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Snowball has been getting UTIs lately and we thought this was just another one. I thought he was acting funny and seemed to be in more pain so off to the vet we went today. He was blocked and they were not able to get the catheter in without damaging his urethra.
Phone calls and another trip to the vet. We took the still sedated Snowball in our car to the emergency vet where he will have 24 hour monitoring. They will try to do the catheter again but it looks like kidney stones lodged in his urethra. The vets suggest doing the perineal urethrostomy - they shorten and widen the urethra so that this won't happen again. Obviously they will be able to remove the obstruction while doing this. Usually this is only done if they have reoccurring UTIs but in his case, he will not live if they cannot get the catheter in.
Being a weekend we don't have a choice of vets here - we have to go to who is available and open. Please keep Snowblall in your prayers that he comes thru this. He is only 9 and certainly deserves many more years of love.
Thanks to Ann of Zoolatry for his graphic and for emailing everyone! You guys are so supportive! We will keep ya'll posted as we get more info. What a long day.
We are sending big big purrs for your White Guy...Snowball, please get well soon.
ReplyDeleteWe send prayers and lots of purrs for Snowball. Hope he comes through all of this.
ReplyDeletePurrs
Peanut& Marshmallow
Thank you so much for taking the time to let us know what is going on with Snowball. We are keeping our paws crossed and prayers going up for him and for you. Hugs and nose kisses
ReplyDeleteI am SO SO SORRY! Blessings Snowball, God bless you. XXXOOO
ReplyDeleteWe have been purring and praying for Snowball ever since we heard, and we will not stop. My sisters and I are taking shifts so we can purr around the clock.
ReplyDeleteSo much love, purrs and prayers coming your way Snowball xox
ReplyDeleteAll us cats in the Big Piney Woods are purring and purring!
ReplyDeleteMittens, Mistrie, Precious, Miracle and Mom Toni
Oh Snowball!! We are just meeting you today, but are so sad that it is under these circumstances!! We are praying, purring, and everything we can think of for you that the emergency vet is good, kind and very capable of helping you exactly as you need so that you can be home soon and be with your furfamily. You are a gorgeous, gorgeous boy (Tiny and Chouchou are fainting just looking at your beautiful eyes and your fabulous white coat). Us 5 are thinking about you - yes, that includes Ellwood and Ginger the dawgs because they love cats, too. Purrs and purrs and tailwags and prayers from all of us and Mom, too. Tiny, Ellwood, Ginger, Elioth and Chouchou - WeezDaBadCats & DaMeenDawgs and Mom Cat, too.
ReplyDeleteWe hope you got our message..we hope Google didn't eat it. Purrs, purrs, purrs....Weezdabadcats & Dameendawgs
ReplyDeleteOh yes! We had that done on Obi years ago. We had it done at a veterinary referral center, so we can imagine how much it will cost at the emergency vet! We hope Snowball gets to feeling better very soon!
ReplyDeleteLuf, Us and Maw
Oh we are so very very sorry...and we have been on the end of an ER Vet service when we were sitting for our daughter's first cat. so very scary you don't know them BUT you have to trust them.
ReplyDeleteHugs and purrs all around
Madi and Mom
We are sending lots of purrs for Snowball. We hope the next attempt at getting the catheter in is successful.
ReplyDeleteSnowball is in our hearts & prayers.
ReplyDeleteNubbin wiggles & hugs,
Oskar & Pam
We're purring and praying for Snowball. We hope the VET can get the catheter in and the stones out.
ReplyDeleteThe Florida Furkids
I am purring so hard for Snowball!! (and sending you some purrs as well, because I know how stressful this is for you).
ReplyDeleteWevhave our purrs on high. Get better soon Snowball.
ReplyDeleteLove, TK and Pip
We are sending BIG PURRS to Snowball.
ReplyDeleteWe understand just how serious this is and wish him all the best!
Purrs for you too as you must be so worried.
Purrs Tillie and Georgia,
Tiger,Treasure,JJ and Julie
and mom Nancy
WE will keep purrin for dear Snowball and will also keep all of you in our prayers.
ReplyDeleteSending Reiki love to Snowball and all of you. Harry, Dexter and Tipp are purring furiously.
ReplyDeletePurrrrrrss for Snowball. We had a kittie with persistent UTI's, so we know how painful and frustrating they can be.
ReplyDeleteOh, Cheri, I was hoping it wasn't this dire.
ReplyDeletePrayers from me and purrs from the boys; I'll light a candle for him on Gratefulness.org.
Peace.
Holding Snowball close to my ♥ with tender thoughts. Many PURRayers coming her way.
