Male cats have many alluring, fascinating and endearing features, but one thing that is not so nice for you, or your cat, is their narrow urethra, the tube between the bladder and the penis. This can get blocked very easily and if not recognized and treated, it is deadly. Read on to learn how to spot and treat feline urinary syndrome.
Things You'll Need
- Cat
- Eyes
- Collection pan
- Litterbox
Instructions
Watch your cat carefully. Is he straining at the litterbox when trying to urinate? Is the urine coming out in small spurts? Is there blood in it? Do you feel a large solid 'ball' when feeling his abdomen? Is he yowling or otherwise in pain? If so, you may have feline urinary syndrome, or blocked urethra. You can try to squeeze the 'ball' (the bladder) with mild pressure. If no urine comes out, take cat to a vet to get unplugged.
Get cat unplugged at a vet clinic, and watch what the vet does or doesn't do. The vet should unplug the cat with squeezing the bladder or inserting a catheter up the urethra under anesthesia. Acidity of the urine should be assessed also to see if urine is pH is too high or low. Normally it is too high, due to ammonia released by bacteria. But not always. Cat should be put on antibioticd, and if urine has high pH, a urine acidifier. Occassionally prednisone is added to decrease inflamation.
Put cat on low ash diet and, if warranted, low pH diet. Be sure cat drinks. Be sure drinking water isn't heavy in metals or minerals.
Take cat in for urine collection and analysis in a few days. If cat gets blocked again in its lifetime, consider doing an operation that turns the urethra inside out, turning the Tom cat. It will not change the gender of your cat between the ears, where it counts.