Every Cat Owner Should Know That Urinary Blockage In Cats Is A Veterinary Emergency

This is a scary thought.  If your male cat has had FLUTD, or Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease, he’s at risk for developing cat urinary blockage.Your cat can die within 36 hours if he doesn’t receive immediate veterinary treatment for this life-threatening problem.

What Are the Signs Of Urinary Blockage In Cats?

It can be hard for cat owners to tell if a cat urinary blockage is present.  The symptoms are pretty much the same as for a feline urinary tract infection:  straining, not able to pass much or any urine, crying in the litter box, urinating in places other than the litter box.

Your vet will diagnose this by feeling your cat’s belly for a distended bladder.  Normally a cat’s bladder is small and soft when it’s empty.  A cat with a urinary blockage will have a hard bladder about the size of a peach.This is extremely painful for your cat, as you can imagine.

It’s also dangerous.  When a cat can’t empty his bladder, his kidneys stop filtering waste products out of the blood and making urine because it can’t go anywhere.  When this happens, toxins start building up in your cat’s body, which will kill him within a few days.

What Causes A Cat Urinary Blockage?

Bladder stones are the culprit.  These stones form from minerals present in your cat’s urine.If the mineral level is too high, the minerals can crystallize in the urine and form stones ranging in size from sand grains to pea gravel.  Your cat may have only one stone, or he could have dozens.

A male cat has a very long, narrow urethra (the tube that carries urine from the bladder outside the body).  If he has even a few tiny cat bladder stones, it’s very easy for him to develop a urinary blockage.

How Is A Urinary Blockage In Cats Treated?

Your vet may be able to get the blockage out by putting pressure on your cat’s bladder.This sometimes works, but usually your cat needs to have a catheter inserted.

If urinary toxins build up in your cat’s system, the result can be vomiting and loss of appetite, along with heart rhythm irregularities.  Your cat will probably be dehydrated too.If he needs fluids, they’ll be given either by IV, or under his skin.

Your cat may need to stay at the animal hospital for several days, until the catheter can be removed.

Home Treatment

When you bring your kitty home, you’ll need to feed him a special diet.A diet lower in magnesium is helpful in keeping the levels of minerals from getting too high.To prevent another blockage from happening, he’ll need to eat this special food for the rest of his life.

A steady supply of clean fresh water should always be accessible to him.  The more water he drinks, the more dilute his urine will be.  This helps to prevent cat bladder stone formation.

Homeopathic and herbal remedies are now available for treating cat urinary problems.  Probably the best way to prevent cat urinary blockage, or to keep it from happening again, is to put your cat on one of these remedies.  Just click on any link in this article to learn how a natural remedy for cats can help your kitty.