ReplyDeleteThe Hotties Kitties are sending lots and lots of purrs for Snowball.
ReplyDeleteYo, Dude!
ReplyDeleteHang in there!
Nikita and Elvira
Snowball, I'm sending many many purrs to you plus paws crossed.
ReplyDeleteAnd Many hugs to your family.
xoxo
they do make special foods for kitties with issues like that. i suggest the purina... however beware it is very expensive. you also need to get him on strong antibiotics and probably some life-long meds. glad he is unblocked. its manageable sweetie. also have his blood checked to make sure hes not got other things going on. infections etc can trigger other things like diabetes. have ur hoomins email ours if she needs to talk or ask questions.
ReplyDeletePoor Snowball! Glad they got the catheter in!
ReplyDeleteWe're purring loudly for Snowball. What a scary, stressful day for him, you, and the family.
ReplyDeleteSo glad to see that they were able to do the catheter and he is unblocked! I remember when Cal had to do the same thing about 10 years ago and it was $1800. Cal had to be put on Science Diet - the one for struvite crystals. Maybe it was CD? We will continue to purr and purray for Snowball until he is completely well and back to normal!! (((HUGS)))
ReplyDeleteSnowball we are sending healing purrs for you. We are so relieved you are unblocked. We has our paws crossed you stay that way.
ReplyDeleteWe're purring for you and Snowball, Cheryl! Meow from Au, Target and Guido
ReplyDeleteJust stopping by to let you know we're thinking about Snowball and sending extra prayers and "woofs". Sorry, no "purrs" here.
ReplyDeleteBut we have all 44 paws at our house crossed for a quick recovery for Snowball.
We are glad you are doing okay for now. We have been purring hard since we saw this on Facebook
ReplyDeletewe are so very sorry and hope they can get him cleared up (and glad it didn't result in emergency surgery). sending lots of purrs.... maybe a change of diet (if you haven't already tried that)
ReplyDeleteWe are purring for Snowball and hope he will be okay. There is special food to prevent the formation of crystals...also water can help flush him out. The mom has been adding water to our foods to make sure we keep peeing good.
ReplyDeleteWe are purraying for snowball1 This is a awful thing to happen and more so on a weekend. We also sends yous comforting purrs and headbutts!
ReplyDeleteNellie, Kozmo, the hairy slobbery sisters Bob and Cinnamon and Mommy
Poor Snowball. Our Chizzy kept getting blocked. We had him on special food and everything. Hope Snowball is good to go and doesn't have to go through what Chizzy went through.
ReplyDeleteOur Yukon just had the PU surgery in August and it has saved his life!! We had already switched all 8 cats over to all wet food all the time, due to his blocking two times before (at $400 and a lot of fear per block episode), but by that time he'd build up too much scar tissue in his ureter that it took less and less for him to block. Very scary, so when he blocked a 3rd time, we had the surgery done. Very well worth it! Email me if you want to know more or have more questions. Purrs to Snowball... ~LisaCo9T
ReplyDeletePoor Snowball! I am purring lots for him - I am glad he got unblocked, but I hope there are ways to keep him from getting these UTIs. :-(
ReplyDeleteThat was very scary and a very close call! Thank goodness it worked out ok. We had a kitty who had rounds of UTI & blockages. His was caused by his food (Purina from the grocery store) when we changed to Science Diet, he didn't have any more problems. But SD has by products. There are premium foods these days that would be ok, taste good and without the by products. We'll be purring for poor Snowball!
ReplyDeleteSending lots and lots of purrs for Snowball!
ReplyDeletePoor Snowball! We send lots of healing energy to him. One of our kitties is eating prescription food and is taking traditional Chinese herbal formula to dissolve her bladder stones. So far, so good. Our acupuncturist, who works with our vet to treat pets, gets the formula for us. It is made by evergreen Herbs and is called Dissolve KS. It might be good to include this treatment as part of his daily routine. Hope all works out for Snowball.
ReplyDelete'Kaika's mom
Lots of purrs going your way, Snowball. We hope you are feeling much better soon.
ReplyDeleteSnowball, we're purring lots for you!
ReplyDeleteWe're sending MASSIVE purrs for sweet Snowball!!
ReplyDeletePoor little guy. So glad the vet was able to unblock him. Sendin him lots of pawsitive thoughts and wellness wishes!
ReplyDeleteThe Roo Family
We are praying for sweet Snowball, and will put the badge on our purrs and prayers page.
ReplyDelete(This is the human mom talking now) - When my baby Carmine had urinary issues, it scared me so badly. He was merely 4 years old when he developed a very bad UTI. We had to rush him to the emergency vet on Easter as I knew it was a life-or-death situation. They discovered he had developed crystals in his urine, which could have blocked/obstructed him completely, but thankfully had not.
