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Mink&WillowsMom
Please keep a prayer for Rohan -- he's in the hospital.
Stable, should be okay, but he had crystals in his bladder that blocked his urethra, and he almost got to life-threatening stage before I realized. His bladder was about the size of a large apple, and at risk of rupture. This afternoon I saw him try to pee on my bed. I'd seen him pee on another rug a couple days ago, and knew that it was very odd, but the only logic I could put to it was a protest over litter boxes that need changing.

After I scooped him off the bed, he meowed in a very distressed way -- pain from being lifted on his abdomen, no doubt. Then he lay by the door and whimpered, so immediately I found a vet with extended hours and got him in. By the time we arrived, he was blocked and yet so full he was incontinent, just dribbling everywhere. If I'd waited until tomorrow morning he could have died.

I arrived thinking was constipated, fearful maybe a hairball obstruction. Ten minutes later she wants to get him out of the room and into the back to catheterize him NOW, while also quickly trying to get me up to speed on what's happening and how urgent it was. She quickly tried to outline the scope of what I was dealing with, and explain enough so that I can make informed decisions. Meanwhile, I know Roh is soooo afraid here, and first she says "heart murmur," and then I hear bladder blocked anesthesia crystals xrays cardio-myopathy stones surgery die hospital $1500 euthanasia. Flashing like red neon signs in my brain. I'm trying to track the details, but ohmigod she's saying Rohan is really sick, in dire distress and lots of pain, and what am I supposed to be looking at on this financial e$timate? Did I wait too long? What clues did I miss? How did I not know he was in pain? And why the hell did she bring up euthanasia? Is he really that sick he might die? Or is she just giving me a financial out? Finally I realized that's what she was doing, and I just looked her in the eye and said, "euthanasia's off the table."

Honestly, I don't know how parents leave their human children in the hospital. I feel like such a bad mama, leaving him all alone in a cage, catheterized and two IVs, terrified by the drugs and the procedures, and the cone he has to wear so he won't pull out the cath. They let me sit with him for a while, but then there was nothing to do but come home. Fortunately the vet tech who's on tonight will take phone calls so I can check on him through the night.

He's also got a heart murmur and possible cardiomyopathy, but we'll deal with that later.
He's only two years old.
I am really overwhelmed right now.
Just today I told someone I've been trying to shake a sense of doom. *pow* strikes again. Just a little left jab, but still enough to ding me.

So I just need to remind myself, he's doing okay right now. They were able to catheterize him with just sedation, not general anesthesia, to my great relief. His blood panel looks good, and he's not too dehydrated. They gave him pain meds, and flushed out the bladder. She said usually the urine has more of a sandy look to it, and his doesn't, which means he doesn't have nearly as many crystals, which bodes well. We talked a little about what I've been feeding them, and may have found a culprit. Typically, the treatment is a lifetime of very expensive food my other cats in the past have hated. Hopefully it has improved, or I have other options. I'm holding out a thread of hope that this was a one-time thing due to two months of cheap tuna fish cat food.

Kim
PS: I just called the vet tech, who said that he's settled a fair bit, especially after they blocked his view of the room with a towel, and that he was eating some. Luna and Willow are asking me questions.

katzen11
beautiful sweet little Rohan
i am thinking of you and your so concerned mama
i do hope, that you get better very soon
that`s a good sign, that you are already eating a little bit
all my best wishes
Eva
goliath
Dear Kimberly,

My thoughts and prayers are with you and Rohan during this troublesome time. Here's wishing Rohan a speedy recovery and a happy reunion soon with you and your other kittyloves, Luna & Willow. wub.gif

Hugs,
Beth
LoveThem
My prayers are with you and Rohan. 2 years old.....he just HAS to get better.

My only times with crystals and blocked bladder: My Little Girl: I noticed she was trying to pee but seemed disturbed. I noticed a blood spot on my beige carpet after she got up from lying on her stomach as cats do. I called the vet's office and they said to bring her in the next day. That if it was a boy cat..it was an emergency but a girl cat could wait until the next day. I did and she was given antibiotics for cystitis (if I remember right).

My Little Guy had blocks 2x in his 16 1/2 years. The reason boys are an emergency was explained that boys have a tiny uretha or bladder than a girl does and so crystals can more easily block them and they have to be brought in immediately.

I always had a lot of litter boxes available and where I sit at my desk I see 3...1 in a bedroom and 2 behind a couch. My Little Guy I would see would get in the box and squat to pee and then get out. Usually I would figure he went but then what he would do is keep walking from box to box, squatting, getting up, etc. Told me he was having a hard time so I called the vet (I called a mobile vet who came right out and flushed him out here at home). She had explained the problem. One other time he did the same thing and again she came out and flushed him and he was okay.

She explained to me it was cause he was eating dry food a lot which can cause crystals. Now my little girl and Little Guy's twin brother ate dry also. She had a problem one time but that apparently was a little different cause I remember she had cystitis and got antibiotics. Keeper, the twin, never had a problem.

But my boy, Little Guy did have it 2x and flushing him out took care of it right away at home. I don't know what would have been done if he had been further along.

I don't understand why flushing didn't bring Rohan back to normal if it is crystals. Anyway. my Little Guy never again had dry food and he never again had a problem. He had Friskies wet food and was fine...we also bought Science Diet Senior wet food..

