Help! Bladder infection??

Hello, I have a 2 year old male neutered black cat and he was fine before today. Today though, he has been going in his litter box and trying to pee unsuccessfully. He just sits in there and cries then comes out and licks himself while growling. He seems like he's bloated after he tries but then after he calms down a bit his belly softens up. I tried to feel his lower abdomen when his belly was softer and I didn't feel any type of hard distended bulge or anything. He didn't even try to get away or cry out. He was just like "hmm? Whatever." and the walked away. He doesn't like it very much when he is bloated but he just meows. He doesn't growl or anything. I took away his litter box because he keeps trying every 5 minutes and then comes out hurting. He still walks around normally and seems fine otherwise.

I believe he has a bladder infection, but I can't get him to the vet until tomorrow morning. Is there any way I can make him more comfortable or feel better until then??

EDIT: p.s. he now seems to be continuously bloated, please help! I'm so worried!

If you absolutely can't get him to the vet until tomorrow morning (like you have a funeral or something to go to), then I understand.

But if it were anything else, I'd be taking my boy to the emergency vet asap. Yes, they're expensive, but they often recommend you get cats with blocked urinary tracts (which it certainly sounds like he has) in immediately. He could go into kidney failure if you don't.

Vibes for your baby boy

I just have no way to get there The vet I take him to is miles away and I have no transport I was going to make an appointment for as soon as they opened but they are closed and I am unable to make one. I am waking up (If I even get to sleep tonight) super early and waiting impatiently for the minute they open to take him in as early as possible. Is there anything I can do until then? My grandmother had a cat with that problem that passed away recently and she gave me a can of UTI special wet food and I gave him some of that. He ate it normally. I think he's been drinking water. I saw for sure that he was drinking it a couple days ago. I WANT to take him to the vet, I want to tonight, but I have absolutely no way to get there

Thank you for the vibes.  I just hope he can hold out until tomorrow 

PS. Should I give him back his litter box? He's looking for it but he seems to just be hurting himself when he goes in there...

Well crap. It's times like these that I wish they made pet ambulances.

Maybe this if you have the money? http://www.vetlive.com/

once again, so sorry! And many vibes

Oh and yes I would give him his box. You never know, he could get something past the blockage and relieve his pain a little.

Thank you for the information. He just went in his litter box and tried again to unsuccessfully urinate but at least this time he wasn't crying out in pain He keeps trying every couple of minutes. He's getting into his "pee stance" Head sticking out of the covered litter box. He just tried to pee on a blanket as well. Poor baby It does sound like what he has. I'll stay with him and hope I can at least comfort him until tomorrow. I hope he can hold on

drgngrl116 Please understand this is a life-threatening emergency that cannot wait. Your baby is blocked and that's why he is unable to urinate. A blockage is fatal in 24 hours. If you wait any longer there is a strong possibility that by the time you get him to the vet, the vet will not be able to save his life. Please get him to an emergency vet as fast as you can.

Get a neighbor to give you a ride. Or a friend or a relative. Do whatever you have to, to get your baby to an emergency vet as fast as you can before it's too late.

Call your vet immediately and explain the situation.  You absolutely MUST get your guy to the vet as this can cause death.  Perhaps your vet can make a housecall or something. 

Thanks guys. I'll do whatever I can. I appreciate the advice and will try to get him there asap. I'm getting offline now so I can spend time with him and try to get to the vet. Thanks again guys.

UPDATE: Alright guys! I got him to the vet in time and he is being treated! Got a call from the vet saying that he just had a 'snotty' build up at the end of his little...you know. No stones or anything, thank goodness! I pick him up tomorrow night. Thanks everyone for your support! He's going to be OK!

I'm so glad he'll be all right. That's really wonderful and I'm very happy for you. Thanks so much for the update.

I'm also very glad he only had a mucus plug but no stones.

I have a couple of articles I believe might be helpful to you, so I'm including them for you now.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-feline-urinary-blockage.htm

In this article

http://maxshouse.com/diseases_of_the_lower_urinary_tr.htm

if you scroll down to

rupture of the urinary bladder

and

treatment of bladder rupture

you'll find some basic information about a potentially fatal complication of urinary blockage if it's not treated in time.

That's great news! I'm so glad for you both.

Here are two more articles, by well-known and respected veterinarians, on urinary tract issues, their causes, symptoms and preventive measures (primary among them - feed wet or raw!): Feline Urinary Tract Health and Urinary Tract Disorders in Cats.

Regards!

AC

drgngrl116 said:

UPDATE: Alright guys! I got him to the vet in time and he is being treated! Got a call from the vet saying that he just had a 'snotty' build up at the end of his little...you know. No stones or anything, thank goodness! I pick him up tomorrow night. Thanks everyone for your support! He's going to be OK!

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Good news.  Yeah, those are known as urethral plugs.  

