cat question...

Harley44 · August 2007

Hi all,

My cat, Thor, had an emergency today... just at 5:00, we noticed unusual behavior... my dh noticed that his little "weenie" was swollen, and he was laying funny on his side, and crying... so we called the emergency vet, and took him in. He had a urinary block, but it unblocked on the way to the vet... anyway, he's on antibiotics, and he's feeling better. Now we BOTH are on antibiotics, because I have low WBC, and that is another story...
We will take him to his regular vet tomorrow, but just wondering if anyone else has this issue with their cat, I have read that it is mainly a problem for MALE cats, and they need to get SPECIAL food... anyone have any advice???

Thanks Lots,
HARLEY

geebung · August 2007

Hi Harley,

So glad your dear puddy cat is recovering. Poor boy - it must have been painful and stressfu for him and for you. I love animals. Cats are such a comfort - just hearing them purr or watching them roll over in the sun - pure poetry in motion! No wonder they lower blood pressure!

I have an older male cat and so far he hasn't had any urinary problems but I do know of many who have had this. You know about the special food so you probably also know the importance of keeping up a constant supply of clean, fresh water to keep their urine well-diluted. I'm sure your vet will know more than I do.

Hope Thor stays well now. Gentle pats to him.

Sierra · August 2007

So sorry, poor little thing
I hope he is coming along today

((((Thor)))

sad when our furbabies
are ill

Emelee26 · August 2007

Hi,
My childhood cat had that...there is special food now and it helps to give wet food sometimes so it's not a diet of all dry food - although some vets don't like wet food. I have 2 male cats as does my aunt and we mix wet and dry and they have never had a problem...sending healing thoughts to you and Thor
Love Marisa

Harley44 · August 2007

yes, the emergency vet said that he didn't like wet food...but Thor also has constipation problems, and wet food is good for that! So we will try to keep doing both dry and wet food. We usually give dry cereal in the morning and wet food at night!

My dh says that he wishes he could be OUR cat!! lol

We have the petmate water fountain, and BOTH Thor & Spike really like to dring the water from the fountain!

Thor seems to be feeling better today, thank God!

thanks!
HARLEY

Anonymous · August 2007

Harley....I've just started seeing a new Iams dry food intended for cats with digestive problems, so maybe that could help him with constipation..? And of course lots of water is important, but it sounds like you're taking care of that (besides, what can one do if the cat doesn't like to drink?!). I've only had one male cat in all of my years of owning multiple cats, so I don't know much about the urinary problems that they're prone to.

Hope that he continues to improve, poor baby!

Marin

Calico · August 2007

Harley,
my cat is 17 and when he was 4, he had urinary block due to crystals in his bladder. It was painful and had to be taken care of surgically (catheter and cleaning out the bladder)...with one more incident after. He has been on diet food (I buy regular Purina, says on there "to prevent" urinary problems) and no problems since.
He had 5 teeth pulled a few years ago and drinks his water with his paw (making a huge mess and enjoying it )...

You want to make sure there are no crystals in his bladder (xray would work).

I love him to pieces

God Bless

AlaskaDeb · August 2007

We had a male cat in the late 70s that got urine crystals and blockages. He was my dads favorite cat. They ended up building him a whole new urinary tract out of silicone tubes! He lived for 5 or 6 more years.

Originally they told us that diets high in magnesium and ash contributed to the problem; now they think it has more to do with the pH of urine (acidic or alkaline).

I have heard that you should avoid fish flavored foods, which might cause crystal formation. I know that the wet-dry food thing is still up in the air.

Once he has had a blockage, you have to watch him very carefully.

Female cats also get the crystals, but since the urinary tract is shorter, they pass them more easily.

Good luck with your fur baby!

Deb C

ADK · August 2007

I had a cat that often had blood in his urine. It was dxed as crystals. I gave him pills twice a day, and the problem cleared up. I did not give him special food. I don't really recall the name of the drug - dextra-something. We got it from the vet and on-line. When he joined our family, the vet thought he was about 3 years old. He lived with us for the next 13 years. He reminded me about his pills and was an angel about taking them. I was in for such a shock when I tried to pill a regular cat.

I now have a cat that is only 5 years old and has kidney failure. He gets the special food and will have a check up in October. I have my fingers crossed for both your little guy and mine.

Harley44 · August 2007

Marin,

Thanks! Yes, it IS hard to get a cat to do anything they don't want to do! Lucky for us, both Spike & Thor just LOVE their waterfountain!

Harley

Harley44 · August 2007

geebung,

Thanks! Thor seems to be feeling much better, but we will take him this afternoon to our vet, and get some special food for him.

Cats are such a great source of comfort! I love to hear them purr...

Harley

Harley44 · August 2007

Calico,

Yes, we were worried about that surgery and catheter... but I am so glad he didn't need that!

Glad to hear that your kitty is doing well, and they are so fun to watch when they play in their water!

HARLEY

Harley44 · August 2007

Deb,

Oh, sorry your cat had to go through so much, but it's good that they were able to make a new urinary tract... medicine is amazing!

