Sometimes our pets can give us a real scare, and sometimes this can come out of the blue when we least expect it.  Today, I’ve been asked by Animal Friends Insurance  to share my story on my blog about my lovely black moggie, Eddie, who had a very nasty close shave when he was just about two years old.

I write about this more as a warning than anything else as to what to look out for just in case any of you reading this may have young, male, neutered cats.  We certainly didn’t know what to look for or what it was at the time, or how dangerous it can be.

We hadn’t long moved house when Eddie first started to act strangely and so, at first, thought that his out-of-character behaviour was a direct result of that – urinating on the carpet, hiding away under the bed, just not his usual, bouncy self.

Our pets really are such an important part of the family and, as such, we are probably more clued in to their behaviour than we actually realise. Despite rationalizing what we thought was just an annoying behavioural issue, something just didn’t ‘feel’ right and we kept an extra-special close eye on our little boy.

Eddie As A Kitten
(c) copyright Sherri Matthews 2013

Late one night after a couple of days had gone by of observing Eddie’s odd behaviour I caught him squatting in a peculiar position and then urinating, or trying to, on the carpet but to my horror, as he did so, he suddenly let out an awful squeal of pain and he was shaking. It was awful to watch.

It was almost midnight and being new to the area we quickly looked online for the nearest emergency veterinary clinic and called them. The vet told us to get Eddie to the clinic immediately and she would meet us there. I have to say that the vet was marvellous. After quickly examining Eddie and taking note of his symptoms she immediately diagnosed him as having a blocked bladder and told us that he would need to be admitted right away for treatment as it could turn life-threatening within hours. To say we were shocked is an understatement.

 She explained that bladder stones form in the bladder which pass down the urethra and down into the penis, blocking the flow of urine. Since urine can’t pass out of the body it starts to back up into the kidneys and the bladder can even burst, hence this being such a dangerous condition. Apparently it is more common in male, neutered and inactive cats. Eddie was also a bit overweight at that time (he does love his food!) and that is also a factor.

Happy, Healthy Eddie As He Is Now
(c) copyright Sherri Matthews 2013

Three days later we were able to bring Eddie home. During his ‘stay’ I called to check up on his progress and the vet had laughed as she recounted how he had managed to pull out his catheter all by himself during the night having broken his special ‘preventive’ collar to do so! He was having none of it. Yes, Eddie was as naughty as ever which meant he was well on the road to recovery, much to our relief!

Thankfully we had pet insurance; the total bill came to about £500. But Eddie is worth every penny. As my husband likes to often say about the day we got him: “It’s the best fifteen quid I’ve ever spent!”

Eddie is now 7 years old and I’m happy to report that he hasn’t had any recurrence of any bladder problems. He is much more active, goes outside every day, and although he had to eat prescription meat for a year or two afterwards he now eats ‘regular’ food – but no more dry food, unless it is special prescription.

He is happy, healthy and rules the place. Long may it continue.