Hello Dr. Magnifico,

I found your videos on YouTube recently and am grateful for the clarity and compassion with which you explain feline urinary issues. I’m hoping you might be able to offer some guidance—or possibly see my cat, Sole—for evaluation and a treatment plan.

Sole is a stray I rescued about 11 months ago, with the hope that he could become a companion for my father, who is a senior citizen and disabled. My father lives on a fixed income below the poverty line, and I’ve been subsidizing Sole’s veterinary care myself. Unfortunately, the cost of care he may need if he becomes blocked has reached a point that I simply can’t afford on my own.

About six weeks ago, Sole was diagnosed with struvite crystals via urinalysis that showed ammonium magnesium phosphate crystals (grade 2+, 6–20/HPF). He was immediately switched to a strict diet of Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Adult Urinary SO wet food, with extra water added to each meal. His CBC/Chem-21 panel was entirely normal—no biochemical evidence of kidney, liver, or systemic disease. The only abnormal finding was the presence of struvite crystals in alkaline urine, exactly as you’ve described in your educational videos.

Initially, the diet seemed to help—his urine pH normalized—but over the past 48–72 hours, his Fresh Crystals Health Monitor litter has shown his urine trending alkaline again. Finally yesterday, his urine changed back to the acidic range indicated by the Health Monitor litter.

I’m monitoring him closely and trying to develop a plan in case he does become obstructed.

I’ve contacted over a dozen veterinary hospitals and clinics in my area, but I’ve exhausted every affordable option. I’ve been quoted $3,000–$4,500 for diagnostics and catheterization, and between $6,500–$12,000 for a PU surgery with postoperative care. Unfortunately, financial aid programs here only apply if the applicant is denied CareCredit. My father, despite living below the poverty line, was approved for a $3,000 line—which paradoxically makes us ineligible for assistance.

We are scheduled for a follow-up urinalysis with our local vet in about two weeks, but their pricing is becoming increasingly difficult to manage. After seeing your work and approach to compassionate, accessible care, I wanted to reach out to ask whether you might be able to help us.

Thank you so much for your time, compassion, and all that you share to help both pets and their people.

With gratitude,
JP
and Sole 🐾

Hello Krista M! I often help as much as I can with raising donations to Enas Rescue on facebook, HowsPaws youtube with cases, she is based in Egypt! I will upload a photo of her question as both I and her have nobody to turn to in helping a kitten. I kindly ask for your time and care to give us insight into this case THANK YOU Krista M for allowing us this platform and opportunity. The image linked is Enas in her own words The photo in my question is information on the kitten the lady shared with me directly. Thank you

Gulf Patches is your reliable source for high-quality Saudi patch, including custom embroidered, PVC, and woven patterns. We are based in the Gulf region and serve clients throughout Saudi Arabia with high-quality workmanship, timely delivery, and no minimum order requirements. Ideal for military, business, fashion, and personal purposes. Quality you can wear.

My cat has been waking me up very early and I end up sleeping in my recliner. I believe when my husband gets up to use the bathroom, Leo is waking up and I guess thinks it’s time for me to get up. I would love to sleep in my bed again but I don’t want to close the door to the cat or my husband. I have asked my husband to cut back on liquids after dinner but he won’t. I could use suggestions.
I don’t give him treats when he wakes me up. I bring him downstairs with me and he’s fine. If I sleep all night in the recliner or another room, he sleeps all night.

My initial question : https://www.pawbly.com/question/hello-i-live-in-san-jose-california-and-need-urgent-help-with-my-male-7yr-old

Update: My cat went through a cystotomy on Friday, the surgery went well and he was sent home the same day. Unfortunately he was still blocked as the surgeon did not remove the stones in his urethra (He did not take any xrays after the surgery and also discharged my cat without making him pee on his own). I rushed him to the ER as he was very restless and trying to pee, the ER doctor immediately unblocked him with a catheter and while doing so, she was able to push the stones back into the bladder. Xrays (attached) were taken which shows three stones in the bladder. As the cost of ER was adding up and the surgeon who did his surgery was not available over the weekend, I decided to shift him with the catheter on to the hospital where his surgery was done. I would like to add that in the initial surgery, the surgeon successfully removed all the stones in his bladder but the stones in the urethra were left behind even though he said he flushed them. The ER doctor is very certain that she pushed those stones back into the bladder while unblocking him the second time when he landed in the ER post the surgery.

My cat is currently doing well, he is on Ivy and has a catheter on. He is on CD food since two days. The urine color has improved from bloody to fairly clear. Urinalysis results showed struvite (Ammonium Mg Phosphate) crystals . I will be meeting the surgeon tomorrow and need your advice on what should be the next steps for my cat. Which of the following would you advise?

1. Re surgery to remove the remaining three stones from the bladder. After the initial surgery, the surgeon had mentioned that my cats heart is weak and hence he had to adjust the anesthesia to a lower level (1 instead of the usual 2), though the ER doctor does not see why would that be the case as there is no murmur seen in his reports and he has taken the sedation well while he was unblocked twice in the ER.

