What Is Blood In The Urine
Veterinarians use the word hematuria to describe blood in your cats urine. Blood in the urine can be a sign of infection, a hereditary condition, or a more serious health issue.
If your cat develops a problem in the urinary tract, you may see some blood in his urine. This can be a sign of a mild condition or it may be a sign of a more serious, underlying condition.
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Recovery Of Crystals In The Urine In Cats
The veterinarian will want to see the cat every three to six months in order to perform a urinalysis to ensure that crystals are no longer present in the urine and that the urine pH has returned to normal. Any other accompanying conditions, such as a urinary tract infection or bladder stones, will also need to be monitored. If symptoms don’t improve or worsen, the cat should immediately be seen by a veterinarian in order to determine if stones have formed that may be stopping the flow of urine.
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Preventing Common Urinary Problems In Cats
You may have heard of a cat parent who struggled with their cat urinating inappropriately or perhaps you’re a bit more acquainted with this yourself than you would like. Sometimes called feline lower urinary tract disease , this refers to a spectrum of different diseases that result in inappropriate urination from our feline roommates, explained the Cornell Feline Health Center. No one fully understands why these conditions develop or how to always successfully treat them. Here are two broad categories you can experiment with to prevent your cat from developing feline lower urinary tract signs .
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What Does Cat Pee Look Like In Litter Box
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Cirrhosis is chronic, end-stage liver disease in which normal liver tissue has been replaced by fibrous scar tissue. Your cat needs approximately 20% of normal liver function to survive. If normal liver function falls below 20%, the disease becomes terminal. Cirrhosis occurs as a result of damage to the liver by many diseases, drugs, or toxins. Diagnostic tests will be required to identify if your cat has cirrhosis of the liver. Treatment for your cat will vary depending on the underlying cause of the liver damage and cirrhosis. The most effective prevention of cirrhosis is to address liver disease as early as possible and maintain your cats preventive health care to avoid any situation that may cause liver disease.
Why is my cats urine dark orange? Cirrhosis occurs as a result of damage to the liver by many diseases, drugs, or toxins. Common diseases that may lead to cirrhosis include cancer as well as viral, bacterial, and fungal infections that cause hepatitis .
What color is healthy cat urine? A healthy cats pee should be a clear, pale yellow.
Causes Of Feline Urinary Tract Disease
FLUTD is a complex condition to diagnose and treat since there are multiple causes and contributing factors to this disease. Crystals, stones or debris can gradually build up in your cat’s urethra or bladder. Some other common causes of lower urinary tract issues in cats include:
- Incontinence due to excessive water consumption or weak bladder
- Spinal cord issues
- Urethral plug caused by the accumulation of debris from urine
- Bladder infection, inflammation, urinary tract infection
- Injury or tumor in the urinary tract
- Congenital abnormalities
- Emotional or environmental stressors
Urinary tract disease in cats is most often diagnosed in overweight, middle-aged cats who have little to no access to outdoors, eat a dry food diet or do not get enough physical activity, although cats of any age can get the condition. Male cats are also more prone to urinary diseases since their narrower urethras are more likely to become blocked.
Using an indoor litter box, emotional or environmental stress, multi-cat households or sudden changes to their everyday routine can also leave cats more vulnerable to urinary tract disease.
If your kitty is diagnosed with FLUTD it is essential to determine the underlying cause. FLUTD symptoms can be caused by serious underlying health issues such as bladder stones or infection due to cancer or a blockage.
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What Does It Mean When Your Cats Urine Smells Strong
Your cat visits her litter box about five times a day, so youll be left with a strong ammonia smell if you let the dirty litter sit. While this is normal, extreme odors could indicate a urinary tract infection and warrant a veterinary visit. The smell of your cats urine could be affected by what shes eating, too.
What Is Crystals In The Urine
Cats who present with crystalluria need to be seen by a veterinarian in order to properly identify the crystals and diagnose any underlying conditions that may be causing them to form.
