Talk to me about urination problems (male cat)

Let me preface this with saying Murphy is currently at the vets. I just want to talk to people who have had this problem and see what outcomes/treatments were.

About 9am Murph started pacing around the house being vocal, not out of the blue for him, he's a bit of a gobby cat, normally it's when Winston has gone in to hiding and Murph can't find him. Well it continued for longer then normal. Then he started visiting his litter box every 3 to 5 minutes, furiously digging, squatting, then coming out, going back in, digging, squatting, coming out. That is odd for him.

He squats when he pees, but his pee squat is different to his poop one. At first I thought he couldn't poop, so I sat by the box and watched him for a few rounds and he was doing his pee squat. He'd dig, perch for like a minute .. nothing would come out, turn around, sniff, look utterly disgusted, get out, wander around the house being vocal, plonk down do a bunch of licking and repeat. 

Such odd behaviour for him, I gather some kind of infection and sods law my husband just went OOT for the week so I throw some clothes on the kids and run up the vets. Vet feels his bladder says it's 3/4 full and soft, SO not blocked at the moment, but that confirms my thought that he's not peeing because all that squatting he's doing, his bladder should not be 3/4s full you know?

Vet suspects a bladder infection, and its painful to pee and that's why nothings coming out. He's kept him so he can put him on no absorbent litter to get a sample and to give him something to relax him back there? He's been in since 1130a. I just called (4p) and he's still not pee'd so they are keeping him over night. He also wants to check his pee for crystals? He said that can block things up?

Of course my 3 year old little girl has a total break down as we leave the vets with out her beloved Murphy, because they are true best friends (He's 6 in April) they are always hanging out, she just had surgery on Friday and he laid with her all day while she was feeling crappy, bless her. She understands he has a 'boo boo' but don't get why he can't come home with us. "I want Murphy" she keeps telling me.

So experience with this? Outcomes? He has no previous history of these.

He currently eats Blue Buffalo indoor cat food. He is an indoor only cat. He's a very 'pukey' cat in that I have spend a long time finding a food that don't upset his belly, he can't have any wet food, all of it makes him vomit with in minutes of eating it. Of course he is a BIG time human food thief and is vomiting with in 5 minutes of stealing it. This is the only food that don't make him puke! I hoping they don't ask me to change his food as I was reading that pee infections sometimes require this. Urgh. 

Thanks in advance!

Pee squat is different to poo squat - that's normal.

Cats do get urinary infections, but they can also get problems with inflamation and stress, and yes, crystals in the urine can cause male cats in particular to block.

Your cat is in the best place, so good you are taking this seriously as a blockage is one of the most urgent medical emergencies for cats.

Hopefully it's just an infection, it will respond to treatmenet and he won't have problems in the future.  Changing the food can help prevent blockages due to crystals, there are a number of ways to help with problems due to inflamation.  My own vet (in the UK) said that Zylkene can help with stressy cats that keep having problems.

Male cats that persistently block despite everything the vet can do have a 'last chance saloon' - 'sex change' surgery!  it's expensive - can be very expensive - you want a skilled surgeon to do it and aftercare needs to be meticulous.  A friend's cat had it done and her vet refered her to the vetinary school at Glasgow University.  He wouldn't do it himself as he didn't see enough cats needing it to have the necessary skills.  It has been a resounding success.  Her cat had blocked several times that year and has been fine since.

http://www.petplace.com/cats/perineal-urethrostomy-pu/page1.aspx

Thanks for the reply. 

Well he finally pee'd over night and he does have a infection, so the vet has started him on antibiotics. He also wants to put him on science diet. Urgh, I was really hoping he wouldn't want to do that because I know it's going to start him puking. I spent so long and so much money trying to find a food that didn't upset his belly. Keep your fingers crossed that its gentle on him. They warned me its expensive, but as I told them, the Blue Buffalo runs at near on $40 a bag so that isn't exactly cheap and don't bother me. They said the SD is ok for the other cat to eat too?

