Plodding through a mostly piddly-wet day there are a few cases that are blog worthy to share.
It was a typical busy (but not crazy) Monday. We had our token half dozen urgent phone calls before 9 am, and I went into work with half dry hair.
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| Magpie reminds me that all work and no play,,, |
There was one blocked cat to see at 9. I used to get all in a tizzy over the dreaded "blocked cat call." But I have learned that about 50% of the time it is a cystitis, or urinary tract infection and not the life-threatening half dead fully comatose cats of every vet students nightmares. For those of you out there that do not understand the gravity of having a blocked cat think of how terrible you would feel if you had to pee and were unable to. As much as this sounds like psychological torture it is made even worse for your kidneys and heart. If your bladder is unable to remove the urine the bladder will expand and expand until it either ruptures (a very very bad thing to happen, and also equally life-threatening) or your heart will eventually stop beating due to the toxic accumulation of potassium in your body.
SO, important take home message to everyone out there: If your cat seems to be visiting the litter box frequently, and/or is only able to produce a small amount of urine, or if you ever see your pet urinate and it isn't a light yellow color (really any other color is bad, not red, not pink, not orange, not brown), or if your pet is vocalizing (indicates they are in pain) in the litter box (or any other place your pet is eliminating), then go to the vet immediately! If there is any way you can bring a urine sample (ideally a free catch from the source urine sample) then bring that too.
When vets say "free catch" we are speaking about you catching a urine sample as your pet is urinating. The best sample is a mid-stream catch. I know it sounds silly, and virtually impossible but it can be done. I think it works best of someone takes the pet out on a leash
My favorite story of urinary tract infection is the year that we had our first snowfall in late October. The next two days after that fluke 12 inch snow fall I saw 6 clients who all came in telling me that "they were outside with their dog and when they peed they noticed that the snow was pink." ( I guess we need to start telling kids to not eat the yellow or pink snow?). Those pets all probably had infections for months and no one ever noticed until the snow fell.
I know it sounds gross and silly but we all really need to pay attention to what is coming out of our pets. I will ask you to describe every item that comes out of every orifice. If they vomit I need you to describe how it happened, (i.e. did their stomach contract? did it look like the food just fell out of their mouths? what did everything look like, your pet, the product?) This is all very important information. Your pet's treatment plan and long term prognosis is based to a great extent on the information you give us.
The 9 am blocked cat turned out to be a diabetic. I knew as soon as I saw the medical chart that this was probably not a blocked cat.
OK, let's review diabetes. Diabetes happens when the pancreas gets overwhelmed by trying to digest all of the sugar in the body. (This is the very very simple version). For cats we see this in obese, overweight cats being fed a dry food. It is an acquired disease. These cats show up at the clinic as having one of a few complaints; 1. drinking excessively 2. and/or urinating inappropriately, 3. unexplained weight loss, 4. loss of vision. In all cases a diabetic cat drinks excessively and because of this urinates excessively. It is therefore, almost impossible for a diabetic cat to have a urinary blockage. they are the most flushed pets on the planet. BUT, what diabetics do get is chronic infections. The diabetes is an immunosuppressive disease. These guys are far more likely to get concurrent infections that the normal healthy adult cat. So, right off the bat I suspected we had a cat going to the litter box excessively and only producing small amounts of urine because there was a urinary tract infection.
A blood glucose test (459, waaaay high), and an un-palpable bladder, (it was too small to find), suggested my hunch was correct.
SO, important take home message to everyone out there: If your cat seems to be visiting the litter box frequently, and/or is only able to produce a small amount of urine, or if you ever see your pet urinate and it isn't a light yellow color (really any other color is bad, not red, not pink, not orange, not brown), or if your pet is vocalizing (indicates they are in pain) in the litter box (or any other place your pet is eliminating), then go to the vet immediately! If there is any way you can bring a urine sample (ideally a free catch from the source urine sample) then bring that too.
When vets say "free catch" we are speaking about you catching a urine sample as your pet is urinating. The best sample is a mid-stream catch. I know it sounds silly, and virtually impossible but it can be done. I think it works best of someone takes the pet out on a leash
My favorite story of urinary tract infection is the year that we had our first snowfall in late October. The next two days after that fluke 12 inch snow fall I saw 6 clients who all came in telling me that "they were outside with their dog and when they peed they noticed that the snow was pink." ( I guess we need to start telling kids to not eat the yellow or pink snow?). Those pets all probably had infections for months and no one ever noticed until the snow fell.
I know it sounds gross and silly but we all really need to pay attention to what is coming out of our pets. I will ask you to describe every item that comes out of every orifice. If they vomit I need you to describe how it happened, (i.e. did their stomach contract? did it look like the food just fell out of their mouths? what did everything look like, your pet, the product?) This is all very important information. Your pet's treatment plan and long term prognosis is based to a great extent on the information you give us.
The 9 am blocked cat turned out to be a diabetic. I knew as soon as I saw the medical chart that this was probably not a blocked cat.
OK, let's review diabetes. Diabetes happens when the pancreas gets overwhelmed by trying to digest all of the sugar in the body. (This is the very very simple version). For cats we see this in obese, overweight cats being fed a dry food. It is an acquired disease. These cats show up at the clinic as having one of a few complaints; 1. drinking excessively 2. and/or urinating inappropriately, 3. unexplained weight loss, 4. loss of vision. In all cases a diabetic cat drinks excessively and because of this urinates excessively. It is therefore, almost impossible for a diabetic cat to have a urinary blockage. they are the most flushed pets on the planet. BUT, what diabetics do get is chronic infections. The diabetes is an immunosuppressive disease. These guys are far more likely to get concurrent infections that the normal healthy adult cat. So, right off the bat I suspected we had a cat going to the litter box excessively and only producing small amounts of urine because there was a urinary tract infection.
A blood glucose test (459, waaaay high), and an un-palpable bladder, (it was too small to find), suggested my hunch was correct.
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| Just rescued after being hit by a car |
I focus a lot on cats. They are the underdogs (pun intended) of my community and profession. People spend far less time and money on taking care of their cats than their dogs. Cats are also much better at hiding a problem, so those problems are often magnified by the time we see them.
Please follow me and please see the many other blogs I have on blocked cats, or FUO, feline urinary obstructions.
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