I have received quite a lot of email from folks who are struggling with Feline PU Surgery. Here is an update on NASA for those interested.
When NASA came home from the vet after his surgery, I thought he was going to die. It was a LONG (six weeks) healing process, and the afflicted area wasn't pretty. There was not only blood in his urine, but a little incontinence to go along with it. So, every time he sat down, when he would stand up again, there was a little red spot where he had been.
We kept his collar on him all the time, and he learned to adapt to it. He would lick the collar, and then use his paws to press the collar on his face and bathe himself. Occasionally when we would wake up in the morning, he would have found a way to take the collar off at night, and once we even found it in his litter box with a very distinct message on top of it. But eventually he did get better. And two years later, I am so glad we did it. In NASA's case, it was emergency, and we didn't have much choice. But in retrospect, I think he had been suffering from pain for almost a year before we diagnosed it. He is just so much healthier and happier now.
One thing I did that seemed to help the situation a bit was board him for a week. About two weeks after the surgery, I had a trip scheduled that I couldn't get out of, and I couldn't find a sitter. So, I boarded him at my vet, since they knew all of his medical history and could watch him. And since he was in a cage (ugh, i know.) for a week, he couldn't do much jumping around that might tear the stitches. When I picked him up from the vet, he had healed considerably, and seemed to be in much less pain.
I hope this is helpful for some of you out there worried about your cats.
