It all started about 3 weeks ago when there was a big puddle of pee by the litter box. No one in my house does that. For some reason I thought it was Henry and scolded him. It happened 3 more times, and I knew we had a problem.
Long story short, between Henry and Mr. Bear, there’s been lots of stress and $1,700 in 10 days. Thank god for pet insurance, though I keep getting messages from them saying “your claim is under review”, which is never a good sign. If you don’t want details, skip to the bottom. :-)
It finally occurred to me that I didn’t know it was Henry. Why isn’t there a set of pills for people who have more than one pet so it turns everybody’s pee a different color so you know who has the problem?
Anyway, I finally figured out that it was my boy kitty, Mr. Bear, who gets UTI infractions when he’s stressed.
Off to the vet we went, though it took 5 days for us to get him in. Turns out that Mr. Bear has crystals, which he had when he was just a little guy one-year old, but hadn’t had since. Back on the prescription diet he was on way back then. One week later I see blood so off to the vet again. He doesn’t just have crystals, he has stones in his bladder. The only thing you can do is give the prescription food and wait the month or two for it to clear up. So my poor guy is in pain and peeing blood and *there’s not a thing I can do about it.
As if that’s not enough, I have not been happy with my vet since I believe she screwed up with Tucker, which is why I lost him. But a vet change is a big deal and I just haven’t done it. Though I did have Henry’s teeth cleaned at a different vet, because my vet’s office has all their dental work done by the woman I refer to as the teeth nazi – she took 22 teeth out of Poppy (my best friend’s dog) when she was only 2 years old. WTF?
So when I call my vet the day I started seeing blood, they said they were booking 7 days out, and they could see him next week. I said “even if it’s a follow-up to the problem we saw you about last week?” Yep.
So I call the vet that my best friend now goes to and the doctor who cleaned Henry’s teeth had an appointment later that afternoon. So they fit us in, when my regular vet was just “sorry, we don’t do urgent care anymore.” Except they didn’t say sorry. What kind of vet doesn’t do urgent care anymore? So they are just good for wellness care? So when your pet has a serious issue, you have to find a different vet in the middle of that?
So the new vet does a needle aspiration to get some urine and comes back in and says “so much blood in his urine!” so we set an appointment to come back the next morning so she can do an ultrasound, and that’s when she sees a bunch of stones. Sigh.
*actually he is on pred, 1 pill for 5 days, 1/2 pill for 3 days, 12/ pill every other day for 5 days. So he’s peeing blood and everything’s a mess, and I am totally discouraged and worn out.
Thanks for letting me vent.
Totally open thread!
H.E.Wolf
Sympathies to you and Mr. Bear! Wishing him a full recovery.
CatFacts
Yes, I hope he recovers well! I’m honestly surprised no vets near you do bladder stone surgery on cats. I had a cat 15-20 years ago who had the surgery very successfully.
MattF
And… I’ve had bladder stones, they’re no fun. Keeping hydrated seems to help.
Baud
I’ve had dogs with those problems. No fun for anyone. Speedy healing.
Tony Jay
Venting is a great natural remedy. Anger and worry are definitely better out than in.
If there’s one good thing about a painful ailment (there’s not, but bear with me) it’s how happy and joyful you feel when it stops hurting. You’re going to have a bouncing boy when the treatment works.
Mousebumples
I’m so sorry to hear you’re going through all this, WaterGirl. Hopefully you have a new Good Vet, at least? Maybe? 🤞
I am not sure how pets respond to prednisone, but people can get hyper or irritable or be unable up sleep. Might also see an appetite bump, but that’s more common with longer term use.
Hope he’s back to himself soon! ❤️
Msb
Best wishes for you and Mr Bear, and hope you’ll gpboth get through this rough time as easily as possible.
BigJimSlade
Yikes, I hope Bear gets better soon!
WaterGirl
@CatFacts: That’s apparently not done anymore. Surgery appears to be only for a blockage.
SamInWa
Best wishes for your kitty and for you.
I’ve been through those sorts of things and no mistake… that is stressful.
I’ve been there with getting a new vet because I’m pretty sure they screwed up and killed one of my cats. I did move to a new vet eventually.
I’m going to go pet my kitty now and remember to be thankful that she is
happysuper needy for attention and healthy. The worse I get is sometimes she eats to much to fast and barfs it back up. When I’m around, she usually makes a very specific meow about 30 seconds before she barks. When I’m lucky I can calmly steer her over to a piece of floor with tile, rather than carpet.WaterGirl
@Mousebumples: Mr. Bear seems to be helped by the pred, and with no negative reactions to it.
I do like this new vet. She’s pretty young
butterybut pretty knowledgable.Doesn’t it seem crazy that your own vet won’t handle anything urgent???
eclare
Oh gosh, that sounds so stressful WaterGirl! I hope you and Mr. Bear get through this as easily as possible and that he feels better soon. There is little worse than when your pets are sick.
Baud
@WaterGirl:
I like my vets young and buttery.
WaterGirl
What else is going on? I’ve been pretty busy dealing with all of this.
eclare
@WaterGirl:
Yeah, I know my vet does urgent care stuff.
Baud
@WaterGirl:
You might have missed this with everything you have going on, but Biden is old.
SuzieC
So sorry you are going through this. We recently lost our eldest kitty (who is on the BJ pet calendar a few years ago) and had major vet bills. So far we haven’t sprung for pet insurance but friends have recommended it.
