Rohan Is Ill, bladder crystals Options

[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.

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[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