1st post-health problems with my cat

[Lizzie]

You are going through a rough time with Sox and I hope you can pull him through this.

First, I am rather shocked the treatment from your vets. While it is true that some male cats do need to have their penis removed in order to stop blocking, this is usually done only after other treatments have been tried and failed. A few people on PT have cats that have gone through this surgery and hopefully they will see this thread and respond.

Did the first vet take a urine sample and test it for bacteria and crystals? The blood may have come from irritation caused by the crystals or from an infection your cat has as well as crystals. You need to know which type of crystals you are dealing with - struvite or calcium oxalate. The production of crystals can be helped quite often by a change to a special vet diet. Also, there is a diet called SD that will dissolve crystals. Calcium oxalate crystals can be caused, in part, by cats eating nuts (I found that out after my Ted ate pounds of them because he loved them and then I felt huge guilt when he got crystals), so something other than peanut butter should be used. However, when things get this difficult, anything you can get them to eat is better than nothing.

Keeping your cat hydrated is very important and your vet can show you how to give sub-q fluids at home. It will help to keep his kidneys and bladder flushed out and make him feel miles better. Many of us here on PT have kept our renal failure cats going for many extra good years just by using sub-q fluids. If your cat is hydrated, he will have a better appetite (usually).

Where do you live? Perhaps someone on PT knows a vet in your area that they can recommend.

Try this web page for some good information: http://www.fabcats.org/flutd.html

You may want to post a new threat on Cats General asking people there to look at your thread in Cat Health and offer suggestions. Cats General has much heavier traffic and will garner more responses.

Please keep us updated because we are all going to worry about Sox also. He's a lovely looking cat and I've never seen such rich brown fur.

[smokey the elder]

What a stunning cat! I've never seen a brown tuxedo before. I hope he feels better. Urinary problems are the pits. How old is Sox?

[RobLynn]

First off, I want to thank each and every one of you for adoring Sox, and for welcoming me to the board.



Sox has a sister (well they are both adopted, but they don't know :P )



The first night, no tests were ran. He was blocked, and they massaged his bladder. He urinated A LOT. We figured that was it, and then when he went right back to throwing up, we knew that he wasn't well.

We had him cathed, and they said that the crystals were not forming as badly (I guess when they cath you, they also flush out the bladder, in hopes of removing the blockage).

I don't know if they did any urine work, or anything like that. I do know that, the 2nd vet was upset that the 1st vet didn't do blood work. When the 2nd vet did the blood work, they said his white blood cell count was up to like 40,000.

He had a raging infection. We've been treating it with serious anti-biotics. He had a temp, but now it's coming down.

I did the sub-q fluids today. I was nervous at first, because I didn't want to hurt the kitty. I pinched up a little tent, inserted the needle quickly, but not too forcefully, while talking to him, and petting his head (pretty darn difficult when you can't really use your right shoulder for crap (surgery).

After a little over 160 ccs (I let some liquid out of the tube to get the air out, so I gave just a little extra liquid to him, to make up for what came out of the bag. While it may look like he got 160, it was probably right around 150-155).

He got a big water pouch, and it's been dissapating well. That said, the peanut butter was only for getting the pills down, and hoping it would perk an appetite in him.

The good news is this, I have gotten him to eat some. I fed him baby food (not much, maybe a spoonful) and then that got him to go to the food bowl and eat some of the waltham food for urinary problems. I got some tuna out, and he enjoyed some of that also. Every 2 hours, I've been getting him to eat a small amount of tuna from my hand.

I was concerened when I read the ingredients on the baby food...onion powder. I also read the tuna, and it has vegtable broth in it. I was worried that it may have had onions too. I called the vet immediately, and let them know that he had maybe a teaspoon of baby food, that contains onion powder. I also let them know that the tuna has veggie broth in it.

The vet said I shouldn't worry about it, because the amount of onion powder is so low, and he had so little of the food, to not worry. They said that the tuna, even if it had some onion powder, probably had too little to worry about. I also informed the vet, that I wanted to stop giving him anything, with any possibility of onion in it (I called the customer service number on the tuna packet. They said no onions are in it). I tossed the baby food, and I am going to get tuna that is packaged in ONLY water.

Also, I bought special food from the vet, this Hill's something or other (cans are downstairs). He is eating the food, not much at a time, but about every two hours he is eating food from my fingertips. I dip my fingers in the food, and place it by his nose. If he doesn't perk up, I put just a little on his lips, and he licks it and then goes to my hand.

Today looks good. He received food, fluids, hi-vite drops, and his anti-biotic (which he'll be getting again in about 1 hour).

Last night though, I was very frightened. He would meow anytime we went near him, or if we picked him up. I was worried that maybe he was going to die. You know like, he knew it and wanted left alone to die. I kept trying to get him to eat. He stopped meowing when we picked him up, and he is eating. It's like, he's doing better it seems, but I'm still worried. I wish he would just eat an entire can of this food you know?

[RobLynn]

Also, boi with the brown coat, is part of a pretty unique breed. The breed is called Havana brown. He's a mix, and granted he isn't all brown, but his tuxedo is so darn cute!

[RedHedd]

Oh dear. Sounds like a rough time for both of you. My Mishi is a kidney kat and occasionally blocks up and we have to rush him to the kitty ER. The usual treatment is antibiotics and Sub-Q fluids. At first I was freaked giving him the Sub-Q fluids, but he's so good at sitting still and letting me treat him. He usually bounces back after a few days of TLC.

All I can offer right now is prayers. Hopefully knowing that others here on PT have gone through this and our kitties have pulled through will help you through this rough time. Do keep us posted. He sure is a cutie.

[kb2yjx]

The rough part is right now, when you don't see results right away. We have had several urinary tract cats and kidney cats(just gave fluids this evening). Sometimes it takes a bit of time for the meds to kick in. His temp of 102.5 is normal for a cat(so that is good). It also takes time for the cats to get use to a new diet(stay away from dry food!!). Prayers and patience for a good recovery!!! Will send prayers for both of you!!! Take Care!! Sandra

[jenluckenbach]

WELCOME!!!!! And such a lovely pair of cats.

Rutherford had PU surgery. His stones were calcium oxylate and he is now on Hill's prescription x/d. But I was lucky, he flew through surgery with flying colors and has been doing well ever since. He never lost his appetite nor did he throw up.

Did they xray (or ultra-sound) Sox to see if he has remaining stones in his bladder. Rutherford needed bladder stone removal at the same time as his PU surgery because of the size of his stones. They most likely would have broken up and tried to leave the body only to block him again. (even though the opening is now larger, doesn't mean that a LARGE stone couldn't cause blockage again.)

If your canned food is not prescription a/d you might want to ask about that. Great for kitties off theirfeed. Also nurti-cal paste which adds nutrition & calories and can perk up the appetite.

Hopefully all will start getting better from here.