Difficulty Urinating
If your cat or dog is unable to pass urine, this is an emergency and will need veterinary attention promptly.
Difficulty urinating can be associated with numerous conditions. These include the simplest such as a urinary tract infection, to more serious such as bladder crystals/stones or tumors. The symptoms of all conditions are generally the same and need to be addressed by a veterinarian to determine the cause and proper treatment.
A more serious condition that commonly occurs in male cats is a urinary blockage. This occurs when there is an obstruction in the urethra (the tube in which urine passes out of the body from the bladder), usually due to urinary crystals or stones. This is often mistaken for constipation as the cat is straining to urinate.
Signs of a urinary obstruction include:
- straining to urinate
- blood in the urine
- increased frequency of urination
- urinating in unusual locations
- meowing or howling while attempting to urinate
If any of these signs are noticed, you must seek veterinary attention immediately. In most cases, the cat will require an anesthetic procedure involving manual unblocking of the obstruction.
Editor’s Note: This is warning to owners with cats of previously diagnosed bladder crystals or stones; the most important thing you can do for your cat is to continue the use of the veterinary recommended diet for life. If it is found by your veterinarian, that the source of the urinary obstruction is crystal or stone formation in the bladder, your veterinarian will advise a change in diet to help dissolve the crystals/stones, and help prevent recurrences of the blockage. These diets, aside from promoting urinary tract health, are nutritionally balanced and therefore can be continued on with for the cat’s life. A common mistake made by pet owners is to use the urinary diet until the cat is “feeling better” and it’s symptoms have subsided, then return to using the cat’s previous diet. Time and time again, we see these patients return to the hospital, as they have re-blocked due to the owner’s unwillingness to keep the cat on the urinary diet. Aside from being another expensive procedure, the cat’s health is at risk each time it re-blocks.
