**UPDATE** Our cat had the surgery, and it was rough for him

[minnie56]

But how wonderful that he has a 'Mom and Dad' that love him like you do

Hoping tomorrow is the first of many better days for your kitty!

 

[chrissyk]

I'm so sorry for your poor cat having to endur this ...along with you and your family.
We have had 6 cats in our married life and 3 of them went through blockages and we actually had the surgery performed on one of our boys about 8 years ago. It was really a messy situation when we brought him home as he had spots of blood etc discharging from him for a while but he did recover and never blocked up again. Sadly he passed away 2 years later at the age of nine from complications from pneumonia.
We presently have a 6 year old little guy...Willy, who also has been through the blockage twice (not in the last 2 years....touch wood) and we've been through all the stresses especially financially as these cats must return to be checked until there are no more crystals found.Our little boy is on CD and we found that spreading Brita water in cups throughout our home a great idea as he was a terrible drinker (which can contribute to this problem) but now he's a great drinker. He's always been a nervous cat too which is characteristic of these blocked up boys.
I hope your little fur baby does well and I give you plenty of as I understand what you're going through.
I hope it helps to know that other folks have been through this and are supporting you and your little boy for a speedy recovery....it's not a nice thing to have to put your pet through and it's soooo stressfull.
Please keep us updated and lots of prayers to your little fur kid!

What is it with boy kitties and these blockages You are so right on about the nervous cats often being the ones to get the blockages. Our cat has been nervous (we call him "skittish") since we brought him home at 8 weeks-old! He's even on daily Prozac for his skittishness/temperment (it helps, but obviously not enough to keep him from blocking up). He saw a wonderful behaviorist last year who thought that our cat was one of the most extreme cases of this sort of temperment that he'd ever seen I do believe with all my heart that this is what has caused him so many years of illness.

BTW, which surgery did your cat have? Did he have the widening surgery or the rerouting surgery? I've been scouring the internet trying to find information on the rerouting surgery that our cat had. One study claimed that it was the better of the 2 surgeries in terms of long-term survival, so we are cautiously hopeful at least. We are going to ask that the hospital keep him at least through the weekend so that he has more time to recover there. I imagine that the bleeding, etc. from the surgical site is very upsetting to see, and I'd rather that our cat be with people who know what's going on than home with us (as we would be panicking at any little thing) until he's well on his way to healing.

ETA - I see that you're in Canada...do the pet health insurance carriers offer policies there? That can help with the financial stresses. We don't have it for our cat who had the surgery, unfortunately (by the time it was popular, nobody would cover him), but we do have it for our other cat and we also bought a policy for my sister's puppy. Maybe you can look into that, as it does help greatly with the costs.

 

[Virgo10]

Best wishes and for your kitty and his family.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Poor kitty!

Hope he recovers well!

 

[CheshireVal]

I'm sorry you and your kitty are having to go through this. He does sound like a fighter, though!

Sending good thoughts your way....

 

[chrissyk]

Thanks everyone We were just able to check in on him by phone. He has a normal temp, is passing urine (via catheter I'm sure), and even had a few licks of food this morning. That makes us hopeful! We're hoping that they will allow us to visit with him at lunchtime today. He couldn't have visitors after the surgery yesterday, as they wanted him to recuperate quietly.

 

[Virgo10]

Thanks everyone We were just able to check in on him by phone. He has a normal temp, is passing urine (via catheter I'm sure), and even had a few licks of food this morning. That makes us hopeful! We're hoping that they will allow us to visit with him at lunchtime today. He couldn't have visitors after the surgery yesterday, as they wanted him to recuperate quietly.

Oh, that is GOOD news.

 

[sammi]

Hi chrissy! I'm so glad he seems to be recuperating well. I fell the stress so much from your postings and I remember it well.