My Little Guy never acted like he was in pain but maybe I caught it right away since he was in my line of sight while working at my desk. But what he was doing was not normal and I just always get on the phone and describe it to the gals at the vet hospital and I found they were good about...whether or come in right away or not. I had a mobile vet come out and she did immediately...cause Little Guy was a battle to get into a carrier and hated the vet place. This way I locked him in a bathroom and she went in and shut the door, put him in a zippered bag up to his neck and was able to put in an IV or whatever she needed to flush him out. So the next time he peed...it worked.

I am so sorry Rohan was in such distress and hope to hear good news from you soon.

Hugs and prayers wub.gif
Mink&WillowsMom
Visited my sick boy today.
Aside from the not-feeling-good, in pain, tubes everywhere part, it is SOOO stressful for him to be there. He's such a skittish cat, that every door opening, drawer slide, rustle of papers dilates his eyes full open. He's in total flight-or-fight adrenal mode, and it breaks my heart. He's never been taken anywhere before, so seeing me this morning was probably a huge relief that I didn't just leave him and his life as he knew it was over.

I brought him a blanket from home, with all the reassuring smells. He sniffed at it for a moment, recognizing it. I sat with him for an hour, hand on him the entire time. At first he purred and trembled, then the trembling calmed, and then finally his eyes dropped to half-mast (until the next door opened). I'm torn -- I want to go back and see him tonight, but it IS a 55-mile round-trip.

I spoke with the doc late this afternoon, and all signs are in the right direction. She cautioned that he has more hurdles to pass, "last night we had a cat with the same thing, and everything that could go wrong, did, so I don't yet want to say he's fine..." But with Roh, at least everything that could go right, has been.

The highlights:
- there's been no visible crystals in his urine today, and the bloody color is gone
- the crystals are calcium, not struvite
- his catheter comes out tonight, and then they'll watch to see if he continues to pass urine tomorrow
- his heart rate has normalized (last night it was 220 with pain and fear) (high calcium can slow the heart rate, so even when it was high last night that was sort of good news)
- his xrays showed no calcium stones in his kidneys, ureters, or bladder (big hooray) (that would have required surgery)
- his xrays shows a normal-size heart (they recommend an echocardiogram at his next physical)
- if he urinates tomorrow well, with no extra bleeding or pain, he gets to come home tomorrow night (mamasorelieved)

In the reflection on the wall, you can see his half-mast, miserable-resigned look on his face.
Poor baby. sad.gif(((
kimbermama
LoveThem
Poor baby. I pray he gets to come home all well asap.

You did list lots of good sounding things. I think your visit probably gave him some strength especially bringing that blanket
from home.

Please keep us updated.

Hugs and prayers wub.gif
Mink&WillowsMom
ROHAN'S HOME!!!
Oh yay......................{huge sigh of relief}

Luna says, "You smell bad and your mother dresses you funny."

He peed some, he pooped some, and he ate some.
He's purring, affectionate, tail high in the air.
Exhausted beyond words
(so am I for that matter)

They sent him home earlier than usual because he wasn't doing the basics (peeing, pooping, eating), just cowering tight as a little snare drum. Because peeing is so essential for him today, they wanted to get him quickly home so he could relax and go.

The second picture shows how tired he is -- the staff never saw him sleeping the entire 38 hours he was there.
Tomorrow I have lots to do, as I haven't been able to focus on a single other thing. But for now, there's relief and calm in my household.
Kimberly
Mink&WillowsMom
NOW what does THIS mean???!? After being up for an hour in the middle of the night, I headed back to bed to find Rohan had peed on it. When I first brought him home this morning, he was incontinent, due to having had the catheter, I had guessed. But the rest of the day he'd been fine, dutifully going in the litterboxes (I have four). One of the litterboxes is now in the bedroom, only 7 feet from where he was. so did he just get caught off-guard? Is he telling me something's wrong? (I finally clicked that something was wrong when I saw him squatting to pee on my bed on Friday: "Mama! Something's wrong with my pee-er! Fix it!")

He looks content, sitting in the living room grooming himself. I really don't think it was one of the other cats, although Willow is hiding under the bed. It was just a small spot, dilute, and with that same off-note as on the pads on the way home from the vet (the drugs they'd given him, I suppose).

I CAN'T have an incontinent cat! Or one that pees on on my bed! I'm trying not to freak out here -- anybody have a similar experience? Any men here been catheterized? Does it challenge continence for a little while afterward?
Jon730
So sorry he has been through this! My Sheva had this. Damned DRY FOOD.

Two things happen when a male is catheterized (Ouch, I know..)

The urethra is VERY irritated, and this causes an urge to urinate for several days from the burning sensation. I guess the body wants to flush out whatever it is. So swollen and inflamed is the urethra that patients will not be allowed to go home till they can pass urine, even if it is a Day Clinic proceedure. Despite efforts to make catheters smooth and even lubricious with additions like polyvinylpyrrolidone in the formulation, withdrawing them causes abrasions.
The tissues have been stretched and dilated, and the valve at the bladder has been held open for days as well. Muscle tone will return.

It does get better. Males in general are plagued with long urethras, (Not as long as they say they are...) but passing stones or crystals are much worse for males. It FEELS like Miles and Miles and Miles when it's going on.

My wife has a disease that produces constant kidney stones (RTA). As people know, they are terribly painful.
I am grateful that I had a kidney stone ONCE so I can understand what she is going through, but just as grateful I had one ONCE!!!

Canned food has ~70% water. Male cats should not get dry food. Cats can live on VERY liittle water, and we hear stories of cats being found in shipping containers for long periods that end up fine. But how this is done is that the kidneys reabsorb water to conserve it. When they do so, waste and mineral concentrations rise and rise. When the solubility limit of calcium and magnesium compounds is exceeded, they crystallize out as salts such as phosphates, urates, various amino acid salts, and oxalates. Normally, citrate is synthesized in the kidney, which chelates calcium compounds and keeps things clear, but high calcium concentrations can overwhelm this self-protective mechanism.


