Your cat will be treated on an inpatient basis and will be started on supportive care (e.g., fluids and antibiotics) while diagnostic testing is performed. Correction of fluid and electrolyte deficits will be undertaken using intravenous fluid therapy over 4–6 hours, followed by maintenance fluids as needed. Some patients may be extremely polyuric (excessive urination), necessitating higher maintenance fluid rates to replace those being excreted.
Relieving the lower urinary tract obstruction as soon as possible by catheterization will be a foremost priority, along with serial cystocentesis. Cystostomy is the surgical formation of an opening through the abdomen into the urinary bladder using a tube-like structure. Any obstructions should then be surgically corrected as soon as is possible.
Your veterinarian will discuss with you the possible presence and implications of renal disease and the possible need for surgery should it be diagnosed. Specific treatment (usually surgical) depends on the cause of the disease and whether there is concurrent renal failure or other disease process at work (e.g., metastatic cancer). Emergency surgery is rarely required for renal disease. Kidney removal is generally not necessary unless is is infected or cancerous. If mild disease is secondary to the kidney stones, extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, which uses shock waves to break up the kidney stones, may be used as an alternative to surgery.
Living and Management
Your veterinarian will schedule follow-up appointments with you every 2-4 weeks after the obstruction has been successfully removed in order to monitor your cat's progress. Bloodwork will be taken at these appointments to be sure that the blood urea nitrogen and blood creatinine levels have fallen to normal levels. If you notice that your cat is urinating excessively and/or losing weight after the obstruction has been removed, contact your veterinarian for a further examination.
The act of making an opening narrower.
The failure of the kidneys to perform their proper functions
The area between the vulva and anus or scrotum and anus
The product of protein being metabolized; can be found in blood or urine.
Waste in the blood; may also be referred to as uremic poisoning.
An in-depth examination of the properties of urine; used to determine the presence or absence of illness
A tube found between the bladder and the outside of the body; used to assist in urination.
The tubular shaft found between the kidneys and the bladder
The term for the hip and related area
The actions involved in tying something
The wasting away of certain tissues; a medical condition that occurs when tissues fail to grow.
The end of the gastrointestinal tract; the opening at the end of the tract.
A localized infection, usually a lesion filled with pus. Can be large or small in size.
The widening of something
The process of making something larger by dilating or stretching it
The dilation of the pelvis due to obstruction of urine
The condition of having a part of a body part protruding through the tissue that would normally cover it
The accumulation of blood in bodily tissues
The space in the abdomen that holds the major digestive organs in an animal. Normally referred to as the area between the diaphragm and the pelvis. Also referred to as the peritoneal cavity.