Urinary crystals - How long to recover?

My cat was having some peeing problems last night so I took him to the
emergency vet. They said that he was blocked and catheterized him.
The urine sample showed that he had urinary crystals. They kept him
overnight and I got him back tonight.

They sedated him so that they could examine him shortly before I
picked him up, so he has been stumbling about and pretty lethargic
since he got home. He has been in the litterbox several times and
seems to only be getting out a few drops at a time (a slight
improvement over last night where he was getting nothing out.

The vet gave him an antibiotic injection and gave me some liquid
antibiotics to start giving him tomorrow. She gave me some
prescription food and told me to change his diet to it for at least 3
months.

I'm still pretty worried about him and was wondering how quickly cats
usually recover from this. Should I be worried that he's only getting
out a few drops of urine at a time? He hasn't eaten or drunk anything
since he's been home, but I think that is partially due to the
sedation.

I'd appreciate any advice from people who have been through this
before.

If he's getting out only a few drops at a time, it's a very serious
situation. Hope you've called the vet by now or have taken him back to the
emergency clinic.

"Rachael" wrote in message
om...
My cat was having some peeing problems last night so I took him to the
emergency vet. They said that he was blocked and catheterized him.
The urine sample showed that he had urinary crystals. They kept him
overnight and I got him back tonight.

They sedated him so that they could examine him shortly before I
picked him up, so he has been stumbling about and pretty lethargic
since he got home. He has been in the litterbox several times and
seems to only be getting out a few drops at a time (a slight
improvement over last night where he was getting nothing out.

The vet gave him an antibiotic injection and gave me some liquid
antibiotics to start giving him tomorrow. She gave me some
prescription food and told me to change his diet to it for at least 3
months.

I'm still pretty worried about him and was wondering how quickly cats
usually recover from this. Should I be worried that he's only getting
out a few drops of urine at a time? He hasn't eaten or drunk anything
since he's been home, but I think that is partially due to the
sedation.

I'd appreciate any advice from people who have been through this
before.

If he's getting out only a few drops at a time, it's a very serious
situation. Hope you've called the vet by now or have taken him back to the
emergency clinic.

"Rachael" wrote in message
om...
My cat was having some peeing problems last night so I took him to the
emergency vet. They said that he was blocked and catheterized him.
The urine sample showed that he had urinary crystals. They kept him
overnight and I got him back tonight.

They sedated him so that they could examine him shortly before I
picked him up, so he has been stumbling about and pretty lethargic
since he got home. He has been in the litterbox several times and
seems to only be getting out a few drops at a time (a slight
improvement over last night where he was getting nothing out.

The vet gave him an antibiotic injection and gave me some liquid
antibiotics to start giving him tomorrow. She gave me some
prescription food and told me to change his diet to it for at least 3
months.

I'm still pretty worried about him and was wondering how quickly cats
usually recover from this. Should I be worried that he's only getting
out a few drops of urine at a time? He hasn't eaten or drunk anything
since he's been home, but I think that is partially due to the
sedation.

I'd appreciate any advice from people who have been through this
before.

in article , Rachael at
wrote on 10/4/03 9:16 PM:

My cat was having some peeing problems last night so I took him to the
emergency vet. They said that he was blocked and catheterized him.
The urine sample showed that he had urinary crystals. They kept him
overnight and I got him back tonight.

They sedated him so that they could examine him shortly before I
picked him up, so he has been stumbling about and pretty lethargic
since he got home. He has been in the litterbox several times and
seems to only be getting out a few drops at a time (a slight
improvement over last night where he was getting nothing out.

The vet gave him an antibiotic injection and gave me some liquid
antibiotics to start giving him tomorrow. She gave me some
prescription food and told me to change his diet to it for at least 3
months.

I'm still pretty worried about him and was wondering how quickly cats
usually recover from this. Should I be worried that he's only getting
out a few drops of urine at a time? He hasn't eaten or drunk anything
since he's been home, but I think that is partially due to the
sedation.

I'd appreciate any advice from people who have been through this
before.

After the catheterization, he may have muscle spasms for a while which is
why the frequent trips to the box. When this happened with Grant, I did take
him back and they gave him a shot of torbutol for the spasming. It did work
but really zoned him out. Put as much water around as you can. Have they
suggested a change of diet? Wet food is better than dry, so if you can
switch him over that would be better. It may take a little while. Keep an
eye on him.

Karen

in article , Rachael at
wrote on 10/4/03 9:16 PM:

My cat was having some peeing problems last night so I took him to the
emergency vet. They said that he was blocked and catheterized him.
The urine sample showed that he had urinary crystals. They kept him
overnight and I got him back tonight.

