Cat is having difficulty urinating

[slowboost99]

I've been feeding a stray cat since he was a kitten and in the last few days, I noticed that he seemed to be having trouble urinating. I called a local vet and they advised me to take him to a vet emergency hospital because this could be life threatening. They said it could be a blockage.

I took him to an emergency hospital and they could not see any sign of blockage. They felt his bladder and did a quick ultrasound and told me that his bladder did not feel hard and the ultrasound showed that he had only a bit of urine in his bladder. The vet told me that they did not know why he is having trouble urinating. There could be several reasons and to find out they would need to run several other tests.

The vet suggested that I try giving him some medication to reduce urethra spasms, which should make it easier for him to urinate and told me to monitor him.

He does not like to be inside so I'm only able to monitor him by watching what he does after he eats. Yesterday, from what I observed, he seemed in better health and did not continuously go to one spot to another to try to urinate but today he was struggling again and for over an hour, he was going from one spot to another trying to urinate.

I tried to go to a few of these spots to see if he actually peed but I couldn't tell because it rained recently and parts of the dirt in the garden were wet, including one or two spots he went to.

He is 6 years old and I've been feeding him both canned and dry food. As of yesterday, he's been eating only canned food. He always has a big appetite and that hasn't changed much, except he no longer runs to me when I shake a bag of treats. He seems to walk around normally and I don't think he has lost any weight but I'm worried because his symptoms are not better.

I'm wondering if anyone here has seen this in their cat and/or if there are any suggestions on what I should do next.

Thanks.

 

[cataholic07]

If he's not peeing he needs to go to the vet asap. Keep him inside to see if he uses the litter boxes. Yes he will complain but its important you know if he's blocked or not as that is life threatening. Is he fixed? at a healthy weight? Stop feeding dry food and try urinary wet food. I would get those tests done to find out what's going on with him. Poor boy.

 

[slowboost99]

If he's not peeing he needs to go to the vet asap. Keep him inside to see if he uses the litter boxes. Yes he will complain but its important you know if he's blocked or not as that is life threatening. Is he fixed? at a healthy weight? Stop feeding dry food and try urinary wet food. I would get those tests done to find out what's going on with him. Poor boy.

I took him to an emergency vet clinic on Saturday and they did not think he was blocked. I have considered the possibility that they were wrong but they said he had just a little urine in his bladder. Wouldn't there be a lot if he was blocked?

He was neutered about 5 years ago and I have out only a small amount of dry food in his plate, beside the canned food for the past few days and he hasn't eaten the dry food. I will remove the dry food completely.

I was not aware that urinary wet food existed. Can you recommend a brand? I feed him friskies, which I've read is an average brand. Do you think this is ok?

 

[slowboost99]

He might be a little overweight but he's muscular. He would freak out if I kept him inside. He is very friendly with me and good natured but he is very jumpy and cries if I do not let him out within 3-4 minutes. It would be very difficult to get him to be calm, maybe even moreso now that he is not doing well.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Did the vet take a urine sample for a urinalysis/urine culture? It is possible that he has a urinary tract infection. I would also ask the vet about whether or not they saw any inflammation in his urinary tract with the ultrasound. Did the vet mention any crystals/stones showing up in the ultrasound?

The urinary care wet food is mostly to help balance PH in the urine and help dissolve struvite stones if there are any. Otherwise, canned food and lots of water will help. But, if there is an infection, antibiotics are the only route to fix that aspect.

 

[slowboost99]

Hi. Did the vet take a urine sample for a urinalysis/urine culture? It is possible that he has a urinary tract infection. I would also ask the vet about whether or not they saw any inflammation in his urinary tract with the ultrasound. Did the vet mention any crystals/stones showing up in the ultrasound?

The urinary care wet food is mostly to help balance PH in the urine and help dissolve struvite stones if there are any. Otherwise, canned food and lots of water will help. But, if there is an infection, antibiotics are the only route to fix that aspect.

They did not take a urine sample or do any other testing aside from feeling his bladder and doing an ultrasound. I think that because it's a vet emergency clinic, they did not do any other testing because they felt that it's best to leave that to a normal vet.

The only thing that the vet technician and vet told me about the ultrasound is that it looked good and there was only a small amount of urine detected in the bladder. They did not mention crystals or stones.