Oh the Toroble!

This Sunday Toro was his usual self - looking out the window and feeling the soft breeze that came with the rain. Last Tuesday, he was not so calm. He had a some trouble peeing. At about 1240 am so he walked in and out of his (clean) litter for about 2 hours. I noticed he had a lot of trouble trying to pee and called the hospital immediately. after talking some time, I was assured that it was not an emergency (since he was eating and could finally pee a few drops) but it was urgent that I bring him to the clinic.

The next day I called the clinic but was advised by Dr T that I bring him straight to the hospital in case he was indeed blocked and I would have to hospitalize him. I did this and Dr K said that because it was his 3rd time in, I would have to allow for an operation so they can widen his urethra!! We spoke at length about his condition, his kidney stones, his behaviour the night before and Dr K an x-ray is called for as his bladder did not seem swollen. Then he had an ultra sound to check for the trouble by Dr Sabine!

Finally after what seemed like a long time, we found that one of his kidney stones had migrated through his urethra and was now in his bladder! His whole left urethra was irritated and inflamed and this made him want to pee all the time and therefore he strained quite a bit, with no pee. His bladder was empty of pee as well. Dr Sabine said his uroliths were still there so I guess the acidifier was not working at all and he does have oxalate crystals! She was quite relieved that the stone did not block the opening of his bladder and so were we all.

He was given one week's worth of antibiotics and 2 weeks worth of anti-inflammatory pills. He was also given an injection to help him with his irritated urethra. Finally when we got home, he immediately went to the litter and I saw this.

I was never so pleased to see cat pee before !:)

he is now feeling ok and peeing quite well. Dr K also recommended dou miao for fibre so he would not be constipated. I was not to give him any more pro-kaolin as that makes for constipation. I give him pro-kaolin as he used to vomit frequently and Dr H said all the meds could have irritated his stomach lining!

Sleepy Sunday with grandma

ON ANOTHER MATTER ALTOGETHER!

We are very glad that our friend Hat is feeling better with cat_aunty, after his harrowing experience with a swollen paw. The vet said, after they had cleaned and xray the paw that it was because of a rubberband! They estimated that the rubber band had been tied around his paw for 2 days!

The swollen paw after medication...

We suspect mischief and cat_aunty and uncle had warned the neighbours to watch out for this around the neighbourhood. It was lucky that Hat knew where to find help and that there were many people who had helped him. He is now recuperating to the disgust of Empress Spencer :)

Before and After

Toro is a smart kitty.

When he had the catheter, I would still allow him up on the bed. I was pleasantly surprised to chance upon him being quite fastidious. He would rest like this in the afternoons with his bottom on his own pillow-blanket with the plastic lining and the rest of him on my bed. Of course the whole bedsheet would be cleaned daily but I appreciated his efforts.

Yesh. I am a good boy and appreciate the fact that san allowed me to walk about in her room.

Toro after his groomer appointment.

I had taken him to the groomer last Saturday, 2 days after the vet took out his catheter, last Thursday night. I had checked his catheter every morning and decided to bring him to the vet on Friday instead so we could do the sub q as well as take out his catheter but when I came home, I saw that one of the stitches had come undone. I called the practice and they told me they would see him asap.

Dr H took out his stitches and chatted with him softly. Toro was not interested in all the chat and wanted his stitches out 'NOW' please. As soon as his catheter was out (OUCH!), he peed copiously on the vet's table and so we had a nice urine sample for testing of PH levels as well as crystals. No luck on the crystals but acidic on the urine, which was good and so I was told that the new diet was working for him rather nicely although we do not know if it would be successful to help him with his still-unidentified uroliths :(

I am glad to report that he urinates nicely now and there are big enough puddles every time he does it. He is now his own lovable and affectionate self, asking to be brushed at all hours of the day and running after shadows :)

Caged!

Toro being quite comfortable at night in bed.

I had deliberated whether to just allow him to sleep the night in the cage or in bed. Then I thought if I made the changes in his sleeping arrangement, more than 1 cat would be unhappy. Ms Akira would raise a storm as the two-tier cage belongs to her at night. She is used to this and I do not want to stress her out. Megat would be quite happy but Bujang may make his night uncomfortable as Bujang likes everything just so, nothing should change too drastically for him. Toro himself may be stressed as he is used to sleeping in the room on his own blanket, but mostly on mine. So I finally made the choice of status quo. It just means I would have to make the quick changes early in the morning so Toro can be in this cage without Ms Akira knowing it. At night, I would just have to make sure the cage is cleaned thoroughly and put Ms Akira's blanket and toys in it so she would be none the wiser :)

Of course he would leak urine but yesterday no blood on his blanket-pillowcase, which leaves me just to wash the blanket itself this morning. I had placed a plastic sheet inside the blanket-pillowcase so we do not have to clean bedsheets repeatedly but I will see how this goes.

I am glad to report that yesterday he actually peed a small puddle inside his litter. YAY!! But no poo that I saw. However since there was poo in the litter I would just have to assume that some of it would be his (fingers crossed). I have also given him 10 ml of water in a syringe each time eats but he also drinks from the drinking fountains. Yesterday, when I was giving him the sub q, he peed quite spontaneously in his carrier, a sizable amount of urine. I am also giving him 5 ml of sieved pumpkin everyday to help him with the fiber that would enable him to poo. Since he likes pumpkin I would try to give him more today.

This is what the cage look like. Megat has the lowest cage and Ms Akira has the two-tier one as she likes to jump up and down it. Toro also uses both tiers during the course of the day.

