Urgent-Cat can't urinate-vet is out of town!

I have an 8 year old female. Up until late this morning, she has been in excellent health. She has been straining to use the litterbox to urinate. Nothing is there or sometimes a wet spot the size of a drop. Also, she is beside herself. She is trying to urinate all over the house and that is not like her at all. She has always used the litterbox. After a couple hours of this behavior she went to sleep where she has been for about 4 hours now. What can I do for her?

She is on Nutro Natural Choice- Complete Care for Indoor Senior cats - Dry food.

I appreciate your responses and thank you in advance!

Poor kitty

emergency clinic? Another vet?

I would see if there are any urgent care facilities in your area.. Also, make sure your kitty is drinking, maybe even try to put a little chicken broth in the water to make it more enticing, but your kitty should definitely be seen by a vet.

Sounds lke she may have a uti or an obstruction of her bladder - and that is an emergency!! I am not a vet nor have I had a cat with this condition but had a bunny with an obstructed abdomial prob and I drove him asap right to the nearest vet college - a 4 hour drive and another province but it was 4 hrs I knew he might get help at the end (he did have surgery and survived - even as a geriatric bun).

So my advice is to find the closest emergency vet and get her there as fast as you can - even give them a call ahead of time so they;ll know you are arricing. If you do not have a vehicle, can someone help you?

I noticed that you were off line when I posted this message. This sounds like a real emergency. Please let us know what you did about your kitty & how she is doing.
Lei

I am a vet tech and if a cat can't urinate it is a big deal, call an emergency clinic and get her in ASAP.

Oh I was wrong you are online...this is an emergency. What is you kitty doing now?

Taking her to an emergency hospital is not an option right now.

The cat ate and drank right before going to take her all day nap. I was surprised that she did eat and drink despite her sudden problem. I just checked in on her and she is still sleeping. I plan on taking her to the vet on Monday.

I've been reading about certain types of foods that may actually cause this kind of problem in cats and was wondering if this is the culprit. Like I said she has been in excellent health up until this bout today and I did switch her food about 6 weeks ago from Iams to this Nutro Natural Choice.

She drinks plenty of water daily so I know that isn't a factor.

I sure hope that she is peeing somewhere. Please keep us updated.

I will keep you posted. Just looked in on her a minute ago. Still sleeping but starting to wake up. She usually gets up around this time of the evening so I'll be watching her really close.

I hope she'll be OK but the others are correct - this qualifies as a real emergency. A cat needs to eliminate!! The web site Asia Pets writes: "If a cat becomes "blocked" (unable to urinate), he could die within hours. If any of these signs appear, immediate veterinary attention is necessary."


My own vet has told me that a cat unable to urinate can die in less than 24 hours. Please get her to a vet asap. It may not be an option but you MUST find a way somehow!!! You do not want to loose her!

Here are some other sites with info:

http://www.allpetsmacomb.com/flutd.html
http://www.vetnetwork.com/petcare_ar...isplay.cfm/205

Let us know how your kitty does. This is always a serious symptom and sometimes we do not realixe how bad it is until it is too late! I know you love her so try to find a way to get to a vet!

You need to get her care immediately. This can affect her kidneys and in cats, kidney problems are very serious.

If a cat can't urinate then the bladder gets so full that it can't hold anymore, which then backs up to the kidneys, and when the kidneys are so full they cant filter anything anymore then things back up into the blood which is very toxic. If your cat is not peeing then this is a life or death situation whether an emergency vet is an option or not.

I *have* had a cat block, if you wait until Monday you risk losing her. It is that simple.

Well, I'm happy and relieved to say that she seems to be fine although I will call the vet on Monday as she should be in then.

When the cat awoke from her nap the first thing she did was go to her litterbox and urinate. Then she drank some of her water and then visited her litterbox again where she urinated once more. (I hung around to make sure she wasn't just straining). She is now chasing around a firefly that managed to sneak in the house as I opened the front door. She is not pacing around the house straining to urinate everywhere as earlier. She seems to be okay and back to herself.

Thank you for the advice.

I am very happy to hear she was able to urinate...a vet visit will be good to see if it's a brewing uti or an issue of cystals in the urine..but now you have a bit of time

Thanks for letting us know. Keep a close eye on her & call your vet Monday, if you have any doubts.
Better safe than sorry is my motto.
Keep us updated please.
Lei

Maybe someone can answer a previous question regarding this problem.

I was wondering if the dry food that she is on could have been what led up to this?

She is on Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care Indoor-Senior formula. I switched her to this about 6 weeks ago. Prior to that she was on Chicken & Rice Sensible Choice and Iams Hairball control.

Can a particular food make a cat more prone to UTI's or crystals? If so, what should I be looking for?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Ragdollmommy

Maybe someone can answer a previous question regarding this problem.

I was wondering if the dry food that she is on could have been what led up to this?

She is on Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care Indoor-Senior formula. I switched her to this about 6 weeks ago. Prior to that she was on Chicken & Rice Sensible Choice and Iams Hairball control.

Can a particular food make a cat more prone to UTI's or crystals? If so, what should I be looking for?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Yes, food can make cats more prone to UTI's or crystals, but manufacturers are aware of that.
Depending on what your vet says, she might be put on special urinary health food. My Scaredy is on Waltham's SO. Also, feedin a cat dry food only is not a good idea. The wet food has a lot of moisture so it should be given to a cat. Cats don't drink enough water and that's why the are prone to urinary problems.

I'm wondering...I've found a few articles online that are unrelated but suggested that if UTI's, crystals, blockages are a problem that feeding strictly canned food is the preferred method. I'll bring this up with the vet but what are your thoughts?