URGENT Bladder/UTI Issue

Question
Hi Ali,

I have  3 cats but my critical issue is about an 8 year old male Silver Tabby, my baby boy, named Azriel but who got the nickname of gobbles because of his love of food! unfortunately, for him this nickname stuck and he has been known as Gobbles ever since... he has been fed Iams cat food all his life - starting with Kitten moving on to Adult-Chicken now Mature-Chicken. My Issue is as follows:
I noticed him being fidgety on Friday 9 October, but he is so healthy I just though he had been in a fight or something so wasn't too concerned as he didn't seem too fidgety. However we had visitors from Friday night and Gobbles tends to stay away as he is pretty timid with anyone but Myself and my Husband. I caught a glimpse of him on Saturday afternoon when the visitors had gone out for a while and I knew something was wrong. I tried to get him to come inside but he didn't want to, I called him and when I heard his voice I knew he was ill but I couldn't get to him. As soon as my Husband came in I told him to go and find him as something was wrong. He found him and by this time he was unresponsive. We rushed him to the After Hours emergency vet who told us that his urethra was blocked by crystals and his bladder was huge they had to drain it and hydrate him. He had also gotten hypothermic by this time as it had been very cold over night. The vet called us to say that he had gone into renal failure and was dying. However, the following morning he was hanging in there, subsequently the crystals had come out when they drained his bladder, they got his electrolytes sorted out, his kidneys started to work and the inflammation was reducing although he still had blood in his urine. By Monday 19 October he had lost 350 grams of his 5.6kg body weight but he was eating a little by himself, drinking and had pulled his own catheter and IV line out - despite the collar!- on the night of Friday 16 October when they were planning on removing it on Saturday morning anyway. He seemed a bit brighter but weak.
We got him home - which he was very happy about but he kept trying to urinate but nothing but a dribble was coming out although he was visibly straining, his bladder was not distended on palpation (by me, but I am a lay person)however we did notice that he appeared to leak small amounts of urine when handled or asleep. He is on a number of medications (Baytril, Dibenyline, Dantrium, Metacam and Oxpam) as well as hills c/d (?? not sure of the name but is for urinary issues). We took him back in as I was worried and they are now telling me that hi bladder may be too scarred and he may not regain function or tone and then although he is otherwise healthy there is nothing else they can do..... I cannot bear the thought of euthanasing my poor boy because of incontinence..... I am desperately trying to seek help or advice of other treatment options that may not be well known in New Zealand.....
I apologize for the long explanation but I know detail can be very important, I would appreciate ANY assistance that you may be able to offer.

Thank you so much for being there for us, pet parents who feel powerless and desperate. He is my baby and I would be devastated if I didn't do all I could to help him.

Thankyou.

Answer
Ruth,

It sounds like you and your baby boy have been through a horrible time. At this point I think it's too soon to make the determination to euthanize - he needs to have some time to heal before you'll be certain that anything will be permanent. I do think that it's in your (and his) best interests to find a holistic vet who will see him ASAP as there are herbal and homeopathic remedies that just might be helpful. You can also try acupuncture and massage done by veterinary or human acupuncturists and massage therapists as these may be helpful in relaxing kitty and helping him to regain function. If you can't find a homeopathic vet I'd recommend trying the Ask A Vet portion of this site - Dr. Chambreau does phone and email consults for a fee - usually it's in the US only, but I think that she's caring enough to make an exception in such a dire situation so long as you pay her fee.

Baytril is a risky drug for cats, it can cause blindness in some cats, generally it's only used for pyelonephritis in cats (a kidney infection) since these types of infection can cause complete renal failure. Metacam is the feline equivalent of ibuprofen, it's to help alleviate his pain. Dibenyline (generic Phenoxybenzamine) is used in veterinary medicine to reduce urinary sphincter tone. It should be used with caustion as it can cause renal damage. Check out http://www.wedgewoodpharmacy.com/monographs/phenoxybenzamine.asp for an article written by a veterinarian on the subject of this drug. Dantrium is known by the generic name Dantrolene Sodium, it's a muscle relaxant used to treat functional urethral obstruction due to urethral spasm. There is an article written by a veterinarian from the site above at http:www.wedgewoodpharmacy.com/monographs/dentrolene-sodium.asp. Oxpam (generic Oxazepam) is a member of the valium family and it's used as an appetite stimulant and anti-anxiety drug in veterinariny medicine. There are some serious risks with this drug, it can cause massive liver and kidney damage and difficulty with urination (according to some sites). You will find a brief description of this drug at http://www.felinecrf.com/meds0.htm It's important that you understand that I am not a veterinarian, I have no authority to prescribe medicines or advise that you discontinue them, I do feel though that it's important for pet parents to have all of the information before they make medical decisions. I do suggest that you continue administering these drugs as prescribed until you've been given other instructions by a qualified veterinarian (I'd strongly suggest that you opt for a holistic vet).

My family vet is a holistic vet, during the Menu Foods pet food recalls in 2007 my eldest cat developed severe acute renal failure. The veterinarian at the overnight emergency clinic recommended euthanasia, I wasn't quite ready to say good-bye to my girl (nobody ever is) so I decided to get a second opinion. As soon as my vet's answering service put me through early in the morning I spoke with her - my cat's kidney values were out of this world, but she told me it would be good to give my baby girl a chance to heal with treatment. MC (short for Miracle Cat) was placed on IV fluids and monitored closely, her blood tests actually came back with worse numbers the following day so my vet decided not to perform the blood tests again the following day to give my baby a chance to heal. During that time period my vet gave my cat homeopathic remedies that made all the difference between life and death for my girl. Two days after the second set of blood tests a third was performed, to everyone's surprise and delight MC's kidney function had returned to normal, she began eating and she was ready to be discharged the following morning if the night went well. MC was bright and alert the morning we went to pick her up - she had her old spunky attitude back, she proved that by knocking the thermometer out of the technician's hand when a final set of vitals was needed for the chart. We were sent home with a special prescription food and a bag of IV fluids and instructed how to give subcutaneous injections as needed to rehydrate our girl when necessary. MC decided that she absolutely hated the prescription food, she refused to eat it even though it cost a mint! The vet told us that MC absolutely had to eat something and if she wouldn't eat her prescription diet she should eat her regular food - once we put the regular food in front of her she began eating normally. Over the course of a year MC's kidney values were tested regularly and they were well within the normal range, our vet then recommended weaning MC off of her sub-q fluids to see if they were a necessary part of her treatment at this point. We took MC off of the fluids gradually all the while holding our breath and to our surprise and delight MC's blood values for kidney function were completely normal - it's been almost a year now and she's still 100% normal. I credit the use of conventional treatment and homeopathic remedies for the fact that MC survived, and ultimately that she returned to normal and no longer requires daily home nursing care. This is why I think that pursuing alternative therapies like homeopathy along with conventional treatments is well worth the time, energy and effort - together these seemingly conflicting forms of medicine tend to be better than one or the other on its own. If you have any further questions, concerns or you'd like me to clarify anything in this answer I'd be glad to help you out to the best of my ability.