WaterGirl
@Baud: oops!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@WaterGirl: Lauren Boebert got caught on video giving her new boyfriend a handle during a performance of Beetlejuice.
also there is a stage musical version of Beetlejuice
and it looks like trump rolled over Kristen Welker for her first big interview on Meet The Press, not sure if he confessed to any more crimes
denimull
As a former veterinary clinic employee, let me see if I got this straight: you have a male cat, with a history of UTI’s, currently being treated for crystals in his urine, now passing blood in his urine, and your regular vet doesn’t get him in the office immediately?
What. The. Actual. Fuck?!
I hope you have already requested all medical records for ALL your furry family members transferred to the new vet who responded to this health crisis with the necessary promptness it serious nature required. It sounds like Mr. Bear is in excellent care now.
WaterGirl
@eclare: Mine used to! Every vet I have ever had does that. Not providing urgent care for your clients makes no sense to me. I’m not talking about middle-of-the-night emergencies.
Dan B
@WaterGirl: Your weather seems much better. I hope the same thing happens for Mr. Bear, and your spirits.
BlueGuitarist
@WaterGirl:
yes that seems crazy!
Hope the rough days are about to end wishing all the best to you and yours
Mr. Bemused Senior
WG, best wishes to Mr. Bear and you.
I know what I’m about to write most people around here and you especially already know, but I’ll say it anyway.
Pets rely on us humans to be responsible for all their care. Mr. Bear is lucky to have you.
trollhattan
Our first Dalmatian had something like this–bladder stones caused by the inability to break down purines–and after we had them all removed he was on a low-purine diet the rest of his (long) life, plus medication that I forget the name of (thankfully, generic). It’s a known breed issue and we adopted him, so no papers to track back the lineage.
“Easier” to deal with for dogs than cats, because dogs need less protein.
Good luck!
Kelly
We’ve had good results with Tinkle Tonic for our Martin who also has the crystals problem. Pretty Litter is expensive but allows us to track his urine ph. We add a little Tinkle Tonic to his food when his ph starts to go wrong and switch to the prescription food.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Sorry to hear this. I hope everything goes well
WaterGirl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Meet the Press just gets worse with every new person that gets the show.
ugh on the skanky rep from CO.
There’s a musical version of Beetlejuice? Maybe they hired her to publicize it in her own special way.
trollhattan
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Does Beetlejuice say “Showtime!” in the stage version? Trying to figure the timing here.
eclare
@WaterGirl:
No I’m not talking about after hours stuff either, we have a vet in town that is 24 hour.
mrmoshpotato
Sorry to hear that. Hope Mr. Bear is back his beary self soon.
Ivan X
Ken Paxton acquitted.
Alison Rose
It’s so hard when our animal companions are sick, because they can’t tell us what’s wrong, and all we want in the whole world is to make it better. Hoping your buddy is on the mend soon <3
Quiltingfool
Oh, Watergirl, so sorry about Bear! One worries so much when our fur babies are sick! My Baby had a UTI (bloody pee outside the litter box) and after treatment, I fed her special cat food to keep it from happening again. It was a bit pricey, but I’d rather pay more for food than have a cat in pain.
Glad you have a new vet. My vet’s office just started a policy that you have to make an appointment. I’m good with that if it is for shots or a check up, but not if my kitty is sick. So far, Miss Sassy has been the picture of health, knock on wood!
zhena gogolia
@Baud: lol
Boy, the NYT won’t let us forget it! It’s the rubric on each day’s letters column.
zhena gogolia
I hope the treatment works well and fast. I’m so sorry.
M31
I’ll take the over on that
mrmoshpotato
@WaterGirl: Washington is beating Michigan State 21-0 in the second quarter. (Football)
FelonyGovt
Aww, so sorry to hear that you and Mr. Bear are going through this. Sounds like a new vet is definitely in order.
realbtl
A good vet is a godsend. Mine does emergency during business hours but refers to the emergency vet 2 miles away who is also excellent. Though a slight PIA when my old Weim went from vet to emergency overnight and back to vet next day when she had her first seizure.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud:
The deuce you say!
Doc Sardonic
Learned about pet insurance after we had a severely ill cat that cost us several thousand in vet bills. My current vet has flyers in her office for a few different ones, and is very proactive about suggesting insurance to her clients, before your pet has anything pre-existing.
WaterGirl
@denimull:
Thank you for that. Really.
The Thin Black Duke
I’m sorry.
Having a critter in your home means you’re in a relationship, and it’s hard when someone you’re close to is going through hard times.
Blessings to your household.
WaterGirl
@Dan B: Yes, weather has been much milder! It feels like fall has arrived.
TriassicSands
I feel for you and Mr. Bear, WaterGirl. Pet health problems can be extremely stressful (for both humans and pets), not to mention expensive. It seems like vet care is headed in the same direction that our health care system has followed — more and more difficult to get timely appointments that cost more and more. Where I live, 24-hour emergency care is at least 75 miles away, so in a crisis getting the pet help may not come in time. What would be ideal would be if all the many local vets would join together to offer 24-hour care with each vet taking turns. In addition, every vet should arrange their schedules so they can take some small number of emergency cases every day. It’s gotten to the point where a lot of people simply can’t afford to responsibly own a cat or dog, because if the critter gets seriously ill the costs can be overwhelming.
CaseyL
What @denimull: said, twice.
Crystals in the urethra of a cat are very fucking serious. They can lead to blockages, which are quickly fatal. If this happens again, and you can’t get in to a vet, take them to an animal ER.