Thanks for the good thoughts...

Our cats are such a part of our lives... they are an important part of the family!

Harley

Harley44 · August 2007

Layne,

Thor won't eat pumpkin, but we started giving him his hairball treat gel on top of a little scoop of baby food - sweet potato flavor. Both Spike & Thor love it!

I used the benefiber too for awhile.

Thanks for all the great cat advice!

Yes, these are our four legged furry children!! lol

HARLEY

Darbysmom · August 2007

Hi Harley, I am glad Thor is feeling better. My cat Molly is female but has had UT problems - she also developed Bladder stones which cost a fortune removing.LOL. The fountain is a good idea as fluids are so important. Molly drinks more not than before. Also, she uses the Waltham Urinary tract food - SD that I get from the Vet. She likes it and has not had an infection for over two years.

I don;t post often these days but have followed your story on the various boards and know you are a strong person and will do well. When I saw the post title I thought it was about a CAT scan but when I saw it was about a furkid, I just had to respond.
Good luck to you and Thor. I hope your Chemo will be over soon and you will not get too sick.

Connie

Harley44 · August 2007

ADK

The emergency vet said that Thor had some blood in his urine because it was tinged with it, when he manipulated him into peeing on the examining table!

It's good that your kitty was so good about getting pills! Spike is good about getting medicine! This was the first time we had to give Thor a pill. We crushed up the pill and mixed it in with his wet food, so I think for the next week, I'm going to try using wet food for both breakfast and dinner! It's easier that way!

Our first cat, Axel was HORRIBLE about taking pills! He was seldom sick, but one time when we had to give him pills, my dh put it in a piece of cheese... Axel chewed and chewed and chewed... and SPIT that pill right out!!! lol
He eventually just crushed it up and put it in the cheese that way. Axel ate it, but he kept looking all the while he was chewing, as if he was thinking, "I know this tastes weird, he pulled one over on me..." When he was 11 years old, and had cancer... we had a vet come to the house to give him the shot, and help us say good bye. It was SO HARD!!

Sorry to hear about your kitty, with kidney failure!!

Hugs,
HARLEY

geebung · August 2007

Harley, so glad that Thor is feeling better. Hope he never has this problem again. Hope you can find him a good laxative. Loved your description of Axel's suspicion over the disguised tablet!

It is so sad to have a pet put to sleep. I also had to call the vet to my house a few years ago to give my darling dog her final needle. I held her and stroked her while the rest of the family stood around crying. Then we took her to a mountain and buried her under a huge tree. Somehow, that ritual helped in our grieving. I still have a photo of her on my kitchen wall.

Layne, I have (laughter) tears running down my cheeks after reading your post about giving an enema to a cat and the perma orange nose! You have a gift for writing!

biondi · August 2007

HI HARLEY,
I ALMOST LOST TWO OF MY KITTIES, URINARY TRACK THING TOO, BUT IT WAS FROM THE CAT FOOD, CAUSE BOTH GOT VERY SICK. MY BIG BOY STAYED IN THE HOSPITAL FOR THREE DAYS, WITH A CATHATER TO LET THE URINE OUT. HE SURVIVED, AND I NOW HAVE HIM ON RX -PURINA UR FELINA FORMULA (DRY FOOD) AND DR. WEIL'S PET PROMISE (WET FOOD) BOTH ARE DOING GREAT NOW, FUR GROWNING BACK AND GAINING WEIGHT. THEY WERE BEING POISONED BY THE CAT FOOD. THOUGH IT WAS OK, I WAS FEEDING THEM IAMS DRY FOOD, AND FRISKIES WET..I READ ABOUT CROSS CONTAMINATION OF FRISKIES, SO WILL NEVER GIVE THEM THAT AGAIN. ONE MALE AND ONE FEMALE..COST TO GET THEM WELL..$750.00 THEY ARE MY FERAL CATS. BOTH STAYED VERY NEAR ME AFTER MY B/C SURGERY, SO I OWED IT TO THEM.

Harley44 · August 2007

biondi,

Oh, SO sorry about the pet food poisoning!! We started making our own cat food at one point, and we tried it for 2 months, after this scare got to the ALL TIME high point! I had just had my mast. surgery, and was having to make the food every couple of weeks, but it was worth it to know what was going into their food. We stopped recently, since Thor was showing signs of this urinary blockage.

I know that our pets know when we need them, when we aren't feeling well, physically or emotionally. Spike and Thor will sleep on the bed with me some nights, and they are always when I am feeling REALLY down, and need them. Somehow, they just KNOW...

Hugs,
HARLEY

Harley44 · August 2007

Hi Darbysmom,

Thanks, Connie!

Glad that Molly is doing well, too. We took Thor to his regular vet yesterday, and they said that after he's off the antibiotics, they will see him again, and they want to check his urine to see if it's acidic or alkaline, so they can determine what kind of cat food he needs. They weren't even sure if he would need to change food, but because these urinary problems are usually chronic, I want to do the right thing for Thor, and get him on the best food for his condition.

