What is Feline Urinary Blockage?

I just lost my precious five year old cat to a blockage. I noticed him visiting the litter box two or three times the day before but he was acting normal, eating with vigor. He was always hard for me to catch by myself and I didn't want to bother my friend who had just come in from out of town to catch him at 11:30 p.m. when I got home from work. I decided to take him to my regular vet in the morning.

That morning, he ate again and was acting normal but noticed him in the litterbox again. We got him to the vet - my friend dropped him off for me. I didn't know it, but the vet could not get close to him. He was a large cat and was swatting and hissing. They tried for two or three hours but could not get an IV in him. I wish I had known. I would have gone there to help hold him. He trusted me. They gave him gas anesthesia and he went into cardiac arrest. They tried to revive him and could not.

I am still devastated. I blame myself in so many ways. I wish I had taken him to the emergency hospital the night before. I thought since he was eating and acting normal otherwise that he wasn't so sick. The vet could feel stones and said he had about two days' worth of urine in his bladder.

I am so sorry for everyone who has to go through this. In case you are feeling guilty because you made the choice to euthanize your cat, read my story first.

Two weeks ago I had my 6 year old male sweetheart of a cat euthanized because of bladder stones. It all started about 2 1/2 years ago, when my cat couldn't pee and started dribbling small amounts of blood. I took him to the vet, and they said he had a UT infection - but that he wasn't blocked. (Actually, he had stervite crystals.) I took him home with medicine.

The next morning he was worse, and in terrible pain. I took him back to the vet where they explained he needed a catheter inserted so his bladder wouldn't rupture and to have it in for three days. The first day the vet cost over $400. The next few days, over $500. When they took out the catheter, he blocked again immediately. The vet said they could perform a surgery (where they make a he a she) so he wouldn't block. Another $800. They normally don't do this the first time, but I agreed.

After the surgery, he went home, was put on prescription diet food, meds, antibiotics, methagel, steroids, etc., etc. He healed but, every two or three months, he would have an episode where he would have blood in his urine and end up at the vet. He was the vet’s problem child. After a year of this, he started having problems urinating again one day. I rushed him to the vet. Diagnosis: 75-100 bladder (stervite) stones. He then had surgery to remove the stones.

After several days at the vet, a day after he came home, I noticed his incision was getting red and leaking a small amount of discharge. I took him back in immediately. They had to cut him open, keep his incision open and start draining the infection out of his body. The actually had to remove some fat tissue that was holding onto the infection (from the surgery). Finally, they were able to put tubes in for the infection to drain. They had to keep him at the vet’s office for a week and get the infection diagnosed because it was an antibiotic resistant bacteria, like Kitty MRSA. He might not make it. He finally got better and I took him home. The healing took a while. He finally seemed so much better.

I had lost my job and had just started working at a new job that paid 13k less a year when all of this first started. The first time I took him to the vet. I could barely pay my bills. I got the Carecredit to take care of the first surgery, the second, I paid the vet every month for over a year. The bills mounted and I just stopped keeping track of how much it was costing me. I could not afford this, but I had already invested so much in him, and I loved him.

For a year he was doing really well. We had taken him off of the Hills CD prescription food and put him on prescription Purina UR. I took him off steroids and everything, except I gave him Cosequin for cats. Please try this if you are having recurrent problems with your cat's bladder and don’t take him off of it. Look it up. He was doing so well, I thought maybe he could finally live a happy healthy life.

Around Christmas he tried to jump on the counter and fell off because he landed on the edge of the sink and didn't have good footing. He landed on his right side and possibly on his shoulder. Within a week, his shoulder bone had a growth. Took him to the vet (and yes he hated the vet), they did a couple needle aspirations, but didn't come back with any conclusive results. He was so traumatized by the last visit.

We are not sure what it was, but possibly osteosarcoma (bone cancer). I decided and made a promise that day to my cat - there would be no more pain, no catheters, no poking and prodding, no more surgeries, no more long stays at the vet. I gave him lots of love and let him live happy. Then, a year and four months after his last surgery, he could not pee. I went to the vet, he was blocked again. He had five bladder stones. Even the vet admitted with his history (especially w/the infection he got), he wouldn't be a good candidate for surgery again. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do, but I kept my promise to my cat. I just wanted to grab him and run out. I cried harder than I ever have in my life.

I stayed with him and stroked him while he went to sleep and left this world. I still cry at some point every day. He was the best cat, so good, so mellow, so smart, and so loving. When the vet called and said his ashes were ready, I wanted nothing more to hurry over and bring him home for the very last time.

I did everything the vet told me to do. In other words, it didn't matter what I was doing right. I have done so much research, and learned nothing more than they (the experts) don't know what really causes it. Oh, and about the cosequin. I am broke and will probably have to file bankruptcy. My cat suffered more pain than any living creature should have to endure. Over and over, in and out of the vet’s office. But he was loved and loving. So what causes it? Being neutered, dry food, being overweight, being stressed? So, how do you treat something if you don't know what is causing it? I am not angry that I am broke, I am heartbroken. I am saddened when I read all of these comments and realize that there are so many male cats and their owners suffering and that there is no real answer.

I just spent $3,000 on my cat. Mushka had a blockage and required surgery. The North Shore Animal League saved my boy's life. He was 10 days at the vet. My boy is now home recovering. North Shore worked out a payment plan. I could never put my cat (family) to sleep, just because I couldn't afford it. Mind you, both my husband and I are not working due to Hurricane Sandy.

I have two male neutered cats. Both of them had total blockage at two to three years old. I cannot believe this is a natural condition for cats. We feed dry food. The first time it happened I switched from the cheap friskies stuff to a better brand Evo and Chicken Soup. But it still happened to my other cat even on the better food. When I was growing up, my dad would just feed the cats raw chicken and milk. I don't recall hearing about this problem until after they invented dry food like 20 years ago. The problem is, once your cat is on dry food they become addicted to it.

Both times the animal hospital charged about $2500 for the catheter treatment and follow-up urine and blood tests. They did a good job - the first cat has not had a recurrence in about five years. We live near NYC so cost of living is high here, so if you live in a lower cost area you will probably get charged less.

So I just wish this horrible ailment could be prevented, and probably can by feeding a raw food diet. Some people make their own raw food mix and freeze it. I might have to look into that if I can get my cats to switch. The younger cat will eat it - the older cat won't.

Anyway, if you see your cat with the symptoms, take it to the vet. I don't know if the pet insurances like VPI cover this, but it's probably worth looking into.

God bless all of you - especially those who are in pain losing a precious companion to this wretched disease. Be well, as my mom would say!

I had to put my 2 1/2 year old cat Jack to sleep at 4 p.m. today. He just had some of these symptoms today and the vet said it could cost $1,000 or more just for the X-rays and tests, then another $1,500 or more for surgery and a decision had to be made today because his bladder could rupture by tomorrow. I don't have that kind of money and the vet said it could happen again. I am heartbroken, but I am having him cremated so I can have him with me forever.

Two days ago, our beloved son Orion, a domestic short hair or "Tuxedo" cat, who was the sweetest little man came to us and let out this blood curling howl of pain. We immediately took him to an emergency vet. They told us this was a blockage and it was very bad, but for them to treat it, it would have cost $1,500.

We have a low income and couldn't afford it, and that same night we had to put him down. This is the first time my boyfriend has ever had to deal with this, and he is completely heart broken. Then they told us the cost for euthanizing our cat, and I lost it. Then if we wanted his ashes, it would cost us close to $800 or he's being cremated with a whole bunch of other animals, and being scattered in 'our memory'.

I'm completely sick and heart broken. We miss our little man so much.

I am glad I came across this website. Last Wednesday, I noticed by baby boy Lynxie (2.5 year old male brown tabby) howling when we went to pet him and spending time in the litter box. I made an appointment at the vet the next day. I thought it was a urinary tract infection and I could get him some antibiotics and we would be on our way.

He had blood in his urine and his personality was not the same. He didn't purr, he couldn't sit and would not walk very far. When we got to the vet they gave me the worst news possible and told me that he was blocked and likely had kidney damage and blood problems. At this point, he was in really bad shape and the vet didn't give me good odds for his survival and only said we can try to keep him alive for the next 24 hours for $700.

I didn't have the money and worried about the additional expenses after the $700 was paid, not to mention the suffering he would go through. They also told me it would happen again and I didn't want to leave for a weekend and come home to find him dead on the floor, alone. I made the hardest decision - I had to put him down.

I have never been so devastated. I didn't expect it at all. I sat at the vet's office and snuggled him for an hour. I could tell he was in pain and scared. I will never forgive myself for not at least trying and paying the $700 (somehow) to see if he could make it.

I cry every night thinking I failed him because he was always there for me. I am angry with the vet for not acting on my obvious hear break. I was and still am shattered and promised myself I would never get another cat because the pain of losing them; it feels like I've lost a child. I look around my house and see all the places where Lynx would sleep and still keep an empty spot for him on my bed. I am having such a hard time grieving for him and miss him so much. I want to let anyone know that they can manage to pay whatever they can for the chance - even if it's a small one --because you will wonder "what if" and hold this awful heaviness on your heart for giving up without trying first. I just couldn't see him suffer anymore.