And what @TriassicSands: said, too. Overbooked, getting really expensive – esp. once the kitty is older and needs more tests, medications, and treatments. I’m generally disenchanted with my current vet clinic, which does not seem to do well for geriatric kitties. Problem is, they’re rated one of the best practices around, so I’m not sure I could do better elsewhere.
WaterGirl
@Kelly: I will ask the new vet about Tinkle Tonic on Monday. thank you.
WaterGirl
@Doc Sardonic: Yes! After I lost my kitty soulmate, I swore that I would never again have to think about $ when thinking about treatments.
I always get it on day 2 of having a new pet. (I think they make you wait one day for some reason.)
Mike in Oly
So sorry for Mr. Bear. And I can totally sympathize. We had Marley at the emergency vet two weeks ago for urinary crystals. Several days of pills, $800+, and he is back to normal. None of the vets around here do urgent care anymore. If you have an urgent issue you have to try and find one of the emergency vets that has an opening (and most don’t). We got very lucky and one of them was able to see him within a few hours of the issue coming to light. The other two had no openings. Big shortage of vets in our area, like all healthcare providers for anyone.
Geminid
@WaterGirl: Lauren Boebert has led a fairly trashy life, and that could have been the first theatre play she ever attended.
I expect Boebert is apprehensive about her reelection next year. I bet her staff sure is. They’ll probably tell her to attend a Shakespeare play like The Tempest next, and behave like a perfect lady. That will take a lot of practice.
Then she’ll tweet out something like, “I thought Prospero was played with quiet dignity. But where the heck was Hamlet?”
Jim, Foolish Literalist
From the Hayes program last night, a short clip from the local Denver news about Boebert is not un-amusing. You can see the pregnant lady ask her to stop vaping, behavior that suggests to me at least three pre-show cocktails were involved, at least three, and as the local news guy says puts it rather nicely “she occasionally took a break from being disruptive to enjoy the company of her male companion”
Dan B
@Ivan X: Paxton still has some problems. There’s a federal case for wire fraud – 99 year sentence, and one other with a 10 year sentence plus an FBI case in progress. My wish is for Paxton getting nailed.
WaterGirl
@CaseyL: Yes, after my vet’s office was like :: shrug :: (they didn’t even check with the vet herself)
I figured I would try the vet who had handled the Henry teeth cleaning, and I figured that if they couldn’t get me in same-day, I would try the University vet school emergency service.
I won’t say that I was panicked, but I was pretty stressed because that was the exact situation I was in with Tucker, trying to decide whether to take him to the University emergency service, and my vet was discouraging me from doing that.
I knew it wasn’t the same thing, but I couldn’t help but kind of feel that it was – even if it wasn’t logical.
mvr
That truly sucks. Glad you found the alternative vet.
Venting is good. BallonJuice is kind of a pressure relief valve for many of us, thanks to you and the other folks keeping it going. Though I’d guess that insofar as you kind of keep it running it can also be a stress-creator.
LivinginExile
I had a male she!ter cat with the same problem. Everything the vet tried was just a temporary fix. Finally I tried a product called cranberry comfort made by Vetclassics. As long as he got that product once a day no bloody urine on the.floor. I also had a dog the vet said had crystals the worst she had ever seen. I started giving the dog the same.product.and.in two months no crystals. My dogs and cats at home all get a low dose.every day. It doesn’t cost much to try it compared to vet bills.
WaterGirl
@Mike in Oly: Yikes.
Yes, I think there is a big shortage of vets and vet techs around here, too. I don’t understand why that would be. It’s also true of CPAs and finance people, and a lot of other stuff.
It doesn’t seem like Covid would have affected those things. Not sure what’s going on with that.
sukabi
@M31: the best crimes will be on the cutting room floor and eventually in her upcoming book….to be released after the election or his conviction…whichever co.es first.
MelissaM
So sorry, WaterGirl. I’d be curious to know what vet you use.
I’ve been very happy with Caring Hands but that may be on the opposite side of life for you. I switched to them when I had a doxie that had her back go out. I took her to our vet, who was “no appointments needed” yet because there wasn’t a backup vet that day, they were going to start surgery soon and couldn’t see my doxie. So I went home, researched, and got her into Caring Hands later that day. We have a different dog now, but CH has been just great.
Dan B
@WaterGirl: It’s been in the upper seventies here in the “rainy” PNW. We had .08″ of precip in August and .23″ so far in September. Few showers are predicted for Monday followed by a dryish week.
WaterGirl
@Geminid: I dunno. One would think no one would have to say this to a U.S. Representative:
Right now someone on her staff is trying to figure out how to tell her that she should not fuck her boyfriend in the bathroom of a bar.
BlueGuitarist
@Baud:
Ahead of Constitution Day tomorrow, here’s some wisdom from the founding fathers, from Madison’s notes of the convention debates:
“Experience had show that both a capacity and inclination for public service existed in very advanced stages….[for] instance [a leader] of Venice who was elected after he was 80 years of age.”
James Wilson, July 24, 1787
jackmac
So sorry for your kitty troubles. I hope there’s a permanent (and quick solution). We’ve had 18 cats (not all at once) over the years. Some have had medical troubles, others were fine. They’re part of the family and all that comes with the territory.
WaterGirl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: That was worth the time!
I’m not sure whether she can spell decorum, but I’m pretty sure she has no concept of the meaning of the word.
WaterGirl
@Mike in Oly: It’s so hard. I’m glad your guy is doing so much better!