By feeding canned food, the cat is forced to have 70% water. With feeding dry food, the cat can be tricked by his tolerance for low water consumption.
Regardless of ash &%^ysis, no male cat of mine will ever get dry food again.

I have seen personal ads in local newpapers from heartbroken cat owners begging people not to feed males dry food.

Everyone, human or FuzzyFriend, should drinks lots of water. The urine must not be allowed to come out dark. Once one has a stone or two, they indelibly remember that!!!
LoveThem
I agree with Jon, after my Little Guy was stopped up 2x....and I was told by my Mobile Vet dry food can cause it..both males and my female ate only wet for the rest of their life and no one ever had the problem again. So I do hope your vet told you only wet food.
And if others are eating dry for any reason..don't let him near it. (I wondered about that picture you took showing a bowl of dry food in his cage...although it also looked like a bowl of wet was there also...but..like, Jon said...he must be very sore and maybe the pee burns and he looks for the softness of a bed instead of hard litter...that's why I thought of newspaper for a while...see below).
Then too, you said your other cat is hiding under the bed so you are not sure who is doing it. Maybe you might have to try some
room confinement until you can tell who it is? But I would call the vet anyway.

As far as the peeing...I didn't have to have anyone use a catheter but anything foreign introduced into one's system may cause unusual reactions. I would do 2 things:

1. I would call the vet's office and ask the vet to call me ....after all, you have paid for all of this treatment and I always felt until they are normal after coming home.....questions are still part of what is going on.... I would ask for his opinion. I am sure since they do these things a lot as part of their job...they must have heard all kinds of reactions and would have the best idea on what to watch for...or it may be normal for the first few days, etc. I would tap the vet's brain on this.

2. In case the litter is painful for any reason, I would have a litter box with newspapers and see if he will go there instead..and I would keep that one by the bed or wherever the problem comes up.

By the way, as I think of it..now with a computer...I would also google about "cat catheter" and see what has been said about this from others.

The vet should always be able to be the one to relieve your worry right away but trying the other things might not hurt.

Best Wishes

Rohan...hugs and GET WELL SWEETHEART! I'm glad you are home. wub.gif
Mink&WillowsMom
I think, I THINK, Rohan is finally in the clear. Had to take him back to the vet again today, he'd been in iso and not peed for about 36 hours. But he wasn't drinking much either. So, not peeing because he's empty? Or full and re-blocked? Vet said he was only half full, and really massaged things around trying to feel. "If he doesn't pee by this afternoon, bring him back and we'll cath him again." He must have heard, because when I got home, the pad in his carrier was soaking wet. Yay!! Ever since then he's been looking downright sparkly. He's been hungry (finally), is drinking water again (finally), grooming himself (finally). Part of me wants to put him in iso one more night so I can find treasure in the litterbox in the morning and know it's his, and part of me says he's fine and I need to stop communicating to him that he's a sick boy.

It was calcium crystals, not struvite, so it's probably not related to diet as much as pH. I thought about all the changes I'd been making in their diet over the last several months, with the end result that the moisture content was really reduced. And then I added a bucket-load of repeated stress with my absences. The last one, in June, was nearly a month. Way too long for all of us. Oh yeah, plus my stress of losing half my income and needing to create new work. ~~~~~Eager for a period of calm now. Kimberly
Jon730
QUOTE
It was calcium crystals, not struvite, so it's probably not related to diet as much as pH. I thought about all the changes I'd been making in their diet over the last several months, with the end result that the moisture content was really reduced. And then I added a bucket-load of repeated stress with my absences. The last one, in June, was nearly a month. Way too long for all of us. Oh yeah, plus my stress of losing half my income and needing to create new work. ~~~~~Eager for a period of calm now.


Good luck to you both. I am now self-employed and in the same fix, and customers are paying late. We also have a big metal "cat" in the garage that is turning into a money pit...so...No doubt my cats have things to pick upon as well.

"Calcium". is rather vague. Struvites only occur from infectious incidents. Sometimes after passing stones there is albumin present as a soft coagulate. Massaging him may have blown it out. Now if you can keep him hydrated he should be fine, everyone hopes!
LoveThem
Rohan: I KNEW you could do it!

Rohan's Mom: Much better news than last time. Sometimes it feels like it takes forever to get back to normal but it sure is worth it when it does. Love it when these babies perk up again.

prayers and best wishes to all of you. Keep the good news coming!

Mink&WillowsMom
the urinalysis showed "calcium oxalates." Both vets said that it's rarer, and the cause isn't as clear, except that stress can play a significant role. They both said that it doesn't relate much to diet, but more to pH of the urine. It seems to me that if diet can alter pH (since it can in humans, I'm guessing it can in cats as well), then as long as I can provide a diet aimed in the right pH direction, I shouldn't have to be stuck with this expensive, uggy prescription canned food, yes?

has anyone else had to deal with calcium oxalates in kitty pee? ~kim
Mink&WillowsMom
At 3:39a Luna woke me, pawing to 'cover' a spot Rohan peed on the bed. Now he's in the litterbox bathroom, straining, able to express just a little bit. Yesterday, he looked downright sparkly -- and I'd noticed this evening he didn't look as good. But good enough that I didn't send him to bed with pain meds and muscle relaxants. He's only partially blocked, but definitely full. He'd been drinking so well last night.

