UTI/blockage in male cat--the vet bill! OMG!

[Calvincrowe]

We had to take our 2 year old male gray fatty tabby, Theodore, in to the emergency clinic last night for what turned out to be (suspected by me after running through every possible scenario for a cat vomiting, rabid heart/respirations, painful tummy palpation) a urinary/urethra blockage. He was miserable and there was simply no way with my work that I could have waited until late this afternoon to try to get him in with my regular vet. Heck, if you call with an “emergency/urgent care” issue, they simply refer you to the big clinic in the city anyway. I get that staffing a state of the art clinic 24/7 is expensive and creates a convenience for pet owners. But $2700 for a day and a half there?! Yikes. No surgery, just catheterization, pain meds and supportive care. Is that normal?? This is our first with a case like this (we did take a cat in for swallowing a string and it was no where near this expensive–same clinic, he had xrays, fluids, etc. was there a day, cost 1/3 of this).

Anyway, a bit of a vent and a plea for jingles for my sweet Fatty McFatterson Theo Catty. His brother, Simon, is moping around meowing for him this morning. Good thing I just sold my truck–just enough extra (ha!) money to cover this.

[hiddenlake]

That’s in line with what I paid for my cat’s first blockage, maybe a little higher but not much. It was on a weekend as well. Good for you for taking him in though, blockages can be quickly fatal if left untreated. Jingles for for his recovery!

A quick question–any changes in his circumstances lately? A loss, move, were you out of town, etc? Our cat blocked a second time shortly after the first (read $$$) and the vet thinks both were stress related. The first block happened after his beloved golden retriever buddy passed away, the other occurred after we had to leave town for a few days. The vet explained that cats shed the cells that line their bladder when they are stressed—whodathunkit—and those cells can block the urinary tract.

Our doc prescribed Cosequin once a day, sprinkled on food (no taste so it’s easy), since it can act as a relaxant, plus meds during high stress times. We’ve had no more blockages and it’s been two years.

Good luck!! Sorry for the $$, I feel your pain!

[ponygirl]

Mine was $1200 for the same treatment as yours. He was there for 24 hrs.

[Plainandtall]

OWWWW!!

Many years ago we took a distressed Boxer to an emergency care clinic- turned out to be an anal gland… $800 no overnight.

[Hulk]

Jingles sent for a very speedy recovery for kitty. Having a cat block is no fun at all!! We give ours only distilled water to drink to help prevent blocks as per our vets advice.

[Belmont]

Ouch. Not the “usual” at a regular vet clinic, but that sounds about right for an emergency. Our clients usually walk out for around $800-$1800 depending on the cat and # of nights.

Also, jingles sent your way. Are you going to put kitty on a UR diet or something of the likes?

[Calvincrowe]

That’s the plan the vet mentioned–after he told us every horrible complication and outcome he could think of. Will be hard as we have four other cats (two girls, two boys). I guess everyone will go on the UR diet. Great, more money. He also recommended a fountain waterer.

[eohippus]

Sorry your kitty had problems.

Several years ago my big (overweight at the time) guy kitty had UTI, not blockage. So not as serious.

Not sure if it’s related for yours but when we put our guy on a strict diet and he lost weight he has not had any UT issues since.

[cloudyandcallie]

Buy a bottle of kitty cosequin at Jefferspet.com and give a dissolved capsule to kitty each day for however long, weeks, months, years, you need to to prevent sand/stones. It works.
I use a dropper or syringe to give it orally. And I buy enough bottles at a time to get the free shipping.

[luvdogz72]

[QUOTE=Plainandtall;8035802]
OWWWW!!

Many years ago we took a distressed Boxer to an emergency care clinic- turned out to be an anal gland… $800 no overnight.[/QUOTE]

but Boxers are worth it - they are great!!! LOL

[Horsegal984]

Also, look into Royal Canin, they were talking about making all of their cat formulas with their SO index for urinary problems. That way you can do an over the counter formula and save a little.

Definitely try to get weight off him though, the fatter they are the more likely they are to have problems.

And I second the Cosaquin too. It really seems to help with cystitis flare ups.

[SquishTheBunny]

Price sounds about right to me for an emergency clinic. Don’t forget…you often get what you pay for and big city emerg clinics often have the most up to date equipment and board certifiedttechnicians monitorng you cat. Always nice to pay less…but if your cat came home with no further issuse than hopefully it was money well spent

[baxtersmom]

Oh jingles for you! It must be urinary blockage weekend or something – mine has been in and out since Friday night. I got my guy in before he fully blocked and backed up but we’re heading north of $2500 for tests, treatment (2 caths as he reblocked), and hospital observation.

[Calvincrowe]

I’m praying he does not reblock, as I am officially out of cat vet money. We have an elderly dog with weeping tumors we are buying time with maintenance care and a horse on some $$ maintenance as well. Sigh. Wish we could add them to our human insurance to cover all these expenses!!

