My cat stopped peeing

[mgcgulfcoast]

last saturday i noticed around 5am that he was trying to pee and couldnt. he would go every 5 minutes but nothing came out. i took him to the vet at 7 am but she said they couldnt help on the weekend due to staffing shortages so i had to take him to an emergency clinic. they said he needed to have a catheter put in for 24 hours and stay over night and then they would see if he could pee when they took it out at 9am sunday. i was called at 3pm by the vet and he said he stillwasnt peeing on his own. i went to the vet thinking i had no choice but to have him put to sleep since further treatment was both not a guarantee and too expensive. i got to the vet and when i walked in the vet said he had good news and my cat had just peed. he peed again as i was with him in the room. anyway, he seems better now.

any suggestions on how to prevent future blockages?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Diet. It's what almost always causes this problem.

Ask your vet to recommend a low-magnesium cat food that is specific to urinary problems. One kind of food you can get without a prescription is Wysong Uretic, available here: http://www.wysong.net/products/uretic-healthy-natural-cat-food.php and at some pet stores that carry natural/organic pet foods - my vet suggested this. There are also prescription foods like Royal Canin SO. I feed my cat the canned version of that, along with the dry Uretic. It's kind of expensive but still cheaper than vet visits. Also be sure the cat drinks plenty of water (which is why canned food is probably better). It might help to get him a drinking fountain.

My cat had several episodes of this, but hasn't had any problems since I changed his diet.

[mgcgulfcoast]

3. i got him some 9 lives urinary tract food

i hope that helps and im giving him alot of tuna water.

[LisaL]

13. My cat is on dry Royal Canin SO.

Has been for years.
For him it really did the trick.

[uppityperson]

2. Also cats often don't drink enough, add extra water to their food to increase liquid intake

Good luck with him

[mgcgulfcoast]

4. thanks

[uppityperson]

5. We had this problem with a couple of our boy cats. You can rig up a drinking fountain also as they

are more apt to drink dribbling or flowing water. Buy either a pet fountain or just a decorative one. A friend rigged one up in a spare sink, taped a little water pump to the faucet and had water dribbling into a bowl, pumped back up and dribbling in again.

I've checked out the "real" pet ones and decided to go with a basic cheap one I found in a drug store.

Our old boy cats we ended up giving them very wet food, and then dealing with the dental issues by feeding hard treats too.

[Flaxbee]

6. This is very important: Do you have a water softener / have to add salt to your water?

If so, DO NOT give your cat tap water.

You need to buy spring water (not distilled, either - has had minerals removed).

We have 5 cats, and damn if all four of the girls didn't stop peeing, or squatting only to have a tiny amount come out. I was frantic. Husband said "maybe they're getting too much salt in their water" so we immediately stopped giving them tap water and started giving them the spring water we drink, and within a day or so, all girls were peeing just fine. The male cat had also had some issues, just not quite as bad as the females.

Just an FYI for anyone reading this thread.

I'm glad your cat is OK now.

[mgcgulfcoast]

11. i dont add salt to the water

ill try the spring water though

[progressoid]

7. Hmm, how old is he?

We had a cat with a similar issue. She was very old at the time (17).

Vet said she was dehydrated and gave her an IV fluids and then she seemed OK. A couple days later the problem returned. Turned out to be a complicated and fatal kidney problem.

[mgcgulfcoast]

9. he is 13

[woodsprite]

8. We switched our kitty to a "urinary health" mix and it helped.

We used Science Diet, but they may make a urinary health blend in whatever brand of food you're currently using. We also always made sure he had plenty of water available and only fed him his favorite wet food as a treat. We got a couple of those kitty water fountain type waterers, but truthfully he preferred to drink from the dog's dish.

Glad to hear things started functioning again.

[R. P. McMurphy]

10. This happened to one of my cats in 2010.

He ended up having surgery but never really recovered.

I don't have any advice but am sending good vibes and warm thoughts to him. I hope he continues to pee and his recovery is full.

[LisaL]

12. My cat has been on a special Royal Canin Urinary So food for years.

Works like a charmed for him. Before I swtiched him to this food, he would pee everywhere for a whole month.