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My lovely boy Diesel (4 1/2 years, rescue cat, badly treated before coming to me) is very unwell.

He was admitted to hospital on Monday with a urinary blockage and had a catheter to empty his bladder. Cause thought to be stress. He was not happy at all to be at the vets.

He came home three days later on Thursday afternoon and was very 'out of it' on metacam and amyltripteline. Peed minute amounts. Took him back to vet on friday as worried, bladder fullish and given a muscle relaxer. After that still not eating (unless persuaded),peed minute amounts of urine in litter tray and small puddles where he'd been sitting.

Back to vets today (Sunday) as worried, bladder enlarged. They'd hoped to drain bladder and send him home - but his blood tests show kidney problems so he has to stay at vets to have his kidneys flushed out. If this does not solve the kidney problem i have been told that the only answer is to have him put down.

Has anyone had anything similar with a happy outcome?
is it usual for acute kidney failure to come on so quickly? He saw vet on thurs and fri and it wasn't mentioned then.
I feel dreadful that i didn't spot blockage sooner - he certainly peed on the Sunday morning, then was out most of the day coming home at 10pm. During the night he was sitting on his litter tray so took hom into vert first thing monday morning. What could i have done differently.

Will get more info from vet over the next few days...i have all my fingers and toes crossed!

Hi and welcome, and sorry to hear.

I can't give any medical advice, but I can say that after a catheter has been removed, it can take some time for urine flow to return to normal and I do hope that this is the case for your boy, and that the vets are covering every possibility to be on the safe side.

All the very very best, hope he pulls through and paws crossed, do please update x

this is diesel - all 6kgs of him (not fat - just large tom neutered late in life)

Sorry to hear that Diesel is not well. I have had some experience of CKD in an older cat, but not this sort of problem. But there are several folks on here with much more experience.

They may see your post and respond. But I would suggest you re-title the thread along the lines of 'sudden-onset kidney problems'. It might grab their attention better. You need answers ASAP

Best wishes

thanks very much - have changed subject

I can only talk about bladder problems. Midnight weighs about the same but he suddenly developed an inability to pee. I couldn't associate it with stress. It just seemed to happen. The vet sent him to cat hospital where he was catheterised.he seemed to improve and came home but that evening he got sick again.. It turned into a revolving door. He went into hospital then came home then went back. I was beside myself and the bills kept climbing. Thank goodness for cat insurance. They then suggested he had his penis removed. It was a last resort. There was no obvious sign of kidney disease or any other problem that might explain what happened I agreed as it was his only chance. He was very ill by now. I was devistated. He had the op. I cried and cried. He was just not my baby for quite a while. It's now over 18 months. He has had one minor setback but I caught it very early.

What I'd say is that you should try to get another opinion before reaching such an awful decision. Have they suggested ' the big op' ? Would it help him? Cystitis is horrible. I know. I've had it. Goodness knows how a cat copes with the pain. I was lucky. Midnight insisted on showing me his pain by trying to pee in front of me in the living room. Bless him.

I hope you find the best solution for your boy. In the picture he is striking a pose I associate with Midnight!

Sorry to hear about Diesel.

There are 4 levels of kidney disease which are determined by blood and urine analysis. When my girl Pudding was diagnosed she was already at level 3. She was 19 and had other ailments which masked the symptoms. She had severe muscle weakness at this stage.

I got the impression that level 1 could be reversed especially if the underlying cause was another infection that could be treated.

The scale does have a name so your vet should be able to tell you where they think he is at. Hopefully the kidney flushing will help massively and you will have some better news.

It's called International Renal Interest Society staging of CKD.

I have a big late-neutered tom called Daz who had numerous urinary problems and blockages a couple of years ago. When he had his last blockage, there were issues with his kidneys because the toxins had backed up to a level where the kidneys could no longer deal with them and were starting to fail. It sounds exactly the same as what has happened to poor Diesel. I'm ignoring the urinary issues for the moment, but with regard to his kidney issues we kept him on a drip for a couple of days to keep flushing his system through and he did recover - for his first few weeks at home I fed him a prescription diet to help his kidneys recover further. I hope poor Diesel gets through it too. xx

Just to add, once he had recovered his levels went back to normal, and whilst I keep an eye on him he no longer has issues with his kidneys.

