perineal urethrostomy surgery for male cat

[buzz2400]

Just found out that I have to get perineal urethrostomy surgery for my male cat because he keeps getting blocked in his male part. Has anyone had this surgery done on their cat, outcome, regrets, any info. Thanks.

 

[Avalon_toon]

My cat had it done, he had many many instances of blockage, and this was a last-ditch effort to save his life - and it worked. It was major surgery though, and took quite a while for him to recover, and he had to use a special litter, and have one of those plastic cones that stopped him from chewing at his incision, for I think maybe two weeks or so afterward. Plus he stayed on the low-magnesium special diet food to help limit the build up of crystals. It was pretty expensive, but worth it for me, he would have died without it. He never had a recurrence of blockage after the surgery.

Sadly, my cat passed away about a year later though, of an unrelated cancer, so I can't say what the long-term results might have been.

 

[buzz2400]

My cat had it done, he had many many instances of blockage, and this was a last-ditch effort to save his life - and it worked. It was major surgery though, and took quite a while for him to recover, and he had to use a special litter, and have one of those plastic cones that stopped him from chewing at his incision, for I think maybe two weeks or so afterward. Plus he stayed on the low-magnesium special diet food to help limit the build up of crystals. It was pretty expensive, but worth it for me, he would have died without it. He never had a recurrence of blockage after the surgery.

Sadly, my cat passed away about a year later though, of an unrelated cancer, so I can't say what the long-term results might have been.

Was it a lot of work immediately following the surgery, like cleaning up the "leakage"? I still am debating what to do.

 

[jacksonsmom]

My male cat had it done and it saved his life.

My cat was only 4 months old at the time, he had it for a different reason, he was likely (don't know for sure) thrown out of a car window and as a result broke his pelvic area. That caused a major blockage. My cat would have died without the surgery.
Going in because of his injuries it was a 50/50 chance if he was survive the surgery.

Well....he is still with us 4 years later and as good as new!!! We have not had one single problem with his surgery and he has yearly urine test just to make sure everything is fine and it is!

This surgery without a doubt saved his life. Yes, there is HIGH cost to it and there is care you need to give after the surgery, but again it is totally worth it.
We had our kitty in a room at night by himself right after the surgery. We put puppy pads down all over the room for any leakage (it was a somewhat small room) yes, there was some leakage, but just a small amount.

He is on a special diet now and will be for the rest of his life. The surgeon said he needs to be on a wet food just to keep him flowing good.

It's an expensive surgery, I think we paid roughly $3,000 total when all was said and done. But it was worth every penny. The first 2 weeks are rough, making sure the area is kept clean and dry, and since the cats have a cone on their head you have to do it for them, but really it isn't that bad.

I don't regret my decision at all and would do it again in a heartbeat!

Good Luck with your decision.

 

[si-am]

Have you changed your kitty's diet? My male cat has had a complete blockage but a change to high quality canned food plus a kitty water fountain has kept him clear since.

If your vet is recommending the surgery, though, it is probably needed.

A friend's 4 year old cat had to have this surgery, and that was I think 8 years ago? I can't tell you much about the recovery but that cat is still alive and doing well these days!

Good luck!

 

[buzz2400]

Have you changed your kitty's diet? My male cat has had a complete blockage but a change to high quality canned food plus a kitty water fountain has kept him clear since.

If your vet is recommending the surgery, though, it is probably needed.

A friend's 4 year old cat had to have this surgery, and that was I think 8 years ago? I can't tell you much about the recovery but that cat is still alive and doing well these days!

Good luck!

We have tried to change his diet but he only likes the dry food which I know is bad for him. We also have other cats in the house so even when we try to make him eat the wet food, he still finds the dry. He has had about three major blocks and a few little blocks. Vet is recommending surgery. I just don't know if I could handle the few weeks of recovery. One of my other cats was taken in september by a coyote so now I have to walk my other cats every morning and night with work in the middle. I am getting stressed out with everything going on and I don't really think I can handle taking care of him. And just so people don't think I am terrible, I am a cat lover and will do anything and everything for my cats but at this moment I am just so worn down that I keep breaking down and crying.

 

[si-am]

We have tried to change his diet but he only likes the dry food which I know is bad for him. We also have other cats in the house so even when we try to make him eat the wet food, he still finds the dry. He has had about three major blocks and a few little blocks. Vet is recommending surgery. I just don't know if I could handle the few weeks of recovery. One of my other cats was taken in september by a coyote so now I have to walk my other cats every morning and night with work in the middle. I am getting stressed out with everything going on and I don't really think I can handle taking care of him. And just so people don't think I am terrible, I am a cat lover and will do anything and everything for my cats but at this moment I am just so worn down that I keep breaking down and crying.

We have two cats and both had to go on the canned (our formerly blocked cat is also now diabetic and cannot under any circumstances eat the high carb dry).

It was a tough adjustment at first, but I promise you cats aren't going to starve themselves. Eventually they both learned to like the canned and we haven't given either of them dry in about a year!

If you google the benefits of an all canned diets, you'll see that it often stops blockages because it keeps the cats so hydrated. Even though it seems tough to switch over all of them, it would still be cheaper and easier than surgery!

 

[Kteacher]

My beloved cat el Duque had this procedure done at one of the best veterinary hospitals-Tufts. Unfortunately he reblocked a week after the procedure and our only options were to re do the surgery or put him to sleep . The surgery was extremely difficult on him (and us ). Make sure you ask a lot of questions before you decide. Good luck to you and your kitty.