What does it look like at home, when a cat first starts having urinary problems?

Urinary problems are common in cats. It usually starts with frequent trips to the litter box. Your cat may look like they are trying to poop but not producing anything (called “straining”). If you are watching closely, or if you scoop your litter box frequently (you do scoop frequently, right?) you might notice small, marble-sized clumps of litter/urine instead of the usual fist-sized masses your cat usually produces.

The urine might be reddish in color or you might see small blood clots/droplets in the litter box or other places your cat hangs out. Your cat may be agitated, vocalizing, or licking their groin.

These signs all point to your cat having, as one vet I worked with called it, a pee-pee problem. Is it just a urinary tract infection? What should you do?

Head to the vet for an exam and tests.

If your cat is not passing any urine (is “blocked” as we say in vet med) then this is a MEDICAL EMERGENCY and you need to get your cat into a vet NOW. Yes, even in the middle of the night. No, it can not wait until your regular vet opens in the morning. Just go to the emergency veterinary hospital NOW.

If your cat is passing small amounts of urine, acting normally, eating/drinking and not vomiting, then you could possibly wait 12 hours or so until you can get an appointment with your regular vet. It is a decision I once made for myself, and it had a good outcome for me.

It is much better to not risk it. Be very careful to watch your cat closely in the meanwhile. A cat can go from peeing a little to not peeing at all in an instant. As I mention above, this turns things from urgent to a MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Your cat could die. No joke, and the damage is faster than you might believe.

If the only symptom your cat is showing is a tendency to urinate in places other than their litter box, then you should still have them evaluated by your vet. It isn’t an emergency, but there could be medical reasons for the behavior. You definitely want to get that sorted ASAP, before the behavior becomes entrenched.

Once the vet visit and any recommended tests or procedures have been done you will have a better idea of what you cat is up against. In addition to doing a urinalysis, your vet may also recommend bloodwork to check kidney and other organ function. Kidney problems can mimic the symptoms of a urinary tract infection, for instance, but are treated differently.

Blocked Cat

If the vets determine that your cat is blocked, then you are looking at a minimum of 24-48 hours of hospitalization along with the associated procedures. Your cat will have a urinary catheter placed to drain urine from the bladder and an IV catheter placed in a leg to give fluids.  Read more about the treatment(s) of blocked cats here.

Why do cats have urinary problems?

There are a lot of reasons why cats can develop issues with their bladders. Most of these reasons (genetic, gender, environment) are things we can’t really control or have limited control over.

A certain proportion of cats are just going to have these issues. The majority of cats that actually block are male, but female cats can become blocked as well. Any cat can have urinary problems, and they often pop up out of the blue.

UTI?

So why does this happen? Sometimes, just like humans, cats can get urinary tract infections , or UTI’s (they use their tongue as toilet paper, after all). If things go on long enough, or if your cat has more chronic issues (such as crystals-read below), then the infection can lead to a very irritated bladder that produces a lot of mucus.

This mucus, along with any other debris mixed in, can actually get stuck on the way out as your pet is peeing, limiting or preventing them from emptying their bladder.

Male cats (especially neutered males) are more likely to block simply because they have a “kink” in their tube (their urethra) where it turns to exit out of the body, sort of like “>”. Female cats just have a straight line out “–”. That kink is narrow enough that debris from the bladder can block it.

Just picture a long Mack truck trying to navigate a very tight turn on a narrow road with no sidewalks or shoulders, and you get the idea. Traffic jam time.

Crystals or stones?

Another reason for urinary problems are the above mentioned crystals. Some pets (yep, dogs can have these as well) start to develop microscopic crystals in their urine. These crystals, think sand, abrade and irritate the bladder and urethra, which causes swelling and often times leads to visible blood in the urine. This swelling narrows the urethra further, making it even more likely that a male cat will block.

Just think about what it must feel like to pee sand. Ouch! No wonder they are agitated!

Sometimes crystals will clump together and form stones in the bladder. Eventually the stones can grow big enough that only a veterinarian with a scalpel can get them out. They can also grow to the perfect size to get into the urethra but not out. Then your cat can’t pee. Emergency time.

Crystals can form in urine for a variety of reasons. Truthfully, vets don’t usually know why this happens. Luckily, the treatments work for many pets and often the problem can be managed and prevented from happening again.

Treatment Overview

Urinary tract infections (UTI’s) are treated with antibiotics and pain medications, and if your vet finds that your cat is producing crystals in their urine, they may recommend dietary changes or even a veterinary therapeutic diet (aka a prescription diet). If your cat has blocked then the long term implications are a bit more serious; it is possible that your cat may block again.

If your cat has problems with their bladder that can’t be traced to a diagnosis like a UTI or crystals/stones, your cat might have what is called FIC (Feline Idiopathic Cystitis) or FLUTD (Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease), which basically means they have issues with their bladder for undetermined reasons. Your vet may still recommend dietary changes or a prescription diet, medications and/or supplements to help manage the condition.

What if there are no medical reasons for my cat’s inappropriate urination?

Inappropriate urination is when your cat is peeing in your home in places other than their litter box. It can happen for medical reasons but it can also become an entrenched behavior that can be very frustrating to deal with. I am planning another post that specifically addresses this behavior and a few solutions that often help control it. You may need to limit your cat’s access to parts of your house for a while, until you can get your cat to stop the behavior. .

Advice for managing cats with urinary problems

I am also living with a urinary cat, so I will be posting more on this topic in the future! I don’t want to leave this post without giving you some personal advice for dealing with a cat with urinary problems.

There is hope. My number-one piece of advice to someone dealing with this problem is to work on reducing your cat’s stress. Try a pheromone product like Feliway and/or a supplement such as Zylkene. 

If you can, I would also make sure your cat is getting enough water, preferably through their diet. I personally believe that cats do much better eating a canned “wet food” diet instead of a dry kibble and this is especially true for urinary cats. Cats have a low thirst drive and have evolved to get most of their water needs met through their diet; canned food is closer to their preferred diet of small rodents than kibble is. For more about the medical side of feeding a cat click here.