2. CD food therapy: Urinalysis results showed struvite (Ammonium Mg Phosphate) crystals. Should we remove the catheter, make him pee on his own at the hospital and then get him home. Watch closely for re blockage while continuing his CD diet. What are the chances of his re blockage? Will the bladder have greater chances of rupture if he gets re blocked since he just had surgery?

Please advise.

@KristaMagnifico

I am going through a medical emergency with my cat Kilo. Been very stressful had to take to the emergency vet. He had UTI blockage. Then a few days later I find out that he has tear in his urethra and it just got worse a few days later. I reached out to a vet in my city that could perform a surgery that would fix his blockage problem. Then I get a call back from the Emergency Clinic saying something wrong with one of his kidneys. He’s a good cat and doesn’t deserve this. I just can’t believe how expensive things can get. I am looking for any information or leads in regard to facilities that are reasonable and are willing to help folks who are low income. I live in the South Bay if anyone has any information on the matter.

How much should I expect to pay to have a nasopharyngeal polyp removed from my cat. So far we were told $1000 just for the CT to confirm the diagnosis. I’d hate to have to let her go for something that appears very treatable but the cost is just not feasible for us.

to start out I had a Jack Russell and our neighbor had a great dane. My Jack had gotten bitten by the great dane, so my vet was short of staff so I had to get him to a vet, well the neighbor called their vet and they said bring him in.This was a Wed, around 5 pm. Jack had a rip on the right shoulder and marks on his elbows. They stitch Jack up and put a drain tube in.They tell me to bring him back Monday to take out the tube, Ok now this is the following day, Thur. and I call and tell them Jack is not eating or drinking and He smells really bad.They say bring him in and that was 10 am and he was there till 7 pm. We get in the car to go home and I tell my boyfriend that he still smells bad. Well Fri. comes and I just baby Jack.Then Fri. comes and I call the vet and tell them Jack is not getting better and he still smells bad. They say bring him in, this was Sat., ok 3rd time to this vet and guess what she comes out and shows us his left shoulder that’s shaved and all black with a cut that was the smelly that I smelled for 3 days. I asked her why they didn’t see that and her reply was, are you ready for this?? Why didn’t You see it?? wth, I am NOT a vet I told her and after I told them on day 2 they should’ve found something??? We took Jack home and he was so uncomfortable that we took him to another vet at 5 am Sunday morning. They knew Jack was not doing good, they couldn’t find his blood pressure and then they found one at 18,she told us it should be 80.We left and was told if he was stable they would do a transfusion and we said whatever it takes.We get a call later saying he is not getting better so we went to see him and he was so weak and it just broke our heart to do what we had to do.We brought Jack home and buried him.
My advice to everyone if this happens get your friend shaved so this is not over looked. We miss this little guy every day and I know some people think we are nuts But his was our everything. The big kicker is no vet wants to help us because vets are their friends, Well if you are a vet for our friends you should help with anything that went wrong if not you are not a vet that cares about our friends and I think that is awful.

My 11 year old yorkie began trembling and having trouble walking 8 days ago. I took her to the vet the next day and she suspected IVDD. She put her on a pain reliever, prednasolome, and a muscle relaxer. She could still walk a bit when she went outside to go potty. 3 days ago she started to have extreme pain in her left shoulder/neck. She completely stopped walking but she tries and can stand and sit, but she falls over. I took her back to the vet and had an x ray done. They showed that the vertebrae between the neck and shoulder was very messed up. They kept her on the same meds. Is there hope for her? She is extremely healthy and fit. She is not over weight and was still very playful. She starts shaking and her neck muscles tighten and start twitching about 4 hours after I have given her the muscle relaxer, and she takes it every 12 hours so she is very tight for hours! What can I do for her? We cannot afford an MRI although wish we could. Also how often do I move her during the night? Thank you!

16 month old female husky (40 pounds) had a double patellar luxation surgery on 6/30. Grade 4 in both knees, severe muscle wasting and arthritis. The surgery was more complex than anticipated and involved the addition of rod placement. First couple of days fairly uncomplicated except that she would urinate in her kennel while asleep despite attempts at potty breaks.
She has now developed two huge seromas, one on each knee. She’s walking well, eating and drinking well. If anything she’s so close to her normal self. She’s still on gabapentin, trazodone and rimadyl.
The seroma on the left “burst” between sutures on Sunday despite the meds and confinement. It has continued to “burst” and release a LOT of serous fluid EVERY day since (today is day 4 of this).
She’s been back to the vet twice for this.
They said to:
Keep the meds
Stop passive ROM
Confine and keep down as much as possible
Warm compresses 3 times a day

They want to push back suture removal and have assured me that this will eventually stop. And if it continues for the next few days then we may consider other options.

She is walking around, standing up and turning around in her kennel despite the meds and obviously needs short walks to go pee/poop. These things cause the ruptures.

I am beyond frustrated and worried.
Does this care plan seem reasonable?
Does heat actually help? She’s so squirmy when I come near her kennel that it hardly seems worth it.

Any advice? Thank you!