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7 year old British shorthair Toby is a very clean cat and always uses his litter tray perfectly. Recently however, Toby had been leaving little patches of wee around the house. One afternoon, Toby’s owner returned from work to find Toby straining to urinate in the shower so he brought him in for an examination. 

Toby had a large hard and painful bladder as the urethra that takes urine from the bladder to the outside world was obstructed. This is a potentially life threatening condition and Toby needed urgent catheterisation to unblock his bladder. 

There are many causes of urethral obstruction in cats but the two most common are urethral plugs (consisting of mucous and cells) and uroliths (made up of small crystal material). Many factors interact to produce uroliths and urethral plugs; viruses, bacteria, diet, decreased water consumption, physical inactivity, urine retention, stress, and urine pH may all contribute. Male cats are at greater risk for obstruction than females because their urethra is longer and narrower. 

After three days in hospital, Toby was once again able to pass urine on his own, and was ready to go home.

To prevent recurrence of Toby’s problems, he was started on a special urinary diet. This commercially prepared food is available in both dry and wet forms and is formulated to help prevent the crystals from building up in his urine.

Two weeks later Toby has adapted well to his new diet and is happily using his litter tray again.

Every month we put the names of all the animals that have visited us into a hat, and we draw out a name to be Pet of the Month. That pet then has its photo taken, and given a nutritional consultation and complimentary bag of premium pet food appropriate to its health and life stage.

Last month’s winner was Banjo, a 5 year old desexed Jack Russell.  He is a pretty healthy little guy, but like many dogs, is prone to getting anal gland problems, which is why he came in to see the vet.

Banjo has a little tartar building up on his teeth, but his main problem is related to his anal glands. Rhonda chose Royal Canin neutered small dog for Banjo – it focuses on digestive security to help his intestines and anal glands work better, and also contains enzymes for tartar control on his teeth.

Congratulations, Banjo, and we hope that what’s going in the front end helps with your back end!!