UTI or blockage in an older cat

My mother's cat, who is about 13 years old, has been straining in the litter box, having accidents in the house, and hasn't been eating (the first accident happened Friday, the other symptoms started yesterday).

She has an appointment with the vet tonight and expects to spend an arm and a leg... but this is her last baby (we had three cats close in age and the other two passed away recently ) and she doesn't care.

Is this common in older cats? I know that both of our male cats had issues with blockages, and that led to kidney failure in one.

Re: UTI or blockage in an older cat

yes- very common

pokey had one last year and we almost lost him

it cost me a fortune to by honest- mainly b/c we had to go to the emergecy vet on a sunday

and it happened 2 times

I would suggested getting the poor little guy on the RX food right away

I know people say it's $$$...but I just spent $35 for a 2 month supply for 2 cats

knock wood- it's been over a year since he has been on the food and he is fine

Re: UTI or blockage in an older cat

if I was just able to take him to my vet- it would have been 1/3 of the price

total bill for everything- e- vet, 2 trips to my vet and about 5 days in the hospital - $3k

Re: UTI or blockage in an older cat

Re: UTI or blockage in an older cat

I was able to do that the second time it happened- I stayed up with him and was at the vet at 8am

But the first time was a sunday and it was bad...I wasn't home saturday and someone failed to mention pokey was in the litter box every 5 mins...by sunday afternoon he was in distress and I had no chioce...he spent 14 hours and the e-vet...and they charged me $1500

Then we had to go to my vet...who went easy on me

Then it happened again 3 weeks later (not enough time for the food to kick in yet) and I took him to my vet

Since then he is fine!

Re: UTI or blockage in an older cat

I'm glad to hear Pokey is okay now!

I just heard from my mom - turned out her cat had so many bladder stones that they backed up into her urethra so she had emergency surgery last night. My mom said she's like a new cat today Oh and I didn't realize - she's 14 1/2 years old!

Does anyone know if bladder stones are the same as kidney stones? She's on special food already but not for this.

Re: UTI or blockage in an older cat

Posted by headoverheels

I'm glad to hear Pokey is okay now!

I just heard from my mom - turned out her cat had so many bladder stones that they backed up into her urethra so she had emergency surgery last night. My mom said she's like a new cat today Oh and I didn't realize - she's 14 1/2 years old!

Does anyone know if bladder stones are the same as kidney stones? She's on special food already but not for this.

Re: UTI or blockage in an older cat

My cat had a urinary blockage in 2001. It is very serious. If you don't catch it early, the cat can die. it is very common in male cats. Anyway, we had "PU" surgery done which essentially is a sex change operation for a cat. We did it at LIVS in Plainview. They did a great job (though it wasn't cheap...$5000). The cat hasn't had any problems since though I do feed him urinary tract formula from ProPlan. He is 10 years old now.

Re: UTI or blockage in an older cat

Glad she is feeling better! Pokey is on the c/d rx food from the vet- it breaks down the crystals that cause the blockage

If that didn't work...pokey would be getting the surgery mentioned above...but my vet quoted me a little less...."Only" $4k

Re: UTI or blockage in an older cat

This happened to a cat we had growing up. He had to have a catheter put in 3 times to clear out the blockage at $300 each time and since it was recurring, we ended up having to pay for a major surgery , something along the lines of inverting his penis and expanding the hole so he wouldnt get a blockage anymore. Something along those lines!

Unfortunately, he was never the same after that and kept peeing all over the house

Re: UTI or blockage in an older cat