Deleted
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Sept 20, 2024 22:23:14 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2017 2:21:32 GMT
For the blocked urine issue? My son is trying to decide if he should put his kitty through the surgery or put him to sleep. Kitty is 8 years old & has had this issue 4 times in the last couple of years & it doesn't seem to get better. Vet said surgery is the only recourse now & it has a couple of weeks recovery time & is also expensive.
Has your kitty been through this? Was it better after the surgery? Poor kitty is in so much pain when he gets blocked up. Son doesn't want to put him through more pain if it doesn't help.
Thank you all for the replies. Kitty went home & immediately was blocked again (on a weekend of course) but my son talked to the vet & he took kitty back & the vet said, let me keep kitty comfortable until the surgeon comes on wednesday, with no cost to you. So son went with the vet's suggestion. Kitty had the surgery, had some complications & stayed at the clinic for 2 more weeks. He is home now & healed enough to be without the cone. Kitty was so happy to be home! He is doing well now & my son is happy he made that decision. The vet was a great support & my son really appreciated it.
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Post by RobbyKay on May 26, 2017 2:40:33 GMT
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.
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Post by annaintx on May 26, 2017 2:56:32 GMT
I did it for my cat, I was in grad school at the time and my daddy paid for it. Loved my daddy. Anyway, my cat never had problems afterwards and lived to be 16 years old. He had a known heart condition, and the vet was confident in doing the surgery etc. My vet for the cats was awesome, he is world-renowned. If your vet thinks the cat can handle the surgery/recovery and you can afford it, I'd seriously think about it.
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scrapngranny
Pearl Clutcher
Only slightly senile
Posts: 4,813
Jun 25, 2014 23:21:30 GMT
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Post by scrapngranny on May 26, 2017 2:59:39 GMT
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.
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Deleted
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Sept 20, 2024 22:23:14 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2017 3:50:43 GMT
Thank you for sharing your experience, Peas. I hope my son chooses to go ahead with the surgery. It's a big decision when it is so expensive and the kitty has been through so much already!
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Post by tracyarts on May 26, 2017 8:45:28 GMT
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.
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Post by Bridget in MD on May 26, 2017 10:24:55 GMT
Our vet suggested we could try the same proceedure (penis removal?) but it was soooooooooooooooooooo expensive, and they told us flat out that they were not confident this would fix his problem. So we have opted not to, and this was in a very young cat (I think he was a year or so). He's on special food, and we got a dog in the mean time (our vet thinks his urinary issues were stress? triggered) so 3 yrs later, I feel like we enjoy him every day we have him, but with another episode, I am not sure what I'd do - the last one was so traumatizing for not only the poor cat, but our family...
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Deleted
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Sept 20, 2024 22:23:14 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2017 14:03:05 GMT
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. Thank you for sharing your story. This is what we are worried about, not only putting poor kitty through surgery like this and a long recovery, but another major expense then kitty doesn't get better anyway. I told my son I couldn't tell him what to do, only he could make the decision with what he can live with. He doesn't want to euthansize the kitty if it is only because it is expensive. But the trauma of the surgery & recovery to a kitty who doesn't understand is hard to put him through.
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Deleted
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Sept 20, 2024 22:23:14 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2017 14:04:32 GMT
Our vet suggested we could try the same proceedure (penis removal?) but it was soooooooooooooooooooo expensive, and they told us flat out that they were not confident this would fix his problem. So we have opted not to, and this was in a very young cat (I think he was a year or so). He's on special food, and we got a dog in the mean time (our vet thinks his urinary issues were stress? triggered) so 3 yrs later, I feel like we enjoy him every day we have him, but with another episode, I am not sure what I'd do - the last one was so traumatizing for not only the poor cat, but our family... Thanks for your story, too. My son is really struggling with this.
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milocat
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,560
Location: 55 degrees north in Alberta, Canada
Mar 18, 2015 4:10:31 GMT
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Post by milocat on May 26, 2017 15:06:38 GMT
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.
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Post by tracyarts on May 26, 2017 15:26:20 GMT
I told my son I couldn't tell him what to do, only he could make the decision with what he can live with. He doesn't want to euthansize the kitty if it is only because it is expensive. But the trauma of the surgery & recovery to a kitty who doesn't understand is hard to put him through. Most cats do recover from the surgery and do just fine with a prescription diet, and live normal lives. Gizmo developing a blood clot was an anomaly, but it is a surgical risk in animals just like with humans. The recovery is rough, but Giz was acting like his normal self after he healed, and didn't seem to have had any residual emotional trauma. It's major surgery. They essentially reconstruct the genitalia to function like a female cat's urethra and vulva. Urinary incontinence can be a risk factor, but is usually temporary at most. The worst part for Gizmo was dealing with the cone for a month. At first he fought it hard. And even after he got used to it, we had to improvise a harness/halter to keep it on him because he'd wait until we weren't paying attention and try to pull it off. We used a thunder shirt to help calm him when he got especially agitated with the cone, and it helped a lot. And the cone is non negotiable. The sutures are so delicate that a cat can do severe damage from grooming too soon, and need further surgery. There's a commitment to helping the cat recover because they need to be monitored more closely. It was a lot rougher than I expected. I couldn't not give him the chance though. And he would have been fine had he not had a complication.
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momto4kiddos
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,153
Jun 26, 2014 11:45:15 GMT
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Post by momto4kiddos on May 26, 2017 16:41:43 GMT
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.
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Deleted
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Sept 20, 2024 22:23:14 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2017 1:08:25 GMT
Updated!
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Sept 20, 2024 22:23:14 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2017 1:31:26 GMT
Obviously I don't know how to put update in the title. Maybe I need to get on my laptop.
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Post by Zee on Jun 25, 2017 2:01:41 GMT
Great update!
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Post by peasapie on Jun 25, 2017 4:30:46 GMT
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.
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QueenoftheSloths
Drama Llama
Member Since January 2004, 2,698 forum posts PeaNut Number: 122614 PeaBoard Title: StuckOnPeas
Posts: 5,955
Jun 26, 2014 0:29:24 GMT
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Post by QueenoftheSloths on Jun 25, 2017 13:32:43 GMT
One of my cats has blocked up twice in the last couple months. Right now he is on 4 different meds plus a supplement I found online called "Tinkle Tonic". He is supposed to have the prescription canned food, but doesn't like it, so we are feeding prescription kibble, plus regular canned food, since he isn't a big water drinker. The vet said that his blockage was farther back, so he is probably not a good candidate for the surgery. This has been a very stressful time for me. I have always had cats, and as they aged, I dealt with a wide range of medical problems, but I've never had this happen before. He's only 5, I was hoping for a few more years of good health.
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