Cats and their problems when urinating

The problems of cats when urinating are one of the most common diseases affecting males mainly.

The first thing to consider is to find out whether the animal has a real problem when urinating, or urinates in another places for any special reason. The former fact is probably due to some infection or an accumulation of crystals in the lower urinary conducts, while the latter one would be a disorder in the behaviour.

Making a difference is not usually an easy task, because sometimes the symptoms overlap. For instance, when a cat has pain when urinating, due to an infection in the lower urinary conducts, it will search for another place to do pee-pee, instead of doing in its box.

Once the symptoms have been identified, vets do some tests like urine tests (biochemical, sediments and culture), x-rays and scans of the abdomen in order to rule out another diseases such as infections, gallstones or tumours.

A very common problem in male cats, especially the castrated ones, living a sedentary life and fed with commercial food, is the appearance of gallstones that obstruct the cat’s urethra, and lead them into the hospital for days. This is a very common disorder that makes these animals to be treated with some special diets that prevent the formation of these gallstones and make possible the destruction of those that have been already formed. It is important to know that this special food has to be kept forever, if we do not want relapses. If obstructions are repeated in spite of the medical and diet treatment, there is the possibility of using surgery, although the techniques are usually aggressive and not always well accepted by the owners.

If the cause of the problem has an infectious origin (also common, in female cats, mainly), the cat would be treated with antibiotics for 18-20 days. If there are another reasons like neurological disorders or tumours, then surgery, medicines and chemotherapy will be required.

Finally, a high percentage of these cases is due to an alteration in the cat’s behaviour when urinating. We have reached this conclusion after making all kind of tests, some of them quite complex, such as endovenous x-rays with renal contrast or x-rays of the bladder and the urethra. When a cat suffers from an alteration of the behaviour when urinating, there is a great range of disorders, but we will talk about them in another article. We usually recommend castration if it is a clear problem of sexual marking, anti-depressive medicines, or other drugs if it is a stress problem or has to do with other diseases, on the other hand we combine this medicines with different measures that will help to reinforce positive behaviour, and the caution to place different cat toilets around the house.

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