Yesterday morning I found my cat Alfie crying in pain. Normally, he doesn't cry unless he want to get into the same room as me and the door's closed. I took this as a cry for attention and started to see what could be wrong with him.

He then went to hide under the coffee table and wouldn't come out. He usually likes to play fetch with paper balls but even that wouldn't move him.

I saw him licking his bottom and inspected it to find bleeding.

I immediately changed out of my pyjamas and took him to the vets as an emergency. He gave him antibiotics and a steroid shot to take down the swelling and said to bring him back the following morning for a check-up.

He was fine until 3 a.m. the next day, when he started wetting himself and was in a lot of pain. I took him back to the vets and he took a dip-stick test that showed blood in his urine that was off the chart. His protein was the highest indicator on the chart, but his white blood cell count was normal so it can't be an infection.

The vet doesn't know what's wrong because all the symptoms together don't make sense. He's keeping him in overnight for observations and to stimulate him to go to the toilet. I'm really worried about him. Please keep Alfie in your prayers and my deepest sympathies to those who have lost their beloved pets!

Our female cat, Zoe, just started displaying these symptoms within the last two hours. Straining, holding herself rigid, small drops of blood, howling when touched, refusing to go in the litter box, small amounts of urine on the floor.

My mom called the emergency after hours number, and was told it was most likely not a blockage, but a uti.

Please, keep her in your thoughts. I see that it's very uncommon for female cats to have this problem, and I'm hoping it is something as "simple" as a UTI.

I'm so sorry for everyone's loss on here.

My cat was showing signs on Saturday. Called to schedule a appointment on Monday morning. Took him in and they said he would be okay because he was a young cat (4 years old). Got a call an hour and a half later after his appointment. He died from the anesthesia. Everyone make sure you are feeding your cat Science Diet.

If any vet says it's a 50/50 chance then take that chance. My cat was seriously ill 30 years ago and it was decided to give him a chance and take a risk. He survived and gave 23 glorious years of joy to everyone around him. 50/50? Go for it.

I am glad for this website. I took my 2 year old cat Sheldon into the vet and was told he had a urinary blockage. I had no idea really what he was talking about. So I went home immediately to look online to see about it.

My cat showed no signs of anything wrong until one day I woke up and he never came into the room. He always jumps on the bed when my alarm goes off. I saw him and he was very sluggish, and refused to sit completely on the ground. He was constantly licking his urethra opening, and when I attempted to pick him up he wailed. So I immediately called the vet to get him in for an emergency visit.

The vet attempted once to unblock him, with no success, so he called me and said that it didn't seem to work, and stated he was going to try again. Second time didn't work either, so he gave me the option of surgery. Sheldon is basically my kid and I would do anything for him -- even eat ramen noodles to pay for surgery. I said go for it. I just got him back home today, $1,350 later.

I know for those people that can't afford it right away see if your doctor offers the option of a Carecredit credit card. You can choose options of replaying it in 6,12,or 24 months. It's no interest as long as you have it paid in full within the time frame. This is my life saver. I can pay it off when I have the money to.

My beautiful little baby sweep died last night. He was struggling to do the toilet, would act very limp and as if he couldn't walk for long. He slept a lot through the day and it wasn't until last night where I saw him. His tongue was out of his mouth as he was gasping for air. I drove straight out to an emergency vet to see if there was any hope for him.

The vet told me they could try get him stable then possibly do surgery but he hasn't really got a 50/50 chance. It broke my heart. He was the bestest thing in my life, and I had to let him go. He wasn't going to make it and I couldn't see him suffer for much longer. He only had a matter of minutes before he would have passed. He was three. Such a young age.

I am going through this now. First, my heart breaks for everyone who has had to make difficult decisions and has lost a beloved pet. As hard as it is, please try not to beat yourselves up too much. It's obvious everyone loves their kitties and would do anything they could. Unfortunately, sometimes there's just not enough money. Try and take comfort in knowing the love your pet felt when you had them.

For my case, my kitty started making awful howling kind of sounds and looked like he was straining to go to the bathroom. He was sitting on the couch, not the kitty litter. It was a Saturday and we called our on call vet. She said since he was acting fine otherwise, it's hard to tell without an exam and we could wait a bit and watch him or take him in. We decided to wait a bit. At that point, he got in the kitty litter and tried to go but couldn't. The vet had told us to watch out for that and we called back and met her at the clinic. Turned out he had a blockage.

The vet's office was gracious and let us pay half up front and payments on the rest. Without that, it would have been too much at that point. They kept him, did the catheter and flushed him, and kept him for a couple of days. The problem they had with him when they took the catheter out was he was so freaked out by all the other sounds (lots of barking dogs and he's a scaredy cat to begin with) he would just sit in his cage and not go to the bathroom or even try. She figured he might do better at home so we were to take him home and call back if he had not gone in a day.

Before this, I should mention the vet told us about the three strikes policy. I've done a lot of reading and the three strikes policy is the standard. We wondered the same thing about why not just go ahead with the pu surgery from the beginning, but a lot of times (estimates around 65 percent) the cats are better after the catheterization and they are never blocked again, especially if they stay on the prescription diet. The surgery is often (estimates around 90 percent) effective in preventing the problem, but it's a more risky procedure because there are always risks with surgery, anesthesia, etc. So the vets aren't just trying to take your money when they don't recommend the pu surgery first. It's more invasive and the catheter alone often works. They just don't know what causes it all the time and it's hard to know what's best, especially when it's your beloved pet. But that's some of what I've learned about why they do things that way.

Back to our cat. We took him home and on the way home he peed in his cage in the car. We were so excited about this. He also drank a ton of water, which is another good thing. Also have read that putting out extra water bowls, trying water fountains, making sure it's fresh, etc. can help. He was very happy (except when we were giving him is medicine). He wasn't eating a lot but did eat some and we gave him the prescription food. He was so happy to be home. And did great for two nights.

This morning, he was completely lethargic, having trouble walking and his back legs were twitching/cramping. He was clearly in pain again and having the same problem. We took him to our vet as soon as they opened. We knew we didn't have the money for another questionable catheterization or the full price of surgery. We thought for sure we were going to lose him this morning and were a mess at the vet's office. Luckily, they found a way to work with us again on the payments and are going straight to the pu surgery this time. He's supposed to be having the surgery this afternoon, but we haven't gotten an update yet.

I'm thankful we had a couple extra days with him and that he's getting the surgery, but still scared and hope it goes well. Again, my heart goes out to all of you who have gone through similar experiences and have experienced loss of your pet as a result. For those still in the situation, in addition to keeping water out and changing the diet, I've also learned that feliway spray, keeping extra fresh litter out, and anything else you can do to keep them calm can help.

My buddy-cat Dillon was showing zero symptoms up until the point that we brought him to the vet. A couple of years ago, we had a friend watch him while we went on vacation for a week. That friend of ours was actually his previous owner who couldn't be his permanent owner due to his living conditions. when we came back, our friend handed me a vet bill for $300 over this condition. He said he ran over some trouble shooting with his mom, who's owned several cats and took him to the vet, who said if they waited another hour he would have been dead. That was over a year ago.

I knew this was possible and to be careful, but we have another cat who shares a litter box with Dillon, which made it hard to monitor his litter box habits. He was eating just as much as ever, except one day, he threw up his breakfast, which wasn't that weird, because he eats every odd thing in the house that's left on the floor and throws it up if we aren't careful about picking everything up. Silly guy even ate all the tinsel off the bottom half of the Christmas tree last year. Sparkle-vomit-surprise around the house for all of December. After he puked up breakfast he walked around the house groaning for an hour. At one point he walked across the living room dribbling small drops of urine on the carpet which set up a red flag and we took him in immediately. This happened all in the process of about two hours.

They put in a catheter for the day and kept him overnight. They took the catheter out the next day and kept him until they could confirm that he was peeing on his own. They called me and I went and picked him up. They sent me home with some antibiotics, some painkillers and some steroids to help with any inflammation.

He was fine for the first day, but the second he was displaying symptoms again. I had to wait until morning to bring him in. That night he lay in bed with me, moaning and breathing short rapid breaths. U could tell he was completely miserable, and neither of us got a wink of sleep.

I took him back in and they re-catheterized him and hooked him up to an IV to get some fluid in him. His kidney levels were high and he was backed up and it was blocking his kidney function.

I'm afraid I can't afford to keep taking him in to have them re-catheterize him every other day. I've maxed out three credit cards and zeroed out the money I started saving for a down payment on a house for this guy and would gleefully spend $4000 on this operation if the vet would have told me about it in the first place. He has only mentioned it briefly in passing over the second meeting and made no mention of cost, even though he knew that the cat wasn't peeing after the second visit and after the first visit with the exception of in the crate on the way home. We just had to get the cat out of there because today is saturday and they aren't open sunday, which means I have to get him to an emergency clinic tomorrow and drop another routine $700 to start from scratch with another vet.

