This sucks

Smokey is still not doing too well. When I got home last night, he was just lying on his side in the kitchen and wouldn’t move. I knew something was wrong. I tried checking his bladder to see if it was full, and he meowed loudly and went to the litterbox and didn’t do anything. He had vomited up his lunch and there was pee all over the floor (which I guess is a good sign). I’m thinking that when he is dozing and relaxes his muscles, that’s when he is able to pee. So, I called the vet and they said to bring him back in. So, I took him in right away. I was afraid that he was blocked again.

Thank goodness he wasn’t blocked, but they said there was urine in his bladder that his muscles were too tense to let him pass. So, they said they needed to do something to relax him. They gave him a shot of valium. Which of course made him totally stoned. Apparently it worked at least a little because he was able to pee after that a little better. They said they didn’t need to keep him overnight, but that it was a good idea. They gave us a reduced rate since they weren’t really going to do anything to him, just keep him for observation. I decided it would probably be best to have him stay there because then I could relax and get some sleep and not have to keep getting up to check on him.

What an ordeal. I am going to call the vet’s office around 9 or so to check his status and see how the night went. I really hope he’s okay. I don’t know how much more of this I can take. I thought he was getting better and then I get home last night to him obviously having trouble again. I really hope this valium worked and that we can bring him back home today and that he’ll be back to normal soon!

Edit (9:07am)

I just talked to the vets office and they said that Smokey didn't urinate overnight, so they are going to re-assess him now and that I should call back in an hour. They will know more then. This isn't looking good. I don't really know what to do. I have this awful feeling that they're going to say there is nothing more they can do.

Edit 11:09am

I just talked to the vet again. They have re-assessed Smokey and he doesn’t seem to be doing any better. We have a couple of options. Option 1 is to wait a little longer to see if the drugs work. She wouldn’t want to leave it overnight though because he would be in a great deal of pain as his bladder fills up if he can’t release it. Option 2 is to put in a catheter for 24-hours which would allow his urine to pass freely and this would hopefully give his muscles a chance to relax. She said this procedure does work in some cats, but not all. She said it would like be a 50/50 chance. If it doesn’t work, then there are only 2 options left, we either give him surgery to widen his urethra (which they don’t like to do because it messes with the anatomy of the cat), or put him down.

I have until mid-afternoon to decide what I want to do. The catheterization would cost likely an additional $400 (which includes the treatment he received last night). I think what I’ve decided is to go ahead with the caterization, but if it doesn’t work, then it’s time to put him down. I don’t want to have the $1,200 surgery which will mess with his anatomy because I just don’t think he’d ever be the same cat after that, not to mention I wouldn’t be able to afford it after we already will have spent over $1,000 on him in the last few days. So, I am just hoping and praying that this catheterization will work. At least if it doesn’t, then I can put him down knowing we did everything we could.