Update on Bilbo the blocked cat

[Didi]

Well everything was going well until yesterday, he finished his course of metacam on Tuesday and was more or less back to normal wanting cuddles and playing climbing on places he shouldn't be climbing etc he wasn't very keen on his new food but was eating, drinking and weeing I really thought that we were coming out the other side. Then yesterday he pooed outside the litter tray which is not something he usually does and seemed very out of sorts not lethargic just a bit sorry for himself, he was still eating a little bit and drinking and he weed at lunchtime then no more until about 1030 last night when he did the tiniest little dribble in the tray. I have managed to get his muscle relaxant down him at least once most days but have now stumbled upon a disguise that seems to work I grind it up and sprinkle it over about 10 pieces of his old food and his stomach just can't say no.
This morning I got up and still no weeing although he did eat his breakfast with the yurelieve sprinkled on it but he cried when I picked him up, got myself all worked up over him again and rang the vets no appointment until 430 at the one at the bottom of the road so had To subject him to a car ride to the hospital 20 minutes away, no car so got a taxi. Got there and they were cleaning which spooked him - massive big floor scrubber that makes a lot of noise to be fair they did let us wait in one of the consultation rooms. The vet had a look at him and his bladder was quite full but not enough he said to worry him he scanned it and then came back and said he was happy for him to come home with another weeks course of metacam because he though maybe he was still a bit sore so we got the bus back - first time he has been on a bus !!

So I feel like we have gone backwards now he has been in the litter tray and done a little dribble since we got back and has had a dose of metacam I just hope that he picks up and doesn't in a weeks time relapse again.

I know I am probably over reacting but I can't help it and to be honest I am a bit peeved at the vet for making me stress him out with a 20 minute drive there and back which he hates and whilst I understand their need for an appointment system I do think they should have some slots left empty during surgery times in case they are needed. I feel like I have been through the mill this last couple of weeks and am exhausted physically and mentally so poor little Bilbo must really be fed up.

I always thought that cystitis in cats only lasted a week and even allowing for his catheterisation I guess I expected him to be bouncing back by now which he was until the metacam stopped

[Kay]

cystitis can recur very quickly though, especially under stressful conditions, and I would suspect this is what is going on here

and we all know cystitis makes you keep wanting to wee when there is virtually nothing to pass, so his behaviour is normal enough

maybe concentrating on reducing stress is the way forward for a few days at least, unless he starts howling when trying to wee, and meanwhile the metacam should help relax him by minimizing the urge to wee, and making it less painful when he does

[Didi]

Thanks for the reply I'm not 100% convinced it is the cystitis again he isn't going backwards and forwards to the litter tray as he was 2 weeks ago he just isn't going and then when he does it's a pitiful amount, I'm wondering if his urethra is partially blocked either with crystals is because of spasm and I don't want him to have to go through all that again.

I know I probably have lost all sense of proportion over it but he was doing so well until he finished the metacam apart from a real,dislike of the new food he was playing coming for cuddles and just being Bilbo then we have gone backwards to how he was when he was poorly so I am sure that he is in some sort of pain

He appears relaxed if sleepy and I have feliway all over the house at times he is quite bright he sat for 10 minutes watching a bird in a tree outside he's just not weeing !!

I am trying not to get upset over it and to tell myself he will be fine but I am afraid I am not coping very well I could never forgive myself of it all went horribly wrong because I didn't follow my gut instinct that there is something not right I just wish I knew what it was

Sorry for being so pathetic I am thinking of buying shares in Kalms

[Didi]

Well we have just been back to the vet, he still hasn't weed properly he goes to the tray but passses hardly anything, I think I am becoming unhealthily obsessed with his toilet habits! She felt his bladder and said it was fine and she agreed with me that it was a big coincidence that the problems resurfaced once he was off the pain killers she thought it was proberbly a spasm again because of th pain and has given him an injection of pain killer t see him through until the metacam takes effect. This seems to have worked he hasn't been to the tray yet but he is playing again which he had stopped doing and is much more alert so hopefully his next visit to the litter tray will be more productive

I'm taking him back tomorrow for a blood test as he has to be sedated for that to check his kidneys are stil OK and then it's just wait and hope although my head says he will be fine because he was at the beginning of the week and whilst I'm no vet it seems too much of coincidence that he went a bit downhill once he was no longer getting pain relief and I have almost convinced myself that it isn't just because it hurts and now I have found the secret of getting the whole of the muscle relaxant down him twice a day hopefully we can get back on track

Sorry for being a bore over this

[Lilith]

Hi there, you're not being pathetic or a bore - far from it

We've all been through this kind of worry and you do get totally wrapped up in the cat - not surprisingly! I wish I could give you some advice but I'm not knowledgeable about this sort of thing, but what you're describing could inform and help someone else whose cat has similar bladder problems and is too shy to post and who might feel totally alone, only of course they're not.