Vet said yesterday that he had a bit of blood in his urine (expected) but great flow. I have to pick up an bladder anti-spasmodic med that has to be compounded at a human pharmacy. I’m sure that will be spendy. I think it was called “prevacin” or something similar. Hopefully, he’ll be ready to come home this afternoon. I miss my boy.

Oh, he’s not really fat, he’s a “round body type” cat, and quite large overall. Very active and we have put him on a diet.

What are the best products for feeding a cat prone to blockages? I’m sure vet will recommend one/several but the COTH community will have tested them for cat approval.

[Belmont]

[QUOTE=Calvincrowe;8037658]
I’m praying he does not reblock, as I am officially out of cat vet money. We have an elderly dog with weeping tumors we are buying time with maintenance care and a horse on some $$ maintenance as well. Sigh. Wish we could add them to our human insurance to cover all these expenses!!

Vet said yesterday that he had a bit of blood in his urine (expected) but great flow. I have to pick up an bladder anti-spasmodic med that has to be compounded at a human pharmacy. I’m sure that will be spendy. I think it was called “prevacin” or something similar. Hopefully, he’ll be ready to come home this afternoon. I miss my boy.

Oh, he’s not really fat, he’s a “round body type” cat, and quite large overall. Very active and we have put him on a diet.

What are the best products for feeding a cat prone to blockages? I’m sure vet will recommend one/several but the COTH community will have tested them for cat approval.[/QUOTE]

We use the Purina UR diet and recommend it to everyone, in our clinic. It is a “prescription” diet, so you have to get it through your vet under a “prescription”, but we have seen GREAT results on all of our blocked toms. The water fountain is another suggestion we often give, along with some anti-inflammatory for a while.

Now, I know Purina is catching a lot of heat right now with the law suite, but the prescription diets are their highest quality and most extensively researched foods. My dog gets EN because she has awful gas. I do pay the piper for the prescription diet foods, though.

I forgot to mention, even the meanest most bravest of tigers can be scared of a little water fountain for a few weeks… :lol:

[djangology]

[QUOTE=Calvincrowe;8037658]

What are the best products for feeding a cat prone to blockages? I’m sure vet will recommend one/several but the COTH community will have tested them for cat approval.[/QUOTE]

My train wreck of a cat has blocked several times over the last 5 years. He’s had struvite crystals and oxalate crystals (separate times). He’s been on multiple rx diets, with no significant improvement (it’s what made him go from struvites to oxalates!).

We manage with a raw diet and a product called Tinkle Tonic. I was skeptical about the Tinkle Tonic, but we ran out for a week and he started spraying in the house, so he can have his damn Tinkle Tonic, as far as I’m concerned.

Increasing hydration is critical, so sometimes just switching to a canned cat food is enough of a change for these guys. Fountains to maintain fresh and circulating drinking water are also often recommended.

For a while, I thought that maybe it was just the increased moisture content from a raw diet and started to foray into commercially prepared diets. After 6 months on The Honest Kitchen (powdered dehydrated pseudo-raw), he blocked again, regardless of the fact that I was watering it down like you wouldn’t believe.

Raw it is, regardless of how inconvenient it is.

If my cat were otherwise normal and healthy, I’d have probably looked into the surgery, but he’s dealing with recurrent non-regenerative anemia, cerebellar hypoplasia, vestibular syndrome, and nasopharyngeal polyps, so I have a hard time sinking cash into the PU surgery.

[shiloh]

OW OW OW! $2700? Holy magilla - you poor thing! :eek:

I took my UTI victim (multiple incidents) to the emergency vet and was there several hours and got out with a $400 bill but he had to stay in his regular vet’s for a week and still, the whole thing cost me under $1k. I feel your pain, seriously.

My one boy has some metabolic deficiency where he can’t break whatever makes the crystals down and is not a candidate for the “reconstruction” surgery (Vet feels there is some malformation of bladder.) The other boy (his brother) gets loads of crystals. They are both on CD and are never to eat dry food ever again. PITA because now I have to have all these special serving arrangements because they aren’t the only cats in the house. arrgghh

Poor kitty - jingling for him (and your wallet, too :lol:) Hope he feels better soon.

[cowboymom]

Man that seems super high.

I just took a kitten to the emergency 24 hour vet for renal failure; he was in for two days with supportive care and IV fluids and the bill total was $800.

[betsyk]

I want to say ours came in at less than $1k for all 3 vet visits he had within a month and all the various meds, but SO may have picked up one of the bills. Short version, we’re doing kitty Cosequin, Ammonil, regular wet food (lots and lots of little cans…) and a water fountain. Unintended bonus is, all the cats are switched to wet except the foster and they all come running at mealtimes, the boxes are less smelly, and the chronically constipated one seems to be doing better, too.

[RedMare01]

Ours was $2200 over Thanksgiving. One night at our vet, four nights at an emergency clinic.