Bladder sludge, advice please

[Wetherill]

My baby Bercy was diagnosed with some mineralization in his bladder, which the vet told me he should be able to pass on his own. He is not eating or drinking and doesn’t want to move more than once every hour or two. He’s taking meloxicam and is being syringe fed critical care and water, which was all I was advised to do. It doesn’t seem to be doing anything for him. He hasn’t used the bathroom in hours. I have a 8 hour shift coming up and I am so so scared to leave him (boyfriend will be stopping by to feed him). Any advice? How long should it take him to pass this? I feel like I’m going to lose him and this all happened so suddenly. I’m not ready.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m so sorry to hear this

When did he see the vet?

Make sure he is syringe fed at least 60ml per 24 hours but he also needs to be weighed every morning so you can be sure he is kept stable by syringe feeding.

How long it will take him depends on how much fluid he gets in, how effectively he urinates and how tightly packed the sludge is.

Is he on a good dose of painkillers?
How long has he been on the painkillers?
Is it cat or dog version?
Is it twice a day?

If he hasn’t passed urine yet today, doesn’t in the next couple of hours and given he isn’t eating, then you may need to get back in touch with the vet

 

[Truffolo]

Can you take him to an exotic vet? He might have a stone. An X ray or ultrasound might be needed. Poor boy, I think follow up imaging might be a good idea. I hope he will be OK

 

[Wetherill]

Can you take him to an exotic vet? He might have a stone. An X ray or ultrasound might be needed. Poor boy, I think follow up imaging might be a good idea. I hope he will be OK

He was just at the vet getting bloodwork and X rays yesterday actually! They said it was just sludge and should pass, so I’m only worried about keeping him comfy and avoiding stasis

 

[Wetherill]

I’m so sorry to hear this

When did he see the vet?

Make sure he is syringe fed at least 60ml per 24 hours but he also needs to be weighed every morning so you can be sure he is kept stable by syringe feeding.

How long it will take him depends on how much fluid he gets in, how effectively he urinates and how tightly packed the sludge is.

Is he on a good dose of painkillers?
How long has he been on the painkillers?
Is it cat or dog version?
Is it twice a day?

If he hasn’t passed urine yet today, doesn’t in the next couple of hours and given he isn’t eating, then you may need to get back in touch with the vet

Thank you. Syringe feeding is going well, just waiting on some poop he is on a good amount of the painkillers, not sure about cat/dog version and it is twice a day starting yesterday when he arrived home. He is peeing quite a bit thankfully just not pooping normally at the moment

 

[Piggies&buns]

Poop output is 1-2 days behind food intake - so no poop means he hasn’t eaten enough for the past 1-2 days and consequently, you wont see normal poop until 1-2 days after his food intake is high enough again.
This is where the daily (each morning) weight checks are very important so you know he is definitely getting enough syringe feed to prevent/stop any/further weight loss.

You can tell the meds by whether it is 0.5 mg/ml (vet version) or 1.5 mg/ml (dog version).

The guide below has a section which explains more about sludge.

Wiebke's Guide to Pees and Stones

 

[Piggies&buns]

How is Bercy today?