I feel my vet has completely taken advantage of me for any money that they may have been able to squeeze out of me. I told the vet that this is a recurring issue and this is the second time it has happened. He only mentioned possibly switching cat foods. Reading some of these cases where the vet kept the cat for days at a time and leaving the catheter in at home makes me feel like my vet was just trying to process me and my cat as fast as possible to get my money and send me home, and maybe back again to take more money.

Please get multiple opinions on your cat's condition. Maybe talk to your male cat's vet about it even if your cat is healthy and see how much they would charge, ahead of time. I think it's ridiculous that the vet my friend took Dillon to, did the job for $300 and finished the job front to back and Dillon was good as new, while the vet I took him to charged me a small fortune and now Dillon dutifully curled up at my side might not survive to see Monday because my wallet is more important than my cat to some offices.

I envy those of you whose bank accounts match the size of your hearts. And my heart goes out to those whose aren't. I feel I'm going to have to say goodbye to my buddy-cat.

My gray tabby Casey, was throwing up after he ate and was peeing on the carpet. My boyfriend thought Casey was just eating too much and I thought he was marking his territory, but when I called the vet, they said I needed to take him to the emergency room. He had crystals and was treated. I picked him up on Monday but last night (Sunday) he threw up after he ate and he has a bad cold. Also one of his ears is very red. I took him to the vet 3 days ago and he had the cold but no fever. The vet gave me special food that cost around $40. So far I have spent about $1200 on Casey. I don't know what to do now! Should I just wait? I love him so much. Please help!

I am currently going through this nightmare. My cat’s name is Felix and he is a two year old gray tabby cat. He is the friendliest cat you’ll ever meet. He loves to rub against you and lie next to you. He loves to chase me and attack me. He is my best friend.

I noticed something was wrong when he tried to pee and wasn’t able to and start to cry and growl. Felix is a very quiet cat and never talks, so to hear this was a shock. I immediately took him to the ASPCA. The assistant was not able to speak or understand english very well. I told her the issue he was having and she kept say oh so it hurt when he poops? When the doctor came in she spoke good english, but kept saying the same thing like I wasn’t speaking english. No my cat cries when he tries to pee! The doctor said his bladder was too small to get a urine sample and it probably was a one time deal. Just watch him and let us know. So I walked out paying $70 for basically nothing. He seemed to be okay the next day until he tried to pee. Since my vet was no help I researched online and it seemed he was suffering from a UTI so I called them back and told them and said I cannot afford another vet visit. Please prescribe an antibiotic -- $35 more. After two days on it Felix didn’t seem to be getting better, he kept hiding in the closet and just kept sleeping.

So I called an new vet (Val-U-et) They said to bring him in immediately! So I rushed felix in, they looked at him and showed me crystals that were on his penis. The doctor came in and did an exam and said he is partially blocked and will probably die by Sunday. I have to get him euthanized if I can’t afford the surgery of over $200. I only had $50 in my pocket and the visit was $37. So I started to bawl my eyes out, feeling like the worst mom in the world. And knowing that I am going to have to put my cat down.

I quickly texted my boyfriend for moral support because I would not be able to do this alone. He was my knight in shining armor and said he would pay for the surgery. So for $350, they did the surgery. The doctor came back and said it’s a good thing because they were mistaken and he was fully blocked and would of died within hours. Bad news is the crystals had scarred his penis and the skin grew together in a weird way which would not let the penis come out. He said it’s very likely this will happen again and he has to be on a special diet the rest of his life. They sent him home with a catheter in and special food and made an appointment for tuesday for removal. Friday night was an awful night with nightmares of almost losing him. Everything was fine until Saturday late night sunday early morning. Felix had somehow outsmarted his cone and removed it and remove his catheter! Waking up and finding your cat happy should be a good thing, right? Not so much.

I start freaking out and no vets are open on Sunday. So I had to rush him to a emergency vet because he seemed to still have issues peeing. He went around the house trying to pee for 40 minutes, and while checking these spots I found a pile of crystals and start bawling thinking this is it! The vet said since he’s peeing he’s okay and prescribed pain meds, and a relaxer. Walked out paying $144. Next day I followed up with my vet, they looked at him and showed me he still had crystals coming out and some were on his penis. I was really worried. Because someone says he’s okay and then he’s not. They made him pee and his flow was great!

We got sent home with check up phone calls every five days. It’s now Thursday and the last three days have been fine. I woke up this morning to go to work and he peed in front of me again but this time it was full of blood. I am a nanny so I had to go to work. I called the emergency vet and they said I have to take him in. Once my vet opened I called them and they said this is not normal and he needs to come in. I set an appointment for 4:30 and asked my boyfriend how he was doing around 9 this morning he said he looked fine. But until 4 o’clock I will be sitting here stressed.

As a nanny I only make $800 a month and as you can see I basically spend all of it. I am now in debt and can’t afford another surgery. My fear is taking him in today and they tell me my only option is to let him go. God give me strength, and please pray for my baby! I wish I had more money and I was more wise. I would have never fed him dry food.

Note: My doctor said you shouldn’t fed your cats tap water due to the bacteria that could be in it. You should fed them only distilled or bottled water.

I took my cat Vincent (Vinnie) to the vet this morning and they took him right away for emergency surgery for a blocked urinary tract.

He had not been himself and I found spots of blood on the floor. He was lying in a closet and when I picked him up he cried in pain. I figured it was something to do with his urinary tract from the signs and his behavior. He just got out of surgery and the vet said he had been totally blocked and that his bladder wall had been damaged, hence the bleeding. His kidneys had started to fail as well.

I feel so bad that I didn't take him sooner, but I hope he pulls through. The vet said they will keep him for about three days to monitor his condition and kidney function. She quoted about $550.00 for the total, not including if he becomes blocked again or something. I think the price is well worth it considering we are talking about one of my beloved pets.

It's a shame I even had to ask for an estimate, but considering I went thorough this a few years ago with another kitty of mine and the cost was about $5,000. He did have to have the surgery when they alter the male's urethra to make it like a female to prevent total blockage in the future. I have since changed vets.

I pray for my Vincent and for all others who've I've read about. with their beloved pets. I have had several cats and had to make several very difficult decisions regarding whether or not to euthanize or have them endure other options. I wish money was never an issue for any of us! It is already hard enough to make decisions about our loved ones. My pets are part of my family and I love them as such.

We too have just gone through this with our 9 year old Swaggles. We are so lucky to have found him when we did trying to pee in the back yard. We noticed something was wrong when he didn't come home for dinner. He is a little piggy and he is usually always waiting at the door when we come home. He loves his family and his food, and we called out for him over and over.

At first we were worried he may have been hit by a car but he rarely goes far from home. My daughter found him trying to go to the toilet in the back yard and brought him inside. He hissed at her when she picked him up. He always goes to the toilet outside so we didn't notice his toilet habits until we saw him struggling outside. We thought he might be constipated so we took him straight to the animal hospital.

We were told that his bladder was close to rupturing and they needed to act fast. We were also told that there could still be a chance that he had absorbed toxins that could cause other complications as we didn't know how long he had been like this.

I am a single mum and didn't have the money for the surgery, but he is my third child and I just couldn't bare the thought of not trying to help him. Luckily for me the Lort Smith Animal Hospital here in Melb, Australia is amazing! They quoted me $600 for a four day stay in hospital and no guarantee, and if I could afford to pay a $250 deposit they could go ahead and begin immediately. My son paid the deposit and we gave the go ahead.

It's been five days and I got a call this morning to say he is doing well and he can go home. Thanks to this article and all the stories, I will never feed him dry food again and make sure he gets the special diet. So sorry to hear some of the sad stories of losses, especially due to the financial concern. I completely understand this and it's a very hard decision to make. Without the option to pay it off, I may have had to do the same. Thank god I didn't.

Going to pick my baby (old man) up today.

About a month ago we left the house to go shopping with everything normal in our three cat, two dog household. We came back a couple hours later to about 12 small puddles of discolored urine on the floor. None of the cats seemed distressed, and the dogs were crated, so we figured maybe it was our male cat (he is the only one that goes on the floor sometimes) and he had gotten into something he shouldn't have (he opens cupboards and doors where we keep cleaning supplies), but we didn't worry about it because he doesn't ever seem interested in anything but opening the doors. We were planning on taking him to the vet in a couple of days on a Monday when they opened, but by Monday all seemed normal (urine a normal color again).

A week went by like normal and I had a day off on Friday and "Flower" (our four year old neutered male black and white tabby) made me notice that he couldn't pee (he kept squatting in front of me and nothing was coming out and then he would lick his penis area vigorously (in a not just grooming manner). I took him to the vet and they said he was fully blocked (other than the squatting and licking thing he was acting totally normal with eating, drinking and activity). They kept him until Tuesday and got him unblocked with a catheter, fluids: $850.

