Urinary stones in cats are not only painful for the four-legged friends, they also often cause misunderstandings for the owner. Many ask: “Has my cat got dirty?” Because the velvet paw avoids the litter box. We give tips about urinary stones in cats.
What are bladder stones in cats?
If the cat suffers from urinary stones, also known as “bladder stones”, experts refer to this as “urolithiasis”. Urinary stones in cat urine are caused by tiny minerals found in every cat’s body, which crystallize and thus form “stones”. The pH value in the urine plays an important role in the formation of urinary stones. In healthy velvet paws, it should be between 6.5 and 7.2. If it rises or falls, minerals crystallize in cat urine – urinary stones are the result.
With their rough surface, they can injure the bladder wall. This can cause pain and blood in the urine, as well as bladder infections. Urinary stones can clog the urethra – this is a life-threatening emergency. Urolithiasis in cats is one of the Feline Lower Urinary Tract Diseases, or FLUTD for short. This is what experts call a group of urinary tract disorders in cats that cause similar symptoms.
Urine semolina
Urinary gravel is the preliminary stage of urinary stones. These are the first accumulations of minerals in cat urine. They are already visible to the naked eye in a urine sample – they look like grains of sand. Urinary gravel can develop into various urinary stones.
Struvite stones
Struvite stones are ammonium-magnesium-phosphate crystals. They occur when the pH in the urine is above 7. The minerals then accumulate with protein compounds in the cat’s body. Struvite stones are most common in young to middle-aged fur noses and can grow up to 1 cm in size. Food rich in magnesium and phosphate favors them.
Calcium oxalate stones
Too acidic urine below a pH value of 6.3 offers an optimal environment for the formation of calcium oxalate stones. Too much calcium in the feed can trigger these types of urinary stones. They tend to appear in middle-aged and old cats.
Rare bladder stones in cats
If cats have urinary stones, these are usually struvite or calcium oxalate stones. But in ten percent of the cases, the stones are composed of other minerals. Accordingly, there are calcium phosphate stones, urate stones, and cystine stones.
What are the causes of urinary stones in cats?
Bacterial infections are rarely the cause of bladder stones. Mostly it is a combination of disposition, food, a small amount of drinking, and other living conditions.
So there is not just one trigger, but several that, in the worst case, cause bladder stones.
You can read more about this in the last two sections.
Symptoms of bladder stones in cats
The spectrum of urinary stone symptoms ranges from mild to life-threatening complaints. Often, uncleanliness is the first symptom that draws cat owners’ attention to the plight of their velvet paws. Because the fur noses have pain when urinating. Some associate the pain with the small business location, the litter box – and avoid it. Many cat owners of velvet paws with bladder stones can observe the following:
- Meowing when urinating
- frequent withdrawal of small amounts of urine
- long persistence in the litter box
- Peeing on soft surfaces: carpets, towels, bedding
- the cat avoids the litter box
- Incontinence – the cat cannot hold the urine
- Blood in the urine
Unfortunately, many cat owners misinterpret uncleanliness as a behavioral problem, even though it is a painful urinary tract disease. In the event of sudden uncleanliness, the first route should always be to the vet!
Urinary stone diagnosis at the veterinarian
A urine sample from the cat is important for the veterinarian to make a diagnosis. There is a special cat litter to collect a urine sample – the urine sample can be a challenge for those who are outdoors. In some cases, the urine has to be massaged out in the veterinary practice. The vet examines the urine for inflammation and uses a microscope. Urinary stones are just as visible under the microscope as they are on ultrasound. It is important to know which urinary stones the cat has. Because a urine acidic feed that dissolves struvite stones favors calcium oxalate stones.
Treating bladder stones in cats
Struvite stones without severe symptoms can be treated by changing your diet. The velvet paw is given medication or special food that acidifies the urine. In this way, the urinary stones dissolve over the course of a few weeks. Regularly checking the pH of the urine can help prevent ping-pong effects. If the urine becomes too acidic, calcium oxalate stones can develop. If these are available, a change in feed or medication will unfortunately not help. If there is a bacterial inflammation of the bladder, antibiotics should be taken in parallel.
Alternatively, massaging, rinsing, or surgery is other ways to treat bladder stones in cats. If you want to use home remedies for urinary stones in cats, you should only do this after consulting your veterinarian. To use individual homeopathy, you should seek out an experienced animal health practitioner. The cost of treating urinary stones in cats varies greatly depending on the condition.
Emergency urethral obstruction in cats
If urinary stones block the urethra so that urine can no longer pass, the cat’s life is in acute danger. Because the urine backs up into the kidneys. As a result, there is a risk of kidney failure, which can lead to death within two to three days. Since the urethra in male cats is narrower than in female animals, they are more prone to life-threatening urethral obstruction due to bladder stones.
The vet will try to massage the stone or flush it into the bladder to avoid surgery on the very sensitive ureter. A comparable emergency is a ureter occlusion, which can also be triggered by urinary stones. The ureters connect the bladder to the kidney. Speaking of kidneys: urinary stones can also migrate into the kidneys and, as kidney stones, lead to inflammation or chronic kidney failure. However, this rarely happens.
Which food is suitable for cats with urinary stones?
Should cats who have had urinary stones be given special food for life? Not all cat lovers agree on this. Many experts appeal to the switch to high-quality wet food. Because dry food hardly contains any moisture. Since cats drink little, wet food makes a big contribution to urinary stone prophylaxis.
It is undisputed that a lot of water prevents urinary stones in cats. This dilutes the minerals in the urine. In the case of an acutely ill cat, you should always follow the advice of the veterinarian when he recommends special dry food and a urinary stone diet. Urinary stone diets often have names like “urinary”. When it comes to prevention, you can switch to high-quality wet food with regular pH value monitoring.
Which cats are at risk of getting urinary stones?
Every velvet paw can develop urinary stones. But there are factors that have a beneficial effect. Some cats have a predisposition to bladder stones – whether urolithiasis occurs more often in certain breeds than in others is controversial. Persians, Sacred Birman, and Ragdoll are said to be at higher risk for calcium oxalate stones. Vegetables, grass, and nuts have a high proportion of oxalate – but very few velvet paws have cravings for them.
Long-term feeding of a special diet against struvite stones can also promote calcium oxalate stones. Just like food with a lot of calcium and little vitamin B6. Certain diseases and medications such as cortisone and furosemide can increase the tendency to develop urinary stones. Overweight, neutered house tigers, i.e. cats kept purely at home, from the age of four, have the highest risk of urinary stones.
Preventing bladder stones in cats
- Wet food with a low magnesium and phosphorus content;
- Avoid being overweight;
- Promote drinking through several bowls, drinking fountains;
- Appropriate nutrition – Barfen only with sufficient specialist knowledge
species-appropriate exercise.