It's now 4am. Do I load him up right now, in the middle of the night to the scary and expensive ER, or do I wait 4 hours and get him in first thing to my regular, closer vet?

The voice in my head that says I'm going to lose him is getting louder....
kimberhorrifiedconfusedexhausted
5catsmom
QUOTE (Mink&WillowsMom @ Aug 7 2008, 09:16 PM) *
the urinalysis showed "calcium oxalates." Both vets said that it's rarer, and the cause isn't as clear, except that stress can play a significant role. They both said that it doesn't relate much to diet, but more to pH of the urine. It seems to me that if diet can alter pH (since it can in humans, I'm guessing it can in cats as well), then as long as I can provide a diet aimed in the right pH direction, I shouldn't have to be stuck with this expensive, uggy prescription canned food, yes?

has anyone else had to deal with calcium oxalates in kitty pee? ~kim



Hey, Kim, long time no kitty talk. Seriously, I do hope Rohan's doing better. I have such a thing for character cats who are cream tabbies. I wish I had advice for you, but I've sure learned a lot. Dry food has been a staple in our house for longer than I care to remember, I think now after all these stories, we'll have to switch to canned. I honestly had no idea of the dry food dilemma, and I thought I know something about cats. Duh!

I tend to agree about the catheter causing irritation leading to some incontinence. As a nurse, I tended to see that a lot, but since I worked on an OB ward, it was somewhat different. Most of the women felt irritation following the removal of the cath, and personally (I've got five young 'uns myself) I can attest to the irritation factor. It's a foreign body, and no matter how well you clean the perineal area, the betadine or povidine you clean the urethra with, can be as irritating as the catheter. I can't imagine how bad it must be for a male, no matter how many stories I heard about men yanking them out and swinging them around their heads. (Okay, off topic, but the word picture still gives me chills.)

Well, I gotta get ready to go to the doctor myself now and parking at Walter Reed too often degenerates into a catfight anyway, so please let us know how brave little Rohan is doing. It's so stressful having an ill kitty. The worry about the cat, the worry about the bill, the worry about the aftereffects and if you're doing what's right . . . oh, it goes on and on, doesn't it. You could write a book, heck, we all could. You and Rohan, and the other little furpillows take care and write when you can - good to talk atcha again - Barb
Mink&WillowsMom
Rohan's back in the hospital. New hospital, farther away (80 mi RT), but I trust them -- used to be my regular vet years ago. Another blockage, right in the penis. Starting to talk about surgery, essentially cutting his penis off. I don't know anything about it, but it horrifies me to do anything so mutilating. I have a lot of research to do.

Right now I'm so thick-headed with sadness, fatigue, and fear --it's like trying to breathe through plexiglass, or swim through wool. ~Kim
Mink&WillowsMom
Got to the emergency vet by 5:20a, and they re-cathed him, put in an IV and cleared the block. She couldn't tell if the block was crystals or mucus, but at least his urine wasn't bloody this time. So we're back to where we started, although he's not bleeding and he's got a week's worth of antibiotics going already.

I'm horrified, sad, confused, and afraid.
There's a surgery that's now on the table, though maybe not immediately this weekend. The kind way to say it is "reconstruction of the urethral opening." The blunt reality is that they cut off his penis. I'm aghast at the thought of any kind of mutilating surgery, whether it's cropping a dog's ears, or declawing a cat (which is amputating the fingers at the first knuckle). But, those are for fashion and convenience, whereas this is trying to save his life. Still.

Then, of course, there's the prognosis. I need to learn a whole lot more about that. If he has a good chance of living a normal, healthy, continent life afterwards, then that's one thing. He's only two years old. If he's going to be ill, in pain, or incontinent, then I may have to let him go. I ache to even think about it. I feel like the universe is telling me I'm supposed to give up expectation of having smooth sailing in life again.
2002 - Tinsica died at 18-1/2
2003 - Cheddar died at 16
2005 - Dad "died" in front of me, full-on cardiac arrest and CPR
2006 - Mink died at 3 --tore me in half
2007 - Dad died
2007 - just starting to breathe again, three months later Dad's lovely cat Twitch died at 5
2007 - just starting to breathe again, three months later I totalled my car and got hurt
three months after that, in early February, you can bet I was extra cautious moving through the world...

The parallel arc is that in early October, just before my accident, I began a series of life-changing, transformative, go get your dream seminars. With each of seven trainings, I'd rise high into a new level of skill and possibility. Physically, the winter has been slow and exhausting. The trainings helped me move through healing in a big way, but the up down up down energy shifts has been disorienting. ("Wow, I feel great! Wow, I can hardly move!)

I just completed that series of trainings, excited about the future and happy life was telling me to breathe again,
and arrive home to find half of my income was gone, along with a job I'd held for seven years.
That's okay, I say, I'm full of new skills and possibilities.
Five weeks later, however, the math is starting to get quite squeaky.

And now Rohan is very ill.
I've spent a grand so far, and was faced this morning with euthanizing him, or committing to another thousand+.
And if he needs the surgery.....
I hate being put in the position of adding money to the equation of whether he lives or dies.
But as a friend of mine from the seminars said, "thi$ is a crackable nut."

Stress is a huge factor in why cats get this disease.
All my travelling has been so hard on them.
The pace was insane.
In March I was gone for 13 days, six weeks later I was gone for 7 days, then four weeks later I was gone for 25 days.
Luna has a nervous licking habit now, where she's worn away the fur on her belly.
Sable is limping, the next to visit the vet.
I know the trainings were so valuable, and I was so excited to get to the next one, although I did hold a lot of dread for leaving so long for this last trip. But I kept thinking, surely the cats will get through it okay?

