Cats, not horses but desperate for advice

[Box_Of_Frogs]

My poor moggie Spencer has just survived a brush with death. Over a 24hr period he developed a totally blocked bladder. His bladder swelled up to the size of an orange and thank god I spotted it and rushed him down to the vets where he had a GA within 20 minutes of arriving. He is sort of OK now (though may recur) though the pressure within the bladder has caused some kidney damage. The 2nd day in cat hospital, the vets had to manually express his urine as he couldn't pee unaided. He has come home today (4th day) and to my horror he is now incontinent. He is such a clean cat that his only way of coping with it is by laying outside looking miserable and alone and leaking urine. Emergency call to the vet (from the yard) and they said we are in unknown territory. Very reassuring. They hope he will regain control after a few more days but he may not. Please, please has anyone had any experience of this and if so, what was the outcome???? (Posted in vets too)

 

[brighteyes]

No personal experience but I found this and think it might be relevant. My dog lost the sensation to hers and we had to squeeze her bladder area gently to help her empty it, but she got the sensation back when her slipped disc problem resolved. I have heard of bladder crystals forming in cats before, though.

 

[YorksG]

We had a neutered tom who had cystitis (sp) he got back to normal in time. We stopped feeding him dried food as that seemed to contribute to his original problem.

 

[hackneylass2]

Poor thing! I hope Spencer makes a full recovery.

Years ago I had a cat with this same thing, a rescue so I had no idea of her previous diet, anyway after the vet manually expressed her bladder she had the same problem for a few days. The vet told me to expect this to a greater or lesser degree as the combination of hugely distended bladder then manipulation can cause this. I forget now exactly why it causes incontinence but maybe has something to do with the tissues being stretched/pressured. Said catty was extremely miserable for a good few days and drove me insane with worry but made a full recovery.

 

[*hic*]

Fingers crossed for Spencer.

Mine was slightly different in that his bladder injury was as a result of a car accident. He was unable to wee and was manually expressed but that was because he had nerve damage and bruising. I had to get him home and manually express for a few days, although he seemed to dribble urine his bladder it wasn't coming out fast enough to prevent his bladder from over filling.

Dependent on your cat's temperament can you bath him? I found that the easiest way to keep mine clean and to express his bladder was to immerse him in warm water in the sink and do it there.

His bladder has recovered to a certain extent. He is able to hold urine without leaking but needs to pee far more often than before.

 

[Hullabaloo]

Poor Spencer - hope he's feeling better soon.
Two of my cats have had the same thing. I don't remember one of them being incontinent, but the other one was dribbling a bit but did get better with time, although he is still prone to bouts of cystitis (usually just before we go on holidy!) so we have to keep an eye on him.
Hopefully Spencer will make a full recovery (great name for a cat by the way!)

 

[donablue]

my male cat has be done and i have had no problems with him at all .
until one day he came in very quiet. not like him at all usually very loving and always wanting to be with you,
but no i knew some thing was up so i got him to the vets and they said he had a blocked bladder too.

they kept him in and i had to call the next day.

they had put a cathetar in over night and they tested the urine and they found crystals in his urine.

i asked what is causing it.


they said that it is common on male cats as they get older.


ok no probs ,brought him home and he was constantly licking down there.but i suppose thats normal. but mine was not incontinent.

they did on the other hand advise me that his diet was more meat than biscuits.


fingers crossed to this day hes been fine.


sorry to hear about yours hope he will get better soon..


did they check for crystals in his urine?

 

[hellybelly6]

Oh dear B, my thoughts are with you.

Everything I was going to say has been said, except that if there isnt any blood in his wee, that is very positive.

There is a prescription cat food from the vets which can help with bladder problems.

Surely, they will get him in and do an ultrasound on his bladder, soon.

I really hope you kitty is ok. Spencer is a great cat name.

My fingers are crossed for you and Spencer.

xxxxxxx

 

[pinkcatkin]

Poor puss, I have no advice but hope that he regains control for both of you. Probably best to ride this out for a few days, amazing what healing and some quiet, love and care can do for all sorts of conditions.

Best of luck.

 

[Geraldine]

I hope Spencer get better soon.

Katie Pie Cat got run over when she was a kitten (very close call), she was on bed rest at home for a good few weeks. Vet suggested buying the largest size disposable nappies to line her bed with. Any accidents were not a problem then.

Would this help Spencer?

xx

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Thanks everyone - this is so helpful. hb6 - Spencer is one of 2 rescue brothers Marks & Spencer! Sadly, I battled with a similar disease with Marks on and off for 7 years until in the final year it overwhelmed him and he was pts in my arms at home and is buried in the garden. Spencer sat by his grave for a week. Spencer is now 13 and never showed any signs of it at all until last Thursday. He had a huge number of crystals in his bladder and they had formed a plug which stopped him peeing. It is virtually guaranteed to recur. It is becoming much more common in cats and the vets aren't sure why. Males and females get it but females have shorter, wider urethras so tend to get recurrent cystitis rather than blocked bladders. Neutered males only have teeny tiny willies so the urethra blocks very easily. I would urge anyone reading this to NEVER feed their cat a diet of dried food. The manufacturers use magnesium salts to dry the food and these salts form the crystals that then cause so much damage. Spencer won't eat the "wet" prescription diet food from the vet but will nibble at their "dry" food (not dried with magnesium!) He is a tiny, tiny bit better this morning (Monday) but still incontinent and still worrying at his rear end constantly. Vet again Tuesday. Fingers crossed. And thanks again all - more info than the vets gave me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mickey]

Poor you and your poor cat.

Sounds like he has really been through it.

Having had cystitis a lot myself in the past I know how bloomin painful and horrible even that alone is.

Hopefully he is past the worst. I think your vet should be giving you more of an idea of what the possibilities are in this instance, even though he/she may not know the exact prognosis. Personally, I don't like too little information, although that means I am often told the worst outcome too.
I don't know much at all about this type of thing, but the amount of manipulation and intervention your cat has had in this area might have damaged the muscles etc in the areas involved. These might take some days to recover. You might find this is a temporary thing.

I have 3 cats and one of mine is 14 now so thanks for your post, I will be watching for this.
Good luck and I'd like to hear how you and Spencer get along.

 

[Natch]

Glad you seem to have a lot of info at your fingertips. Would feeding him a diet of fresh food not help even more? Surely he wouldn't object to tuna in spring water and chicken meat etc? And does tinned cat food have the same harmful ingredients?

I would imagine with any bladder problems the more moisture you can get into them the better. Maybe you could experiment with trying to make his water tastier (no idea what with lol) so that he'll drink more?

Best wishes to him though.

 

[Rana]

My cat has a similar problem, in that she has a build up of crystals in the urine, which causes infections. Bless her, she was so agressive when we got her, and we didn't know it was because she was in pain.

Anyway, she has Royal Canin Urinary Support cat food (available from vets, or Hyperdrug who I've just fallen out with!) to help eliminate/reduce the crystals. It works brilliantly, and she's almost never ill now. For when she isn't doing so well (such as when she's stolen the new kittens food!), the vet has given me antibiotics to use as we need them (usually 1 week on, 1 week off, as the infections are caused by "plumbing problems").

The food really has helped, more than the antibiotics, and I can't recommend it enough. Just wish it was cheaper! It's also very palatable - my cat is really fussy, and she begrudgingly eats both the wet and dry food.

Hope Spencer recovers soon and you can develop a treatment plan for him.