Hi

I wondered if anyone has experienced a Cat that survived a ruptured diaphragm and what their recovery rate was??

My Cat was hit by a Car last week and had a live saving op for a ruptured diaphragm and he is home now and beginning to recover well, but he can not pee on his own accord and I keep having to take him back to the Vet for the Bladder to be massaged empty.

The Vet hopes this is just a nerve ending situation and that he will recover soon but I am worried I will end up with a incontinent Cat. He is only 3 years old.

Any Advise would be greatly appreciated.

Hi, welcome to the forum. I've not had any personal experience but my sisters cat was knocked over a few years ago and he had the same operation as yours did. Again he wasn't urinating properly so he was taken in for another operation and they found that he had a small tear in his bladder which was leaking urine into his abdomen. Once this was fixed and he had cage rest for 6 weeks (he also had a fractured pelvis) he recovered really well. I'm not saying this is what is wrong with your cat but it shows that cats are resiliant and can bounce back from near death. It could be a bruised nerve which just needs time to heal or it could be damage that can't be fixed and unfortunately only time will tell.

Your vet is going to be best placed to advise you let you know how your cat is recovering.

Hope he picks up soon xx

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Owned by Ratty girls Hera, Athena, Boomer and Kitty the Cat
RIP Apollo and Starbuck, together again at the Rainbow Bridge. Till we meet again.

Hi, thank you for your reply. I do hope he doesn't need another operation the poor soul.

The Vet gave me some pills last night to give him last night and this morning which supposed to help him pee. They did seem to relax him a great deal. I picked him up this morning and he pee'd all down my front and my floor which hasn't happened before so not sure this is a good sign or a bad sign, there was a little blood in his urine too

My cat (see Scarf's update) was hit by something 5 weeks ago now and had similar problems, but not the diaphragm bit... The whole balance of her survival was on her bladder and bowel control.... it took about a week of laxatives and an suppository before she got there... so don't give up yet. She also lost her tail, fractured her spine, and broke her pelvis and hips.... and now apart from her stump is back to normal (almost), she will never be 100%.

Don't give up hope.

C x

Oh no I am not giving up on him not after coming this far and making the decision to bring him through, I love him far to much.

Been giving him small amounts of Olive Oil to help him poop as it is very solid.

Aww bless him, so glad to hear you're not giving up and he has pulled through - could you massage his bladder?

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I would never give up on him he is my best Friend in the whole world

I asked the Vet to show me how to help him pee by massaging the bladder but he was a little reluctant to show me how.

Anyway, he has had 3 pees in his litter tray since yesterday all though not full amounts unfortunately, the Vet still had to help empty him a bit this morning.

The Stitches have now gone so this should help some more in his recovery.

xx

Taking my Boy back to the Vet today because I have noticed the tip of his tail is beginning to die off . He is also still not using his litter tray proper and I believe he has no feeling in his tail even after nearly 2 weeks after the accident so I thing tail amputation is becoming a reality .

My poor baby has been through so much.

Aww just read all the thread fingers crossed he makes a full recovery, its quite hard to empty the bladder and can cause problems if done incorrectly so this is prob reason vet didnt show you,

fingers crossed for the visit todayx

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Becky

My scarf had her tail amputated - and it was the turning point for her.... although her stump is not pretty, and still moves much to the kids disgust! It takes weight off the back end, so they can concentrate on just the legs and the spine, and may relive pressure off the bladder....

It may be another "op" to go through, but as I said, it was the turning point for Scarf (and done only 4 days post accident), so the decision was made that if this didn't work then that was it... within 2 hours of the op she was sitting and trying to walk....

So it is worth it... I would say if there is still no improvement 2 or 3 weeks after the tail amputation then there won't be, and that difficult decision will have to be made....

Good luck and keep us posted. C x