I guess not.
Suddenly, the cost of self-development feels darker, so much more than money.
Do I really want to aim so high, when I have to pay for it with such lows?
kim
Muffins
Dear (((((((Kim & Rohan wub.gif )

I'm sorry to hear about your Rohan wub.gif .

Please know that you and your whole family are in my thoughts and prayers and I hope that your very handsome guy wub.gif continues to do well.

Love to you and yours,

Denise
LoveThem
I so sorry to hear about your baby.

As far as surgery....you can also get a second opinion, research the problem and the surgery on the Internet to see if there are any other clues.

As far as the surgery...why is it necessary, what are the alternatives, etc etc. You have probably already done all this but it is all I can think of to help.

I've never heard of any of this but I would sure try all these questions, etc.

Bless that sweet baby.

Judy
Mink&WillowsMom
My thoughts from this morning were wrapped in tissues of the abyss since echoes can sometimes feel like predictions.

One of my friends replied to my email post, and gently pointed out that I need to move into a much more positive space if I want to attract a good outcome. (Okay, so she kicked my butt. Sweetly, deftly, with necessity and skill.)

So, on that note, I am reformulating my thoughts on the matter.
~ He's in good hands. ~ What a blessing I *have* the option of spending the money on him. ~ Now that I've learned more about the surgery he might need, I find that it's actually safe and effective, with low risks. ~ Aside from the blockage, he's in excellent health. Good blood labs, strong, young. ~ Whether or not I caused this is not nearly as important as manifesting a positive outcome now. It is what it is, and now to attract all the loving healing energy to move forward with...

So--- that's my stand on it now.

