Male cat struggling to pee no blockage

[emgo89]

Hello,
I'm very worried about my male cat, Buddy. A couple days ago when I got home from work I realized Buddy wasn't there to greet me as he normally is. I searched all over the house and found him in one of the litter boxes. He was hunched over in a strange position. I let him do his business but realized he had not come out for 3 minutes or so. I went back into to check on him and he looked like he was trying to come out of the litter box but was just stagnant with his tail end still in the box. I tried to persuade him out the rest of the way and when I got his back end out I noticed him contracting a little with tiny drops of urine coming out. At this point I was convinced he probably had a UTI. I called the vet to try and set up an appointment as soon as possible, and they informed me to go to the ER vet because he could have a blockage and need immediate assistance. I took him to the nearest ER right away and they checked his vitals and ran a urinalysis. From this they found him to be relatively healthy. There were only trace amounts of white cells, a small amount of proteins found, but no crystallization. They gave him a muscle relaxer and opiate for the pain and to help his urethra relax so he might be able to urinate easier. He urinated quite a large amount on the vets table after they administered these medications. I took him home and he was acting completely fine went straight to his food bowl, drank some water, but still proceeded to go to the litter box several times with only small amounts of urine coming out each time. I took him to his regular vet the following morning where they ran xrays to insure he didn't have any bladder stones. No bladder stones finding there. They sent the xrays to a radiologists to see if there might be smaller stones the xrays couldn't pick up. They found nothing as well. They ran some blood work to make sure his kidneys were functioning properly and all of his blood work returned normal. Upon picking him up the vet explained that he was very confused by Buddy's condition because he's obviously not blocked, doesn't seem to have an infection, he can produce urine and it's healthy (no blood and a clear yellow color) It just seems as if his urethra is not allowing the right amount of urine to come out when he has the need to go. He's said he would speak to the neurologist he knows to see if he might know the reason behind his strange condition. He also prescribed buddy some valium in attempts to to relax him once again so he might pee normally. As of today he is still exhibiting the same litter box behavior. His mood is the same as it always is for the most part he has a great appetite, drinks well, loving, playful, and alert. I gave him his second dose of valium this morning and noticed he's now almost laying down in the litter box with an even smaller amount of urine coming out. I'm scheduled to take him into the vet again today at 4:30 so hopefully he'll have some more answers for me. At this point I've spent an extortionate amount of money. I can't imagine how much more I'll have to spend for giving him some kind of surgery. So naturally I'm hoping this will just go away on its own. I'm sorry this is so lengthy. I know its a bizarre problem I was just hoping there might be someone out there who may know what's going on, or maybe had the same problem with their cat. Thanks for reading.

-Emily

[KatyKatIL]

I was looking up information this evening to see if I could find out more about kitties with urination problems.
We have a male cat who is 8 yrs old.  He gets both wet and dry food daily, and drinks enough for a cat. (We found we have to put the water in a coffee mug for him to drink it! Ha!)  

Last year, he started getting struvite crystals in his urethra.  I wanted to let other people know that this change happened in DIRECT correlation to us changing to the Blue Buffalo Spa Weight Control formula dry food. We have used BB for years, but when our vet said our cat could lose a lb or two, we decided to try a weight control food. BAD IDEA!  It was within a month of the change that he started getting struvite crystals for the first time ever. We immediately stopped that food and went back to his regular one. We still have to check him for crystals building up, and give him crnberry juice every other week or so for his urine pH. But I highly advise people NOT to use the BB weight control. I don't know what they changed in that formula, but it created a big problem for our male cat (our female wouldn't eat it).

So, just wanted to share that. We are on "pee watch" tonight to make sure he goes potty - he's not used the litter all evening so far, but has a heavy feel when you pick him up.  Stay safe and don't use that particular formula of dry food for your male cats please!

[opus88]

good you are getting the Gluc/chron it will help sooth the bladder and help with spasms...that is probably what your Vet is prescribing the narcotic for...would be much easier on Kitty if the Gluc/Chron could do the job...

I will send you a write up by Dr Pierson...on how to transition dry food addicts over to wet food, she has many hints. I used this advise a few years ago on mine, it too time and patience but it IS possible...go slow, very worth it!!! so don't give up

http://www.catinfo.org/docs/TipsForTransitioning1-14-11.pdf

[achelleb]

Hi --my kitty Ghost has some protein and a bit of blood in the urine came back on the urinalysis result yesterday. He's been getting in the litter box with only a walnut size of urine coming out each time. I took him to the vet as soon as I noticed the problem and he took an x-ray.  Showed nothing and he felt around for any blockages, but there were none. The vet tried him on a bladder narcotic (type of morphine) because I explained that Ghost was stressed about a kitten we took in this Spring and we're fixing up parts of our house, so there has been a little disarray.  The narcotic made him amazingly drunk and I couldn't give it to him. Then he tried him on an antibiotic.  Now he's had a urinalysis with the above result.  The vet suggests taking one part of the narcotic out of the original serum and trying him on that. I'm changing Ghost's diet to wet food only, but he's really not happy about it.  I'm not sure what to expect from this narcotic, even if it doesn't make him drunk to the point of falling down.  This is confusing. I'm going to order the Gluc and Chron. sulfate and give it a try as well.  Any advice? I'm on board with the diet.

[alexumass215]

Everyone - thank you so much for all of these thoughts and experiences!  Our kitty rooster is having the same issue,  we've brought him to vet, got all the tests and he's not blocked.  We're introducing wet food and giving him anti spasm meds as well as pain med. This thread makes me feel like we're on the right path for our rooster (weird cat name,  i know).thanks for everyone's input and glad for so many happy endings!

[CML2014]

Hi Heavnly,

I wish everyone would be as diligent in taking their kits to the vet when problems like this arise. I know the cost can be prohibitive, but there are always ways to pay, that your vet can set up.

Could you please give us an update  on TOD.!

Hope he is feeling much better and peeing like a champ!

CML

[opus88]

Hi welcome sorry to hear of kitties issues but you'll be happy to know it's all very treatable. I do hope the Vet checked for crystals????
Be sure an read the very important info on the site I listed above, good luck and keep us updated
Copy:

thanks for the update....sorry I missed your first post, emgo89 hasn't posted on our forum for 2 years so very likely you won't get a response...

I am happy your kitty has finally gotten a diagnosis....now you can take it a step further and know how to help this poor little fella out...
first of all no matter what your Vet tells you PLEASE STOP ALL DRY FOOD, that is the root of his problems without a doubt!!!!!

I urge you to read this site...this Vet is so very knowledgeable abt diets and diseases following her site has totally transformed how I think about cat food...and has made a huge difference in the health of my own cats...I too had one with bladder issues..I beg you to read her site and learn it and you will have a healthy kitty once again...keep us updated. best to you both♥

http://www.catinfo.org/?link=urinarytracthealth