The next weekend we had plans to leave town (tickets to a show, hotel booked) and were apprehensive about leaving "Flower" without constant attention, so were thinking of taking him back to the vet for monitoring during the weekend, but once again by Friday he was peeing normally and seemed a little lazy but normal, so we kept him at home and had my mother in law check in a couple of times a day.

Everything was normal with him on the weekend, still eating and o.k. looking at 6 p.m. Sunday, but when we arrived home at about 1am early Monday morning, "Flower" was lying in front of our washer and dryer almost dead (shallow breathing, barely moving). He looked up and meowed but that was it. We rushed him to the emergency vet clinic and they told us he was in bad shape (potassium levels and kidney functions way off), completely blocked again, and that he had a 50-50 chance of pulling through and but it would be $3,000 to unblock him, try to save him, and monitor him for the normal amount of time. They told us we could take him back to his normal vet to save money on tuesday, but made it sound like they had not followed through with the proper procedures and that is why he was blocked again, so we left him in their care.

He made a remarkable recovery and everyone was surprised at how well he pulled through his emergency ordeal. They took the catheter out on Thursday and told us that he could probably come home on Saturday if everything went well.

Saturday they called and said he looked like he was straining and wanted to keep him until Monday.

Sunday they called and said he was getting blocked again and suggested surgery (which I had asked about in the beginning, because I can't afford to pay $800-$3,000 every other week to have my cat unblocked). So now it is going to be a total of $6,850, if you include all the bills from the start of this to the end of the surgery and him coming home again (not guaranteed).

Reading around on forums, it seems like I am getting ripped off as well as prolonging a cat's misery, when he is eventually going to die from this. I love my cat, and he is just the sweetest little buddy ever and still young and healthy before all this started so I am going to go ahead and have this done (if they let us do a payment plan over the next couple of months), but I kind of feel like I am getting a raw deal and maybe doing the wrong thing too.

Wish Flower and us luck, and send good vibes for our financial future (paying almost $7,000 for a one time stray cat that pees in the house instead of my student loans, lawyer, saving money for down payment on house, etc., etc.). Most people would probably call me stupid, but animals are just about the only thing in my life I have consistently cared about and they are just too precious to be thrown aside because of money.

thank you, internet and websites like this, as i was able to diagnose this problem very quickly and get my best buddy into the emergency right away.

Yeah, i am having to fork out 2 grand to cover it, and it is a major setback for me financially, but I probably couldn't live with myself if i let him go. He's at the vet now. I hope everything works out but i am pretty sure i caught this quick enough that there won't be any more damage to him. Fingers crossed.

Just took my Hunter in. He's 11 and this is the second time. First time was two years ago when we went away on vacation. Came home to a very distressed cat who was on the verge of death. $3500 later, four weeks and lots of tears, he was better. He still dribbled a little after he tinkled but i could live with that. For the past two years, no issues and he and our female tabby now even go outside throughout the day to the enclosed compound we built for them (we have lots of critters that could eat them here).

This morning he was quiet and I watched him go into the litter five times within less than an hour and try to pee. Then the he asked to go outside where he pooped but again couldn't seem to pee. I knew something was up.

So off to the vet where he is now. He's getting the royal flush now. I put down a $400 deposit. Let's hope that's it. If he is there for three days, I'm looking at $1500. i don't really care but my husband has a hard time spending that on a cat.

I'm hopeful that because I watch them both that we caught it early and after he gets his wee plumbing fixtures flushed, some pain killers and some fluids that he will be fine.

My smokey joey was fine on Sunday night. He was running through the house playing with his brothers. That night he never came up from the basement and when I went down to check on him, he was lying still in a place he wouldn't normally be.

I knew something was wrong but wasn't sure if it was just a cold or a 24 hour bug. I checked on him the next day, and he seemed worse; he was in a different part of the basement.

I brought him upstairs, but he ran right back down in the basement. On the third night he looked very bad and shaking. I called the emergency vet. They said he probably had a urinary blockage, but it would cost between $800-$1200 to treat him and then they'd send him to the regular vet for more charges. There was no way I could afford that.

I decided to put him down to put him out of his misery. I had to wait for the shelter to open but he died before they opened as i was giving him water so he wouldn't dehydrate. I think he was drowned by the capful of water I put in his mouth. I will never get over what happened. He was my favorite pet, and it will never be the same without him.

Two nights ago, my daughter's cat, Token, was in extreme distress. I had been working in the area and arrived to find him lying in the litter box, and he had been there for the past two days. His stomach was distended and had been hurting like this for days.

I took him to the vet and they were so nice, but informed me that his kidneys had most likely failed at this point. He was trembling and having difficulty breathing.

Again, the choice of money over maybe and I chose the money.

I feel like garbage right now and have lost sleep and am regretting the decision. The vet guided me in the right direction, though. He was in so much pain and was probably going to pass from the sedative and process of inserting a catheter or the removal of same.

I held him and stroked his head and ears. They did not recommend I hold him for the final shot. For both the sedative and the euthanizing shot, the vet told me he would have an adverse reaction or crying out but he never moved.

Like I said, it was way too late and I guess this was the right decision.

I miss my friend and hope I made his life more peaceful in the end.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Gotta go. must be something in my eyes.

My baby boy Junior is a 4 year old grey tabby/siamese mix, who is usually very social and loving, started showing signs of distress last weekend. He would stand very stiff in his back legs, acting like he couldn't move! In the four years I've had him he has never meowed, only made noises(sorta like meows), so on Sunday morning when I tried to pet him and he growled at me and meowed very loudly I knew something had to be wrong!

I called my vet and she said to rush him to the office right now (her words)and she would meet me there! It only took her a few seconds to diagnose the problem as a complete blockage! She had me feel his tummy so I could be more vigilant in the future as this can now be a problem for the rest of his life! She also informed me that this is most likely caused by his diet!

I have never heard of this before and I have had cats my entire life! I also have a sister who works at an animal shelter (hence the five cats) and was still uninformed about this problem. I feel terribly guilty and like an idiot.

On monday my vet said they looked at the crystals under a microscope and are now very confident that it is his diet. Thank god he is doing very good right now, but is still in the hospital until tomorrow. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best; I just could not imagine having to make the decision to put my little guy down!

I haven't gotten a total bill yet but they said it would be less than $500. This is going to set me back for awhile, but overall a small price to pay, to repay him for his unconditional love!

I also have four other cats who are all females. My vet says it's pretty uncommon in females, but not unheard of, so now I'm very scared for all of them, so I'm thinking no matter the cost, all of my kitties are going on the special diet.

My heart goes out to those of you who have lost one of your loved ones to this. You'd better believe that I'm going to spread the word to all my friends who have male cats, so maybe they will be able to catch the warning signs early. It won't be many, but at least a few more people will be educated on this and it won't be a total shock if it happens to them.

My 9 year old cat is currently in the after-hours emergency care clinic, getting a catheter put in due to a blockage. This will cost me approximately $3000 or $4000 when it's all said and done. His symptoms were slight lethargy, and just squatting in the litter box with nothing coming out, sometimes for 15 minutes at a time, then getting out, licking his privates, going back in, getting out, licking privates, etc. He then tried to squeeze out a tiny drop in my living room on a bag lying on the ground.

I took him to the E.R. immediately as I had read you cannot wait. I'm so worried, though, as I have read the responses on here, and it sounds that many kitties don't make it through, or develop complications.

Like someone else mentioned, don't ignore an animal having problems going to the bathroom, and for male cats, it might be a good idea to have the litter box in a place where you can see him.

That's how I noticed mine. I happen to be living in a small apartment where I have no choice but to keep the litter box in the bathroom, and noticed his struggles as I did laundry, showered, etc. Otherwise, he didn't show signs of pain - kept eating, walking around. Had a complete blockage, though, when we got to the E.R. He never had any problems like this before, and I hope he makes it through this.

With all the preparations going on for Christmas, we were not watching our four year old male cat Max's urinary habits. On Christmas eve we noticed that he was straining in his litter box and producing nothing, and aggressively licking his genitals while growling.

Being a holiday in the UK, my vet was closed and it took me a while on the internet to find one to take him to for an emergency check (we are in a rural area and this emergency vet was a 25 mile drive). We got him there at 1 a.m. on Christmas day. The vets were good, and drained, him as his bladder was nearly at the point of rupture. They then had to try to catheterize him - which they only managed on the third attempt at 7 p.m.

He was kept catheterized for two days, but then the vet insisted he come home, as he was not eating or drinking there. He was put onto the special royal urinary diet which we added cystaid to. He was on metacam too.

He still had trouble urinating for the following week, so we kept taking him back to be manually emptied, which meant that he wasn't blocked but understandably reluctant and things down there were obviously irritated.

Anyway, he is still on all this medication (including a stint on amitriptyline -which made him very sedated but did work). It is the middle of january now and he still is having trouble urinating. He takes a few attempts to do enough to feel comfortable again, which is stressful for him and for us as we don't know if we need to rush off again - and I am still paying off the £900 vet bill - so I need to recoup money to pay for the next (if he should need it).

