ANSWERS: 2
  • Your cat may have a bladder or urinary tract infection. If it is a male, he may also have a blockage in his urethra caused by crystals in the urine. Bring it to the doctor to get it checked out, an infection can be treated with antibiotics, but if it has a blockage, your cat will have to go through surgery to fix it.
  • It probably means an EMERGENCY! If a cat can't pass any urine, it means the cat is blocked, which is LIFE THREATENING. If urine can not be eliminated from the body, toxins will build up in the blood stream, and the cat will essentially be poisoned to death. This can ocur quickly--within a matter of hours. Generally, from the time a cat becomes blocked, you may have 36 to 48 hours before the cat dies. The blockage is due to a buildup of urinary crystals that form when the urine's pH is either too acidic or too basic, which is generally the result of the type of food your cat is eating. Most of the time, it is male cats that become blocked, but blockages can occur in females too. Syptoms of a blockage include vomiting, lack of appetite, lack of urine production (obviously), lethargy, and straining and/or crying in the litter box (this is often mistaken for signs of constipation). Once things have progressed to extremely critical levels, you may find your cat lying in its litterbox, unwilling or unable to move. The cat will need to have a urinary catheter placed, and will probably have a large amount of urine drawn out of the bladder through a procedure called a cystocentesis. This is where a needle is inserted into the bladder through the abdominal wall and urine is sucked out into a syringe. (As bad as that sounds, it's really only as painful as a vaccine shot, and the cat is usually under anesthesia anyway.) The cat will have to stay in the hospital for several days and will receive antibiotics and IV fluids, and possibly force feedings if the cat is not well enough to eat on its own. It's diet will most likely be changed after the ordeal is over to a food that will help neutralize the urine pH and dissolve the urinary crystals. You can expect the medical bills for all this to easily reach $500 to $600 dollars.

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