Another blocked kitty!

[Prairie Purrs]

This morning Caly was trying unsuccessfully to urinate in the kitchen. I immediately scooped him into a carrier and dashed off to the vet's. Yep--blocked! :( My second blocked kitty in a year.

I hadn't observed any trouble signs before today, although it would have been possible for him to have done some litterbox-hopping without my knowing it. The vet had to cath him, but the blockage apparently flushed out pretty easily. Poor baby will have to stay at the vet's through the weekend.

I just hope it's not Gatsby part II, with repeated blockages and eventual surgery. Caly's only three years old, and it worries me that he's having troubles at such a young age.

Please send some healing thoughts to my little tabby boy.

[Randi]

Sorry to hear Caly was blocked. Fister has been through that and ended up having THE operation, as he blocked up every three months. I hope the right diet will help keep him good - you have to be very strict with it, though. No shrimps at all!

Sending lots of good wishes that he will get better and not block up again.

Kisses and scritches from us when he gets home. :love:

[Prairie Purrs]

I thought that the food I was feeding everybody would make it less likely that anyone else would have UT issues: high-quality canned foods (mostly grain-free varieties), including Wellness, Nature's Variety, and Weruva, and EVO dry food. Guess I need to do more research. My vet isn't helpful because he doesn't really know that much about feline nutrition.

[Killearn Kitties]

It's not something I have any experience with at all, but we are all sending good thoughts to Caly and we will keep our fingers and paws crossed!

[moosmom]

Penny,

I've been feeding my cats Wilderness. I split one can of wet food between the 5 of them so they only get about a teaspoon each. The Wilderness is all natural and has no animal bi-products or garbage like Iams and all the others. I've never had a problem with them getting blocked.

I hope Cali's feeling better.;)

[Prairie Purrs]

I tried Wilderness once, but it didn't go over too well. These guys are pretty picky. :rolleyes: They don't want much to do with the EVO canned, for example, although they like EVO dry. But the brands they're eating are supposed to be top-notch, and they eat a variety. So I don't know what's going on.

It's too quiet around here without my troublemaker. :( I hope he's going on his own by Monday and can come home.

[moosmom]

"I hope he's going on his own by Monday and can come home."

Me too. Keep us posted.

[king2005]

I'm a believer that raw foods help prevent most digestion issues, cause dogs & cats were never meant to eat cooked foods, well in the large amounts we feed it to them.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm so sorry to hear that you have another blocked kitty.:( When you feed your cats canned food, do you also add some water to it? This is what I've been doing with my cats so that they'll get more moisture. I've heard that stress can also contribute to this problem. The most important thing to do is to make sure that he drinks plenty of water every day. This is why canned food is so important in a cats diet because many of them won't drink enough. I hope he won't have to have the PU surgery and that he'll be able to come home on Monday. I'll keep him in my thoughts and prayers.

[Randi]

If it's Struvite crystals that is the problem, the diet has to have VERY low quantities of Ash, Calcium and Phospheros. Check the food for those numbers. The vet should know that!

Sasvermont posted a very good link years back about this - do a search!

Fingers and paws crossed that he can go on his own very soon!

[Medusa]

I'm sorry to hear this. I've never had this issue w/any of my Fur Posse but I sure can sympathize w/you, though. It really seems to be a common problem. I do hope that Caly is feeling better very soon.

[Prairie Purrs]

I do mix water into their canned food, and they have a water fountain that I know Caly drinks from. I'm beginning to wonder, though, whether the local water could be part of the problem. It's definitely hard water, so maybe the mineral content is an issue. I use a Brita filter on the faucet, and there's a filter in the cats' fountain, but maybe that's not enough.

[Catty1]

Maybe a Brita pitcher just for the kitties' water?

I'm trying to picture a filter on a pet water fountain, and can't picture it...maybe it isn't working as well as it might?

With a pitcher, it would be double-filtered at least.

I think it was Catlady that mentioned she uses filtered water all the time, as the minerals in untreated water can cause these problems.

Hope your baby is home on Monday!:love::)

[Prairie Purrs]

Before I installed the Brita faucet filter, I used a Brita pitcher for all their water. Gatsby still blocked, though. The Petmate fountains use charcoal filters.

I think I may start buying gallon jugs of drinking water for the cats. Just in case.

[kb2yjx]

As another Mom with a kitty going with the same problem---Here is a BIG HUG and prayers!!! Our cats drink spring water. When we had a pet fountain, I put the spring water in there. We have well water, with a very high iron content. So to be safe, they get the spring water....

[krazyaboutkatz]

I've also heard that distilled water may be a good idea for cats with this problem because I guess all of the minerals have been removed. You might want to look into this. Good luck.:)

[moosmom]

Distilled Water or Pedialite (plain) works too!

[Prairie Purrs]

Caly's catheter is out and he's doing well so far. The vet wants to keep him until tomorrow, though, to make sure he doesn't reblock.