I did notice that the vet manually emptying him made a difference - made it easier for him to do it on his own for a day or two - maybe they need to look into this as part of effective ongoing treatment until the stones are passed/dissolved.

I am truly heartsore for all other people going through this as it is one of the most stressful things all in my household have had to go through and to be honest, no one helps really when it comes to drawing the line between which choice is best for the cat.

It sadly always is dictated by money. He will never have dry food ever again and he will always have the royal urinary diet, for as long as we are lucky enough to have him.

I lost my sweet little Simon yesterday. My heart is breaking. He had a blockage on New Years Day. I took him to an emergency clinic. They wanted $2600. I cried and begged them and they brought the price down to $1000 for him to stay that night to 6:00 the next day. He was showing signs of improvement the next day but I couldn't pay so I had to pick him up at 6:00 with the intent to take him to his regular vet the next morning.

They said he probably needed to stay til the next morning but I could not afford it. He died at 1:00 am in my arms. I'm lost without him and I blame myself for his death. I'm a single mom with a kid in college and no support from his father but if I had it to do over again I would have charged it and figured out how to pay for it later.

I'm just hurting so much. He was the best cat ever.

We caught Merlin's obstruction early and took him to the ER. They did the procedure, and told us everything went well. When they brought him out to us he was shaking and twitching. He died within a minute of them giving him to us, right in my arms. They tried CPR but could not bring him back. I think he was released too early or given too much sedative.

We totally blame the Vet, as she lied to us several times. I have lost so much sleep over the fact that I literally felt his last heartbeat, and I saw him looking up at me like he was saying help me. It has been three weeks now, and I am still not over it and I am fighting for a full refund of over $400. They offered to cremate him for free. To me, that is admitting fault.

My little boy Caesar is currently hospitalized as I type this. He's been through this once before, and luckily they've already removed his blockage (we caught it extremely early) and are just monitoring him at this point for the next 2 days. The bill is close to $2,000 because we had to take him in after hours to an emergency clinic.

The best advice I can give to any pet owner who goes through this once successfully (in that your kitty returns to his perfect health): do not feed anything other than a prescription diet.

I made the mistake of switching back to a regular wet/dry food diet the last time this happened and it brought us right back to the emergency room two years later. Even if you think your kitty seems fine and nothing will happen again, it's not worth the risk.

I know prescription food is expensive, but not as expensive (or risky) as another $2,000 stint in emergency care.

My condolences to everyone who has lost their loves through this disease; it's truly a horrible experience to go through.

My Cat Thomas died in June after being in the vet for two whole weeks. I'm still crying over his passing. Got the call at 5am in the morning his heart stopped. I will never forget that day. He was my little boy. I loved him so much. If anyone is going though this write me back.

Thank you so much for this article - and to all of you who have shared your stories. My cat had a urinary blockage two days ago. I just happened to be working at home that day, or I would never have noticed anything was wrong with him.

He spent a night in the hospital with a catheter, and came home late last night. I'm really freaked out that this could happen again. He's a sweet and sensitive cat, but spends a lot of time home alone with another cat - who sometimes terrorizes him. I just don't know how to protect him. I'm so happy I took him to the ER when I did, but I can't absorb another $1500 vet bill. Hopefully feeding him wet food will make all the difference!

Last evening my Earl died from this horrible syndrome. I completely blame myself because he was dripping urine two weeks ago and I just let it go because I thought he was just stressed out because I had left home for a few days.

The dripping stopped, but every once in a while he would strain in odd places, but even that stopped. He then got moody two nights ago and vomited the next day. I just thought he has a flu bug or something because he seemed like he was a little more alert than the day before.

Last evening I came home from work and found him lying in a puddle of his own urine with a mixture of blood. I immediately rushed him into the emergency clinic and spent the $1500.00 to try and save him. It was about 8:30 pm when my phone started ringing and I knew the news was not going to be good. The vet said that they had just finished the surgery and they were in the process of awakening him when his heart stopped.

My heart has been broken and empty ever since. I cannot stop crying. Life will not be the same without him.

Please! Please! Do not wait for the symptoms to get better. Act as soon as you notice anything wrong. I wish I had.

Thank you for this article and the personal postings by others, because it helped me realize that there can be a positive outcome.

On Tuesday, I noticed our eight year old cat was leaking urine. When I went to pick him up, I felt that his stomach was hard as a rock. At 10 p.m. I had no choice but to rush him to the emergency animal hospital. He had to have an emergency procedure with catheterization and kept until morning, which he was then transferred to the regular vet and kept for hospitalization from Wednesday to Friday.

By Friday night he still wasn't urinating on his own without a catheter, so we were told to take him home, hope for the best and by 9 a.m. Saturday if he still hadn't gone, then our choices were euthanasia or PU surgery.

After a long night and no urine, we had to make a decision: a $1600 surgery on top of the $800 already spent earlier in the week or euthanize our cat who was perfectly healthy (eating, drinking, purring, etc) and still be left with our hefty bill. I was in tears not knowing what to do, and if surgery was chosen I had no choice but to charge it and put myself into debt. Saturday morning we went back to the vet and were told the same thing: euthanize or surgery. However, I was now told that the surgery cost had suddenly increased to $100 overnight. I lost my temper and said this was a money game, literally picked up my cat, stormed out and drove directly to the next closest vet. He took me in, said there were more options other than surgery and said he would keep my cat until Monday.

Well Monday morning came, and I got the call I had been hoping for. My cat was peeing on his own (without the help of surgery). This vet said he had to still back flush him and manipulated his urethra. I cannot wait to get him home and have learned a lot in the process.

Switching from dry to canned food and if ever pressured into another surgery, I will definitely seek out a second opinion as I did here. It saved my cat’s life! Good luck to anyone out there going through this with their cat, I know it is a very stressful and hard time.

Being a cat of routine, we were quick to notice that Bob was not himself yesterday. Lethargic, not eating and just wanting to be alone. Moving through his kitty door caused him to cry in pain and then just flop to the floor.

We took him to the vet immediately and it was confirmed that he had a blockage. It was a 100 percent blockage and he still cannot void on his own. Today Bob is still not eating or drinking. The bruising and swelling is causing him pain which they are managing with medication and my heart is breaking. We are hoping for a better day tomorrow.

It has now been just over a week since my beautiful Mr.T's body died. He was one year old. Unfortunately, I was ignorant and did not know about FUS and this ignorance may have cost his life. He was so loving and caring, always looking out for me and his brothers. I felt like he really understood me.

He was an outdoor cat so I never monitored his bathroom tendencies. Friday, he was acting fine. Saturday, I knew something was wrong since he wasn't moving right, and crouching down (i assumed he couldn't sit properly and that he had hurt his leg). He wouldn't eat, and would just go sit in the bushes. I thought I'd give it a day to see if he would get better, but he died the next day.

I ignorantly thought he had just got hurt in a cat fight or ate something bad. Never did I imagine he could get ill so quick and die so soon. I'm heartbroken, but I know I will see him again one day. Now that I know the signs, I'll know what to look for in my other two cats. I feel guilt and worse, thinking of the pain that he had probably hid. I love you Mr.T!

Everyone, please do not feed your cats dry food, and if you do, please moisten it. Do not feed the cheap stuff either, and above all, don't wait to go to the vet! Cats have an ability to hide their pain until it's too late.

We have a 12 year old cat, Corbin. We got a new dog a month ago so Corbin has been hiding in the basement. He comes up every once in a while and meows, but for the most part we just gave him his space.

Yesterday we brought him up and he sat on our lap for a bit which is unusual because he is not a lap cat. Then when he got down, he walked a little bow legged. Today, when we were walking in the dining room, he was just laying on the top of the stairs not moving. So I picked him up and he let me hold him for quite some time. When I put him down, he immediately had troubles walking and couldn't get up off the hard wood floors.

We took him straight to the vet and they said he had an obstruction. They are keeping him for 36 hours and inserting a catheter. They said they didn't know if he would have made it through the night without us bringing him in.

I knew something was wrong so I am so glad we didn't ignore the unusual behavior. He was eating and the litter wasn't different, even though we have three cats. The water was consumed the same and I just looked for vomit and couldn't find any.

I never heard about not using dry food, but the vet said he will be put on prescription food. This round is $1200 and I am blessed that we can do whatever it takes to do anything and everything for the health of our pets.

Please keep Corbin in your thoughts as this is the first time we have dealt with this problem. As always, it's better to be safe and sorry. If something doesn't seem or feel right, you know your pets; don't take a chance.

My big boy, as i call him, is in the the vet hospital for the sixth time with this condition, however he did not have any symptoms as normal. He just rolled over on the floor and could not get back up.

I know what i am dealing with now so could not believe that i did not notice sooner. He does not vomit or stop eating so there are no warning signs. Well anyway, he is well this morning and waiting for his PR op. Sorry to you all who have lost your kitty this way.We have nearly lost Tayo (real name) so many times.