They sedated him so that they could examine him shortly before I
picked him up, so he has been stumbling about and pretty lethargic
since he got home. He has been in the litterbox several times and
seems to only be getting out a few drops at a time (a slight
improvement over last night where he was getting nothing out.

The vet gave him an antibiotic injection and gave me some liquid
antibiotics to start giving him tomorrow. She gave me some
prescription food and told me to change his diet to it for at least 3
months.

I'm still pretty worried about him and was wondering how quickly cats
usually recover from this. Should I be worried that he's only getting
out a few drops of urine at a time? He hasn't eaten or drunk anything
since he's been home, but I think that is partially due to the
sedation.

I'd appreciate any advice from people who have been through this
before.

After the catheterization, he may have muscle spasms for a while which is
why the frequent trips to the box. When this happened with Grant, I did take
him back and they gave him a shot of torbutol for the spasming. It did work
but really zoned him out. Put as much water around as you can. Have they
suggested a change of diet? Wet food is better than dry, so if you can
switch him over that would be better. It may take a little while. Keep an
eye on him.

Karen

In ,
Karen being of bellicose mind posted:

After the catheterization, he may have muscle spasms for a while
which is why the frequent trips to the box. When this happened
with Grant, I did take him back and they gave him a shot of
torbutol for the spasming. It did work but really zoned him out.
Put as much water around as you can. Have they suggested a change
of diet? Wet food is better than dry, so if you can switch him
over that would be better. It may take a little while. Keep an eye
on him.

Karen

What connection is there between wet vs. dry food and an occluded
urethra?
--

~~Philip

"Never let school interfere
with your education - Mark Twain"

In ,
Karen being of bellicose mind posted:

After the catheterization, he may have muscle spasms for a while
which is why the frequent trips to the box. When this happened
with Grant, I did take him back and they gave him a shot of
torbutol for the spasming. It did work but really zoned him out.
Put as much water around as you can. Have they suggested a change
of diet? Wet food is better than dry, so if you can switch him
over that would be better. It may take a little while. Keep an eye
on him.

Karen

What connection is there between wet vs. dry food and an occluded
urethra?
--

~~Philip

"Never let school interfere
with your education - Mark Twain"

"Philip ®" wrote in message
nk.net...

What connection is there between wet vs. dry food and an occluded
urethra?

Cats fed dry food drink more water than cats fed canned food but most of
that water is lost to fecal moisture so that urine volume is lower and urine
specific gravity higher in cats fed dry food. The urine concentration of
all solutes, including potentially calculogenic crystalloids, depends on
urine volume. The lower the urine volume the higher the concentration of
solutes and the greater the risk of clumping together into larger and larger
particles that eventually become crystals or uroliths that can block the
urethra.

Male cats have an anatomic peculiarity which makes them more susceptible to
obstructions of the urethra than females. In male cats, the urethra
narrows, almost like a funnel, where it passes over the pelvis into the
penis so small crystals can lodge and easily plug the urethra. Even though
females can contain the same substances in their urine, they have a large,
somewhat strait urethra that makes plugging unlikely.


Phil

"Philip ®" wrote in message
nk.net...

What connection is there between wet vs. dry food and an occluded
urethra?

Cats fed dry food drink more water than cats fed canned food but most of
that water is lost to fecal moisture so that urine volume is lower and urine
specific gravity higher in cats fed dry food. The urine concentration of
all solutes, including potentially calculogenic crystalloids, depends on
urine volume. The lower the urine volume the higher the concentration of
solutes and the greater the risk of clumping together into larger and larger
particles that eventually become crystals or uroliths that can block the
urethra.

Male cats have an anatomic peculiarity which makes them more susceptible to
obstructions of the urethra than females. In male cats, the urethra
narrows, almost like a funnel, where it passes over the pelvis into the
penis so small crystals can lodge and easily plug the urethra. Even though
females can contain the same substances in their urine, they have a large,
somewhat strait urethra that makes plugging unlikely.


Phil

"Rachael" wrote in message
om...
My cat was having some peeing problems last night so I took him to the
emergency vet. They said that he was blocked and catheterized him.
The urine sample showed that he had urinary crystals. They kept him
overnight and I got him back tonight.

They sedated him so that they could examine him shortly before I
picked him up, so he has been stumbling about and pretty lethargic
since he got home. He has been in the litterbox several times and
seems to only be getting out a few drops at a time (a slight
improvement over last night where he was getting nothing out.

Take your cat back to the vet *immediately*. Complete or partial obstruction
of the urinary tract can produces a pathophysiologic state equivalent to
oliguric acute renal failure!

Phil