I suddenly realized Luna is needing much more reassurance, so we played "throw" with her mousie toy, and that lifted both of us. (Dog owners sometimes refer to the game as "fetch", but we all know who trained whom to do what...)

~~~~~<later> I just got back from visiting Roh, and he's coping with it as best he can. I took a 2 sq. ft. quilted pad he's familiar with, and immediately he crawled under it. Ah! A place to hide! He hadn't shown any interest in dinner, but I scooped a bit of it up on my finger, reached under the quilt, and he snarfed it. He ate 3/4 can of food, bit by bit off the tip of my finger. That's the first decent meal he's had in a week, so I was thrilled. So his appetite is intact, he just doesn't want to eat in public.

And don'cha know it: I left Willow outside while I visited Roh, and got home just as it was getting dark. It's 10p now, fully dark, and he's out flirting with the edge of the woods, unwilling to come in. Roh is his best buddy, and he's all freaked out. It scares me when he's out like this; I want him indoors NOW. ~kim
5catsmom
I don't know if it will help, but whenever I'm faced with a money vs. potential feline-passing problem, I try to turn it around on the vet, with varying degrees of success. You know, the old "What would you do if it were your cat?" question. Sometimes they're surprisingly honest, heartbreakingly so, but other times, they can be remarkably honest in their optimism. Yes, it can be expensive, and luckily I've found a good vet now who'll take payments over time (he used to be military; we're military, so there's a sense of kinship there, thank goodness.) He also promotes acupuncture and pet massage, which is rare I think in an older vet but I have to respect his open-mindedness. (I do object, though, to the heartworm riddled dog heart in the jar in his exam room, but for the extra care I'll overlook it.) But I've heard of other vets who'll take payments over time, or postdated checks. Our babies are worth every penny, I believe. So when I can't get in to the military vet ($2 a visit) I go to him, and don't regret it.

Best of wishes to Rohan, poor little guy, he sounds like a fighter. And he has so many people out here pulling for him. Take care - Barb
Mink&WillowsMom
Thanks Barb, so good to hear from you again! rolleyes.gif I missed you. Rohan might be coming home this afternoon!!! His cath is out, and he hasn't peed on his own yet, which is the same pattern as last weekend. Once the vet was able to express his urine and get a good stream (i.e., the block is gone) then they sent him home to pee. They're thinking the same today. It's 9a now. By noon they should have a decision. This time they added anti-inflammatory meds, so let's aim [a urine stream] for a better outcome.
Mink&WillowsMom
Roh's home, and he looks completely different this time. He's black and white with blue eyes. Hee, if my sense of humor has returned, that's a good sign....

The obstruction was cleared, this time no presence of crystals. More of a mucus plug. Surgery might be needed if he does this again, but for now he has all the boy parts he had two weeks ago. Most importantly, he's making lovely, big, regular-size pees in the litterbox. Yay! He didn't do that at all when he came home last time, so this really seems like a huge leap back to normalcy. And he's hungry. This time they added an anti-inflammatory. And he was in a cozier box where he could hide, so I think he endured the experience itself a little better. Luna hissed a couple times, but quickly set that aside and sat companionably next to him. He needs that so much..... I think last time he came home he was so swollen inside that he still couldn't pee, and it just clogged him up again. This time, he looks tired, but so much more at ease. Oh, and he's not licking his penis like last time, so whatever distress he felt in his nards is relieved. Keep the flowing, freely flowing healing thoughts coming.
Mink&WillowsMom
Roh looks punky this morning. When I finished giving him 5 meds, he was shaking. Poor baby. He seemed hungry last night, though he didn't eat much. This new vet was clear: better that he eat anything than eat just the right food. I've got four different kinds of wet, dry, wet with dry, wet with chicken broth -- he's not really eating any of it. I isolated him part of the night, and he put out two medium-small pees. <pause> Oh! And just did another one! Good boy!

It's dawned on me that I'm not eating or drinking well either, and that I've been blocked from my usual flow of confidence and creative ideas as I've been avoiding dealing with the loss of my job and creating new income /new career path. Time to start living by example... ~kim PS; please keep FLOWING thoughts of good health STREAMING in.
LoveThem
You said:

Roh looks punky this morning. When I finished giving him 5 meds, he was shaking. Poor baby. He seemed hungry last night, though he didn't eat much. This new vet was clear: better that he eat anything than eat just the right food. I've got four different kinds of wet, dry, wet with dry, wet with chicken broth -- he's not really eating any of it. I isolated him part of the night, and he put out two medium-small pees. <pause> Oh! And just did another one! Good boy!

If the idea is definitely to eat..don't overlook the stinky food... Whiskas Purrfectly Fish pouches...especially the salmon,
although the tuna or tuna and whitefish, etc could work too.

When my boy, Little Guy, had stopped eating due to cancer...he would eat this food but nothing else. Joanne in this forum when one of her kitties wasn't eating and the point was to eat...whether nutrious or not...I told her about my boy and she tried it and her kitty ate it also. I guess the smell is so strong they are drawn to it. Might try one of these pouches for your baby.

Then when he is all better...give him what you normally like to feed him. Also I gave my boy I think it is called NutriCal..from the vet...a supplement that has calories. My boy ate that also. If very sick babies will eat these products..they are worth a try on ones who just don't feel up to par.

Good luck...I hope to hear more good news...like he is peeing okay. Funny what we get excited about with these babies but then they do mean that much to us.

Hugs and prayers are continuing here. wub.gif


Muffins
Hi Kim:

You might find that your precious Roh wub.gif might love some baby food. We use the beechnut turkey everyday when our Ms. Lucy wub.gif takes her meds. She loves the chicken as well, but the turkey is her favorite.

I crush her pills on a small round plate (with the back of a small spoon), and put about 1 - 1 & 1/2 teaspoons of baby food on top of that, adding 1 teaspoon of water. Mix together well. First, you might want to open the jar, let him smell it & put some on your finger and hopefully he'll lick it off.

http://www.beechnut.com/Our%20Baby%20Food/...3&ProdCat=5

I hope that you have some good luck with this.

Peace & Love,

Denise

oliver's mama
i just read your story on the edge of my seat, thankfully it ended on the good note. he is a beautiful kitty and in my prayers!

Jon730
QUOTE (Mink&WillowsMom @ Aug 10 2008, 12:26 AM) *
The obstruction was cleared, this time no presence of crystals. More of a mucus plug.



Hooray! SO glad to hear that!

Mucus/protien/albumin clots are not unusual in post-catheterization or post-obstruction events. With wet food, here is hoping it never recurrs! And even if it does it sounds like you have a good vet. (But it probably wil not.)
Mink&WillowsMom