And thanks about the dry food info. my vet keeps telling me it doesn't make a difference.

I just kind of want to tell the story of what happened to Fester, my three year old neutered male kitty. I only had him for about a year. I adopted him from a coworker because, although he was a loving cat, he didn't like their dogs, and my siamese kitty Oliver needed a buddy. He gets himself into trouble when he is lonely.

It took Fester a week or two to adjust to oliver but they became pals. Me and my boyfriend just got an apartment with his brother about two weeks ago. His brother has a kitty too, and of course fester wasn't happy with another animal but i figured he would be OK in a week or two.

They just started out fighting a bit and then Fester became a little anti social but I wasn't too worried. I just thought they needed time. Fester didn't show almost any symptoms the other cats on this site seemed to show. He definitely wasn't crying in pain, he wouldn't eat much but i attribute it to stress, he was a little lethargic but he drank tons of water so i thought he would be OK still, up until a couple days ago when he started peeing on himself.

I couldn't understand what was going on so my boyfriend called a bunch of vets last night, but none were open and the emergency clinics wouldn't take us because we needed a payment plan of some sort. This morning we drove around until we found a vet to take us in, and every place told us that it was probably just behavioral issues because we did just recently move. Fester peed on himself in the vet office, and they took samples of everything and did an exam. The vet was a little concerned about his blotted bladder but unlike most of the kittens with a blocked urethra he was still urinating, and all over himself.

They found out what the problem was when they took him in the back to get some blood drawn and he started vomiting which i had not seen him do before. Because of his vomiting it was too much pressure on his bladder and it burst inside his abdomen and by the time they got the x ray his abdomen was full of urine.

It was an emergency case and with basically no money i had no choice but to put my kitty down. I stroked his head and scratched his chin as he died. I just wish that I would have known in some way that something serious was wrong with him before it was too late.

The vet told me that even if his bladder wouldn't have ruptured, it would have been thousands of dollars to fix him and then there was a good chance it may happen again. I have had kittens my whole life and never experienced this. My thoughts are with all of the families going through this right now.

My four year old male cat Stoli was brought to the vet yesterday morning after I found him in the neighbor's yard weak and lethargic. He had escaped out of the house and was gone for two days and when I found him I immediately thought he had been poisoned.

In a way he was, by his own body and the toxins which had built up. I immediately took him to the vet and was told that he had a complete blockage. He will have to be catheterized and kept for four days at a cost of $1,000. I had to make the decision on the spot even though it means not paying my mortgage.

I have two other cats so did not notice anything unusual. I saw some vomit but assumed it was my older female cat who has a very sensitive stomach. I put all cats on a very high end dry cat food and thought I was doing a great thing for their health. I wish I had been informed that dry food for male cats is not recommended. Stoli will have to be on a special diet for the rest of his life if he lives. I guess I will have to put all the cats on this special food which will get really expensive but hopefully will prevent this from happening to the other two. This is day two and I am waiting for the vet's office to open to call and see how Stoli is doing.

I hope it is good news but after reading the other posts, I am not hopeful even after I bring him home. Please pray for Stoli who has been the most gentle cat and such an important part of our lives for the past four years.

My kitty is going through the same thing. He is four years old and has never had a problem with anything until yesterday i noticed he was not playing or using the litter box. he was barely moving and would try to pee anywhere he could.

the next day he threw up and didn't eat anything at all. when he meowed it sounded weak. he laid around the house and kept licking in his private area. i took him to the vet today and he said it had a blockage. If this happens to your cat please don't waste any time. It's very serious! He's in the hospital now. After this I'll have to change his food and buy special litter for about two weeks. good luck to all your cats!

I am so sad. My "Snuggles" just died this morning in my arms. He vomited and then stopped eating and drinking last week. I brought him to the vet right away! The vet took his temp and listened to his heart, but found nothing wrong. I took him home knowing he wasn't doing well. My kitty still didn't eat or drink over the next few days. He also vomited daily.

I called then vet twice more, but he assured me that he would be fine. I waited one more day, then I went to another vet. She checked him thoroughly, x-rays blood and urine, but by this time, he was already limp from dehydration. She gave me IV fluids to take home for him while we waited for the blood results. Blood results were off the chart. Doc says: He must have had an obstruction of some sort.

I just lost my beautiful Artemis to a urinary blockage. Unlike most of the cats I've been reading about, he didn't meow or whine or show any signs that he was in pain. He was extremely lethargic.

But why I didn't think it was a problem is because i noticed he was laying on the ceramic tiled areas of my apartment, and it has been extremely muggy where I live and I don't have a/c, so he (along with my other two boys) normally spread out and lay on the tiled areas to cool down.

He wasn't visiting the litter box unsuccessfully either. Actually, it wasn't until my friend asked me if he had been to the litter box, that i noticed that he wasn't even trying. The biggest indicator that something was wrong was that he had no interest in eating the treats or wet food that i laid directly in front of him.

Unfortunately, a friend of mine just lost her cat to the same complications, so when i told her what Artemis was doing, she told me to take him to the emergency clinic and not wait for the vet in the morning. I am so happy that I did.

Poor guy was in pain as the toxins built up in his system and he had developed hyperkalemia (a dangerously high level of potassium in his blood) which was affecting his heart rate and his kidney function.

After a night of going up and down, his kidneys finally failed him and I had to put him down. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do. He was my best friend, my baby and my rock. It's only been a day and it feels like it's been forever without him and it breaks my heart.

I can't stop thinking about what if i brought him in the moment i saw he didn't want to eat? Would he still be here?

So please! If you notice your cat not wanting to drink/eat/go to the litter box and is lethargic, get him/her in right away! I don't wish for this pain to anyone.

My cat keyg is having surgery as I'm typing this. This is the second time this has happened to him. I'm so sad right now. He's such a big part of my life that I don't know what I would do without him.

please pray that he makes it. He's one tough cookie and I hope he makes it just fine like he did the first time.

For everyone who worries they did not do everything for their cat because they did not have the money don't. My poor Tabby was unblocked with hospital stay at the vet. He blocked again the next day with a clot and had the same thing done again, and he then had the PU surgery a day later as he once again had blocked.

I thought the surgery was the answer to all evils but from day one to day two he went down hill and on day three I was told to put him in the sun. It was in his mind, the water went in the water came straight out again, he started to pant and I took him back in to the vets. I was so pleased to be able to put him out of his misery and let him rest. He had the onset now of Kidney failure.

I kissed and stroked him as he was put to sleep. It was the kindest thing to do, and I hope he forgave me for putting him through the rest of the upset. I was only trying to save his life. He was a thin, scraggly, scared stray who came for a visit and stayed. He was only with us for just over two years and he was around four years old. The important lesson is we need to tell people not to feed their male cats dried food so nobody else need go through this. My female has been on the same diet and she is fine. Take care.

i have two male cats (both tabby). louis is 7 and he gets utis regularly. i have treated him many times with antibiotics and they always recur. now my other male tabby cat, gio, isn't doing so well. he never showed no signs of a uti unlike when louis had one.

now i saw him today (tuesday) afternoon and noticed he didn't want to play outside like usual. He was not acting normal at all and crying. i saw vomit on the floor and he was hiding. i knew something was wrong, so i immediately took him to the vet and they said his bladder was so full it could explode.

they said that he has a blockage and would have to get him on a catheter. i don't have the money today so they put him on anesthesia to comfort the pain and drained most of his urine to help relieve pressure from his bladder.

so tomorrow when i get the money i will be able to bring him in and allow surgery to begin. i am hoping and praying that he makes it. please pray for gio that he will make it through the night and throat surgery! i wish i would have known and caught it sooner too. he would have been good with the antibiotics!

I had commented a few days ago about my soon to be year old 10 year old cat Max! He had surgery yesterday and he was doing just fine until we got a call this morning and found out that he passed away! Me and my family are so devastated and we will forever love him!

Rudy,Dusty and all of us at home will miss you so much! You were the best cat anyone could have! We love you forever and ever my Mimi. You're my little cat angel.

If anyone goes through this, you will understand that it is one of the hardest things you'll ever have to go through! I hope all the animals out there who are sick or dying are taken care of and loved.

We love you Mimi and will always miss you!

My 10 year-old Max was brought in last night and we were told that he has FUS. We are so worried about him. I pray to God that nothing bad happens to him! He's such a big part of our family and we couldn't imagine losing him over this! Mimi you're in our prayers get better fast! We love you and hopefully we can bring you home tomorrow! Dusty and Rudy miss their big brother. We love you Mimi!

Please pray for my Oliver. I am taking him in for an evaluation tomorrow. The vet is recommending the surgery but I am not sure if I will be able to afford it. Please God, help my cat and keep him safe.

Update on Julius: He's been home for five days and so far so good. He's still doing frequent trips to the litter box with not much to show for it, but his bladder is fine.

He now has a bad upper respiratory infection and has stopped eating and drinking! He went back to the vet on monday and was dehydrated so doc gave him some sub-cutaneous fluids, and I have now resorted to syringe feeding him.

