Our precious male cat has bladder problems - All suggestions appreciated

3/13/2011

Hi Everyone:

I was going to start a thread in both of the cat teams that I belong to, but I thought that this blog entry would reach a larger population. I'm praying that someone out there has some advice that will help my sweet lil' guy.

Our handsome guy, Yoster (Yoda) is approximately 12 (ish) years young.
He had a physical in November, 2010. His urine test showed some blood under the microscope, but we weren't seeing any in the box. Our vet told us that there wasn't anything to worry about.
A couple of years ago our old vet heard a slight heart murmur, this vet did not hear it.

Around Jan 12th, Yoda was urinating frequently, always producing some urine - some with blood and some without. After a few days, he was going more often, and producing less and less urine.
Sick with worry, we decided we didn't want to wait until his regular vet's office opened, so we brought him to the local emergency veterinary hospital very early one morning.

The vet did a urinalysis and a urine culture. She gave him some fluid under the skin, and we left early that morning with antibiotics, pain medication & something to help with bladder spasms (phenoxybenzamine).

After 48 hours, we found out that Yoster DID NOT have a urinary tract infection and he didn't have any crystals. She said that the pain meds and spasm medication may help to break the cycle, but, he may need a bladder ultrasound if his symptoms continue.

We were happy that he seemed to be better, but the blood in his urine showed up again, with frequency, so he had an ultrasound on 2/18.

His ultrasound showed: "a thickened bladder wall as well as blood and mucus clots, consistent with cystitis (inflammation of the bladder). It's uncertain what the underlying cause is for his cystitis, but medical management of his symptoms is recommended at this time."
His heart murmur was heard again, only this time it was stronger/louder - ?? Grade III or IV over VI . An echocardiogram to evaluate his heart disease is suggested. (of course, this is very concerning to me).

When I picked our little guy up in the afternoon on February 18th, we were given more pain medication as well as the spasm medication. I think that the Phenoxybenzamine does help him.

On March 1st, he started having a tiny bit of bleeding in his pee with frequency, so I called to get him some more spasm medication - they said they couldn't do that - that we'd need to bring him in for another exam. The receptionist said , "there could be something else going on".
I tried to explain that the vet suggested "medical management" at this time. She said that we could come in for a re-check (which is a reduced fee), and then we would most likely be able to get that medication for him.
It would be difficult at this time to incur another large bill right now.

If anyone here has had similar urinary problems with their beloved cat(s), I would love to hear any & all suggestions on things that have helped.

Thanks to all who have read this very long post.

Much peace & love,

Denise