Long day, and a stupid scare
Short story: Zuzu is in the hospital for a few days with a urinary catheter. He should be fine, but the vet is annoying. I'm worried because my baby is away from home. ;_;
Yesterday, out of nowhere, Zuzu hissed at me, and ran off. I wasn't even touching him. I shrugged it off pretty quickly, figuring he was just being kooky, but in the evening he was being unusually vocal, even for him. It wasn't till I woke up today, though, that he was acting very strange.
He has a big cardboard box he plays in, and he kept climbing into it and squatting as if he were trying to pee. I picked him up and put him in his litter box, and he screamed and hissed and ran out of the bathroom and flopped onto his back on the floor and hissed and hissed when I tried to come near him. Obviously, that really freaked me out.
I wondered if maybe he wasn't peeing in the litter box because I hadn't cleaned it the night before, being out of kitty litter, so I ran and got some Tidy Cats and changed his litter box. He climbed right in and pooed, then tried to pee, several times, squatting for 30 seconds to a minute. Not even a trickle. Between tries he would lay on his back, licking his urogenital area and hissing if I got near him. I tried to palpate his abdomen and feel for any obvious blockages, but he was pretty upset and scratched my stomach up. I couldn't really feel anything, not that I got a good chance to try.
I got really worried at this point and called my uncle in VA Beach, who is a vet, and who told me he sounded like he was blocked and needed to go the ER right away, it being Sunday and the ER vets being the only ones open. I called VT Animal Hospital, where we usually go, and the vet on call suggested that if their emergency fee of $125 was a bit high, we might try Town and Country, where the emergency fee is only $85.
VT is about five minutes from here, while T&C, to which we have never taken our pets, is 15 or 20 minutes. Still, we've been low on money, so we took him to T&C, and frankly I don't think I'll be going back.
They took Zuzu right back and tried to express his bladder, but couldn't. They put him under, saying he would need a catheter to empty the bladder, and, after a long time of us waiting around, they let me come back and see him. Even knowing he was okay, seeing him out like that made me cry. I watched while they started an IV on his front leg, and before they put in the urinary catheter, the vet asked me to leave.
We came home and I worried and worried. A blocked urinary tract in a cat can be a LOT of different things. Male cats, having a much narrower and longer urethra than female cats, are more prone to problems. Kidney, bladder, or urethral stones were my biggest concern.
She finally called, and told me they'd just gotten the catheter in and drained his bladder and done an ultrasound. It had taken a long time because his penis was completely obstructed with urinal crystals of some kind. It had taken an hour and six flushes to get the crystals out of his bladder and penis, and there was still crystal debris on the bottom of his bladder. There was no sign of stones, thank god.
They had NOT done the urinalysis - a test that takes a few minutes - yet, and this is where I got very annoyed with her. A good vet should get to the point about what you know right now, which in our case amounted to: very heavy crystallization, and we don't know why yet.
With no diagnosis, and the possibility that this could have an easily treatable cause, she spent the next ten minutes telling me every possible worst-case scenario that could play out from here on out.
From 'here on out,' I mean, 'the rest of Zuzu's life.' It amounted to that if this happens again and again and again, and it's hard to treat, and the cause is one of these uncommon and severe things, there's a very drastic surgery where you cut off the cat's penis and insert a sort of permanent catheter. Obviously, this is THE worst-case scenario. She kept going on about these things. I stopped her and said, "Okay, well, I don't want to think about that right now." "I just want you to have it in the back of your mind," she says.
WHY? Why would you tell your patient the worst, scariest causes and outcomes there are for what could be something minor? It's very unprofessional. All I want to know is: how is he right now? What are you going to do tonight? What are you going to do tomorrow? What are the results of the freaking urinalysis?
Doctors say, "When you hear hoofbeats behind you, don't expect to see a zebra." AKA, common things happen the most commonly. There is no need for scare tactics or fear-mongering.
So, I was more anxious than ever when I hung up the phone. My father wasn't impressed with her behavior, either.
It took well over an hour before she called about the urine test. His PH is 8 (very basic for a cat), and it showed a high amount of struvite crystals, which are seen with bacteria and are, well... not THAT much to worry about. A blockage is certainly very dangerous, but with that out of the way, and with all luck not about to come back, struvite crystals are not a huge worry. It's a very common condition in - wait for it - neutered male cats on high protein diets! You treat this with a long round of antibiotics, lots of water, and a catheter as needed for blockage.
Zuzu is staying there over night, and she wants him to have the catheter in for at least 48 hours. After the catheter is removed, she wants to keep him another 24 hours to make sure the crystals don't block his penis up again. He'll have pills for a few days to stop urethral spasms, and after that he'll have an antibiotic for two weeks.
She kept trying to go on about 'if it happens again multiple times' and all kinds of stuff about what MIGHT happen if it comes back and so forth. I told her, "Let's not talk about if it happens again right now, okay? Let's focus on tonight and tomorrow." She wasn't happy. She probably thinks I'm rude now...
I want to transfer him to our usual vet, Dr. Jones, tomorrow. She said that would be okay, but she wants him transferred back each night for monitoring. Wtf? If he needs to be monitored, I'll have that done at a nearby clinic where I know the vets well. I'll speak to Dr. Jones tomorrow. If HE recommends Zuzu stays at T&C till Wednesday, then so be it, but I would prefer not.
So, Zuzu will be at a vet for tonight and tomorrow night. Tuesday night? Don't know yet. I'll visit him tomorrow, for sure.
Humphrey had something much like this a long, long time ago in Richmond. He had a catheter for two days, and some meds, and never had a bladder problem again.
Things should be just fine. If we're lucky, once the catheter is out, the blockage won't return. Keep Zuzles in your thoughts! He's still in a rough way, and I hope this will clear up very soon.