I'm hoping it clears soon. The poor guy is so sick and is already weak from his last ordeal. I'm really worried about him.

He's always been a healthy cat and to see him now is heartbreaking.

Just wanted to let you know that although it is extremely rare, female cats can have this problem too. My cat is at the vet right now recovering from this.

They were able to use a catheter to clear the blockage, but they're keeping her overnight because she has toxins in her system from not being able to pee. The vet I went to said that in his 26 years of being a veterinarian he has never seen a female cat with urinary blockage.

Before I took her in she was extremely lethargic, she wouldn't play or hardly even lift her head when I called her name. She wasn't eating anything, but she was drinking water, only she'd throw up the water and wasn't able to hold it down. The vomit was completely clear like water and just had a few bubbles on top. She was also bleeding.

I just wanted to share my information in case anyone had a female cat with this problem.

RIP Earl Grey. My cat had to be put down last night because the operation was outside of my price range. He was such a good cat too.

I just got my little 3 1/2 year old Julius back from the vet after having a full blockage. I was up with him all night last sunday because out of the blue he threw up and then would randomly howl while lying with me in bed. he seemed restless and couldn't get comfortable.

i found him on the couch in the morning with a glazed over look, a blank stare. I thought it was a hair ball since all night he didn't go to the litter box, and monday morning he was in and out, even played in it but didn't do any business.

I had the day off so called the vet and they took him almost right away. The vet didn't even listen to my whole story before feeling his belly and saying he was blocked.

He let me feel and it was huge, and rock hard! He gave me a brief description of what needed to happen but not much since he was in a rush to start working on him. I left in tears and couldn't drive home, I felt so guilty that i didn't know!

He was in the hospital for four days and on day three had a 'setback', another partial blockage after the catheter was taken out. they got him all fixed without having to re-catheter thank god! It's friday night and I'm watching him like a hawk, he's in the box a lot and peeing small amounts so I'm worried it's happening again but apparently that can happen after too, from irritation.

I'm still going to call the vet in the morning just to confirm that its normal. i couldn't stand it happening again! I have two other boys so they are all switching foods! my bill was reasonable: $560 including the food and drugs and considering he was there four days! I'm so sorry to everyone who has lost their baby, I don't know what id do without my boys! my one year old was so sad while julius was gone. We're so glad he's home now, just gotta get through the next couple weeks.

Thank you for this place to tell our stories, it's nice to get it out with people who understand!

Well, I'm hoping I'm one of the lucky ones. On Saturday morning, I woke up to see my cat Dexter had thrown up. I thought I saw a hairball in the throw-up so chalked it up to that. But then, he threw up again at noon and a third time later in the day.

I also noticed he was doing strange things that he didn't normally do: hiding under the bed and sitting in the bathtub. There were a couple more warning signs: He seemed really withdrawn and not his friendly, happy self and he started lying in awkward positions (on his side) as if he were trying to take pressure off parts of his body.

I also noticed that he was visiting the litter box very frequently (three times in 1/2 hour), but there was nothing to show for it.

When he started letting out little wails of agony, I was smart enough to look up what might be going on on the internet. Thank god i brought him to the emergency vet right away. He was given pain medication and the catheter to clear the blockage.

I just got him back today (Monday) and am hoping for the best. Please keep Dexter in your prayers. I want to thank all the staff at the emergency clinic I brought Dexter to.

Dexter now has to eat a special food for the rest of his life (MediCal Urinary SO). Count me among those that didn't know hard food was bad for cats - I actually had heard that soft food was bad because it rotted their teeth.

Update.

Tigger had to be euthanized today (wednesday) because the vet told me his kidneys had sustained irreversible damage from the blockage/infection. This was the saddest decision I ever had to make.

I just want people to learn from this. If you have a male cat make sure they are on either a partially-wet or wet diet. Don't hesitate to take your cat in for a check-up if he looks ill because even hours can mean the difference between life or death.

I hope no one has to make the decision I had to make today. I wish good health on all your feline friends.

RIP Tigger

My cat Tigger (male six years old) was meowing and throwing up on monday morning, but seemed fine.

As the day wore on his symptoms worsened and he began throwing up more. He became lethargic and would hide in random places.

I woke up tuesday morning to more puke and when I left for school he seemed dizzy and almost unable to walk properly. We took him to the vet around 1:30 p.m. and he was catheterized and treated for a urinary infection. I don't think there were any stones.

He seems better today (wednesday), but he is peeing a lot now and there is some blood in his urine, which the vet said would happen. He has another appointment today for a check up and I wish him a speedy recovery.

I know now the importance of giving a male neutered cat wet food in his diet. I hope everyone can take a lesson from this and I am sad for anyone who has lost a friend to this condition.

I just wanted thank you for this article. After reading it I was able to diagnose my cat and get him to the emergency clinic for surgery before it was too late. He's my first male cat, and I'd never heard of this problem before with my female cat. I know to be on alert now. Thank you!!

I noticed my six year old neutered male cat-Max was a little restless Monday night. Tuesday I went to work, hadn't noticed him in any specific pain but when I got home shortly after 5 p.m. noticed he was lethargic and moving awkwardly, shaking and obviously distressed.

I immediately rang after hours vet and took him into clinic. He had blockage and she managed to unblock him manually with the release of lots of bloody urine. Unfortunately he started to block again this morning so she put a drip put in and catheter.

His renal function not looking good today (Wed) but hoping flushing his system will improve things. I had to have my other cat put down just in December (she was old) and also had been feeding him a primarily dry diet. I wasn't aware of the increased risks with a dry diet! Poor Maxie, I am so hoping he can recover from this. Going to cost a bit but he is my friend. Watches tv with me and sleeps on my bed every night.

Just lost my buddy due to this last night. Its Sat. today last Sunday night I noticed he had tried to pee in the living room so i brought him to the litter box. He just sat there crying in pain and started dripping blood. I took him to the vet and had him on a catheter for two days. Vet discharged him cause he was doing great. Wednesday night he seemed like there was something wrong. We just figured it was the drugs or pain from surgery or not eating. Thursday morning he was crying badly so I brought him in, and the vet said he needed the surgery again and he's very toxic so I let them do it again.

Then Friday night they found his liver is ruptured and he's still in very bad pain, didn't really have much of a choice for helping him so I stayed with him for the injection.

Really miss my buddy. $2200 gamble but I wouldn't have done it any other way. I just really wish he could have made it. He was such an awesome cat.

Wow! Here I a thinking this kind of thing could only happen to my cat! I just got back from the animal hospital and it sounds like he'll be all right because we took him right away. I didn't realize how serious this was. I'm glad I didn't wait..or I could of lost my kitty. I don't know what i would've done. And 2,000 dollars is nothing. I just want him to be okay. I'm soo sorry to hear that people lost their cats because of this. And I'm definitely going to make sure he get the proper diet from now on..gosh I wish I knew that dry food wasn't good for male cats. My cat's stupid vet never told us ...I think i'm going to find another vet.

Thank you for your article. I lost my cat because of the same problem. I can't stop blaming myself that I should have noticed it on time. We left him one night suffering and the day after he went to an injury but was too late. I feel so bad.

I am sitting here and feeling so incredibly lonely. I just put my three year old black male, Mischief, to sleep because of this problem.

I feel utterly useless and to blame for this. Mischief was fine on Sunday, then started vomiting Sunday night. I watched him carefully and took him to the emergency clinic early yesterday morning.

There was no way we could afford any of the prescribed treatments and I painfully chose option no. 3. I am paying for this decision today.

I loved him so much and he was my best friend. How could I have done this? I can't type any more.

Our six year old Oreo just went in tonight about 6 p.m. The symptoms were exactly described here. Doctor couldn't find any crystals in the urinary tract so is assuming it's kidney stone, but his bladder was obviously enlarged.

We were quoted 750-850 and it seemed quite high at first, does that seem normal? It's one hour since we left him at the hospital and I can't wait for tomorrow afternoon to see for myself that he's OK.

Has anyone had a female cat with bladder obstruction? We just treated my 16 year old with cortisone and she is peeing a little on the rug. Not eating or drinking.

I took my Stompy (male cat six years) to the Emergency Vet at five this morning. I took him to his Vet 12 days ago because of odd behavior and noticed he kept using litter box with nil coming out and also licking his privates.

He was given antibiotic injection lasting two weeks and cortisone injection and his Vet said his bladder was empty, which was a good sign. Yesterday however he was using litter box and licking - same as before - doing no urine but also meowing and hissing at nothing also hiding. He also was squatting all over the house but with no urine.

I recently moved and there is a cat close by coming to our window and his Vet said it could be stress. I thought it was stress again until after watching him from midnight until 5 a.m. he seemed to go from lying down (he must have been tired) and getting up and hissing, meowing and walking slowly. I thought this can't just be stress surely, do I leave it till nine when the vet opens or don't take a risk and go to emergency, knowing they can cost heaps.