He was sent home with medications. Our regular vet put him on a prescription (Hill's Prescription c/d) diet for life to prevent that from happening again. He hasn't had any problems since *knocks on wood*
Your vet may put Snowball on the c/d, too. Carmine likes his kibbles a lot, but I feed him Urinary Tract Friskies wet food as he won't eat c/d wet. The vet has approved this, of course.
Please know that you are not alone. Though ours wasn't the same situation exactly, I know how terrifying it is! You and your baby are in my thoughts and prayers. Please keep us posted.
We are sending purrs and prayers for Snowball and hope everything goes well without him needing the surgery.
ReplyDeleteLuv Hannah and Lucy xx xx
Poor Snowball, we are sending you lots of love and rumbly purrs and hope that the treatment works quickly and you soon recover
ReplyDeleteGerry & Mungo
We are sending lots and lots of healing energy and prayers that your Snowball is feeling better very, very soon!! xoxo Chloe and LadyBug
ReplyDeleteDo you already have him on a grain-free canned food, Cheri? If not, I do suggest if, if he'll eat something affordable. Stay away from veggies and fruits in the food too. But you know this already.
ReplyDeleteHere's the vet-written site on UTIs, crystals, etc. Based on her own experience with one of her cats. She had held the typical vet opinion before, re: food, until this cat blocked.
http://www.catinfo.org/?link=urinarytracthealth
What about something from PetAlive, to help?
Oh I am so glad he avoided the surgery. There is special food and it is called UR. I think you have to get it at the vets. I had to use it on Mister. Sending tons of purrs and some prayers too. Will be thinking about you today and tomorrow.
ReplyDeletePoor Snowball!I'm sending lots of purrs and prayers for his faster recover!
ReplyDeleteLove to you all
Luna - We love Luna
So sorry to hear that snowball isn't feeling well. I will send good throughts and purrs and soon be back to his self.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh!
ReplyDeleteMy brother Seville is recovering from the very same thing. He was in hospital a couple of weeks ago.
A friend of mine from FB suggested somethin' called Cystaid or cystease. I found sources for it in the UK but can't find it here in Canada. Maybe together, we can find someone willing to ship outside of Britain. My friend spoke very highly of it.
Purrs,
Nissy
Cheri - we're sending many many purrs and good thoughts for Snowball, and for you too. We are glad to read that he's OK for now.
ReplyDeletelove and hugs -
Katie, Franklin, Tasha, and Dobby
We are sending TONS of purrs and prayers for Snowball.
ReplyDeleteMy Angel Bobo once had SIX kidney stones. They did surgery and he was fine (he was already well into his senior years when he had them)
Do you feed Snowball turkey? I have heard that turkey is a HUGE no-no for male cats. It causes all sorts of problems
((((hugs))))
Sending lot of (((purrs))) to Snowball !
ReplyDeleteGlad to read that they have been able to get a catheter in.
XOXO
Oh Sorry Snowball! I'll keep my paws crossed real tight for you!
ReplyDeleteGet well Soon!
Kisses,
Ruby
We purred and purred and purred and the dawgs were waggin their tails like crazy! So glad to hear that the emergency vet got the catheter in and that the bill was half the (huge, ginormous) estimate. We will continue purring and waggin' here. Be strong, Snowball, we (especially Tiny and Chouchou) love you!
ReplyDeleteYou have my prayers and all four kitties are purring hard for Snowball. I don't know if this will be of any use to you, but my vet says that she recommends Fancy Feast for cats who have kidney problems.
ReplyDeleteOh Snowball!! We are soooooo sorry to hear about this latest turn of events!! We purr and pray for sweet Snowball!! We hope hope hope he;ll be ok soon! take care
ReplyDeletex
Sending you love and purrs!
ReplyDeleteWe're purring and praying for Snowball. And for you and Don, too, Cheri!
ReplyDeleteGlad that Snowball is doing better. Sending good healthy thoughts and purrs for him! We will also "chip in" :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a way to meet you, dearest Snowball. You are in our prayers, love, and we will keep you in our prayers until you are all better. Such a beautiful boy!
ReplyDeleteWe had a kitty that had the surgery you may be facing.
It would have been less costly and far better for Perry to have have had the surgery rather than the multiple visits to various vets and, in the end, surgery anyway. Can you apply for a Care Credit card at your vets?
Very relieved to hear that they unblocked Snowball. We are sending our biggest purrs and prayers Snowball's way for his complete recovery quickly with ease.
ReplyDeleteHow's he doing now, Cheri?
ReplyDelete