The development of crystals in the urine, or crystalluria, occurs when normal minerals that float in the urine bind to each other. Crystalluria often occurs as part of another condition. The microscopic crystals have the appearance of fine sand. Though crystalluria isn’t always indicative of an accompanying condition or illness, such as a urinary tract infection or kidney stones, the formation of crystals puts the cat at an increased risk of these problems. A urinary blockage due to crystals in the urine is an emergency, and the cat needs to see a veterinarian immediately.
Vet bills can sneak up on you.
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How Much Pee Is Normal
Healthy cats typically pee between 2 and 4 times each day. But this frequency is also affected by water intake, diet, heat and humidity. Keep tabs on your cats peeing habits. Did it use to pee twice a day but recently started to do so more than usual? And also, is there an increase in urine output? If theres a sudden increase in urine output, it could be a symptom for diseases such as kidney disease, diabetes and hyperthyroidism. But dont panic yet!
What you can do: Take your cat to the vet and explain your observations.
If your cat is peeing less than normal, one possible cause could be that there are crystals in his urethra blocking the flow of pee. The cause of crystals in cats is usually the result of a mainly dry cat food diet.
What you can do: Incorporate more high quality wet foods such as freeze dried cat food or canned cat food into your cats diet to reduce crystals and prevent new crystals from forming. But to be safe, it would be best to take your kitty to the vet. Its possible that the crystals need to be surgically removed.
How Many Times A Day Does A Cat Urinate
This is a tricky question to answer as cats can be very private with their toileting habits. The type of food your cat consumes may also make a difference to urine output. Wet food has a higher water content than dry food. He may either pass small amounts of urine frequently or not pass any at all. There are several possible medical problems which cause either frequent urination or problems urinating including diabetes, bladder infection, cystitis, bladder stones, urinary crystals and urinary obstruction .
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How To Clean Cat Urine
In order to successfully remove urine, you need to use an enzymatic cleaner in order to break it down. Common household products and detergents may temporarily mask the odour, but they will not remove it.
- Blot up as much urine as you can with paper towels.
- Sponge the stain with warm water to dilute it as much as possible.
- Continue to remove as much moisture as possible with paper towels.
- Use an enzymatic cleaner, following the manufacturers instructions.
For more information on cleaning cat urine, read here.
What Causes Blood In A Cats Urine
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When Seeing Blood In Your Cats Urine Is An Emergency
If your cat is peeing blood and is only able to get a few drops out at a time, this is a medical emergency. First, contact your regular vets office and let them know what is going on. They may be able to see your cat otherwise you need to get your cat to an emergency vet oranimal hospital as soon as possible.
These signs indicate an emergency:
- Straining to urinate with no to little urine production
- Yowling while in the litter box, as if in pain
- Being painful in the belly
- Lethargy
- Vomiting
- Not eating
If your cat is a male cat, this is even more so an emergency. Male cats, especially overweight male cats, can get a life-threatening urinary blockage. If not treated immediately, your cat could die. It is always best to be on the safe side and have your cat examined to see if they are blocked than just waiting and seeing if they get better on their own.
Causes Of Blood In The Urine In Cats
A variety of conditions can cause hematuria to occur. They range from mild to very serious and include:
- Abnormality of the urinary tract
- Infection
- Blood clotting disorders
- Trauma
- Cancer of the urinary tract that may occur with e.g. a transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder
- Bladder stones
- Abnormal urine pH leading to crystal formation
- Medications
- Idiopathic, or of unknown origin
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Bladder Or Urethral Stones
Bladder stones can be pesky little things. Since they can sometimes move around within the bladder, or even get stuck in the urethra, they can cause a variety of clinical symptoms. If your cat has a small bladder stone, they may not even have any symptoms at all. Bladder stones are sometimes diagnosed by accident if your cat needs an x-ray for another reason.
If your cat has multiple bladder stones or a stone that is growing, your cat may have blood in their urine that comes and goes. You may notice a pink tinge to their urine one day, drops of blood another day, and clear, normal colored urine the next. Your cat may also have intermittent urinary accidents outside of the box or occasional straining in the box.