I have 3 more txs of TC, and should be finished around Oct. 9th! Aug 28th is my 2nd tx! I will be halfway through! yippee! I'm kind of depressed, though, because I will lose my hair next week. We bought a wig, but it is SO emotionally traumatic to me, to lose my hair!!

All the best to you and your furkid!
HARLEY

Harley44 · August 2007

Geebung,

Thanks for the warm wishes. I am going to have Thor's urine analyzed so we can determine whether he needs a change to he pet food, and I want to keep giving him 'wet food', to help with his constipation issue. The time he was constipated, it was SO funny! He would just go into the litter box and sit there, and he just looked like he was thinking "I really need a magazine, to pass the time".
The vet kept him for a week, and gave him enemas, and finally they gave him some motility drug, which did the trick! Man, he was SO mad at us, for making him stay at the vet, and get enemas! lol

I know losing a pet is SO HARD!! It hurt SO BAD!! It felf like someone put a knife into my heart!!

hugs,
HARLEY

Indigoblue · August 2007

Dry cat food; not good; even the urinary tract infection type is often toxic to male cats because of their narrow urethra; had a cat die from a blockage; loved that little guy; still cry over losing him. He hid from me; at the time I was busy with school, 3 jobs, and I was even working for veterinarians part of the time. Totally missed my attention until he had an "accident" on the pile of artwork I was working on; immediately rushed him to the vet, but it was too late, and he died due to infection.

I had other kitty's with uninary tract infections, knew how and what the symptoms were; his sypmtoms came on suddenly. I try to feed my cats homemade goods, with a teaspoon for olive oil in their dinner every day, along with filtered water and always a daily cleaning of the littler boxes.

Hope he's okay now, keep an eye on him.

Indi

Harley44 · August 2007

Hi, Indi,

So sorry to hear about your little furbaby!!!

Thor is doing better, but I will still need to get a urine sample for the vet. She said to wait til after ONE week after being on antibiotics... So next week, I'll get that sample, and maybe when we go to the vet, I'll ask for an x-ray, which she mentioned, to see what is going on. His clump of urine is usually big, but today it was small, so I'm worried that there is still something going on.

Please pray for Thor, I'll be seeing the vet as soon as I can get the urine sample, and see what is happening... Oh, I love these guys so much!!

Thanks!
HARLEY

Sierra · August 2007

Hi Harley:

I have wee Thor in my prayers

and also any others here
who need them

Fur Babies are special
people... )

Hope he improves

Hugs

ADK · August 2007

Hi Harley,

If you are really worried about Thor, the vet can get a urine sample. The vet told us it was best if they did it. The way they do it is you try to keep the cat out of their box for about six hours and then bring him to the vet and the vet uses a needle to extract the urine. My little guy was suprisingly good - he stood up with his paws on my DH and the assistant held his back. The vet stuck a needle in his bladder and got the sample. If we hadn't had it taken that way, we might not have known about his renal failure. You might want to call the vet to see if they want to do this. I know you don't want to spend the weekend worrying that he may be getting worse.

Good Luck.

Harley44 · August 2007

Sierra,

Thanks! It helps to know that others are praying for him. You're right... our furbabies, ARE people!!

HARLEY

Harley44 · August 2007

Hi ADK,

Our vet was... well, strange. She acted like it would be BELOW her to try to get the urine sample! They told US to get it!! I must say, although I like this veterinary medical center, this particular vet isn't very 'warm', so I think that once this is over, I'll request someone else.

This place is really nice, and the owner, Dr. Ernest Ward, has a TV show on Animal Planet. I'm sure we could NEVER see Dr. Ward!!

Thanks!
HARLEY

Darbysmom · August 2007

Hi, My vet not only gets the urine sample but says that is best as it does not have foreign bodies iin it. i CAN GEi CAN

Darbysmom · August 2007

Oops - posted before I finished. Anyway, I can get a urine sample from my Scotty, Darby, but imagine it is hard to get it from a cat. My cat Molly always had the sample done at the Vet. I know these urinary infections are even more dangerous in Males so I will keep Thor in my thoughts and prayers. I hope he is doing better.

Connie

ADK · August 2007

Hi Harley,

I'm sorry your vet reacted that way - mine was really pushing for us to have him do it for the same reason that Connie mentioned - it's purer. How are you going to get the sample? I don't even remember how my vet said we could do it because we have three cats and there would be no guarantee that the sample we got from the box would be his.

I'll keep Thor in my thoughts and wishing for good news.

Good Luck.

Harley44 · August 2007

Hi Darbysmom,

Thanks for the prayers! Thor seems ok now, but since his urine clump is smaller than his normal ones, I think he still needs to be checked further, and the vet said that she may need to do an x-ray, so Monday we may do that, and I will ask if it's possible for her to get the urine sample when I go back in a week, since he has to be off the antibiotics for a week before getting the urine sample.

Thanks,
HARLEY

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