Also, you rock if you read all of this. Love ya.
Yesterday, out of nowhere, Zuzu hissed at me, and ran off. I wasn't even touching him. I shrugged it off pretty quickly, figuring he was just being kooky, but in the evening he was being unusually vocal, even for him. It wasn't till I woke up today, though, that he was acting very strange.
He has a big cardboard box he plays in, and he kept climbing into it and squatting as if he were trying to pee. I picked him up and put him in his litter box, and he screamed and hissed and ran out of the bathroom and flopped onto his back on the floor and hissed and hissed when I tried to come near him. Obviously, that really freaked me out.
I wondered if maybe he wasn't peeing in the litter box because I hadn't cleaned it the night before, being out of kitty litter, so I ran and got some Tidy Cats and changed his litter box. He climbed right in and pooed, then tried to pee, several times, squatting for 30 seconds to a minute. Not even a trickle. Between tries he would lay on his back, licking his urogenital area and hissing if I got near him. I tried to palpate his abdomen and feel for any obvious blockages, but he was pretty upset and scratched my stomach up. I couldn't really feel anything, not that I got a good chance to try.
I got really worried at this point and called my uncle in VA Beach, who is a vet, and who told me he sounded like he was blocked and needed to go the ER right away, it being Sunday and the ER vets being the only ones open. I called VT Animal Hospital, where we usually go, and the vet on call suggested that if their emergency fee of $125 was a bit high, we might try Town and Country, where the emergency fee is only $85.
VT is about five minutes from here, while T&C, to which we have never taken our pets, is 15 or 20 minutes. Still, we've been low on money, so we took him to T&C, and frankly I don't think I'll be going back.
They took Zuzu right back and tried to express his bladder, but couldn't. They put him under, saying he would need a catheter to empty the bladder, and, after a long time of us waiting around, they let me come back and see him. Even knowing he was okay, seeing him out like that made me cry. I watched while they started an IV on his front leg, and before they put in the urinary catheter, the vet asked me to leave.
We came home and I worried and worried. A blocked urinary tract in a cat can be a LOT of different things. Male cats, having a much narrower and longer urethra than female cats, are more prone to problems. Kidney, bladder, or urethral stones were my biggest concern.
She finally called, and told me they'd just gotten the catheter in and drained his bladder and done an ultrasound. It had taken a long time because his penis was completely obstructed with urinal crystals of some kind. It had taken an hour and six flushes to get the crystals out of his bladder and penis, and there was still crystal debris on the bottom of his bladder. There was no sign of stones, thank god.
They had NOT done the urinalysis - a test that takes a few minutes - yet, and this is where I got very annoyed with her. A good vet should get to the point about what you know right now, which in our case amounted to: very heavy crystallization, and we don't know why yet.
With no diagnosis, and the possibility that this could have an easily treatable cause, she spent the next ten minutes telling me every possible worst-case scenario that could play out from here on out.
From 'here on out,' I mean, 'the rest of Zuzu's life.' It amounted to that if this happens again and again and again, and it's hard to treat, and the cause is one of these uncommon and severe things, there's a very drastic surgery where you cut off the cat's penis and insert a sort of permanent catheter. Obviously, this is THE worst-case scenario. She kept going on about these things. I stopped her and said, "Okay, well, I don't want to think about that right now." "I just want you to have it in the back of your mind," she says.
WHY? Why would you tell your patient the worst, scariest causes and outcomes there are for what could be something minor? It's very unprofessional. All I want to know is: how is he right now? What are you going to do tonight? What are you going to do tomorrow? What are the results of the freaking urinalysis?
Doctors say, "When you hear hoofbeats behind you, don't expect to see a zebra." AKA, common things happen the most commonly. There is no need for scare tactics or fear-mongering.
So, I was more anxious than ever when I hung up the phone. My father wasn't impressed with her behavior, either.
It took well over an hour before she called about the urine test. His PH is 8 (very basic for a cat), and it showed a high amount of struvite crystals, which are seen with bacteria and are, well... not THAT much to worry about. A blockage is certainly very dangerous, but with that out of the way, and with all luck not about to come back, struvite crystals are not a huge worry. It's a very common condition in - wait for it - neutered male cats on high protein diets! You treat this with a long round of antibiotics, lots of water, and a catheter as needed for blockage.
Zuzu is staying there over night, and she wants him to have the catheter in for at least 48 hours. After the catheter is removed, she wants to keep him another 24 hours to make sure the crystals don't block his penis up again. He'll have pills for a few days to stop urethral spasms, and after that he'll have an antibiotic for two weeks.
She kept trying to go on about 'if it happens again multiple times' and all kinds of stuff about what MIGHT happen if it comes back and so forth. I told her, "Let's not talk about if it happens again right now, okay? Let's focus on tonight and tomorrow." She wasn't happy. She probably thinks I'm rude now...
I want to transfer him to our usual vet, Dr. Jones, tomorrow. She said that would be okay, but she wants him transferred back each night for monitoring. Wtf? If he needs to be monitored, I'll have that done at a nearby clinic where I know the vets well. I'll speak to Dr. Jones tomorrow. If HE recommends Zuzu stays at T&C till Wednesday, then so be it, but I would prefer not.
So, Zuzu will be at a vet for tonight and tomorrow night. Tuesday night? Don't know yet. I'll visit him tomorrow, for sure.
Humphrey had something much like this a long, long time ago in Richmond. He had a catheter for two days, and some meds, and never had a bladder problem again.
Things should be just fine. If we're lucky, once the catheter is out, the blockage won't return. Keep Zuzles in your thoughts! He's still in a rough way, and I hope this will clear up very soon.
Also, you rock if you read all of this. Love ya.