Oh thanks for that. It is a waiting game at the moment but it is very good to hear that cats can recover.

Thanks again x

All paws here crossed for Diesel - let us know how he's doing. xx

Hi,

I have just heard from the vet and Diesel's kidney function is now ok following flush through .

He will have the catheter removed tomorrow and then come straight home to me - he gets very stressed at the vets so they thought best not to wait til he's done peed there. I will then need to monitor urine output and hope for no more blockages. Vet thought if it keeps happening he may need an op- but hope not.

Diesel will be seeing a cat behaviourist when he has recovered so that we can see what i can do to minimise the stress in his life .

Thanks so much to all for your support.

xx

Great news, so glad!

A cat behaviourist?

Will they provide him with a comfy couch and gently ask him to talk about his kittenhood?

Only kidding

He looks pretty laid back in the photo though, lovely lad, give him a fuss from me and all the best x

It'll be interesting to see what the cat behaviourist says and recommends. But in the meantime have you tried to figure out what may be causing any stress to him?

It often is the oddest things... how much do you know about his background because I suspect you'll find an answer there

best of luck !

So pleased for you. What a great relief.

I don't want to worry you but keep a close eye on him. When Midnight came home I was so happy but although he wee'd normally at the hospital, Hedidn't do anything here which caused htimo go back within hours of release. Keep the litter very clean so you can be sure what he's producing.

Best wishes and fingers crossed

So pleased, that is very good news!

Oh Lilith - honestly....

Behavourist - Hello Diesel, how are you feeling at the moment?

Diesel - Well.............................fine........................ Great.

Behavourist - That's good. But why the big pauses?

Diesel (waves a big paw) - well I'm a tomcat, of course I've got big pawses!


Sorry Bobbys girl and Valt and Diesel - just couldn't resist!

valt wrote:Diesel will be seeing a cat behaviourist when he has recovered so that we can see what i can do to minimise the stress in his life

I'm pleased that Diesel is showing improvement, but I think you should not bother with a behaviourist - just get Lilith in - that sense of houmour is a tonic for anyone.

Aww thanks bobbys girl - I take that as a great compliment

Phew - I'm so glad that Diesel is improving.

Right, you now need to deal with the urinary issues.

Daz is a very similar sort of cat to Diesel - a big late-neutered tom, prone to weight issues. I did consider the op that has been mentioned, but it's not always successful and thankfully it wasn't necessary in the end for Daz. The most important things were to keep his water intake up, keep his stress levels down and to get him to lose weight. When Daz was last at the vets with a blockage there were four other male cats in with the same issues - every single one was overweight. Since losing a kilo in weight Daz has been fine.

Once the crises were over, the regime was to add at least a tablespoon of water to his wet food at each meal (two if he'd eat it). He wouldn't eat the prescription wet (I did try) so I fed him half regular wet food and half prescription urinary dry (reduced calorie). I also mixed in Cystophan capsules (Cystease is much the same) that helps the bladder wall and also has an ingredient to help with stress. If your vet hasn't mentioned the Cystophan then have a chat about it?

This is a helpful site:

http://www.catinfo.org/?link=urinarytracthealth

*I'm still giggling at Diesel 'on the couch'!*

Sorry for the delay in updating.

Diesel came home yesterday which was lovely. Unfortunately tho he hasn't been peeing much so back to the vets now taking along what he has peed (in clumping cat litter) and the most enormous (size of a small mouse) fur ball be brought up just after his morning meds. Next step would be to have 'the op' which obviously I'd prefer not to happen ...fingers crossed.

valt wrote: and the most enormous (size of a small mouse) fur ball be brought up just after his morning meds.

Well he must feel better for getting rid of that!

Phew! Vet said said urine output ok, bladder fine and fur ball impressive so fingers crossed. Think i just got into a bit of a panic.

Will keep you posted re cat behaviourist and let you know if there are any long pauses when they communicate (hee hee - thanks Lileth)

x

Will also try extra water tricks and ask vet re cystease etc.

