Cannot express cats bladder

For those seeking advice on caring for incontinent pets and animals with kidney-related problems.
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TigerKitty
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Nov 29, 2016 4:58 pm

Cannot express cats bladder

Post by TigerKitty »

I cannot seem to express my cat's bladder. I have a 2-year-old cat who recently fractured his pelvis. No surgery has been required thankfully. The first day it happened he was pooping on his own but could not pee. The vet showed me how to express his bladder. But I cannot seem to do it. I can find his bladder fine but no matter how much I squeeze or roll or reposition my fingers nothing happens. I take him back to the vet and they express it just fine.

I’ve tried 3 times today to express his bladder but nothing is happening. His bladder is very large currently. It almost feels like a small rubber ball in his abdomen. I am afraid to squeeze too hard because of how large it is.

I am not sure what I am doing wrong.

I am taking him back again tonight to have it done. But hopefully, there are some tips I can use since taking him every day is starting to get expensive.
amyestes
Posts: 42
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2012 12:08 am

Re: Cannot express cats bladder

Post by amyestes »

Hi there,

Are you doing this on your own, or do you have a helper? I had a hard time getting the hang of things with my cat. Like your situation, the vet never seemed to have a problem and it was frustrating. I do it on my own, but at the vet's office there were always two people, so I had to have some special coaching to figure out a method that worked for me. I think it can be especially difficult during the first few weeks.

A few things that the vet tech who helped me told me that I really appreciated:

* It takes more pressure than you may think.
* She is never going to love this; but you are not hurting her.

If you are doing it on your own, I would be happy to tell you about my method in case it would be helpful for you.

Amy
TigerKitty
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Nov 29, 2016 4:58 pm

Re: Cannot express cats bladder

Post by TigerKitty »

amyestes wrote:Hi there,

Are you doing this on your own, or do you have a helper? I had a hard time getting the hang of things with my cat. Like your situation, the vet never seemed to have a problem and it was frustrating. I do it on my own, but at the vet's office there were always two people, so I had to have some special coaching to figure out a method that worked for me. I think it can be especially difficult during the first few weeks.

A few things that the vet tech who helped me told me that I really appreciated:

* It takes more pressure than you may think.
* She is never going to love this; but you are not hurting her.

If you are doing it on your own, I would be happy to tell you about my method in case it would be helpful for you.

Amy
I'm doing it on my own. I try to do it before I go to work, during my lunch break, and then in the evening. So far I've only done it once successfully and that was after the first time the vet showed me how. I too noticed it is usually more than one person helping at the vet.

Luckily he is a pretty laid back cat and doesn't mind being manhandled. So he doesn't fight me or try to get away when I am trying to do it. But for some reason, I cannot either get a good enough handle on the bladder or I'm not doing something correctly. I am wondering if it is because I am trying to hold him upright and do it.
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critters
Founding Member
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Joined: Sat Apr 28, 2001 7:00 pm

Re: Cannot express cats bladder

Post by critters »

It takes time to learn what you're feeling. It absolutely DOES take more pressure than you think! Can you find a vet tech or somebody more patient to show you how to do it? :slant:
amyestes
Posts: 42
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2012 12:08 am

Re: Cannot express cats bladder

Post by amyestes »

I also hold my cat upright to express her. I found that I had to have her above my waist level to do it. This is my method. I express her into the sink. This could also work with a large litter box on a table or counter at the right height for you, or if your sink is large enough, you could put a litter box or dish pan right in the sink. I use a spray bottle with bleach and water to clean out my sink after every expression, and that works for me.

I am right-handed and needed my stronger hand on her belly, so I pick her up and place her with her front feet on the counter to the left of the sink, so that I am holding her belly right over the sink. My current sink is just a single large basin, but I have also done this in a divided sink in which case my cat's front paws rest on the divider and her belly is over the basin on the right.

With my right hand on her under side and my left hand on her back, I feel with my right hand for the place where her ribs end. I keep both hands splayed as wide as I can, so that my thumb is pointed toward me and my four fingers are pointed in the other direction. It's like I am trying to create a belt with my hands that goes all the way around her abdomen. With pressure, I move my hands down from the end of her rib cage toward her tail until I find her bladder. To me, it almost like I am trying to push the last of the toothpaste out of an enormous tube. When I feel the edge of her bladder, I increase the pressure with my right hand and continue pressing from above with my left hand. Sometimes her belly is softer than others but there is always some resistance, sometimes it is very tight. I just keep pushing my hands together and toward her tail. I try to use my palms and the muscles between my thumb and index finger to press and push more than the tips of my fingers to squeeze. I remember one of the vet techs who worked with me telling me to think of pushing the pee out more than squeezing the bladder. At the time, that didn't really register with me, but now it seems right.

We've been doing this for a long time now but it took some time at the beginning for both of us to get used to it. She knows exactly what to expect so it is not upsetting for her at all now and she does not try to get away from me. But at first she squirmed -- it didn't make sense to her at all why I was putting her on the counter and holding her back feet in the air over the sink.

I second the idea of getting some help from vet techs if you can. I found that the vet techs could coach me much better than the vets on how to express. I even paid a vet tech to come to my house a few times and coach me on our particular setup. My other breakthrough moments came in the vet's office when I asked the vet tech to stand with me while I expressed my cat and they watched to coach me. One even put her hands right over mine so I could feel exactly where she was positioning her hands and how much pressure to use. And once when I was really feeling like I would never get it, I asked a vet tech just to watch me as I did my method. I got a tiny bit of pee out, but she said if I could do that, I could get it. That was such a relief, knowing I was close. As I got better, I would take my cat in for the vet techs to check. We had a kind of scale, and they would tell me, "Amy, you're not there yet. Her bladder is huge, like the size of a grapefruit." They would express her and I would try again. Our scale included grapefruit, orange, lemon, lime, and golf ball. Hearing the size of her bladder when I brought her in would let me know how well I was doing and how close I was to being able to manage this on my own.

It was also really helpful to me when Jean on this board told me that she expressed, waited 10 minutes for the bladder to re-form, and then expressed again. I don't need to do that so much now, but in the beginning I sometimes found that either my cat's bladder needed to be primed or more likely I needed a warm-up attempt. That first attempt was often not productive but the second try, 10 minutes later, often would be.

At least for us, bowel management is really important too. I express my cat's bowels before I do her bladder. Otherwise it doesn't work at all.

Finally, sometimes it seems harder and her bladder seems tighter than others. Not often, but occasionally. On those times, my sink method can be really helpful because I can put my right elbow on the bottom of the sink basin for additional leverage. The extra force that gives me is often enough to do the trick.

As I re-read this it sounds terrible but it's clear to me that Miss Kitty feels better after her bladder is expressed. If I can help in another way, please let me know. It's a wonderful thing you are doing, and I am convinced that if I can get this, you can for sure. It is terrific you have the option to try several times throughout the day. It sounds like you are already light years ahead of where I was a few weeks in.

All my best,

Amy
TigerKitty
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Nov 29, 2016 4:58 pm

Re: Cannot express cats bladder

Post by TigerKitty »

Amy your technique worked amazingly! Thank you so much!

It's like you can see the relief on his little face. :thankyou: :thankyou: :thankyou:
amyestes
Posts: 42
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2012 12:08 am

Re: Cannot express cats bladder

Post by amyestes »

That is great news! Congratulations!!!
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