Salems Perineal Urethrostomy surgery

Hi everyone, I'm Alexie. I've set up this GoFundMe for my cat Salem, a 2-year-old male American Shorthair. Salem became part of our family when I adopted him from a shelter during the pandemic. With the challenges of coping after a Covid-related loss, my family and I believed that adopting Salem would create positive memories during this tough period. I immediately fell in love with him and can’t imagine him not being here with me.

Initially, he faced many urinary tract infections early on, which improved with medication, diet change and monitoring. Recently, Salem has been struggling to urinate and is now completely blocked, he currently has a catheter in. This is not our first time having him with a catheter in for several days. Our vet discovered that his unique anatomy, with extra skin around his penis, hinders the passage of urine, proteins, mucus etc.

The recommended solution is a PU surgery, which is his next essential step. “Urinary blockage is almost exclusively a problem reserved for males. This is because the female urethra is shorter and broader and thus far more difficult to obstruct. When urinary blockage becomes recurrent in a male cat, it becomes time to consider surgical reconstruction of the genitalia to create a more female-like opening. This surgery is called the Perineal Urethrostomy or “PU” for short. Basically, the penis is removed and a new urinary opening is made.”

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I appreciate it more than you know.