By now you know Rocky the cat. Rocky is a very clean cat and always uses his litter tray perfectly. Recently Rocky was leaving little patches of bloody urine in strange places. One evening, Rocky’s owner came home from work to find Rocky scratching at his litter tray without passing any urine. He seemed restless and was also licking his bits quite a lot. His owners called for some advice and given his symptoms was advised he needed an urgent veterinary examination.
On examination, it was discovered that Rocky had a large hard and painful bladder. He was diagnosed with a urinary tract obstruction, a condition where the urethra that takes urine from the bladder to the outside world is blocked. This is a potentially life-threatening condition and Rocky needed urgent stabilization and catheterization to unblock his bladder.
There are many causes of urethral obstruction in cats with the most common being linked to a condition called “Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease” or FLUTD. There can be many causes with direct links to;
- Poor diets (which can contain excess minerals that not only promote bladder stone formation, but can cause strong urine pH levels which are not good.
- Stress (which damages the bladder lining),
- Obesity
- Reduced water consumption (which can cause strong urine concentration and increases crystal/stone formation)
Male cats are at greater risk for obstruction than females because their urethra is longer and narrower.
Rocky needed to have an emergency procedure under general anaesthesia to catheterize and unblock his urethra. He had a lot of crystals and blood in his urine which had formed a plug blocking his urinary passage. He needed a course of medication to relax his urethra allowing urine to flow freely. After a few days of hospital treatment and care, Rocky was able to comfortably pass urine on his own.
To prevent recurrence of Rocky’s problems he was started on a therapeutic prescription urinary diet. This scientifically prepared food is available in both dry and wet forms and is formulated to help keep the urinary tract healthy and reduce the risk of repeat obstructions. The key is that his new diet
- has controlled levels of minerals to reduce the risk of bladder crystals/stone formation
- maintains a healthy urine pH and concentration
- has ingredients to help manage stress levels.
- has high antioxidant levels to improve bladder health
Because this is a disease condition, there is always a chance it will happen again, and so management is important. With the advent of the therapeutic diets we have definitely been able to manage more patients than before and reduce the relapse rate.
We are pleased to say that Rocky has adapted well to his new diet and is happily using his litter tray again. His owners also purchased a drinking fountain for him which encourages him to drink normally.