And I do have the University vet school emergency service that’s just 10 minutes away. I am lucky about that.
eclare
@WaterGirl:
What insurance do you have?
kalakal
I’m so sorry to hear about Mr Bear. Our Virgil had a similar problem,he was blocked up. Luckily he responded to catheritization so it didn’t progress to surgery. I’ve never been so glad to see a cat pee in my life 😄. He’s been on some RoyalCanin special cat biscuits since ( all the moggies are, it’s too difficult to see who gets what otherwise) and spring water(the local tap water is super hard) and it’s been good for years now. The vet did talk about surgicly widening his urethra if that didn’t work. Fingers and paws crossed for Mr Bear
Walker
Urgent care is like the ER while your vet is like your primary care. Which is to say that I expect them to be different people. If my cat needs something super urgent they go to the (pricey) vet hospital, who send information to my regular vet for a follow up. It works the same as it does for humans.
Dan B
@jackmac: We had a cat who died at about 7. Broke me up. Another lived to nearly 20 and had a precipitous decline. It was good for him to be out of his misery. The feelings were very different.
kalakal
@Dan B:
For me it would be perfect for Paxton to be sent down by the FBI just after his GOP peers have just declared him pure as the driven snow
WaterGirl
@LivinginExile: I just googled – do you do the powder or the chewy version?
I will ask the new vet about that and “tinkle tonic” on Monday!
Aunt Kathy
Around here, we’ve decided that until you find a good one, vets are the worst. My sister’s kitty ate a string from a hoodie. Yep, regular vet was only for primary care. The emergency vet in town was fully booked. We had to go over the mountain to the nxt county; THEY tried to charge about $8k for surgery. Sis was devastated, she thought they were going to have to put her down, there was no way they could afford that. Kitty ended up going to the in-house vet of PetSmart. They did the surgery for about $2k and it was absolutely fine, they were wonderful.
So stressful.
Alison Rose
@WaterGirl: Embeds still won’t work because Muskrat sucks, but I admit, I got an adolescent chuckle out of this:
MTG might have a few molecules more sense than Boebert, but who knows, I could see her getting jealous of all the press coverage. Bad publicity is still publicity!
WaterGirl
@MelissaM: I don’t know anyone who has used Caring Hands.
I would be happy to tell you who the vet is off-line, if you want to send me an email message. I want to talk to the owner. I really liked him, but now he doesn’t see regular patients because he specializes in something. It hasn’t been the same since he included other vets in his practice, but this is a bridge too far.
Dan B
@kalakal: We have friends, a gay couple, who moved to Austin several years back. We’ve been concerned about their mental health. There are many LGBT+ people who’ve reported being enormously relieved when they got out and were around people who were decent and kind.
Paxton sets an example for citizens of Texas and allows them to be cruel and corrupt.
Also one of the guys got a great job in tech but I’ve read that the tech companies are in soulless suburbs unlike Seattle where the tech suburbs are finally becoming diverse and interesting.
WaterGirl
@eclare: Pet Plan.
WaterGirl
@kalakal: Yes! It doesn’t seem possible to give one cat one food and another cat something else.
WaterGirl
@Dan B: It’s complicated.
WaterGirl
@Alison Rose: That was literal laugh out loud funny.
eclare
@WaterGirl:
Thanks
WaterGirl
@Alison Rose:
I thought this was funny. And true.
WaterGirl
@WaterGirl: I don’t know what “hoe life, foe life” means. Does anyone know?
But the rest of it, I totally agree.
Alison Rose
@WaterGirl: Truth! Although, while I generally avoid slut-shaming too, I do think slutting it up in a theater with young kids nearby is a no-no. You’d think little miss GROOMERS!!!!!!! would understand that. But oh, the poor dear, she’s so messed up over her divorce. Ahem. Sure.
wjca
Time was when “old news” meant something no longer worth wasting column inches on. And the “Biden is old” thing definitely qualifies (both ways). Makes ya right nostalgic, don’t it?
Alison Rose
@WaterGirl: There’s a rap song called Foe Life, might be a reference to that.
MagdaInBlack
@WaterGirl: For life: Own it.
BeautifulPlumage
Oh, I’m so sorry you have to go through this, WaterGirl! That sucks about the old vet, good on the friend’s vet. Skritches to Mr. Bear.
eclare
@WaterGirl:
Whore life for life…in slang
karen marie
And this is why I’ve sworn off male cats.
I lost a dear boy cat way back in 1976, before they had all this magic to improve outcomes. My mother refused to pay to have Willy’s blockage cleared because there was no guarantee it wouldn’t recur and I had to have him put down.
Somewhere around 2006, when I was at my wonderful vet in Tiverton, Rhode Island, a guy came in with his male cat for surgery to reduce the length of his urethra. That’s the solution for a different problem than crystals – or is it? I don’t know. All I know is, no male cats for me. I cannot bear the heartbreak or the financial strain.
Finding a good vet is a nightmare. If you’re in the Tiverton area, the Sakonnet Veterinary Hospital is wonderful. One of the vets there diagnosed my former boy James with a food allergy after he’d suffered for his entire life (he was 11 at that point) with really bad ear infections (stinky black tar coming out of his head). Previous vets just shrugged and told me it was “Cocker ears,” even though his half sister – also a full Cocker – never had an ear infection in her life. The vet at Sakonnet took one look, said “food allergy,” I changed him to a nonallergenic food, and within 36 hours his ears had completely cleared up and he never had another ear infection.
Best wishes for a swift resolution of poor Bear’s problem!
