Bladder surgery?

How painful/stressful is bladder surgery for a fearful barn cat? A few days ago I had my cat euthanized for his blocked urethra because I thought surgery and the stay in hospital would be too hard on him, and now I am afraid I was too hasty. Jerry was a barn cat who is very afraid of people and gets really worked up in a carrier or vet office. 3 weeks ago, he had a blockage and I took him to the large animal practice 5 miles away at midnight. The nearest small animal practice is 50 miles away. I helped the vet get the catheter in him, and he came home with me and I nursed him through the night. The next day his catheter was blocked and we went back to have it flushed, and again the next day. Because it was so stressful for him, I said just pull the catheter and give us some peaceful time til his bladder filled, but to our surprise he began peeing. Continued to pee the next 3 weeks though he sometimes wimpered and seemed to strain. The urine was no longer bloody after about 8 days. He would not eat the special diet so I was giving him DL methionine, 500 mg a day and his urine pH was 6.5. Three weeks later, I saw him trying to pee and nothing came out, and took him back to large animal practice. they said bladder was full, they were busy and siad he'd need to go 50 miles to small animal practice, and would probably need surgery to clean out the bladder since he had replugged so soon. My cat was making gutteral crying sounds and panting from fear and pain, and I was terribly distraught and thought the trip and hospital stay would be too hard on him and asked to put him to sleep. Within a day I was questioning my judgement. Why didn't I ask for a sedative for the trip, and would the city clinic be able to treat his pain and anxiety well enough to make him comfortable. Or had I saved him from a lot of stress and pain and the probability he would again plug down the road despite my best management efforts. I have 3 other male cats, and need a vet's opinion who doesn't have a financial interest in doing the procedure, or who wants to make me feel better because I bring my animals to them. Thanks for any help. I am just grief-stricken over this cat who was very special to me.

Thank you Dr. Marie
Thanks for your thoughtful reply. I'm not sure if I would have decided against bladder flushing surgery because of potential difficulty maintaining urine pH in a barn cat down the road. I have a female barn cat with chronic cystitis who tends to form crystals, and i have been able to keep it controlled with the DL methionine that I give to her in an oral bolus with a feeding syringe everyday, and it has kept her urine pH in a good range. I would have planned to do the same with Jerry in lieu of feeding the special diet, and then monitor his urine pH with my test strips to keep it from being too alkaline. Or in your experience, has this rarely worked long term?

I would still like to know if a good vet practice could have kept him comfortable, ie manage his anxiety and pain while he was in the hospital for flushing of his bladder. That was my main fear, that if he had the basic bladder flushing surgery, he would suffer during post op because of his anxiety and fear of surroundings. Were you telling me that even with great anesthetic and technique, you have had to put cat to sleep during the Post Op period because they keep blocking up while they were in the hospital or shortly after discharge??

Thank you for helping me with this. I can't change what I did for Jerry, but I have 3 other male cats, and may face this problem again.

Dear Dr. Marie,
Thank you so much for your help in resolving my guilt over putting Jerry to sleep. I was in such torment, but now I do think I can let him rest peacefully in my mind, and know what to do in the future. He tended to have bad luck, maybe because he was a black cat! and my gut instinct said he would not do well with surgery. I think I was lucky I had 3 extra weeks to give him all the love and attention he deserved.
Sincerely
Faythe Weber