Buddy's blocked. :(

[critters]

I saw Buddy assume the position twice, with nothing coming out, so I took him to the new Emergency place. They were SOOOO nice, and not very busy. When I went back with his Neurontin, the doc showed me the syringe full of sand-like crystals he'd pulled out of Buddy's bladder. Sigh. He seemed glad that it was a mechanical problem, not related to his neuro stuff, but I'm not so sure... Anyway, he's got a cath and an IV, and I'll get him tomorrow AM at 7 to take him to LAH. Poor little fart just can't catch a break...

[CarolC]

Thank goodness you caught it. Thank goodness the Emergency place was so good. Do you get to check on him tonight? Maybe take him a little bite of turkey? I've noticed that emergency clinics run their doctors on shifts and all the docs are not always equally good in all areas. Poor you that this would have to happen on a holiday! Glad it's just overnight...

[critters]

He said we caught it so early that there wasn't any blood, but he agreed Buddy's bladder is thickened. When I gently tried to express him and he screamed, I knew...

[Christine]

Poor little guy...thank God he has you watching over him. So sorry.

[critters]

I went by there, but they wouldn't let me see him. He said they're struvites and that there's a stone or a mass of debris that showed up on an xray. I'll pick him up tomorrow at 7 to take him to our regular doc. He ate supper, so he's not all bad.

[Debbie-Spain]

Hi Critters

This is my first message after a long time away...!
Sorry about Buddy having a problem... is he home yet?

My wheelie dog Bombón has had a big problem with struvite crystals, coupled with chronic UTIs etc. Anyway, although we are still struggling with the UTIs (she has tried just about every antibiotic that exists), we at least managed to get the struvite under control with Hill's S/D and Royal Canin Urinary, the tinned S/D really does seem to help especially, although in dogs at least it can only be used for a certain length of time.

The other thing is that struvite crystals form when the urine is alkaline. In Spain we have a medication called "Urgenin", actually it's a plant extract but used in conventional medicine for people/kids with urinary problems. Right now I can't remember the plant name; something like echinacea but don't quote me on that, I can check it for you. Anyway it helps acidify the urine (better than Cranberry does, as far as I know, Cranberry's acidifying properties are only transient, though it has a different mechanism that does appear to help fight against infection). You can just add drops to their water. I had used it with Kat a long time ago too, when she had struvite (hmm, seems to be paralysis = UTI and crystals, but I'm never sure which comes first, the UTI or the crystals) and she never showed any side effects (it was recommended to me by 2 different vets).

With Bombón, I found it extremely useful to have some of those dip strip testers to check her urine pH (as well as leukocytes, blood in urine, etc), so when it started getting high I would add S/D back to her diet and give her Urgenin drops, and get the pH back down again. Obviously you don't want it too low, because then oxalate crystals can form, which is pretty frustrating. I find that in her case, between 6 and 7 seems to keep her struvite-free... The dip strip testers are not the most accurate test you can do but are really useful as a guide, sometimes you can see a problem on them before you notice it in the urine (e.g. blood in urine can't always be seen, but if it tests positive there could be a problem, same goes for rising leukocytes).

Of course, being a kitty Buddy is probably smaller than Bombón and being male, his opening is going to be much smaller, so presumably less crystal formation is needed to cause a problem like an obstruction.

I hope he gets well fast and that you find that it is controllable with diet.

Debbie

PS: I express three of my animals and two of them have very thickened bladder walls, only Foxy doesn't, presumably because he hasn't been paralysed for long enough yet

[critters]

No, Buddy's not home yet; he's still obstructing due to some inflammation or something. Thanks for all the info; we want to avoid a PU because of the risk of UTI.

Glad you came by for a visit!!

[Bendy Kitty]

many purrrs for Buddy's quick return.
i don't remember what you feed, but i'm guessing you already have him on a urinary diet and know about methagel.
can you give him fluids to help "rinse out" his bladder when he isn't blocked? it is something we have done with UTI cats here, and crystal cats too. since it is hard to get them to drink more, mom woudl give 75-100mls of SQ fluids daily for a couple days in a row to "flush" them.
course it depends on how wiggly the kitty is.

hoping he can avoid a PU surgery, and youg et the crystals cleared up soon!

headbonks and purrs

bendy

[critters]

Thanks! He doesn't like SQs, but I was giving him water and food, mixed to a slop, until she told me not to 3 weeks before. He getting another cath tonight.