How to Spot and Treat Feline Urinary Syndrome

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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.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

Cat
Eyes
Collection pan
Litterbox

Step1

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.

Step2

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.

Step3

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.

Step4

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.

Tips & Warnings

Only do things with feline urinary syndrome that you are comfortable doing.
Beware that feline urinary syndrome is an emergency situation and can be very deadly.
Do not use heavy force on the bladder to try to drain urine from it. You can break the bladder wall.
Be aware that source of feline urinary syndrome can be bladder stones or kidney stones, which are detectable with X-rays and removed surgically.

Comments

falconsdream said

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on 6/4/2008 Continued: Be particularly cautious about getting the operation described here, Perineal Urethrostomy, because it carries several significant risks - see http://www.marvistavet.com/html/urinary_blockage.html. Other good info sources on FUS/FLUTD: diet - http://www.catinfo.org/; general - http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/fusfaqs.html

falconsdream said

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on 6/4/2008 This is good advice to a point. But FUS is considerably more complex than this suggests. Even vets don't really understand the cause of FUS. We also rescue cats and have 6 of our own plus numerous other animals. I also went to vet school for a couple of years. Two of our male cats have had FUS, with repeated episodes of blockage. Each one has responded quite differently to each treatment. After a cat has had urinary blockage, later episodes often become more complex and severe as the bladder wall tends to thicken and the urethra becomes more sensitive due to repeated episodes of inflammation. This is a very tricky chronic condition often treated purely with diet, but in our case, this hasn't been enough. So I just want to warn you that you should proceed very cautiously with this condition and search the internet for more in-depth info about it. Be particularly cautious about ge

presnick said

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on 12/27/2007 This is excellent advice. We rescue cats and have had to deal with FUS many times, including having male cats who have had the surgery. It can kill quickly, and it's very painful for the cat.
I repeat, this is excellent advice.