General Chat

:-(

Got home from work yesterday, Mister the cat was a bit strange.
He had his back end towards the bathroom door, tail up (as far as he can get it), and stood stock still. Then he howled.
I watched him go into the living room and 'squat' The he howled and licked his privates.
'Oh B*gger', I thought - urinary tract problem, or constipation.
No sign of any problem the day before.
I gave him (and the other two), a tin of pilchards, (lots of liquid and oil) and spent the evening watching him get more uncomfortable and stressed.
I used to keep a cat litter tray & litter 'just in case', but got rid of them a few years back, so cobbled a litter tray out of a paint tray and sand. This calmed him down, (he's very clean and wouldn't like to pee etc on the floor) and I could watch for any movement.
Eventually he settled down, and I went to bed, only to be disturbed by my 'lovely' neighbours :-(
I was up at the crack of doom, phoning the vet's. Took him there for 09:30.

Apparently, probably bladder stones. £350 to clear them there, but there was a possibility of death (anaesthetic), his heart also sounded a bit dodgy.
The stones also may have caused kidney problems.
I could take him to the other vet (hospital) where they'd keep him in over the (Bank Holiday, probably double the price) weekend for a further £1000 or so, where they'd do numerous tests on him :-S
Well, I wouldn't want him kept in, nor numerous tests done on him, so opted for the £350 worth.

He's back now, very groggy, but after an hour, managed to stagger into the kitchen and purr at me before his legs gave way :-0
Just spent 2 hours with him asleep on my lap, but managed to slide him off onto the sofa.
Antibiotics start tomorrow, his 'special' (very expensive) food starts as soon as possible.

Knowing how attached you are to your felines, it must have been nearly as distressing for you as it was for him.

Hope he recovers fully and that any insurance you may have helps to cover the bill!

Poor Puss, and poor you Maggie, hope he recovers well.

I don't have insurance Det,
I would have paid well over £350 over the years in unused insurance, anyway. Besides which, they're now 10 years old (in July) - and it's difficult to get insurance cover after they reach that age.
The only other time I've needed to take one of them to the vet, was when George had an altercation with a vehicle and broke his jaw, when he was 10 months old (another time when insurance is expensive). That cost me £200.
Not bad really :-D

Just realised George broke his jaw on exactly the same Bank Holiday, 9 years ago!

What was hilarious, was when the vet suggested he got more exercise. (he is portly). He said it would be better if the cat did less TV watching.
I pointed out that the cats aren't indoor cats - they come & go as they please, and he'd brought in a bird last week - which indicated he did exercise - but then he ATE the bird - as he does with the rats he brings in.
His portliness isn't caused by sitting on his backside, it's caused by him eating what he kills!!! :-S :-S

Yay! He's had a tiny pee in the new litter box I bought. :-D

I gave him some of his 'special food - he ate some, then fell asleep with his head in the bowl :-(

Aaw bless I hope he recovers soon. such a worry when theya re poorly.

He's had some food this evening - unfortunately not his 'special' food - but as he hasn't eaten all day, he's forgiven.
He's now sleeping - and looking very comfortable :-D

Betty has decided the litter tray is for HER use :-|

Poor Puss I do hope he is better soon xx :-D :-D

Maggie bladder stones in cats are usually but not always caused by cat food mainly dryed that has a high ash content It might be a good idea to check the lables for a food containing less ash

Hi Joy,
They are fed wet food twice a day, but I used to leave dry food down, with a huge bowl of water - they also (obviously) drink from any container in the garden containing slightly sludgy water.
Seems like Mister probably liked the dry food too much, and water not enough!!
Dry food was taken up the night I realised that he had a urinary/bowel problem, and (vey unusual for me) they were fed a tin of pilchards between them - theory being, if it was bowel, liquid/oil would help movement :-0

As the other two aren't affected, the Vet didn't think it was the dry food.
He asked if Mister had had any stress, which can also cause it - not that I know of. My 15 month old grand daughter was down last weekend - but they got on really well - Mister 'head bumps' - which Amber's cat does, so, as she was on the floor at cat height they spent quite a time greeting each other. When Amber had a nap on the sofa, Mister lay on the outside - not the action of an unhappy cat :-D

I can see no reason why he got them, but he is the 'odd' cat - bent tail, non-retractable claws, slightly distorted joints, so his innards may be a little 'odd' too. :-(

I've bought some over-priced 'urinary' cat food to give him that will allegedly help clear any small stones left - but it's difficult giving him a different food to the others.
I'll check all the wet food they have for ash content though :-D

Its male cats that are prone to this
Usually un neutered ones
So maybe you boys been unlucky
Bless him
I do hope he is well soon :-D :-D

Thanks Joy - he ate his antibiotic with no fuss.
I tried giving him his overpriced food, but Betty tried to insist it was hers, and threw a hissy fit, so I suggested she leave and gave it to him in peace.
He's nearly back to normal. Went into the garden earlier to 'exercise' (ie sleep under a shrub) :-D

I decided to look at the ash content of the food I have, but first, looked at the stuff the vet gave me, for the ash content in that, for comparison.
He included 6 loose sachets with the bill, and I bought a box of 12.
I was amazed to notice, that of the 3 loose sachets I had left, one had a 'use by' date of 2014!!
Yes, I rummaged in the bin for the other 3. Three of the l6 oose sachets were 2 years out of date - no wonder Mister wasn't too keen!!
The box has a use by date of June 2016 - hardly factory fresh.