Each new clump in the litterbox is like treasure. This morning he's been peeing frequently, and the resulting clump is between the size of a prune to half an apricot. So he's still passing urine. If his bladder is sensitive (after all it's been through) he'd be dumping more frequently, so it wouldn't have a chance to collect to the usual half-an-avocado size clump. When I see the small clumps, they scare me, until I remember that cats usually only pee 2 or 3 times a day. So if he's spreading his output to 10+ urinations a day, then of course they would be smaller. I praise him highly for each one.

No dribbling. Lots of penis licking this morning, some regular grooming. Drinking water well, and ate well enough yesterday. He's still on 4 medicines: antibiotic, muscle relaxant, pain killer, and appetite stimulant. Last night Luna slept next to him on the bed, which I'm sure must have been a huge relief to him. She's done hissing, but Willow is still hissy-mewly.

I have fear he's going to get another mucus plug again. And yet I know that by Law of Attraction, I should be focusing solely on clear, freely flowing urethra, easily draining his bladder; a smooth open pipe, pink and healthy. Even if I ignore the fear, I still have to acknowledge it first in order to ignore it. Any suggestions for moving myself into a place of total peace? It feels like so much of his recovery depends on me -- what I do, what I don't do, what I notice in time, what I envision. Some of that, of course, is my illusion that I have control over the outcome. But some of it is very real: noticing the moment he's blocked and getting him back to the doc. The vigilance is exhausting.

I need to remind myself that he's doing much better after the second catheterization than after the first. The urines, while small and frequent, are reliable. He's licking himself less (until this morning, that is). He's eating. He's drinking water. He has pain meds and anti-spasm meds to calm his urethra down. He's not dribbling. So there's lots of things pointing directly toward health and resolution of this crisis. -Is my remaining fear intuition or just echoes?- ~Kim
LoveThem
You said:

-Is my remaining fear intuition or just echoes?- ~Kim


I don't think it is either...I think it is the normal fear (anxiety) that a Mom has and will have until her baby is back to being completely normal.

You can't help being a Mom and having a Mom's feelings. Take it one day at a time and yes Rohan is doing much better than your first reports. As he gets off the necessary medication, each one gone may help bring you some relief.

But, Kim, you ARE a Mom.....everything you are feeling goes with that territory. You are
doing fine.

When I was watching my boy, if something ever made me too anxious, I called the vet to ask about it. In fact, while he was being watched to find out what was wrong...I would call once a week and leave word for the vet to call me as I wanted to make a kind of "status report". They called every time and I always felt relieved after talking to them and letting them know any good or bad I observed. And if they didn't say..bring him in now...that was worth the call.

So...we Moms have lots of things to try.

Take care.

Hugs to Rohan...lots of kisses too! wub.gif

Judy
Mink&WillowsMom
[WARNING: ph34r.gif potty talk ahead] Stable day today. Peeing small amounts frequently, so I suspect his bladder still feels irritated. There was no infection, and very few crystals, but when all this started 12 days ago his urine was bloody and he did get cathed twice, so I'm sure his bladder feels a bit beaten up. He's on 4 meds still, so he looks dopey and has zero energy. But he's peeing, he's eating, and drinking some. And sleeping LOTS.

But I'm certain the best part of his day happened at 10:30 this morning. Earlier this morning he didn't look good, just uncomfortable. Ears tensed back, just punky, not happy look. Then he peed four times in two minutes. And pooped about an inch. And peed a couple more times right in a row. And then the channels opened, the sky cleared, the angels sang, balloons fell as he laid out --in a thud-- a 5-inch log of poop. It fell out of the box and literally I heard it hit the floor. Oh my gosh that poor guy. Within a few minutes another 3 inches. I could hear him sigh relief across the room. Ever since then, his ears have been forward and the look on his face has been "ahhhhhh......."

LoveThem
Okay so Warning about potty talk noted.

It made me smile....when my boy was not feeling well, my husband and I checked his potty every day...with a DId Little Guy go potty today? How much? Was it normal looking?

When we thought about it, it made us smile...we were so concerned about this little cat's daily potty and also making sure he did pee since he was stopped up twice by dry food but still we didn't want to let our guard down.

So I know when you saw that last one.........makes you want to fling open your front door and yell HOORAY MY BABY MADE A GOOD ONE TODAY!

All is getting more right with the world. Never tire of hearing good news. And we so have been there ourselves and know it is such happy news. Probably only in this forum can one share potty news! blink.gif

Judy
Mink&WillowsMom
And another 4" this morning. [Trek fans, even though Scotty was the engineer, not the doctor, I can still hear him say, "Aye, Cap'n, the problem is yer cat was full 'o crap!"]

It's this weird state of limbo: I know he looks slow and dopey in part because of the buprenex (pain) and phenoxybenzamine (spasm), yet I'm also seeing his sluggish behavior and thinking, "why isn't he rebounding quicker?" It's strange being of two minds like this. It's just that when I listen to others' stories, it seems like I hear, "yeah, we flushed him and then he was fine." Ready to get to 'fine'...

Another small thing made a difference for Willow (the gray guy in the avatar photo). He's been hissing because Roh smells so weird. Finally, yesterday it dawned on me to let Will sniff the ends of the medication syringes (liquid, not shots) so he'd know where the smells were coming from. Otherwise, his only conclusion was, "who are you and what have you done with my normal-smelling friend?" He seemed quite thoughtful as he sniffed, and ended up hissing less at Rohan last night. ~Kim PS: since so many at the hospital weren't sure how to pronounce Rohan's name, it's "Rowan" (RO'-in)
LoveThem
Remember that sluggishness you see could be the combination of all the medication, and again, if you ever really want to ask about it, your vet should help you with that.

As far as flushing and being fine. With my Little Guy, both times I caught him right away and he was flushed within hours the same day. He was straining but not in pain. His litter box was within eyesight of my desk where I spend the day and it was easy for me to watch him right away.

Your sweetheart has been through a lot but he sure sounds like he is on the right path now. You didn't give up and neither has he.

Keep up positive thoughts and give him a hug and a kiss from me and tell him I think he is a beautiful boy who is so good, he can't do anything else except get better...every day...more and more.

Judy
Mink&WillowsMom
taken minutes ago. he says hi to everyone who's been sending him and his mama such wonderful support.
LoveThem
WHAT AN ABSOLUTE DOLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE this picture. Thank you so much for posting it..and..he does look like he IS feeling MUCH BETTER!

Judy
Mink&WillowsMom
I just caught this precious show of support from Luna, and I had to share.
They arrived at the shelter within a day of each other when they were 8 weeks old, and they've been together ever since.
kimberblessed
LoveThem
"precious" is definitely the right word. What a wonderful picture...a moment in time caught forever.