Toro making it quite clear that he doesn't like girlie things...

Toro spends most time resting and napping here. These two days, I had lined this part of the cage with newspaper and liner which is changed everytime he wets it so he is not uncomfortable. Yesterday I opened the door and placed a small chair next to its door. He walked out and then made a tour of the house after which he actually made the decision to get into the cage to rest and relax. So I do not think he is overly stressed in this temporary half-way home at all.

I had taken off his collar only when he eats under my supervision and it goes on him immediately right after his food so he has no time to be licking his catheter. He is quite good at accepting the collar these days and he has bumped into things less. He is still dripping urine but I am glad he has made some progress in trying to pee in his big litter. The small triangular liiter box is still very clean as I think it is difficult to pee in it. But as long as there is pee on the liner, I know some things are working well enough.

I am considering the urinary canal operation quite seriously as I think it would definitely solve the blocked problem. I also saw his kidney stones in the xray that Dr L had taken. The stones must have been very big for them to show so very clearly in xray. So if the stones should dislodge themselves, I hope he would be able to pass them out. But of course this is further in his future if he should get blocked the 3rd time. We are still not out of this challenge so that is a problem to be decided on in the future.

Toro spends ost of his time in the cage but I let him out in the faternoons and evenings where he would be able to walk about quite freely but he makes the choice of either staying put next to the window or even going back ino the cage. So I think he does not feel confined in it.

Toroble again?

The good thing was his kidney indicators are excellent. Since this was done at 10.29 am, I was much encouraged that we were successful in managing at least these indicators.

Toro last night sleeping in his buster collar.

His urinary catheter - looks painful and I'm sure it was a constant iritant. He did not worry it at the hospital but once home, he started to lick at it if I did not put the buster collar back on!

Toro at the vet this morning to check why he was not peeing even after the catheter was in.

Ooohh I am so tired of vets and catheters and medicine and....

I had to bring him back to the clinic to check why he was not peeing freely in his litter even after the doc had put in this catheter. I called the hospital and they said to check if there was a kink (there was none) as sometimes this would not allow the pee to flow. He also had blood stained pee (that leaked through his catheter). The nurse said this was usual for cats with urinary catheters. But as I am paranoid I made an appointment and saw the doc Dr L at about 1130.

After many questions, she said she would drain it and then check the placement of the catheter. Toro may have dislodged it in his sleep or sitting about. Then she did an xray to see the state of his bladder etc. All were ok and so she puzzled some more. After some more discussion she told me that if his spots of urine came up to a good puddle the it was okay. She said his bladder may be a little irritated and that was why he was in and out of the litter but as there was very little urine in his bladder, it was to be expected that it would only drip.

I had also decided this morning to take out his collar for his morning and evening meals and when he ate his kibble (under my supervison). After that he would have his collar on immediately as he would begin licking his catheter immediately and I really do not want a BIG accident to happen to the little guy.

So we left with the doc giving him a Dexaason injection to reduce his irritaion. Dr L also gave us an antibiotic marbocyl and an anti-irritant serrazyme and I have to give them to him 2X a day. So many pills for such a tiny body.

Ooh the Toroble I Was In

an old pic of Toro

This whole week was a rather hectic one for Toro. First he had a fever on Wednesday night. I knew he was unwell as he sat in the bedroom by himself at 8 pm!! His ears were a little hot and I spent the night worrying if he was goig to be ok. The next morning he was up and eating and I thought we were home free. NOT so fast!

Yesterday Sister N called cousin R to report Toro's strange behaviour. He was running about and stared hard at Sister S in the face. Then he ran about some more in the afternoon. Toro would usually be quite laid back and would spend the day sleeping. So when I came home and heard these strange tales, I decided to take him to the vet. Nothing seemed wrong and we were sent home with some painkillers. The vet said he might have some pain and I was to get a urine sample. She also said he had quite a bit of stools that prevented her from feeling his bladder. But as he has no fever I thought we were home free..again. NOT so fast!!

When we came home from the vet, he ate some food and then spent the whole night under the bed. He was not even sleeping, merely sitting wide-eyed. So at 5 am I called the hospital for an appointment and was told that the only slot was at 6. I told them that my cat seemed blocked and I was farid he could be badly affected by this. NO pee and poo for 14 hrs! The nurse told me to bring him in first thing, which I did. We were the first one that Dr Lee examined. Thak goodness for that.

So finally he had to be hosiptalised for the day, he was on 500 ml sodium chloride, and he had a catheter in his urethra to boot. He was sedated so they could do this. I was told to get him at 9 pm! The vet said she hoped to try to at least clean up his toxins and maybe this would also help with then sedimentation in his bladder. She would also give hm something to help with the poo!

Now Toro is asleep and I have no heart to put him somewhere else eventhough his catheter would leak out some urine. I had put some plastic inside a pillow case and now he is sleeping on it. So even if it leaks, it would not go through to the bed. Tomorrow I would try to find my old shower curtain and place it under my bedlinen. I think it matters little that my linen would have small spots of urine as I can always wash it- repeatedly if need be but at least Toro is now sleeping soundly.

Btw he has a buster collar which made him very clumsy. I had to hand feed him his kibble as he was not able to eat anything with his collar on. Finally I took out his collar so he could eat his night snack and he ate quite hungrily. He was not pleased with me when I put his collar back on again. I really don't know how he was going to eat and drink with the collar. I should have asked the vet techs! Aiyah! Pictures tomorrow :)