There will be a phone call on Tuesday :-|

Makes you wonder how much bullsh*t vets tell you.

That's terrible that the vet should of checked the dates
this could of made your cat very ill

So please no harm has been done
:-D

Here I am waiting and watching the cat box with you ... the cat now almost 5 who was a feral kitten, with the deformed hip bones from inbreeding that make her permanently constipated ... has been off her food for three days and that is the sign, and of course you don't notice it right away ...

And of course they do it on Friday afternoon, especially the Friday afternoon before a bank holiday weekend!

This morning she is perky and bouncing around with her tail held high, after two days of slinking about ... and demanding her wet food. But she will get no food until she poops, so I have go to now and lock her in the spare room with the litter box there, with lots of water and no food.

Problem is when you have three of 'em and you are trying to keep track of which one is pooping where and when ...

This one has cost about £2000 over the last two years, ultimately having surgery to unblock her intestine, but at least she got spayed at the same time then (they are all indoor cats after being feral kittens). It's awful to say but if she were not the favourite of the three, it might have been final bedtime for one of the others rather than the last £500 trip.

It got to where I was starting to call her Lady Di, taking her bi-monthly trip to the spa for her high colonic! Now she has an oily laxative shoved down her gullet twice a day for life.

Those 'tests', it is always the same ... if they're a little old, you have to pay a ton of money for the heart and other organ tests to see whether they can take the anaesthetic ... well if they can't, then they can't have the op and they will have to be euthanised anyway ... so just pay for the op and if the worst happens, well, it is still not as expensive as the tests. It's the only sensible solution, as you did.

And vet food ... the tinned stuff I was supposed to buy for her cost 3x regular stuff ... and then I had to start giving the other two some tinned stuff too with the dry that is left out all the time, because life would have been hell otherwise, so they just got regular brand name ... so the one with the special food decided she would not eat it and would make every effort to steal the cheap stuff instead, so at least I've been spared £1 a day for feeding one cat.

This cat would never have survived the feral life, with the deformity, so any days she has are bonus.

Fingers crossed for Mister :-)

Mister made a full recovery - but then, yesterday when I got home from work, he walked into the kitchen and squatted over a plastic bag.
'Oh no', I thought.
Then I hoped he just didn't want to go out into the howling gale and lashing rain (it is June, isn't it? :-(), so set up his litter tray.
He spent the evening 'trying' to go, but wasn't in such pain as last time, and was quite happy getting cuddles and purring a lot.
This morning, I phoned the vet. Whilst waiting form my friend, he managed a tiny pee in the litter tray - and a tiny pee on my rucksack :-| Still, at least he could pee.

I contacted my daughters, as, if he had the same as before, I would have him put down - he couldn't cope with a lot of tests, and I wasn't going to pay £350 every 6 weeks for the rest of his life.

He was obviously not as 'low' as before, and made loud cries of 'Nonono' in the car - and the surgery - his howling terrified another cat in the waiting room!!

He's got Feline lower urinary tract disease. The vet gave him an injection, and he has to have two lots of medication twice a day.
Absolutely no sign of the previous problem, and (apparently) not related - though Feline lower urinary tract disease can cause a bladder blockage. .
This trip cost a 'mere' £53.

He made the same 'Nonono' noise all the way home, and when he got out of the carrier, lay on the floor panting, and his heart was beating very hard (which worried me, and is another reason I wouldn't put him through tests etc)
After an hour of consoling him, he made his way up to my bed!!!
First medication will be sometime this evening - when I know he has truly calmed down. :-)

Oh Maggie ,what we have to put up with ;-). I have 3 here and one after the other this year fist bill 280 for teeth on old lady aged 14, 80 for abscess on 7 year old then last week 78 for youngest one. Living on bread and jam now :-D :-D :-D :-D

I feed ours on Purina Gourmet wet food from Tesco. Until recently it was £ 10 / 3 packs of 12 but now ( sinking £ ) £ 7 for 2 packs. I never buy food from the vets - if I wanted to pay that much I'd just buy him a season ticket to Waitrose fresh fish counter.

They don't have the offer all the time so I wait until they do and grab lots. That keeps greedy paws (m, 7, 9kg ) happy until the next offer.

Our rescue cat died just 2 years ago and we are all ( inc snr cat) still missing him. He cost more in vet bills tho' than I paid for sn cat who is pedigree. So it goes.

I hope yr pussycats pick up the pleasure of being a slave to these tyrannical, absorbing creatures is not universally shared ;-)

I <3CATS

Maggie, cat says nonono ... I have no speakers on my new computer but I recall hearing thise when i watched them before :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM5BCjNswd0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxRX6LXDpWs

More like the second one Joonie - turned up very loud!

Mister came in the room when I was playing it, and just stood there staring at me with an accusatory look on his face :-(

I had to turn it off quick.
Mind you - he could take it as a 'warning' - get better quick - or you'll be going again :-(