Blocked Cats

I know that I've written about this topic in the past.  (OK distant past, and on a different blog), but it is important enough that I want to just touch on it for a brief moment here tonight.  Brief, because those of you that are fans of our Facebook page know that I already wrote a long and involved post complete with pictures and arrows and descriptions on the back but it was inadvertently deleted prior to posting.  While I recognize that it will take regular posting on my part to gain any type of readership and ability to reach the masses to help them better care for their pets, I don't have another long post in me tonight.

Why is this topic so important that I am writing about it again?  Well in the past month, we've admitted two cats to our hospital that were blocked for a long time.  One died of complications, the other was critically ill due to metabolic derangement secondary to his kidneys shutting down.  We did manage to pull that guy through, but not until after he blocked a second time in the hospital and needed a surgery to remove the penis, the enclosed narrow urethra, and all associated external genitalia so that he won't block again.

Cats block for a variety of reasons.  All are somehow related to the production of grit or mucous along with the narrow penile urethra and spasms of the lower urinary tract.  This combination, the perfect storm as it were, plugs the outflow from the bladder and prevents the cat from urinating.

As urine backs up, the kidneys stop working (reversible in most cases, preventable if the blockage is caught early), and the patients can become really ill.  Critically ill.  Not going to suvive ill.  So here are some things to think about.

Feed your cat a quality diet and make sure that there is adequate water available.  Cats are notoriously poor drinkers so it would be best if at least part of their diet is a canned food. Clean fresh water dishes and fountains, or dripping faucets will stimulate some cats to drink.

If your cat has a history of urinary tract problems, your veterinarian should recommend a prescription diet that will help prevent  relapses.

If your cat is straining to urinate, having blood in the urine, making frequent trips to the box, (litter that is), crying in the box, urinating out of the box, or generally doing anything out of the ordinary urination wise, you may have a problem.  If he can't urinate, there is definitely a problem, an emergency type problem.  Call your vet and if your vet is closed, get to an emergency vet.  Don't wait until Monday or even to the next morning.  The odds are, that if you are just noticing that your cat can't pee, he's probably had a problem for a while and may be on the precipice of a crises. 

 A good, but technical overview of this condition can be found on the ACVS website.  There are some graphic pictures of the urethrostomy surgery, but hey, they are surgeons.  I would make a joke about pictures of "kitty" naughty bits, but in light of what is going on out at Penn State, I will refrain.