A combination of crystal precipitates(most typically struvite uroliths) and protein matrix(mucus or blood cells) can form a urethral plug and cause a complete blockage of the urethra. Inflammation of the bladder wall can cause the protein matrix to "leak" from the wall. Even without crystal formation, a thick protein matrix may cause urethral obstruction by itself. Renal failure and uremia will follow within 36–48 hours of complete urethral obstruction. The time from complete obstruction until death may be less than 72 hours.  Urethral obstruction is an emergency condition, and treatment should begin immediately.   http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/130615.htm

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Regarding preventative measures, there has been a recent shift in consensus in the medical community that managing urinary PH is the primary factor in dietary related UTIs (the majority are not though), whereas previously it was thought that diets high in magnesium and ash were suspect.   All premium food manufacturers now either outright publish or have available the target urine PH for all of their recipes.   Veterinarians recommend a range between 6.0 and 6.5.  

http://cats.about.com/od/lowerurinarytractdisease/qt/catsurinpH.htm

Thank goodness you got him to the vet in time :nod:..... I am so glad they were able to treat you baby and he will be alright. They will let you know if he had crystal's in his urine and if you need to change his diet. Keep a close watch on him... for the day's to come - ask you vet to explain to you in detail what is going on with you boy and how you need to treat him when he comes home . I know everyone has passed on articles to you :lol3: Here is another one that was written by TCS - just so you can have much knowledge of what might possibly be going on with your furbaby

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/feline-lower-urinary-tract-disease-flutd

SO glad your baby is Ok. I had a scare like that with one of mine today, very frightening and distressing.

Just a quick FYI - "Targeting" a cat's urine PH level by supplementing a food with non-nutrient additives is only done when the food itself contains unhealthy ingredients that change a cat's natural urine PH.

Providing the cat with a species-appropriate, healthy diet that allows her unique physiology to work as it should is the best defense against urinary tract issues while superbly supporting overall health. For our obligatorily carnivores little friends, that means a diet with at least 63% moisture, 50% DMB real animal protein and 5% DMB or less carbs (grains, fruits, veggies) - in other words, low- and no-carb canned and frozen / freeze-dried raw foods. (Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats, National Research Council, among other sources.)

Best regards.

AC

Thank you everyone so much! He seems to be much better today and I've been keeping a close eye on him. I'm using the clumping litter right not so I can see exactly how much he is urinating. He seems to be at normal levels I'm only giving him wet food from now on and I've even been mixing in a little bit of warm water with it (since it's cold) and he's been eating it all up, so there's no way he's dehydrated now! Thank you all so much for your concern, I really appreciate it!

I've read every single one of the articles you guys posted for me on here and I'm now definitely ready to take better care of my baby. I'm vowing now to tell anyone who feeds dry cat food to their cat what I've learned on here. If I can prevent even one more cat from suffering this, I'll be happy!

I'm so mad that I didn't know about this beforehand, it might have saved a lot of trouble, pain, and worry. Again, thank you all for being such a great help, and all your information will not go to waste!

Auntie Crazy said:

Just a quick FYI - "Targeting" a cat's urine PH level by supplementing a food with non-nutrient additives is only done when the food itself contains unhealthy ingredients that change a cat's natural urine PH.

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The target urine PH of 6.0 to 6.5 can be managed in the recipe by natural means and does not require acidifiers, and reputable food manufactures will have a healthy target urine PH in their recipes.   

There are specific prescription diets which go beyond the norm in order to address specific existing medical conditions that do usually aim for low minerals and acidifiers in order to help dissolve crystals. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feline_lower_urinary_tract_disease

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+2142&aid=2729

http://www.2ndchance.info/fus.htm

http://www.felineinstincts.com/articles/felineinstinctsFUSinformation.html

http://catnet.stanford.edu/articles/litterbox.html

http://www.lbah.com/feline/flutd.htm

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1741

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/130617.htm

Please check with your veterinarian about the importance of urine PH and fact check regarding dry bias, as not all dry foods have the same quality or type of ingredients anymore than all wet foods do.   

drgngrl116 said:

Thank you everyone so much! He seems to be much better today and I've been keeping a close eye on him. I'm using the clumping litter right not so I can see exactly how much he is urinating. He seems to be at normal levels I'm only giving him wet food from now on and I've even been mixing in a little bit of warm water with it (since it's cold) and he's been eating it all up, so there's no way he's dehydrated now! Thank you all so much for your concern, I really appreciate it!

I've read every single one of the articles you guys posted for me on here and I'm now definitely ready to take better care of my baby. I'm vowing now to tell anyone who feeds dry cat food to their cat what I've learned on here. If I can prevent even one more cat from suffering this, I'll be happy!

I'm so mad that I didn't know about this beforehand, it might have saved a lot of trouble, pain, and worry. Again, thank you all for being such a great help, and all your information will not go to waste!

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I'm so glad your boy is feeling better, Drgngrl!!! That's awesome!

And don't feel bad - we none of us know what we don't know until we do, you know?  ;-}   And you took the time to read and learn, and immediately made changes based on your new level of "knowing". That's the best any of us can do.

AC