Anyone have a male kitty that had PU surgery

A few months after we adopted a 6 year old male kitty, he had a blockage, and we opted for the surgery. The surgery was a success, and after we fed him a special UT Health food, and he never had the problem again.

Yes, it was expensive, and yes, we did consider euthanasia, but I was having trouble with putting a cat down who was otherwise healthy.  He lived a long and luxurious life after the surgery; he passed away at 20 years old.

My cat had it done years and years ago. The surgery solved his urinary issues and he never had any bad affects from it. I don't remember any recovery issues. His rear end was kind gross looking until the hair grew back. My cat was about 2 when he had the surgery and lived to be 18.

Good luck to your sweet boy.

My cat Gizmo did. He had two urinary blockages in one week. The first time, he was unblocked and catheterized. But re-blocked as soon as the catheter was removed. The only choices were PU surgery or euthanasia. One of my closest friends had a cat that went through the surgery and went on to have 10 more healthy years and never re-blocked again. So I felt it was a good risk. We live near a veterinary surgical specialist who had performed at least one PU surgery a week for the past 10 years. The surgeon felt our cat was a perfect candidate.. Giz made it through the surgery just fine, recovery was tough, but he healed well and was urinating freely. Unfortunately just as he was really getting his little life back, he vomited and collapsed one morning. We rushed him to the vet, but he'd thrown a blood clot that lodged in his aorta and paralyzed him. There was no possibility to treat him, nothing could be done. We had to immediately have him euthanized to stop the suffering and let him pass peacefully. The vet said the clot was a delayed surgical complication.

I carry tremendous guilt over putting him through the surgery. It's a major procedure, and recovery is rough. He had to wear a cone for a month. And he had no idea what was happening to him, but was so sweet and accepting. He never bit or hissed, and eventually stopped fighting the cone. He did recover, and was getting back to normal when he died. The day before he died, he played and climbed back up on top of his favorite bookshelf and I felt that I had made the right choice. In retrospect I don't know what I'd do. Obviously the blood clot was an anomaly, but the vet who euthanized him said it was definitely from the surgery. I know I will never have a male cat again though.

My Milo has had 2 or 3 urinary problems. He's never been fully blocked. They said surgery is an option. I'd have to take him 8 hours away. He is a bag of nerves. He is a skittish cat, always jumping and running from things. When we got him my girls were 12 & 10 so they weren't young and crazy. We decided to put him on anti anxiety meds. He's more relaxed (still jumpy sometimes) and he hasn't had any urinary problems since. He holds his urine in for days until his bladder is huge and full.

Have they tried controlling his diet with prescription food? I have a cat who blocked twice within weeks of each other. This was 10+ years ago and since then has been on a strict prescription vet diet and never anything else. He's 16 now and healthy.

I've heard good things about the surgery if the diet route has already been tried. It's so tough to have to make these decisions for our pets. Hopefully your son comes to a decision that he is comfortable with.

Glad kitty is ok!  My son did have this surgery in his little guy two years ago. It went very well and he has been trouble free ever since. Well worth the money -  and it was not cheap.