Randy's Necrotic Bladder
About 2 weeks before this photo was taken, we almost lost our clinic cat (one of my special boys), Randy, to a urethral obstruction. He was fine on Saturday when we left and really sick on Monday when we came in. We found that he had at least two urinary calculi (stones) with one lodged in his urethra. We were able to flush the urethral stone back into his bladder, allowing him to pass urine. Unfortunately, he was already toxic with signs of kidney failure. We aggressively managed that and he began to feel better. After about 4 days, he was able to go back down to the apartment but continued to struggle to urinate.
After two weeks, we decided we needed to try to remove the stones from his bladder and I went in surgically to get them. This is what I found! His bladder wall was dark and necrotic (rotting). The gray area was cut away and the more normal area was closed back together. Even that tissue was compromised and we were afraid this was a battle we would not win. Even if he survived the surgery would the bladder heal? Would the stitches hold or would they come apart as the bladder filled with urine? It was touch and go for the first 48 hours - he was so sick I was convinced that urine was leaking. I did this surgery on Wednesday and was afraid that I would come in on Friday after my day off to find that he had died or been euthanized. What I found instead was a kitty who was willing to purr when he saw his friend and was mending, albeit, slowly. Over the next couple of weeks he felt better and better and now (as I am posting this on October 12) seems to be completely back to normal.
This makes me wonder how many of the cats we see with urethral obstruction have something like this in their bladder wall after prolonged bladder distention with compromise to the circulation and muscle wall. And, how many actually can heal. When I saw this, I almost cried as I never dreamed he would, or even could, heal! Never give up!
Randy's Necrotic Bladder
About 2 weeks before this photo was taken, we almost lost our clinic cat (one of my special boys), Randy, to a urethral obstruction. He was fine on Saturday when we left and really sick on Monday when we came in. We found that he had at least two urinary calculi (stones) with one lodged in his urethra. We were able to flush the urethral stone back into his bladder, allowing him to pass urine. Unfortunately, he was already toxic with signs of kidney failure. We aggressively managed that and he began to feel better. After about 4 days, he was able to go back down to the apartment but continued to struggle to urinate.
After two weeks, we decided we needed to try to remove the stones from his bladder and I went in surgically to get them. This is what I found! His bladder wall was dark and necrotic (rotting). The gray area was cut away and the more normal area was closed back together. Even that tissue was compromised and we were afraid this was a battle we would not win. Even if he survived the surgery would the bladder heal? Would the stitches hold or would they come apart as the bladder filled with urine? It was touch and go for the first 48 hours - he was so sick I was convinced that urine was leaking. I did this surgery on Wednesday and was afraid that I would come in on Friday after my day off to find that he had died or been euthanized. What I found instead was a kitty who was willing to purr when he saw his friend and was mending, albeit, slowly. Over the next couple of weeks he felt better and better and now (as I am posting this on October 12) seems to be completely back to normal.
This makes me wonder how many of the cats we see with urethral obstruction have something like this in their bladder wall after prolonged bladder distention with compromise to the circulation and muscle wall. And, how many actually can heal. When I saw this, I almost cried as I never dreamed he would, or even could, heal! Never give up!