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Thank you for taking time to visit our Hearts for Felix page!
Felix is a long haired black cat who tops the scales somewhere between 12-15 pounds. He loves to lick feet, and loves to battle with your hand if you let him. He can snoop out catnip, no matter where it has been hidden. He loves his purrpad, and he loves me! This is Felix's story. About a year ago I noticed Felixs behavior was off. He wasn't himself at all. Now, the first signs of FLUTD are that the cat may either strain in the litterbox not use the litter box at all, some cats make more trips to the litterbox than may be normal. Felix didn't seem to have any of these, but still, he wasn't himself. We took him to the vet to get it checked out. Our vet told us that Felix simply had a bladder infection and he was put on antibiotic for 10 days. But only 3 had passed he was very very sick. We took him back to the vet. This time the vet decided that Felix needed emergency surgery to put a catheter in so that Felix could pass urine, which at this point he was unable to do on his own due to a complete blockage. He had the catheter in for 24 hours to allow the blockage to pass. Now the catheter was a big deal because Felixs urethra was too narrow for a catheter to be inserted. It had to be put in with an IV needle. The vet recommended that surgery to remove his entire penis was probably the only thing that would keep this condition from reoccurring. This was a very expensive surgery, but of course we had it done. As any one who loves their cat would. When all of this was done and we had Felix home, the stitches were irritating him something awful. He just kept trying to chew them out, or lick them out. He ended up having his incision wide open and had to have that shut up again, and now, to add insult to injury, he had to have an elizabethian collar on until it healed. If you haven't seen one of these collars, it simply looks like a lampshade wrapped around your cats head. Preventing him from licking the wound, but also from being able to move around with any ease, jump or even eat. Felix did heal up good as new though. This was over a year ago. Felix is now showing signs again, and is on anitbiotic for a bladder infection, but he doesn't seem to be responding to it. There aren't very many options left, we are just praying that Felix makes it through.
We want people to know the dangers of FLUTD, and what to watch for.
Cats can have trouble urinating, may urinate more frequently, or may have litter box accidents that are misinterpreted as bad behavior. There could be blood in the urine, some cats may not be able to urinate at all. If you notice any of these symptoms, please get right to the vet. If there is blockage, your cat can have as little as 72 hours to live.
Causes of FLUTD are theorized but not yet proven. Some speculated that a virus is involved, others claim it could be the result of stress. Cats who are diagnosed with FLUTD are put on special diets that are low in magnesium and help reduce urinary PH, whereas the blockage doesn't form as easily in acidic urine. This is most commonly seen in cats between 2 and 6, cats that are obese or inactive, and cats who drink too little water.
Please feel free to take the above banner and link it back to this page so that others can learn a little about this life threatening disease. We want everyone to be aware of it, and not go through what Felix has and is. Thank you for your time!
written by Edith Bechtel (my mom)
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