Java became obstructed? I thought he had diabetic neuropathy

[Steph and Java(GA)]

cross-posting from lantus land

I am posting this over here to see what you all have to say. I think Java is doing ok but I am concerned if my vet thinks this wasn't a true obstruction and maybe it is neurological, what do I do for the next few days when I am gone during the day? what follows are the posts I made earlier today. thanks for reading.


I think Java has neuropathy. Yesterday he stumbled a couple of times and he is walking funny and when he was standing at his food bowl, his back end was dropping down. My question is I normally start the process at 8:30. I probably end up giving the shot around 8:40 - 8:45. My vet opens at 9 and he talked about increasing Java’s dose after he studied his spreadsheet etc. he wanted a video of him walking so I sent that last night. Do I do my routine or wait until they open? How much leeway do I have because he may not be able to answer me right away and then I miss his shot? he is on 1 unit bid and this is day 8.


Well Java has a bladder obstruction. He is at the vet right now getting a catheter and hopefully we will be able to transfer him to the 24hr vet in an hour or so. He had a fit at the vet, hissing and baring his teeth. He is NEVER like that so I knew something bad was happening. they said his bladder is the size of an orange. I feel so guilty but I am 95% sure he peed last night and this was the last thing I expected from him. My civvie, Riley has a history of crystals and peeing out of the box but Java has never had this issue. I would appreciate some positive thoughts for my baby, if you don't mind. Thanks

Thanks everyone! He is doing ok tonight except he is NOT a happy camper. He has one of those Elizabethan collars; it is a soft one but still pissing him off. I picked him up at my vet and he was moving around a lot in his carrier. We took him to the emergency clinic so he can be monitored all night and they think if all goes well the catheter can come out in the morning. He said it was not a complete obstruction in fact it could still be neurological. Has this ever happened to anyone? His urine was clean and all labs came out great. Anyway I know all your positive thoughts contributed to our great outcome so THANK YOU!

 

[janelle and Nomad]

Re: Java became obstructed? I thought he had diabetic neurop

I am glad you took him to the vet. There are a lot of things that can cause neuropathy like symptoms. Sometimes an owner or vet will just assume because the cat is diabetic that weakness in the back legs or falling is neuropathy. MY cat had some neuropathy before he got regulated and the symptoms gradually went away. I hope you get a more specific answer about the symptoms. It is always better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Lisa dvm]

Re: Java became obstructed? I thought he had diabetic neurop

Hi Steph,

Is Java on 100% canned and no dry? I assume by your profile that the answer is "yes".

I ask because typical urethral obstructions are VERY...VERY rare in cats that eat no dry food. That is why I wrote the first paragraph the way that it is on the Urinary Tract Health page below.

I discuss adding water to canned food + using flavored waters in my article below.

 

[Steph and Java(GA)]

Re: Java became obstructed? I thought he had diabetic neurop

Hi Steph,

Is Java on 100% canned and no dry? I assume by your profile that the answer is "yes".

I ask because typical urethral obstructions are VERY...VERY rare in cats that eat no dry food. That is why I wrote the first paragraph the way that it is on the Urinary Tract Health page below.

I discuss adding water to canned food + using flavored waters in my article below.

Sorry I didn't see this sooner. Yes Java is on 100% wet. We use to leave out dry in the morning and do wet at night, we had been on ID for his IBD. Previous to that we used CD, my other cat is prone to crystals. Well when I stopped the ID with all this diabetes info, we stopped the dry. They love wet food so no issues there. My problem was Java was on DM and Riley, my civie wanted the DM. My vet didn't want Riley eating DM so we played musical plates at feeding time. Also I took your excellent advice and started adding water so it wouldn't dry out and that has worked really well also. I decided to switch to FF Classic and my vet ok'd that for both kitties. When I took him in for the obstruction my vet said he wasn't sure if it was totally obstructed because as he put the catheter in, he got resistance but was able to feed it right in, instead of working it back and forth? So I still really don't know what happened except he is back to normal and climbing up his cat tree as usual. Thanks for the input, your website was invaluable to me!