Male cats block up because their urethra is smaller than a females. Females also can get crystals but they have a much larger opening and can pass them where a male cat has trouble and thus blocks up.Our vet told us that these blocked up cats will still form crystals after surgery but because the opening is bigger they pass them easier. Our Dusty had the "sex change" operation...where the opening is enlarged and shortened.... (that's the term our vets used many years ago) we actually had to have a surgeon drive up from the veterinary college to do the operation as back then it wasn't popular and a specialist had to perform it. My vet also told me when I inquired about pain that cats don't have many nerve endings "down there" and don't need pain meds? Weird I thought.

Yes we have pet insurance plans and yes at one time I did have 2 of my guys on it but it was really getting too expensive and at that time there were so many clauses as to what they did and didn't cover that we just cancelled it and boy did I pay big bucks but as a cat lover I'll do anything to keep my fur kids healthy and happy.

I'm so glad chrissy that he's on the road to recovery and I hope he's home and getting belly rubs before too long!

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Awhhhh for your kitty. And for you! I hope you get to visit him today!!!!

 

[chrissyk]

Awhhhh for your kitty. And for you! I hope you get to visit him today!!!!

Me too! We're trying to see him at lunchtime. Hopefully they will allow us to

This surgeon is AMAZING BTW. We are incredibly fortunate to have a clinic like this in the area. There was nothing like this in my old area, save for a large veternary school where I was actually scared to take my pets (they didn't seem to treat them well the few times that we ended up there). You need a referral from your vet to even see this surgeon, but she's outstanding. Our cat had a guardian angel watching over him yesterday, because if we'd been anywhere else I'm confident that he would have been put to sleep.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Me too! We're trying to see him at lunchtime. Hopefully they will allow us to

This surgeon is AMAZING BTW. We are incredibly fortunate to have a clinic like this in the area. There was nothing like this in my old area, save for a large veternary school where I was actually scared to take my pets (they didn't seem to treat them well the few times that we ended up there). You need a referral from your vet to even see this surgeon, but she's outstanding. Our cat had a guardian angel watching over him yesterday, because if we'd been anywhere else I'm confident that he would have been put to sleep.

I'm so glad there is this kind of service in our community. It's good to know if Kitty ever needs a surgeon.

 

[chrissyk]

I'm so glad there is this kind of service in our community. It's good to know if Kitty ever needs a surgeon.

I think that it's a bit of an unusual clinic...I don't recall having anything like this locally in MA. It's a huge relief to know that it's there. You do have to have a referral to be seen there, and they do have to agree to take the surgical case. That's good, though, since it seems to leave room in their schedule for emergencies like what happened to our cat yesterday. They also convert to an Emergency Clinic for the evening hours. That's where we're going if we ever have another emergency.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

I think that it's a bit of an unusual clinic...I don't recall having anything like this locally in MA. It's a huge relief to know that it's there. You do have to have a referral to be seen there, and they do have to agree to take the surgical case. That's good, though, since it seems to leave room in their schedule for emergencies like what happened to our cat yesterday. They also convert to an Emergency Clinic for the evening hours. That's where we're going if we ever have another emergency.

Ahhh I know where you are talking about. They have state-of-the-art equipment. Ihave heard nothing but wonderful things. I think this place has better stuff than the human ERs around here.

 

[Rajah]

for your baby, and y'all continue to be in my prayers. Sounds like he's doing well, though, if he's eating already again.

 

[chrissyk]

We were just able to visit with him They said that he has been really angry/grumpy (well no kidding, LOL!), but that he's able to pass urine. They're worried because he's not up and about using the litterbox yet, and he is therefore leaking urine on himself. They're not yet sure if that means that he'll have some level of incontinence in the future, or if it means nothing because he is still sedated by painkillers. We won't know for sure for at least another day. Either way, we were so happy to see him alive and acting like his grumpy self. We're going to visit with him again tonight

 

[chrissyk]

Ahhh I know where you are talking about. They have state-of-the-art equipment. Ihave heard nothing but wonderful things. I think this place has better stuff than the human ERs around here.

I think that they do have better stuff than the human ERs, LOL! I know that they used a laser in our cat's surgery. At this point, I wouldn't consider taking our pets anywhere else for surgery in the future. This place is fantastic!

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Awwhhhh