Geminid
@WaterGirl: Lauren Boebert is an atypical member of Congress. Most- not all- of them are fairly bright, and most had substantial careers of some sort before being elected.
Boebert is deficient both in experience and intelligence. She happened to catch the wave of anti-lockdown sentiment on 2020, and rode it to a primary victory over a veteran Republican incumbent. I’m not sure Rep. Tipton(?) took her seriously though. When he lost, he had a lot of money in his campaign account that he probably thought he could save for the general election. He also might have refrained from attacking his opponent on her dodgy personal history because he thought he needed her supporters in November, and did not want to alienate them. Regardless, I thought her primary win was more a matter of dumb luck than of ability.
Boebert went on to win the Colorado 3rd CD by 6%, same as Trump. But last year, Boebert squeaked through by less than 1000 votes, even though the district was thought to be even more Republican because of redistricting. That clueless motormouth almost talked herself out of a safe seat.
Colorado Republicans really need to knock Boebert out next year, in the primary. But from what I’ve read here and on other sites, Colorado’s Republican Party is pretty fucked up now, so they might not pull that off. If they don’t though, they’re gonna lose that seat.
mrmoshpotato
Haha!
billcinsd
@WaterGirl: My understanding is that Vet School is harder to get into than Medical School
Hoppie
@BlueGuitarist:
Well since he was a doge, how much is that in people years?
Frank Wilhoit
One of our (five) cats presented with bladder stones this past spring, vet gave Hills c/d, it is not remotely feasible to feed one cat separately from the other four, so we just went ahead and fed all five. They loved it — started trying to get the bag away from me and tear into it the second I brought it in the house, but they were also content with the amounts listed on the bag, which were much less than the amount they had been eating of the commodity food.
The bladder stones cleared up on schedule, but we also began to notice a great increase in hairballs across the board. A couple of months ago we switched to Iams Proactive Health Urinary Tract, and the hairballs stopped, like turning a light off at the switch. They like it just as well or better.
One experience, YMMV.
BeautifulPlumage
What else is happening you ask? I completed my first week at the new office manager job & I am so happy with it! The company is small, established, and kind. My job will be much less stressful. I had wanted just part time but can definitely do 40 at this place.
Cleo-Marie had an intro visit to my vet and the possible crystal problem she had last year was temporary and probably stress induced. She doesn’t understand why I go away all day now, though.
And, my replacement at my old job wigged out, so I’m making some cash helping that office straightened out (and feeling very relieved to not be there anymore).
BeautifulPlumage
@Quiltingfool: I saw the quilt Adam got in his update yesterday, and oh my gosh is it beautiful. The pic of it spread on the bed looks perfect. Kudos on your skill & industry!
Another Scott
@WaterGirl: Supposedly there was a run on pet adoptions during the pandemic. Maybe vets got burned out, or had to cut back, or moved on. Our vet office seems to serve as a training ground for recent graduates – they usually have about 4 vets who seem to stay about 5 years and then move on. Something happened and they’re down to 1 vet now. (We’re mainly taking Ellie to a different vet now.)
I’m glad Bear is doing better. Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
Barbara I
I’m so sorry to hear about Mr. Bear.
One of my male cats, Austin, had been on medicine for crystals for almost the year after I adopted him . . . And then he blocked on Christmas Eve 2021 (yes, middle of COVID). Christmas morning I knew he had to be treated fast – so I brought him in to my local Veterinary Emergency Group. I was seen immediately by one of their vet techs and, within two hours, he was being catheterized. The amazing thing – I was allowed to watch as they anesthetized him and did the catheterization. It took three flushes to get all the mucus plugs and other gunk out of his urethra. They also did an x-ray and found he had a bladder stone and did a culture. The vet tech told me that if I had waited more than 6 hours, I would have lost him. They kept him for three days while they were observing whether he could urinate freely – but he blocked again. So we agreed he needed the surgery, but VEG doesn’t do surgery.
They faxed all his records and test results over to my regular vet, and the next day I brought him there. They removed the bladder stone with no complications. And … a few days later, the urine culture came back with an unusual bacterial infection. Austin was back to normal by then and, after a month of a compounded antibiotic, his system was finally clear. And he has not blocked since.
Moral of the story – do not delay in finding a doctor (and be ready to have a balance on your credit card!)
Ruckus
@Mousebumples:
That’s not my reaction to prednisone. But. I was on high dosage for one week, then taper off back to zero next week. I liked it, was a bit hyper the first day but slept like a rock. It was for a reset for a specific issue and it worked.
BeautifulPlumage
@Another Scott: that definitely affected my vet. The stopped all grooming, dropped taking new patients, and ran 7 days a week. Now they’re Mon – Fri but still busy.
Dan B
@BeautifulPlumage: Great news about your new job(s)!
kalakal
@BeautifulPlumage: Great stuff. Glad it’s working out so well for you
lowtechcyclist
@Geminid:
Is that sarcasm? Can’t tell.
I’m sure she’s been to the movies, so she’d know what conduct wasn’t appropriate there. There are minor differences: you wouldn’t have any reason to take flash photography in a movie theater, so you might not think about its being banned for a stage production. But otherwise pretty much the same.
Ruckus
@Baud:
How do you figure?
Age is a state of mind.
Too old is when you don’t have a state of mind. Or at least can’t find it easily.
Doc Sardonic
Veterinarians also have, in addition to burnout, a high suicide rate. Not hard to imagine that, with having to deal with all that goes into, losing so many of your patients, and the high level of grief that goes with it.