Thank you for sharing. I had to smile at this one.

Judy
Jon730
QUOTE (Mink&WillowsMom @ Aug 13 2008, 12:45 AM) *
[.. Oh my gosh that poor guy. Within a few minutes another 3 inches. I could hear him sigh relief across the room. Ever since then, his ears have been forward and the look on his face has been "ahhhhhh......."


That's a total of 13 inches. Why, how long is the CAT? Of course he was in a bad mood. laugh.gif
(Mentaly projecting to a six-foot human carrying around four feet of it...)
Yeah, that would do it.
Mink&WillowsMom
QUOTE (Jon730 @ Aug 14 2008, 12:09 PM) *
That's a total of 13 inches. Why, how long is the CAT? Of course he was in a bad mood. laugh.gif
(Mentaly projecting to a six-foot human carrying around four feet of it...)
Yeah, that would do it.


I KNOW!! Can you imagine?? I mean, really, the math of it is just stupifying!

Oh no, as I'm writing this it's 7:10p, and Roh just threw up twice. Oh crap, what now? His sides just quivered in between. He's peeing, he's pooping, he's hungry, maybe a little low on water. It got up to 80^ in the house today, but that shouldn't matter. He'd just eaten a food he normally likes. No hairball. I stopped his anti-spasm drug last night, maybe that wasn't a good idea. Oh my goodness Rohan it's okay to be healthy again!

I've been gone all day at work, so I couldn't watch him. It was a week ago tonight that we left for the hospital at 4am, which had been exactly a week after starting this whole thing two Fridays ago.

[7:40p] Ah, he's drinking water, a good long sit-down drink. I'll keep everybody posted. Please keep our family in your thoughts, and awareness of robust health flowing into Rohan. ~Kim
Mink&WillowsMom
Third retch told the story: turned out to be herkin' hairball. Now that he's grooming all that nervously shed hair. Add a teeth cleaning and buff his nails, and he'll have been cleaned and scrubbed from one end to the other from the inside out. Poor guy, no wonder he looks so rumpled. ~K
Mink&WillowsMom
What a rollercoaster! One more throw-up this morning, but steady after that. And this afternoon I saw a wondrous thing! Rohan PLAYED with a toy! Batted at it, threw it in the air. First sense of levity and extra energy I've seen in two weeks. And this evening he wrastled with Luna -- playfight, pin her to the floor. What a great sign of returning health. OH! He just chased her across the house! Wheee!!!
Jon730
QUOTE
What a rollercoaster! One more throw-up this morning, but steady after that. And this afternoon I saw a wondrous thing! Rohan PLAYED with a toy! Batted at it, threw it in the air. First sense of levity and extra energy I've seen in two weeks. And this evening he wrastled with Luna -- playfight, pin her to the floor. What a great sign of returning health. OH! He just chased her across the house! Wheee!!!


WHEW, what a relief. Cat+Hairball= Normal.
Mink&WillowsMom
Photo 1 - if you look back at the first picture on this thread, and compare, you'll see what a toll this has taken on him.

but clearly he's feeling better, because:
Photo 2 - tell me that cat ain't smilin' !

Kim
PS: ignore the weirdness of the rainbow colors -- the rainbow is real but something odd happens, especially to the red hues, when I reduce the file size. If you know how to fix that, please PM me
PPS: the rainbow is from a prismatic lens on a Solatube -- I have rainbows splayed across every wall right now laugh.gif
Mink&WillowsMom
So how do I know when to relax, to 'stand down' on this episode? He finished two weeks of antibiotics, is continuing to make larger pees. He's back to playing, and his appetite's good, and he drinks enough. He's still looking rumpled and his weight hasn't come back on yet (I know that takes a little while). So everything is pointing in the right direction. And yet the other night I woke up and he was asleep on the foot of the bed. The other cats jumped down and he didn't move. I petted him and he didn't move. Ohmigod is he dead??? With prodding, he finally stirred. Everytime I caress him, I run my hand under him to reassure myself his belly is soft and small.

I guess it's just that I don't know how to prevent this from happening again, other than keeping him hydrated and his stress down. Looking back, I see now how many clues there were that something was wrong. Never having dealt with crystals before, I didn't recognize them as clues. So the good thing is that if there is a next time, I'll catch it quicker. If he had struvite crystals, then the right food would be a huge help. Since they're calcium oxalates, diet doesn't really matter that much. On the other hand, each of 4 vets I've talked to about this have different advice on foods, often conflicting.

I've tried a dozen different prescription and high quality canned foods (one thing every vet agreed on was a moist diet), and I may as well be opening the can and scooping it straight into the trash. None of them are eating it -- all four cats have lost some weight. (Nobody was heavy to begin with.) So for right now, they're eating cheap Meow Mix market select gold cups. Lots of moisture. A little C/D dry to round out the protein. Lots of water.

I'm consulting with a homeopathic vet sometime next week, the plan is for her to teach me how to make their food, or at least put something together that they'll eat. Have you smelled canned cat food? Yikes, I wouldn't eat it. Something really chemical-y going on there.

Keeping stress down is important for Rohan. I have another trip coming up in November, and I'm wondering if I can go. It's only 5 days. The last trip I took, the one that was the final tipping point in him getting sick, was 25 days. But on days 1, 2, 3, and 4 he won't know this isn't wakka-wakka mom's left us again forever! Hopefully I'll feel more at ease with it when it's time to buy the airline ticket. (It's for a seminar.)

He's been sitting in my lap most evenings (something he only occasionally did before). There's such a preciousness to it now..... ~kimbervigilantmama
Mink&WillowsMom
I feel a little bit like I'm going crazy. Am I turning into a hypochondriac about my cats?
Rohan has been throwing up, 3x today. The first was a big hairball, the other two not, but immediately after eating.
Do hairballs irritate the stomach, so that a cat might toss the next couple of meals after hawking one up?
He's always been a little hairball pukey, but he's throwing up a lot more this month, both before and after the hosp.
Is there a G-I issue here?
Luna's belly is too full and too firm. At first I just thought she was getting fat, but something about her belly doesn't feel right.
Sable's limp is getting worse, and now she's hesitating to jump up on the chair. Something's wrong with her right shoulder.

Willow is, thankfully, looking healthy. He's talking to me a bit, about everything that's been going on. He's the most skittish, but he's also had changes before, so I guess he's figured out a way to cope.
Sable and Luna have a checkup on Monday.

Normally, I'm an optimistic, 'everything's gonna be fine' kind of girl. ~kimbermanifesthealth
PS: Luna's been showing this endearing to support to Roh -- never seen her do these before
In the second photo, she sat like that for 15", her paw resting on his ribs.
myhrtisbrkn
MWM,

With all that upchucking, I'm worried about Rohan's kidneys...has he had a blood panel done lately?


HUgs to the furloves,
Dayna
Mink&WillowsMom
Bloods taken on 8/1/08 (the night this all started) were normal. I don't know if they did a full kidney panel, I'll ask.
oliver's mama
I love those pictures, you can tell that those cats are loved and spoilied. I hope Rohan is on the road to a speedy recovery.
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