If your cat gets a stone stuck in their urethra, they will not be able to urinate, will feel very uncomfortable, and may become lethargic, stop eating, and hide. They may also lick at their genitals frequently. If you notice this, take them to a veterinary clinic right away.
Causes Of Crystals In The Urine In Cats
Crystalluria may be caused by the following:
- Oversaturation of minerals in the urine
- High concentration of crystallogenic substances in urine
- Dehydration
- Off-balance urine pH that is too acidic or alkaline
- Urinary tract infection
- Breed disposition, such as Persian, Burmese or Himalayan
- Medications
- Radiology diagnostic agents, such as radiopaque contrast agents
- Improper diet
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Blood In The Litter Box
First, its hard to differentiate if what youve noticed is bloody urine or feces or vomit. When in doubt, take a few pictures with your smartphone, and then suck some up or worst case, wipe it up on a clean white paper towel and fold it into a plastic Ziploc bagand bring it to your veterinarian. Gross as it sounds, we veterinarians want to see it and can often determine the source.
Earlier this month, one of my friends reached out. They have a WiFi-enabled, self-cleaning Litter-Robot 3 Connect, and noticed this on the smartphone app:
This app shows the number of trips that their cat was making to the automatic litter box. You can see that this cat typically averages 2-3 visits to the Litter Robot per day. Then all of a sudden in a 2-day period, this poor kitty was visiting the litter box 14-16X/day. Woah! Cats normally visit the litter box 1-4X/day. If you see that many trips to the litter box, something is medically wrong, and a visit to the veteven the ER vet in the middle of the nightis a MUST.
Bladder Stones In Cats
Bladder stones are rock-like formations of minerals that develop in the urinary bladder. All stones form because of disease or inflammation in the bladder. The most common signs of bladder stones in the cat are blood in the urine and straining to urinate. Large stones may act almost like a valve, causing an “on-off” or partial obstruction at the neck of the bladder. In males, small stones become lodged in the urethra and cause an obstruction. X-rays or ultrasound may be necessary for diagnosis. The fastest way to remove bladder stones is via a surgical procedure called a cystotomy. Special diets or passing a catheter may be successful for some bladder stones. Your veterinarian will advise you of the best course of action for your cats particular situation.
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Symptoms Of Blood In The Urine In Cats
The signs associated with blood in the urine depend on the cause of the condition. Here are some of the most common signs that can accompany blood in your cats urine:
- Red colored urine
- Passing urine more frequently than normal
- Palpable mass in cats who have tumors
- Pain when urinating
- Strong odor of ammonia in urine
- Prolonged squatting or straining while in the litter box
- Avoiding the litter box
- Urinating in unusual places inside
- Distended abdominal area
- Lethargy
Types
There are several different types of conditions that could cause your cat to have blood in his urine. Some of the most common are:
- Infection
- Physical abnormalities of the urinary tract
- Bladder cancer
What Causes Lower Urinary Tract Problems In Cats
When you take your cat to the vet, they may have questions about your cat’s symptoms to try and narrow down the cause of the problem. There are several common reasons for urinary tract problems in cats, including the following.
Urinary Tract Infection
Cats get UTIs when there is a bacterial infection in their bladder or urethra. Your vet will need a urine sample to diagnose this condition.
Uroliths
Urine naturally contains minerals that can clump up and form tiny crystals, and even large stones, in your cat’s bladder. They can irritate the lining of the bladder or urethra and cause bloody urine and pain while urinating.
Continued
Your vet will need to do urine tests, x-rays, or an ultrasound to diagnose urinary stones.
Urethral Obstruction
In some cases, your cat’s urethra can be completely blocked, either by stones or by a build-up of minerals and tissue called a “urethral plug.”
A cat with an obstruction like this won’t be able to pass urine at all. An obstruction of the urethra is a medical emergency and you should call your vet right away.
Feline Idiopathic Cystitis
Occasionally, the inside of a cat’s lower urinary tract will get irritated without an infection or stones being present. Sometimes it can be a symptom of stress or a reaction to a change in diet.
Other Causes
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