Because he's my cat

Part of my lack of posting lately has been due to poor Buddy Luck, who last week tried to obstruct again. After a major panic attack, we decided that I would keep a close eye on him until surgery day, when we would do a periurethralosteotomy (a PU). This surgery basically turns Buddy's penis into a vulva, so that he can not obstruct again. We've had really good luck with these surgeries in the past, but I have to keep a very good eye on him for the next couple of weeks, because if he does anything to his incision we would have to start all over, and the damage can not always be repaired. He is also susceptible to infection.

I had a lot of misgivings, for obvious reasons! However, when I took him on, I promised that as long as he had the will to live, I would fight for him. So, this afternoon, Buddy had surgery. We decided to really explore his problems while he was under anesthesia, and only do the PU surgery if there were no other options. The doctor tried to pass a catheter, but kept getting hung up high in the urethra, indicating a stricture or possible stone lodged out of sight of the ultrasound picture. His vitals were amazingly stable, so the doctor offered to perform a cystotomy (a far less radical procedure) first, to see if there was a stone that we could dislodge. I agreed, and moments later my cat's bladder was out on the table and I was flushing saline up his urethra while she watched for the stone. It never came, but we were able to irrigate the bladder removing countless crystals and soothing a lot of irritation.

Once his bladder was flushed, we tried again to pass a catheter and met the same difficulty, confirming some sort of stricture. His vital signs continued to be amazingly stable, so we continued on to the delicate PU procedure, where we found the stricture very quickly. A large part of the problem? Buddy's urethra was somehow on top of his penis instead of being inside of it. All of the doctors conferred back on forth on this one. Did he come this way? Did he develop scar tissue due to the urinary crystals passing through his urethra? A combination of both? My theory is that since he is now my cat, he had to be different.

In any case, Buddy is at home now, and I will be confining him to a large cage until he is fully recovered. His pain control medicine is keeping him comfortable, and he seems to be enjoying the pampering and attention that comes from recovering from surgery, since I run into the room every five minutes or so to check on him, give him kisses, and offer him food.

So far, so good!

Except for my completely frazzled nerves!