Ruckus
@Geminid:
That will take a lot of practice.
And a body double.
And who would admit to being her double?
WaterGirl
@eclare: I got the “ho” life, though I would have spelled it differently.
But now I get it, whore life, for life. thank you!
Geminid
@lowtechcyclist: I was talking about a play in a theatre, and I was not being sarcastic.
Of course Boebert should have known better, and she probably did. But she did not understand what it meant to act that way at a Denver theatre production with a large audience, and security cameras filming her.
Ruckus
@WaterGirl:
It’s a combo of a lot of things.
Vets and doctors aging out.
Covid.
Population growth effects likely come at a faster pace than schooling does, especially in the case of medical care education which takes a fair bit of time. 4 yrs college – 4 yrs medical school – internship, so if you start higher ed after HS at 17 you are 26 before you are a doctor. That is a long time with no or little income. If you start later because of something like a war/draft/service you might be at 30 yrs old with not much time for a life for at least a couple years after that. It adjusts your perception of what is doable and what it”s worth. Ask me how I know.
WaterGirl
@karen marie: Apparently all those vets were idiots. ear issues and skin issues scream allergies. So when I took Henry in to the vet I said his ears are funky, can we test for allergies.
Shaking my head. I’m sorry about your boy in 1976. Heartbreaking.
kalakal
@Geminid: She didn’t do it. She was at Rigoletto’s!
WaterGirl
@Geminid: Fingers crossed that they lose it.
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: Truth! Am I right?
WaterGirl
@billcinsd: I have heard that, too! Even so, there must be a zillion qualified candidates.
WaterGirl
@Frank Wilhoit:
Is that one week? Two weeks? Two months?
He is on Purina UR / OX – I don’t care for Hills, but if they start to turn their nose up at that, I will remember what you said about Iams. thanks
edit: Mr. Bear has long black hair, so he is my occasional hairball guy. So this is good to know.
WaterGirl
@BeautifulPlumage: That’s all such great news!
WaterGirl
@Barbara I: Stressful!
Did they cut into his bladder to remove the stone? (Mr. Bear has multiple stones.) Or did they do the fancy new surgery where they go in with the tiny claw and remove them?
WaterGirl
@Doc Sardonic:
I was not aware that either of those was true.
edit: wow, new record for me! I came back to the thread and answered comments, not realizing the thread was dead.
Mousebumples
Glad to hear! Reactions are all over the place. My cousin considers it to be a necessary evil when she gets an asthma flare – yay, breathing, but she can’t sleep and feels off. My MIL loves the energy boost she feels from it. I thankfully haven’t needed it, so I don’t have much to share of a personal account.
WaterGirl
@Mousebumples: An -ex boyfriend’s mom was on it for awhile, and she described it as wanting to open the refrigerator and eat everything in it, going from top to bottom (or bottom to top) unit all the food was gone
That does not sound fun.
Frank Wilhoit
@WaterGirl:
I think it was 3 weeks.
Vet
Hey watergirl,
I’m a vet, I am so sorry you’re both going through this.
If they have not offered a Solensia injection for the pain, call back and insist you get one:
https://www.zoetispetcare.com/products/solensia
No it’s not designed for UTI pain, yes it will often help. I have used it for UTI pain in cats and there’s no downside to trying it.
Sometimes it can take up to several days for the injection to give him pain relief, but it varies from patient to patient.
Also if they haven’t already told you, sometimes those stones will dissolve in as few as 7 to 10 days. Not always but they can. Hopefully they also told you this, not all stones dissolve and the only way to know if you have the soluble kind, the insoluble kind or a mix is to feed the urinary food and wait. If they don’t (all) dissolve, then he will need a simple surgery to remove the insoluble stones.
WaterGirl
@Vet: Wow, thank you! That is all really helpful.
edit: I have questions! Typing them now, be right back.
Can he take Solensia even if he is already on pred? (whole pill #3 of 5 today. 5 days of whole pills, then 3 days 1/2 pills and then 5 every other day 1/2 pill.
Can he take Solensia even if he has a grade 2 heart murmur? They did an echo and other tests at the vet school, and didn’t find anything physiological wrong, apparently he gets so scared after a procedure at the vet that his blood pumps super fast and that’s when you hear the murmur.
More questions, post updating comment so i don’t miss the 5-minute window
No, they did not tell me that some stories dissolve and others do not.
What is the “simple surgery”? What she described is cutting into the bladder and removing the stones that way. He has several stones.
The “new” vet talked about doing another ultrasound in a couple of months. The “bad” vet said they would check for the presence of crystals again in a month. (this was before we knew he had stones.)
Okay, that’s all the questions for now. Hope you see this and don’t mind answering!
Chris T.
@LivinginExile: Cats—especially male ones—and urinary crystals are both bad news and tricky. There’s a protein some cats make that makes them particularly susceptible. If you find something that’s (a) cheap, or even cheap-ish, that stops the problem and (b) that the cat will take, you’re in great shape, just keep using it!
Chris T.
@Vet: I have four elderly kitties and for one of them, Solencia (frunevetmab) makes a huge difference for her arthritis pain in her paws. It’s not cheap at $80/mo but she gets it.
I have just the one boy kitty and he’s never had any urinary issues. Eight grand total for the time he ate some foam earplugs and blocked up his intestines and needed surgery, yes, but no urinary issues!
Chris T.