I decided to not wait as could be life threatening, so took him to Emergency. Sure enough his bladder was full then on the vet's floor he dropped some red urine spots. She said it was urinary tract obstruction and he has to stay in, have a catheter and few tests. Can cost up to 3,000 could be less or more. Ouch.

I said 'just tell me he'll be all right' that's all I care about. Stompy is my best friend and sleeps in my arms and snuggles in to me every night. He is so sensitive he is like a person.

I rang at midday like they said to and he has a catheter in, has lost about 1 liter of urine (normal wee's is about 100 or so ml), so no wonder he was in pain. I wished I had been more vigilant and taken him at 9 a.m. the morning before when I noticed him growling.

The vet said I will be aware of symptoms now but I should have been keeping an eye on him after going to vet 12 days ago. but didn't know and his Vet didn't say to. However, Leah the vet said he will be all right and has to stay in hospital at least 24 hours. I am very blessed. My prayers were answered the way I hoped.

I had a cat, 'Gooey', years ago and noticed one day he had red urine. Took him to vet immediately and he had crystals which were cleared up with an antibiotic I think. He didn't have to stay in hospital and never had problem again. Just kept off dry food.

I always remember that dry food for male neutered cats is not appropriate as was told that was cause of Gooey's crystals in urine. I really feel for the people who 'lost' their cat friends to this medical condition which can come on suddenly, and we don't watch our cats every minute of the day.

I thought Stompy was stressed about neighbor's cat coming around and trying to claim his territory by squatting and hissing. Not so. God bless you all and your friends.

Elaine Martin & ourcat cosmo:the very same thing has just recently happened on Thursday evening to my beautiful best friend Blackie! I feel so horrible! I've always prided myself in being a "cat person" and yet I allowed this to happen!

The Vet kept telling me it's a matter of life and death and yet offered to sedate and give him antibiotics for him to return home! What? To die in my arms? Are they that insensitive?

Then two days after I authorized the euthanasia, I'm replaying the entire visit and thinking to myself, I could have suctioned off the plug myself, anyway! Woulda, could should, who knows? He's gone now and I'll meet him on the Rainbow Bridge! I suppose, sign me Heartbroken Honey.

This article was absolutely the best one out there! My six year old Zorro is at the vet for his second night tonight. Hopefully he will come home tomorrow.

He was crying and could hardly walk. His litter box was not used for two days. I thought he was just constipated, but, because of information like this I rushed my cat to the vet.

He was severely blocked, but, thank God, he is doing really good today! Thanks so much for being right on it!

I can relate to the stress of having a cat with this disorder. My Joe has been blocked two times already and I'm observing him. I think he is blocking for the third time.

The vet recommended removing his penis. Taking him in tomorrow for an examination. I'm so concerned and depressed.

Great article. my four year old cat Felix jumped on my bed on monday night and seemed quite grumpy and i remember telling my son to be careful with him because he might be sore (i presumed another cat fight). Then tuesday night he only just made it onto my bed, every movement caused him to meow and moan, and he just couldn't get comfy. i was so upset at his obvious pain. i took the morning off work and took him to the vet and sure enough he had a blockage. he is still in there now and it's thursday and he will be in there all weekend. I went in and visited him and he had a catheter that was showing urine and a lot of blood coming out and he was all drugged up.

My 10 year old male cat began showing odd behavior of being lethargic and moving very slow when walking. he began growling at nothing, and showed obvious pain when I would touch his lower part of his body. We immediately took him in, and sure enough he had a blockage of crystals not allowing him to urinate. He was immediately sedated and a catheter was put in. he obviously was in a lot of pain, and is in his second day of being in a vet's care. This has taught me never to ignore a cat's stray from its normal behavior. I feel awful about the pain he had before we took him in to be looked at. It is a very serious issue that should be addressed.

This article was very helpful in understanding what is going on with my cat right now. Last night I noticed he was grooming himself much more excessively than normal, and then this morning he came out of the litter box crying and growling and cleaning himself again. I noticed he was having some trouble walking, like he didn't feel comfortable moving his back legs, so I immediately called the emergency vet and took him down to the hospital. The doctor said he has blockage, but we caught it early and he is not fully blocked yet. He is in the ICU for the next two days with a catheter and I am hoping he will pull through quickly and there won't be any complications. The next issue is the bills from this, but the hospital I used helped me out with a "care credit" that provides a credit card with no interest for a year. Thank you for an informative article.

Hi everyone, please pray for my beautiful 1.5 year old Siamese cat Duke, who is right now in the vet ER recovering after a procedure performed at 2 a.m. this morning. I had no clue about the signs and didn't think it was anything serious until he was not able to keep himself on his feet. I just want to punish myself for being so stupid and not reacting immediately to his vomiting and crying! He went untreated for 48 hours because of my ignorance and lack of common sense. When I called the military clinic in the morning, the technician said that it is probably just some stomach infection. What is an MBA good for if I can’t figure out simple things like this? He is such a lovely cat, and I still am hopeful he will make the recovery. I don't have the insurance, and it will cost almost $2,000 with hospital care and everything, or even more, but he needs to live. My husband and I love him dearly and will be crushed if he dies. The vet said his kidneys are not showing good signs of recovery, and his urine is still coming out pink. His temperature is back to normal, but he is still very weak. It's been 15 hours after surgery, and he is still heavily sedated and weak. I am petrified he will not recover and don’t know how I will deal with that. Reading so many posts here that say that the cat didn’t make it is just crushing me.

Is there anyone out there who can share some hopeful stories, even with the surgery of PU being successful? We need Duke to make it, we love him too much!

Fantastic! this article has helped me with my Role Play TAFE assignment on urinary blockage in cats. Thank you.

It's so scary. I just brought my tabby home tonight after he had an obstruction and I had absolutely no idea. I never watch him use the litter box, but my clue was the fact that he would poop in front of his litter box, which I thought was strange. And then the next morning, he started whining and just didn't look right...didn't want to move or anything. Took him into the vet and I'm praying that he will be able to make a full recovery now that he's home. Wish there was a way to catch it early.

We came home tonight to find our 8 year old male whining in pain. Really whining not like the angry whine he gives our new kitten. Though the cost of an emergency clinic was in the back of our minds we took him anyway. The description above is perfectly fitting. The vet described it exactly the same. He had surgery tonight, and we are praying for a positive outcome when we pick him up in the morning.

Your article on bladder blockage is excellent, easy to understand and conveys the seriousness and urgency of this problem when it occurs. We have just lost our beautiful tabby, Cruise. He was only 8 years old and a tall, strong, powerful cat who enjoyed prowling about his garden and surrounding area and as such we didn't monitor his toilet habits. However we did notice him straining one evening in the garden but thought he was constipated and gave him some privacy to sort himself out. He seemed normal later that evening when he came in and sat on my knee for a while. However we realized the next evening that he wasn't well and booked a vet's appointment the next day, still under the impression he had eaten something he shouldn't. By the time we arrived home to take Cruise to the appointment he was lying under his favorite bush in the front garden, my daughter had been trying to get him to come out. He eventually popped his head out and sat with us on the wall, then walked slowly into the house but lay down in great pain.

After the Vet examined Cruise and drained off some of the fluid in his bladder she told us that the bladder was ruptured and she would operate to remove the blockage and tidy him up and flush out the kidneys. The Vet did a great job but Cruise passed away under the anesthetic. It was a great shock to us all, we never imagined being without him, he was so majestic and strong. However because he had fought it so long on his own and the toxins had gone round his body, he couldn't fight any longer.

Please keep an eye on your cat's toilet habits when you can and at the first sign of a problem get them to the Vet, even if like our Cruise they normally struggle and fight to stay out of the cat carrier, persevere and get help quickly. They give us so much pleasure, we owe it to them to be there when needed.

This is a very nice site. It explains everything in a simple way that I can understand.

My favorite cat was treated this morning for the same issue. He was in quite a bad shape as we didn't have any warning signs. We hope for his quick recovery.

Our beautiful white siamese and tabby mixed cat Cosmo died this morning of urinary blockage complications. He was ten years old. I am writing to help any others who have this problem. Our cat did not strain in the litter box and so it was hard to diagnose. However, he vomited/and winced-seemed in pain, on a Thursday evening and Friday morning was admitted to a hospital. We picked him up Saturday after the blockage was treated and he failed fast. By Sunday morning he was dying and we assisted this with euthanasia. We want to share this so any others can be more alert to their cat's distress --of course we didn't know that his vomiting/distress/ was a urinary blockage or we would have taken him immediately not the morning after. Take your male cat in ASAP after vomiting/distress/pain--a simple check by your Vet of his bladder is all that it will take to begin the treatment for urinary blockage.

We loved him and so did our other cats and dogs. Also, we have been lucky with this illness/mat cats, but will investigate the food recommended above for our other male cat.

Your article was 100 percent on. Our 8 year old neutered tabby is now home recuperating after complete obstruction. When his stomach became distended and vomited water after all his strange behavior we took him in and they started on him right away. Thanks for the info!