Urinary Blockage

I had to bring Elwood into the emergency clinic tonight.
It started when I got home this afternoon, I noticed he was kind of
crawling around, and crying. So, I brought him in, and they say he has
a urinary blockage, and they have to keep him overnight.

What causes this? They told me it jujst sort of happens, and he will
be dealing with this the rest of his life.

Will he have to be on a special diet now?

I thought he was constipated, because he would go in his box and try
to poo, but couldn't. At least that is what it looked like to me.

They should be calling me iin a few hours to tell me how everything
went. They said caught it early, which is good I guess.

"Justin L" wrote in message
...
I had to bring Elwood into the emergency clinic tonight.
It started when I got home this afternoon, I noticed he was kind of
crawling around, and crying. So, I brought him in, and they say he has
a urinary blockage, and they have to keep him overnight.

What causes this? They told me it jujst sort of happens, and he will
be dealing with this the rest of his life.



Blockages are more common in male cats fed dry food.




Will he have to be on a special diet now?


Probably- at least until the crystals dissolve. Then you should be able to
maintain him on a good commercial canned diet. Just make sure the vet has
the crystal analyzed before he prescribes a prescription diet.

Years ago, 90% of the crystals were struvite, so, a lot of vets
automatically assume a blocked cat has struvite stones or plugs. Since
feline diets were reformulated to produce a more acidic urine to dissolve,
the incidence of struvite went down but the incidence of calcium oxalate
went from about 2% to almost 50%. Calcium oxalate can't be dissolved. So
if
your cat has CaOx crystals and the vet prescribes a diet to dissolve
struvite, the diet will make matters much worse. So just make sure you know
which type of crystal your cat has before you begin feeding a prescription
diet.




I thought he was constipated, because he would go in his box and try
to poo, but couldn't. At least that is what it looked like to me.


He was probably straining to urinate.


They should be calling me iin a few hours to tell me how everything
went. They said caught it early, which is good I guess.


Absolutely! Its a good thing you caught it quickly- cats with a urinary
tract obstruction can die from acute renal failure if the blockage isn't
relieved within 24-36 hours. The longer the blockage remains, the more
damage to the kidneys and/or urinary bladder.

Best of luck,

Phil

"Justin L" wrote in message
...
I had to bring Elwood into the emergency clinic tonight.
It started when I got home this afternoon, I noticed he was kind of
crawling around, and crying. So, I brought him in, and they say he has
a urinary blockage, and they have to keep him overnight.

Justin, I thought you had Elwood on a premium canned-food diet?
I remember you coming here when you got him and asking lots
of questions. Or was that Jake?

In any case, I will keep your little boy in my good thoughts.

I wish him a speedy recovery and no more pain.

Try not to worry, but do learn all you can . I would be
Googling the f*ck out of "urinary blockage in cats."

On Mon, 21 Nov 2005 03:44:45 GMT, "Phil P."
wrote:


"Justin L" wrote in message
.. .
I had to bring Elwood into the emergency clinic tonight.
It started when I got home this afternoon, I noticed he was kind of
crawling around, and crying. So, I brought him in, and they say he has
a urinary blockage, and they have to keep him overnight.

What causes this? They told me it jujst sort of happens, and he will
be dealing with this the rest of his life.



Blockages are more common in male cats fed dry food.



He has been on all canned diet for the last 2 months or so.
Before that, he would get dry and canned, but he would rarely eat all
of the canned.



Will he have to be on a special diet now?


Probably- at least until the crystals dissolve. Then you should be able to
maintain him on a good commercial canned diet. Just make sure the vet has
the crystal analyzed before he prescribes a prescription diet.

She said they weren't full crystals, and there was something
reflective in his urine. I think that is what she said, she was hard
to understand, and I was a little upset at the time.
I am just worried about the prescription diet because he is very picky
about the food he eats.


Years ago, 90% of the crystals were struvite, so, a lot of vets
automatically assume a blocked cat has struvite stones or plugs. Since
feline diets were reformulated to produce a more acidic urine to dissolve,
the incidence of struvite went down but the incidence of calcium oxalate
went from about 2% to almost 50%. Calcium oxalate can't be dissolved. So
if
your cat has CaOx crystals and the vet prescribes a diet to dissolve
struvite, the diet will make matters much worse. So just make sure you know
which type of crystal your cat has before you begin feeding a prescription
diet.




I thought he was constipated, because he would go in his box and try
to poo, but couldn't. At least that is what it looked like to me.


He was probably straining to urinate.


They should be calling me iin a few hours to tell me how everything
went. They said caught it early, which is good I guess.


Absolutely! Its a good thing you caught it quickly- cats with a urinary
tract obstruction can die from acute renal failure if the blockage isn't
relieved within 24-36 hours. The longer the blockage remains, the more
damage to the kidneys and/or urinary bladder.

Best of luck,


Thanks Phil. I picked him up this morning from the emergency clinic,
and brought him to my vet. It is so depressing seeing him with the
cone on his head and tubes coming out of him


Phil

On Mon, 21 Nov 2005 00:50:41 -0500, "Lumpy" wrote:


"Justin L" wrote in message
.. .
I had to bring Elwood into the emergency clinic tonight.
It started when I got home this afternoon, I noticed he was kind of
crawling around, and crying. So, I brought him in, and they say he has
a urinary blockage, and they have to keep him overnight.

Justin, I thought you had Elwood on a premium canned-food diet?
I remember you coming here when you got him and asking lots
of questions. Or was that Jake?

They are both eating canned food now.


In any case, I will keep your little boy in my good thoughts.

I wish him a speedy recovery and no more pain.

Try not to worry, but do learn all you can . I would be
Googling the f*ck out of "urinary blockage in cats."

Thanks, I will do some reading tonight after work.