@WaterGirl: My understanding on Solensia is that he can take the shots regardless of prenisone/prednisolone and heart issues: that there are no existing contraindications other than “tried it and had a bad reaction”. It only helps some kitties with pain, though. Hard to tell who’s being helped since cats tend to hide their pain (but I’m kind of the local cat whisperer…).
Mai Naem mobile >44
@WaterGirl: have you tried the vet school or is it too far from you? I know there was somebody I used to read who I think was in Michigan who used to their animals to the vet school clinic and seemed to have good results.
Maxim
Poor kitty! I’m sorry you’re both going through this.
Chris T.
@karen marie:
It’s for crystals (mostly—though more specifically for repeated blockages), and it’s called a “perineal urethrostomy” (per-uh-NEE-all you-reeth-ROS-toe-mee, more or less, if I’m not mispronouncing it myself). See https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/perineal-urethrostomy-surgery-in-cats or just remember it as “converts boy kitty to girl kitty for peeing purposes” (doesn’t remove the organ, but stops using it for peeing). It’s fairly major surgery and hence not something you want to do unless really necessary.
Vet
@watergirl,
Solensia is a monoclonal antibody, it binds to a factor involved in pain receptors and interferes with the transmission of the pain signal. It will not be affected by concurrent steroid / pred use and there is no additional risk with a murmur.
How long ago was the echo? If it has been more than 2 years and they have not recently done a Cardiopet/proBNP test, please ask for one of those the next time you do blood work. Kitty hearts change over time just like ours do. I would definitely have this done before pursuing surgery.
Like any drug there’s always a possibility for a reaction, the most common adverse reaction is GI upset, in about 10% of patients studied.
The surgery is called a cystotomy, it’s essentially the same procedure as would be for a spay for a girl cat. A small incision is made in the abdomen, but in this case instead of a uterus and ovaries being removed his bladder is carefully exteriorized, we open the bladder and flush out all the stones and stitch it shut again. The bladder is very quick and easy to reach and it’s a very minimally invasive surgery.
The urethral surgery is only necessary for a cat that has experienced multiple blockages, if he’s peeing fine with the stones that is not necessary at this time.
As far as the recheck, I would ask for a UA and ultrasound recheck in 7 to 10 days, especially since this patient has insurance. We should expect to see the stones getting visibly smaller by then and we definitely want him to be feeling much better. Keep repeating the ultrasound until the stones are gone, or until it’s clear there are one or more that aren’t going to go.
In any case please make sure we keep him on urinary food for life, once they’ve made stones they will keep making them.
WaterGirl
@Mai Naem mobile >44: I take Henry to the vet school for his allergies. (Dermatology)
And I took Mr. Bear to the vet school when my vet found the heart murmur. I no longer really trusted her after Tucker, so I wanted to go to the experts. (Cardiology)
I did call the vet school before I called to see if the “new” vet had any openings, just to ask whether they thought someone needed to see him ASAP. I got the usual “can’t give medical advice” but she did say that if it were her kitty she would have him seen today.
If the “new” vet couldn’t get him in that day, I was going to head to emergency services at the vet school.
Chris T.
Just for clarity: cystotomy is for flushing out bladder stones, which can themselves later cause urethral blockages; perineal urethrostomy is for male kitties with urethral blockages. So, related, but entirely different surgeries.
I had a girl kitty who got two cystotomies over her lifetime as she just manufactured bladder “sand” all her life (she had one defective kidney, and I lost her a bit early to kidney failure).
WaterGirl
@Vet: Thank you, that’s super helpful.
Here’s what the University of Illinois vet school said after their testing because my regular vet heard a heart murmur.
I switched Mr. Bear from the grain free food based on their recommendation, and less than 6 months later he had this issue.
sigh.
WaterGirl
@Vet: Echo was in March of this year, so close to 6 months ago.
I wouldn’t say he’s peeing fine – he is peeing outside the litter box and he appears to be peeing but not a lot comes out most of the time, when that happens, I see drops of blood. But he’s not blocked.
As for everything else in this comment, super helpful. I had been thinking I would ask the vet for another ultrasound in a month. But I will ask for it earlier if you think there should be fewer (or smaller) stones within 10 days – if they are going to dissolve.
She was also able to see the stones in the x-ray, even though the stones are moving around, I imagine that will be helpful for knowing if there are more or fewer, etc.
end of comment, no more updates to this one.
Ghost of Joe Liebling’s Dog
Apologies in advance; this is a sad comment to write. We lost Jenny, our older cat – Pirate Jenny, to give her her full style and title – last week. She’s in one of the calendars, admiring herself in a mirror.
Jenny found us three years ago. She was desperate for food and water and a safe place to sleep, but what she really wanted most was affection – petting and skritches, and a lap if one could be provided.
That never changed; she was the sweetest, most affectionate cat I think I’ve ever known, for the rest of her life.
When she came to us she would have been somewhere north of 11; she’d been chipped over ten years earlier. I’d guess she was at least 12 or 13 then, 15 or 16 now, but it’s just a guess.
She’d had a normal night, but in the morning she couldn’t stand on her own and wouldn’t eat, so we knew she was in a bad way. She died on the way to the emergency vet. She didn’t seem to really be there any more, though, even before we left the house.
I don’t think she went hard, but it was a hard, hard week. We’re lucky that she found us and we got to be her people, though; I’d do it again in a heartbeat, if I only could.
Vet
@WaterGirl: a 6-month recent Echo is perfect, he should be fine for surgery.
The anti-grain-free recommendation is not supported by compelling evidence, that is a very long and painful story of food industry maneuvering and some very bad faith at one of our veterinary research hospitals 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🤦 Give him the urinary food he likes the best and responds the best to.
