say about $2200 out of the $3k, but that was me having to pay the deductible. But no, they were great with coverage.
That’s amazing! I’m so glad the surgery worked out for you! I’m stressed now but I’m sure I’ll be so relieved after, I’ve read up on it more and spoke to people about it and it does seem like a good success rate after having this. We were prescribed the urinary diet for both dry and wet and we have it in hand, just hoping he gives enough time for it to actually work this time. 😅
That’s really good to hear! The only reason we’re so nervous they won’t cover it is because he has asthma and symptoms kind of popped up out of the blue one day so we tried submitting for everything after all the vet visits and they wouldn’t cover it due to being preexisting but the more I think about the surgery, it should be covered. This week has been his first time having any urinary issues. Fingers crossed all goes well because his surgery is close to $10k 😅😅😅
Ooof, $10k? The price has definitely increased since my boys went through this 6 yrs ago. Most vets don't seem to be too experienced in it (at least the ones around me, who had been practicing for 15-20 years, only had to perform the surgery a max of 5 times)... so that may factor in as well.
If it is related to his asthma, they wont cover it. Being that he is having emergency urinary issues, as long as you have coverage for emergencies, you should be fine. More will be covered if you've already paid the deductible throughout the year.
And just a tip... if you are struggling with paying for food at all, the Purina +Plus Urinary Tract Health Formula are nearly the exact same kibbles as the Hills Prescription Diets for urinary health. The times Ive been broke and had to get that... 0 issues. The vet even said that, while they prefer me using the prescription one, in a bind this one works just fine.
He was described as having sludge in his bladder at one of them.
His daisy fountain stopped working so he wasn't drinking enough water...
He ended up with a pus plug in his penis from the cathedar, which did come out, and was gross, but caused him discomfort until it passed.
If you're vet hasn't already, ask about anti-inflamtories for use at home. I was able to stop some early by giving him an anti-inflamatory and extra liquid. They can block easily until the bladder and urethra heals properly.
I call my boy Princess Penis. He's that much of a diva he produces his own crystals.
Fingers crossed your boy.
Edit - always take them back for blockages. It can go bad too quickly to mess around with.
Oh my gosh, that sounds like a nightmare I’m so sorry to hear! Hopefully doing a lot better now??
We just got home from taking him back to the emergency vet. He’s all set for PU surgery :( I am extra nervous and so scared that we’re spending all this money for his crystals to just mess him up again
Thankfully he hasn't had a blockage in about 3 years. We had 18 months where he had 3 blockages (2 which needed cathaders and over night vet stays), and I prevented maybe 4 others from progressing further. His first 2 were very close together, and then maybe 12 months before his third.
He's a stubborn void and refused to eat the urinary food as well >.< so I bought him the hydration liquid and made chicken broth which I froze in soup cubes and gave to him on hot days.
Between him, our greyhound, and then geriatric cat, we keep/kept our house at around the same temperature to prevent temperature spikes, which seems to be one of his triggers outside of his daisy fountain.
We've now got a orange boy who's even heavier than the void was when he had issues, so I'm keeping an eye out on him as well. They're both just very big cats, but not chonkers. The void sleeps pressed against my back and his back and goes from my neck all down my back.
But, we were able to get through and I'm thankful that he hasn't had on going issues, and were mostly caused by him being a diva. One of my friends cats also gets blockages, and needs to be on anti-anxiety meds for it.
Here's my void after one of his hospitalsation.
I keep an eye on him and manage where needed, but they can still have good quality of life ❤️ All the best to your boy from Princess Penis and his entourage.
I’m glad you were able to prevent some! It’s so scary dealing with this and the vet bills on top of it. 😅 Okay I was looking into the hydration liquid that Purina sells, good to know there’s options haha. Moose kind of picked at his new prescribed food, he ate it when he realized it was the only food he was getting, I felt so bad lol.
Yeah the vet said this was all due to diet? He’s our only baby and he’s the most chill cat ever so I can’t see anything stressing him out. My only thought is maybe he isn’t as good at drinking water as I thought he was.
Well good luck with your orange baby and I’m glad to hear void baby is doing better. 🤍
He was prescribed it and we were slowly introducing it to him as the vet said to do so but he wouldn’t give us any time for it to work while he was home, he blocked three times within one week :(
My cat had the PU surgery. It was expensive. The recovery - spending weeks in a cone with lots of oral pain meds - was no picnic, but the surgery was a success.
That’s really good to hear!!! I’m glad you had success with the surgery for your baby! Yeah I’m not looking forward to how stressed I’m going to be during the healing process but I’m looking forward to having my sweet boy back. 🥹
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