But I've loads of experience as a worrybucket, believe me. But we have to worry for them.

I do hope this is a turning point for him though and that he starts to improve - oh and that his poor old bare bottom starts to sprout some new fur. Big fuss from me to him x

[Didi]

Well he did one of his tiny little Wees overnight back to the vet this morning for a blood test then take it from there, as awful as it sounds I sort of hope it is pain related and not that his kidneys are not producing urine.

[Jan]

Didi ... I feel for you, I really do as you are where I was almost 2+half years ago with our cat, Blackie. So I really do hope that the end result is as happy as the one that we had.

Even though our cat has never had another bout of cystitis since his 2nd and last bout in June 2014, the first question I shout out to my OH who gets up first in the morning to feed the cat is still 'Has Blackie used his tray during the night?'.

Keeping everything x'd for you and Bilbo

x

[Didi]

Well the vet rang me before we left this morning to see how he was, as he had weed overnight and was playing and eating (reluctantly because he doesn't like his new food as much as his old) and drinking she said that rather than stress him out and potentially cause even more problems it may be better to try and get a urine sample first to check for protein and only if there was any to do the blood test. She seemed to think that it's unlikely to be his kidneys as his blood tests from when he was in the hospital last Wednesday were all normal and that the most likely explaination was urethral spasm which as the inflammation goes down and the supplement improves his bladder health should subside.
I have to go the vets tonight to pick up his food and he is booked in for his vaccinations on the 30th January so as long as he keeps on track she will check him all over then
I think I am happy with that I will admit I wasn't overly keen on taking him back today as he does get quite stressed by the whole in the box , in the car - hates it, out of the box and so on and my sensible head tells that it is most likely to be pain related as it started when the pain relief stopped and he was much more himself as soon as he had some pain relief. I just wish he would do some bigger wees !!
So my next challenge will be getting a urine sample !!

He has pulled "his" cushion down flat and is currently curled up on there having a snooze

[Lilith]

Bless him - that's good news

Long may it last, really hope you see an improvement now AND some Niagaras too, all the very best

[Jan]

That really is good news to read that the kidneys are ok. Good luck in getting the urine sample

[Didi]

Here's we go again, this morning Bilbo was heaving as if he was going to be sick and licking his lips which he always does before he vomits - not that he vomits that much. I rang the vet and they said to bring him in for a check up so of we go again. Get there different vet than usual but she was lovely, good news his bladder was empty but she thinks the difficulty in weeing is stress related which given this whole thing started because of idiots letting of fireworks continually for the week between Christmas and new year isn't surprising. He has had a load of injections to calm him down stop him feeling sick and make him eat and we have come home with anti depressants and a feliway spray to go with the 2 feliway diffusers we already have. She was on when he was in the hospital and said she remembered him being a very nervous cat .
It's so annoying that people just being idiots letting of fireworks for the week between Christmas and new year have set all this off and resulted in poor Bilbo being so upset never mind the vet bill which is close to £2000 now, thanks goodness for insurance !!

[Mayday21]

Hope Bilbo is calming down & feeling better. Really feeling for you going through this. If only they could talk.... Vivian

[Didi]

This cat will be the death of me
He is or seems to be getting back to normal with one exception he does not like the urinary food, well actually I'm not convinced that he doesn't like it he just doesn't want it because he thinks his old food is better !!
He is using the litter tray and weeing like a good un but he is eating about half what he should be, so it's not that he isn't eating just not enough. At first I could get a couple of pouches down him by sprinkling with his yurelieve which he loves except the little monkey has now discovered he can lick the "sprinkles " off so that is what he is doing so now we are down to around a pouch a day for a fairly big cat and some of the dry.

I never knew just how cunning the little blighter was until now !! I started mixing his old food with his new and he can pick out the old and leave the new !! Yes he does get the odd morsal of new food in him but most of it is left in the bowl, he is eating but at times when he thinks nobody will know like when I'm in work or bed but he is just not eating enough he has lost weight and whilst he isn't yet drastically underweight if he carries on like this he will be !!

I have spoken to one of the vet nurses today and we have come up with a plan, we are going back to the beginning and over the weekend he is getting a couple of teaspoons of his old mixed with half a teaspoon of his new every few hours and putting a drop of hot water in it tried it tonight and what did he do ? Picked out the old food how on earth can he do that
He was mainly on a dry diet before mainly because I'm in work all day and don't like leaving wet food out but he did get the occasional pouch of wet which he wolfed down so fast that 6 times out of ten he regurgitated straight back up

He isn't pooing much because he isn't eating as much but he is going every couple of days as opposed to every day previously and he is playing and sleeping on the bed with me again just need him to start eating. He is like a fussy child who won't eat their veg fingers crossed I can get him back on track with his eating this weekend

Apart from what I am already doing does anyone have any little tricks to get fussy cats to eat