Vet
@WaterGirl: His bladder is inflamed and hurts so he’s going to try to pee a lot even if there isn’t a lot in there. As long as he’s not blocked that’s what we’re watching for, definitely keep a close eye as as the stones get smaller there is a risk of blocking.
Also if he likes and tolerates wet food without getting diarrhea, it is by far the best way to keep him super hydrated which he needs right now.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Ghost of Joe Liebling’s Dog:
My condolences on the loss of your furry family member. She chose your family to spend her last days and it sounds like everyone was happy.
ETA: Good luck with your kitty, WaterGirl! I’m glad that you found a doc to get them into right away. Our vet does urgent care and we had to avail ourselves of it earlier this year with Chuckie.
WaterGirl
@Vet: Yeah, I had read about the possible grain-free issues with peas, but I hadn’t seen anything compelling. But when the cardiologies strongly recommended changing it, i changed it.
Damn, though. Every time I change a cat’s food something terrible happens. I had changed my kitty soulmate’s food 15 years ago and within months he was in kidney failure, and only made it another 4 months. Would that have happened anyway? Who knows.
Now I change from the grain free, and now 6 months later, this.
I do not like changing the kitty food!
WaterGirl
@Ghost of Joe Liebling’s Dog: I am so sorry. Tears for you and your girl.
Vet
@WaterGirl: Let us know how he does!
LivinginExile
@WaterGirl: I use the powder mixed in canned food. I usually buy it on amazon. I have used myself on occasion, just sprinkle it on.my cereal. Hope the poor fel!a is better soon.
WaterGirl
@Vet: Smaller stones increases risk of blocking, that makes sense. I have been wondering whether he will pass the stones as they get smaller or whether they would just dissolve completely.
Guessing it could be one or the other, and it just depends on where the stones happen to be at any given time?
On 9/5 when vet #1 found the crystals, they took 10 samples and found crystals in 5 of them. Not good, I imagine. But no blood at all. Exactly one week later, “so much blood in his urine!”
WaterGirl
@Vet: You know I will!
sab
@Ghost of Joe Liebling’s Dog:I am so sorry for you, but at least she had a good home for her last years.
sab
We had quite a scare today with one of our cats. She got out of the house and vanished for about three hours. At about 8 pm I went out to get something from the car, and there she was, sitting on the doorstep, waiting for dinner.
She used to belong to a neighbor who has a bunch of outdoor cats. She decided a couple of months ago that she preferred being an indoor cat, so we let her move in. I don’t know why she changed her mind today, but at least she’s back safe and sound.
Noskilz
Best of luck with a difficult situation.
TriassicSands
@Doc Sardonic:
Vet/pet insurance is just another sign that pet health care is headed in the same direction as our miserable human health care system. (It may already be there.) Worse still, the more people there are who have vet insurance, the more likely costs are to escalate, and the worse it will be for low income households. That has a really familiar ring to it in this country.
One difference is that for most people, there will be an upper limit to what they are willing to pay to treat a “mere” cat or dog.
Vet
@TriassicSands: Veterinarians pay the same for our education that MD’s pay, $200,000 to $300,000 for a medical degree. Starting salary in many parts of the country is $80,000 a year. As you can imagine, young vets leave the profession in droves.
Until there’s pressure from clients for a new model of funding the Veterinary Medical colleges at State Universities, to drive the cost of medical education down, the gulf between supply and demand will not change.
TriassicSands
@Vet:
Which brings us to another problem that directly affects medical care (animal and human) in the U.S. The availability of student loans allows the schools to endlessly raise prices, which increases student debt.
Years ago, someone observed that when American medical school students graduate with monstrous debt, it contributes to them feeling that they are owed something for all the time, effort, and money they’ve spent graduating. That sense of entitlement — to as much money as possible — is somewhat understandable, but it does nothing to improve health care or the health care system. All of society needs doctors (and teachers), but we do nothing to ensure that we get an adequate supply of high quality teachers, doctors, or vets at a cost that all of society can afford. I see nothing wrong with significant assistance for such students, but part of the deal should be that graduates are willing to serve meaningful time in underserved areas.
Where I live, local specialists are hard to come by and often second rate, but 75 miles away in Seattle, where pay is significantly higher, there are many specialists even in areas where there are none locally. We need more and better doctors throughout the system.
Obviously, we need entirely new models for funding medical education.
karen marie
@TriassicSands: Hear hear! I’ve been saying this for over a decade. IMO, it should have been part of healthcare reform when the ACA was passed. I know, I know – getting what we got was huge but still …
Vet
@TriassicSands:
It always warms my heart to hear clients expound upon what doctors should feel we are entitled to. Well done.
There’s a federal program for doctors that want to serve in underserved areas to have their medical debts forgiven.
it is not, in fact, possible to have our veterinary medical loans forgiven by this program, as It has been set up in such a way that it disperses almost none of its money.
Possibly your enthusiasms could be constructively expended on making a change to that.
Barbara I
@WaterGirl: my vet opened him up (unfortunately he didn’t let me watch). But Austin came home the next day, pretty much ready for action. He has been on Hills urinary stress diet (both the pate and a stew) – as long as it has some fish flavor, he’s a happy camper. Also, for a treat, I give him this aspic-textured “Icelandic Fish” from Forza1 that I get from Chewy’s. (My contact at the local animal shelter recommended it because she has a cat with this issue and he loves it). It’s the same price as 3-oz cans of Hills.