Skip the Hills prescription diet. It's full of corn and junk and ruined my Mazy cat's digestion. Get them on a high quality CANNED diet. Cats need wet food.

Hope your boy is feeling better soon.

Please read this website for more information

www.catinfo.org

This is very a very common issue for male cats, sometimes chronically. I'm glad the vet got a pee sample and your treating straight away.
I would second not getting the C/D for him, especially not the kibble. I understand why they prescribe this, but it doesn't sound like Murphy has a chronic crystal or infection problem, which requires strict management. Especially given his tummy issues, I would be inclined to stick with the Blue Buffalo, but try to give him as much wet instead of kibble as you can.

Thanks everyone.

Well he's home, he's on Baytril once a day for the infection and Diazepam twice a day to help him actually go.

I told them my reservations about the science diet (part of it is what you mention, it's full of crap! but I didn't mention that part heh) but because he is just generally a vomity cat that doesn't tolerate anything but Blue Buffalo. Never the less, they want me to try it, and they said if he starts throwing up on it, which I give it less then 12 hours to start, to take it back and they will give me a refund. The indoor Blue Buffalo indoor cat food does factor in urinary health .. well at least on the bag it does. I know for urinary health there is supposed to be a certain %age of protein and such, but I mean, this could just be a one off infection right? I mean he's never been sick before with regards to this.

With regards to the wet food, I know they need wet food, Winston is totally disinterested in any kind of wet food, he comes, sniffs it, looks at me as if I lost my mind, 'buries' it and walks off. He's quite happy with just his dry food, I've tried tempting him with all sorts, but he won't have any of it. Can't force him to eat it at the end of the day.

Murphy is a gannet. He'd eat anything you'd put down, but I have yet to find a wet food he won't throw up on. I've tried from the crappy cheap whiskers brand up to the expensive ones, and not one agrees with him. with in 5 to 10 minutes, there he is, yacking it all up on my carpet. It's a shame cause he really does love his wet food, it just really don't love him. 

In the vets today I did notice that SD do a sensitive bellies wet food, that's the only brand out of them all I've not tried. 

Off to take a peak at the link you provided.

Does Murphy always throw up wet food even if you only feed a very small portion?

Yup, I've tried all kinds of tried I can think of.. only putting a tea spoon amount down at a time in case he was wolfing too much, mixing it in with the actual kibble, trying different brands, different flavours. I've even tried straight cooked chicken I've prepared my self! I think he has sympathy IBS for me. None of it seems to agree with him. Stop the wet food, the puking stops. I'm shocked that he hasn't puked on this science diet crap yet. 

Well a bit of an update for him. He was doing well after I brought him home yesterday, did a nice long pee in the box, seemed quite chilled, spent the evening on the sofa with me, gave him his night meds, his AM meds. Winston was fussing over him a bit and wouldn't keep his nose out Murphs butt, but I guess that's to be expected as he was gone over night.

Took the girls pumpkin picking today, come home, Murph is all distressed again, same actions as the previous day. Give the vets a bell, tell me to pop him back in. Bladder isn't full, very small, but they tell me he's just in pain cause the infection and feels like he needs to go, as I guess it feels like with us when we have a UTI. They say it's good in regards he's still not blocked, its just pain at this point. So now they are keeping him for a few days to give him fluids under the skin to help him pee and to flush the infection thru as hes really not comfortable at home on just the meds right now. Again my 3 year old is heart broken Hard to make her understand why she can't bring him home. Hopefully this is the best thing for him tho!

I asked the vet what he thinks might have caused this .. he said could be the cooler weather now, drinking less .. or some kind of stress in the house .. I mentioned we just got back from a 2 week Holiday .. but my friend and her daughter was going in every 2 days to hang out with them/play/feed/scoop the tray and such. He said that could have done it because although they were still being looked after, they wasn't 'their humans' :/