cat question and vet visit
 

Have a 26 month old tabby orange. He was having a hard time about this time last week getting in the litter box and you could see his discomfort. Figured he was passing something or blockage. Vet in Okotoks last saturday. Needle in bladder and home with meds. Was getting better. Then tuesday he was slow again and had a hard time urinating so ran him to fish creek vet here in SE and they ran tests, xray, blood, etc and had to sedate him to get some discharge out with possible blockage . All blood and enzymes were great as he is young and healthy. Sent us home with him all drugged up and some more meds and canned soft food and said he needs to change the diet from his kibble. Also said he could still have some blockage ( similar to kidney stones). He seems pretty good but has a harder time peeing and today this morning there was some blood traces in his pee.
Wife and I have to go to work so will follow up and call vet but think this is normal? Hope he is passing some chrystalization hence the traces or blood. He is eating great of coarse....... typical male!!!!

Any thoughts appreciated

Only time I've ever heard of something happening like this (only the hard time going to the litter box and lethargic) would be kidney failure, which in my experience happens in older cats. I imagine one of the vets would have caught that. Hope the little guy gets over whatever it is! If both vets did tests and came to the same conclusion they know more than I ever would so unless you want to get a third opinion I'd go with what they said.

Male cats are highly susceptible to urinary tract obstructions due to diet and and not getting enough liquid. Ours gets a diet of kibble, wet, including watered down raw pumpkin, lean raw meat trimmings, and the occasional slow mouse. :sHa_shakeshout:

ACVS site is very helpful for all pet health inquiries, here is the direct link to this issue:
https://www.acvs.org/small-animal/ur...struction-cats

If you are looking for a new vet, the Willow Park Animal Clinic on Fairmont Drive was highly recommended to us.

Cats are supposed to get the vast majority of their water intake from the food they eat. Kibble alone is obviously less than ideal. A cat that drinks a lot or at all is already severely dehydrated.

Kibble does however keep their teeth cleaner as they would no doubt be chewing on or eating bones in the wild.

I feed Purina Pro Plan in the cans, lots of fresh meat and offer kibble as a snack between meals.

Unlike dogs, cats are truly carnivores and in a perfect world they would not get any of the garbage additives and grain fillers found in the vast majority of food.

Another cause of urinary track issues is salty type preservatives. Cats and all animals need minerals but often dry food has a way too much and it ends up causing problems.

https://pets.thenest.com/salt-cat-fo...bad-10443.html

Thank you all for the replies. He does eat well and prior to this it was kibble some soft and hard snacks and he did seem to drink a s good amount of water.

The diet change to soft cans is what he is on since tuesday and vet said to run this and nothing else for the next 10 days. Yes, lots of water in there. he has not drank as much water since we noticed the issue.
Hoping the blood we are seeing is normal for what he is going through. He is eating well and usually has lots of energy and does get the odd mouse or bird in the trees in back yard!!!
I will keep an eye big time the next few days and hope the blood is gone . Will not run out to vet yet as I think he needs some quiet days.

Appreciate all feedback!!!! Was supposed to be celebrating later as oldest son turns 18 and have some pops but cat ( Tigger) is on the mind!!!!

Very true. Our 20 year old cat 🐈. Had urinary issue, and bowel issues. Went visited the vet. They Gave us some wet food (expensive $3.00/can), and small amount of restoralax mixed into the wet food. Has Immensely helped the old cat. She is going in style with her expensive tastes…….

We had a similar episode with our male cat and ended up taking him to the SAVE clinic in Okotoks. He was there for I think 3 nights with a catheter but he recovered fully. He loves his kibble but we feed the Purina Pro Plan urinary tract specific wet food every second day and he hasn’t had a reoccurrence. This all happened right around the time we adopted another cat so I strongly suspect it was a stress thing but it’s hard to say for sure.

The Save is where we went Saturday. I do have a reno going in kitchen and painted cabinets and last week was hammering out tiles and drywall but he just sat on my feet as the demo was on!!!! New furniture in too so all that change can cause stress for Tiggs!!!
I think the hard kibble is a cause for sure.

update
Wife phoned vet and they said as long as he is eating and sleeping and getting some pee and number 2 outs it is ok for now and keep this course until wednesday. I have to believe the blood is due to the urinating discomfort and some blockage that has to work it's way out.

Went through something similar with our cat. Original diet was wet food, with the odd serving of dry food. The cat is a very, very picky eater, and when the wet food maker went out of business, we could not find a wet food replacement. A few years later, surgery for bladder crystals. Signs were the same, little pee, sometimes with a small amount of blood. Now on wet food almost exclusively, and no issues after 6 years.


Vic

Male cats, urinary SO is the food for him, I have had 2males with the same issue. First one passed due to it and this one, I caught in time. He spent 6 nights at the vet getting bladder flushes. I was just saving for a jet boat and this really knocked that down, but he was only a year old.

I feel for you, this is hard. I think if your cat is moving slow, that's a concern, but I'm no vet.
Good luck

Hi all
Tiggs is doing a lot better. Strictly on the wet food at the advice of the vet last week. Has good energy and his trips for pee are less and he seems to urinate more at one time. Hope that is working out . Still on meds and a follow up visit this week.
Thanks for all replies.

All good advice, but we are forgetting one key element… stress and litter hygiene. Feline Urological Syndrome/Feline Lower Urinary Tract disease occurs equally among female and male cats, male cats are just more prone to obstruction (urethral anatomy) and it’s associated emergency status. FUS is most often idiopathic, cause unknown, but can be associated with infection, crystals/ stones or cancer. Cats are desert creatures and their kidneys are really good at conserving water, resulting in concentrated urine. Concentrated urine sitting the bladder irritates it and causes inflammation. Counter this by diluting the urine and promoting more frequent urination. Increasing water intake dilutes the urine and increases frequency of urination. Canned food is the easiest way to increase water intake. Litter hygiene enters with the increased urination frequency. Dirty litter box, equals litter aversion, less peeing. One box /cat plus an extra, scoop daily and completely change / clean weekly. This will equal happy cat, less stress. On a side note, FUS is associated with weather changes … again , stress. Look up “Pandora Syndrome “ in cats if interested.