I'll go spend some time with my little guy later this morning. He tries to rule the roost here at home, but he's a scaredy cat around people who aren't me. So I'm sure he needs some comforting. Also, I miss him!

[krazyaboutkatz]

How is Caly doing? Is he home yet? I hope he's home and doing well. I'll continue to keep him in my thoughts and prayers.

[Prairie Purrs]

Thanks for thinking of my little guy! He's home and is doing well so far. I really hope this is a one-time event for him.

[moosmom]

I'm glad he's home with you. Give him hugs and skritches from me.

[Prairie Purrs]

Hugs and skritches delivered! He's mighty happy to be home. When I visited him yesterday, he was the only kitty in a roomful of dogs--including a bulldog named Rhino who was in the cage right under Caly's. Poor Cal didn't know what to think.

[moosmom]

I'm SURE he's happy to be in his own home. Being stuck in a room full of barking dogs would drive anyone mad.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm so glad to hear that he's now home and doing well.:) Did he have crystals? If so what type? Will he have to be on a prescription diet now? I also hope that this will be a one time thing for him. Please give him a big hug for me.:)

[Killearn Kitties]

Hugs and skritches delivered! He's mighty happy to be home. When I visited him yesterday, he was the only kitty in a roomful of dogs--including a bulldog named Rhino who was in the cage right under Caly's. Poor Cal didn't know what to think.

:D Poor baby! I'll bet he is DOUBLY happy to be home! :eek:
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is indeed a one-off event.

[Medusa]

So glad that he's doing better. Let's hope that this is the end of it and no more problems, poor kitty. :)

[Prairie Purrs]

I took Caly back for a recheck this afternoon because he was having some unproductive litter box time. But his bladder was pretty much empty, so he must be feeling like he needs to go at times when he really doesn't.

He's on Hills s/d for awhile, which means I have the logistical problem of making sure everyone eats what they're supposed to and not what they're not supposed to.

[Prairie Purrs]

Well, Caly was trying to go both inside and outside the litterbox this morning without success, so I called the vet. Seems my regular vet will be out of town this afternoon, so they said, "Sorry, try someone else." So I took him to a vet in the next town over, where Kiri was hospitalized during her last days. :(

The vet thought Caly might not be blocked because his bladder wasn't too full, but he's going to try to find a way to ease the little guy's discomfort. So it's another day of hospitalization for poor Cal. He and I are both entirely stressed out at this point.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm so sorry to hear this.:( I remember that after Storm had his PU surgery he wasn't peeing very much so I also freaked out and took him in for a recheck. Luckily everything was fine and his bladder was also empty. I hope that he'll start feeling more comfortable soon and get back to normal quickly. Please continue to keep us updated about him.

[Medusa]

Aw, poor little guy. How's he doing today?

[Randi]

I'm so sorry to hear Caly still has problems. Hopefully everything will be fine in a few days. It must have been stressful for him with the vet visits etc.

Sending lots of positive thoughts and kisses to your dear boy. :love:

[Prairie Purrs]

Poor Caly! The catheter had to go back in yesterday and will come out today. With luck, he'll be able to come home late this afternoon. The reblocking worries me a great deal, of course, because the more times he has to be cathed, the more likely he'll need surgery.

[kb2yjx]

I am so sorry to read that your boy is STILL having problems!!! MEGA prayers.....and hugs for you!!!

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm so sorry to hear that he had to be catheterized again.:( I was told by Storm's surgeon that the more times a cat is catheterized the more likely that they can develop scar tissue which can also cause problems. Even though Storm was only catheterized one time that I know of he had so much scar tissue that they weren't even able to catheterize him the second time so he needed PU surgery asap. Lots more prayers and positive thoughts are being sent Caly's way.

[Cataholic]

My heavyweight, Dakota, had the PU surgery. It was really just a freaky occurance that led us to discover his blockage. I came home from work, and knew something was wrong. Daks was vocalizing and straining right in front of me. I scooped him up, got Jonah back into the car, and we went to the ER vet.

They examined him and said his bladder was empty, that it was UTI, and were JUST ready to d/c us when the vet said, "the next step would be an xray". Fo whatever reason, I asked him to go ahead and do it. Turns out, Daks was 100% blocked, and the ER vet called the surgery vet and got him an appointment for the next day. They kept him overnight, and I did the transport.

As it turns out, Daks had the largest, and most oddly shaped crystal the surgeon had EVER seen. He had the PU, and seems fine, years later.

My point? Push for an xray or ultrasound. My belief is that is the ONLY sure test for a blockage, when a kitty presents, without a physical finding.

Good luck.

[Prairie Purrs]

Caly is home and doing well. It's so good to have my little cuddlebug back. I just hope he stays unblocked now!

Thanks to all for your get-well wishes and support. Don't know what I'd do without you folks!