Thanks x

Lol - he must be very relieved and so must you!

Fusses to the magnificent man with the big pawses!

I'm so glad he's home and feeling better!

You do need to watch him like a hawk now, though. As you have discovered, a blockage can turn life-threatening very quickly in a male cat - it sounds as though he had originally been blocked and with a full bladder for some time when you took him in, and was actually leaking back out again as it had nowhere else to go. That happened to Daz once too. Look out for him straining in the tray and only producing small dribbles instead of a proper flow.

I don't want to scare you, but Daz's number of blockages went into double figures before we finally got on top of the situation. Hopefully that won't happen to Diesel, but a cat that has had a blockage can be likely to have another. Thankfully Daz is very obliging and the majority of the time my vet was able to just drain his bladder on the spot, but it was a nightmare few months until he got better.

There are really two things going on here, the cystitis which is possibly stress related causing the inflammation and discomfort in the first place, and the actual blockage itself which may be caused by crystals in his urine and won't be helped by the fact that he is on the big side. It does seem to be age related too - Daz was exactly the same age that Diesel is when he had problems.

The extra water is vital - it helps to dilute the irritants in his urine and also to flush out the bladder. Sorry if I'm going on a bit - that was a year I'll never forget! Daz sends his sympathy and give Diesel a fuss from me.

Thanks for your reply Crewella.

Yes, it is very scarey how quickly things can go wrong. I took Diesel to the vet's on Friday at 6pm when he was said to be 'fine' but 10am on Sunday morning he needed to have his bladder drained and with problems with kidney function! I will certainly keep an eagle eye on him from now on. The vet has said that if he does have another blockage he will need to have the op (penis removal) which, if possible I would like to avoid. Did Daz have to have this done?

So...he will finish his diazepam and hypovase tablets on Wednesday (vet said to continue even tho now peeing/pooing ok) so I will let him out after that (think he's a bit too dozy at the minute and he's not fussed). He also has metacam which I will continue a bit longer plus is on amiltriptyline which the vet says he may stay on for ever.

I have switched him to a wet food diet plus am using your tip of mixing in some extra water. Have you found any particular food better than others? At the moment he is on Sheba as it was on special offer

His normal weight (pre-problems) was 5.85 kgs and no-one at vet's has ever said he was overweight but just large. He is now 5.3kgs and I will try and keep him to under 5.5.

The behaviourist is coming on the 25th! He doesn't have crystals or any other obvious cause for problems and the vet thinks it is stress related. It will be very interesting to see what she has to say!

No, Daz didn't have the perineal urethrostomy op. I did a lot of research and found it was only successful in less than 50% of cases and my vet was also not keen and willing (and able) to get us through the phase of blockages by expressing Daz's bladder on many of the occasions he got a blockage. Daz was very obliging and just let him flip him over and do it without a sedative. We both felt that if we could just get him past the crisis period until the weight loss and other treatments could take effect, we could avoid such a drastic solution. Thank God we were right, but I had to take him down to the vets with a blocked bladder on about 12 occasions - two of those required a catheter and overnight on a drip.

When they tested with an ultrasound they found no crystals but a lot of fine 'sand', which we tested and turned out to be struvite - so very tiny crystals in effect, which (mixed with detritis and dead cells from the inflamed bladder wall) were forming a 'plug' in his urethra and causing the blockages. The op, in effect, deals with the 'plumbing' problem by making them less likely to block, but it doesn't solve the cystitis issues - we both felt it wasn't the right thing for Daz. I know cats whwo have had the op successfully, so I think you need to look into it, discuss things with your vet and come to your own decision, but I do think your vet should be looking into what exactly is causing the blockages before jumping to such a drastic operation. I hope that helps.

Daz will eat pretty much anything, so just gets the same diet as the others with urinary dry food and his added Cystophan, which I still give him as a preventative. And I still add water.

We moved a couple of years ago and Daz is now spending all day out in the garden, hunting, so is a fit and happy cat!

Awww, Diesel is a beauty. Pleased he is improving and hope it continues.

Gentle fusses from me and meow from Dave.