Internal & hormonal
Urinary Health
Lower-urinary problems: the blocked-cat emergency, cystitis, stones and incontinence.
4 topics · 31 guides from PetsLikeMine
Who can help near you
- Your vet1 kind
- Specialists2 kinds
- Emergency care1 kind
Listed by distance from you. Nobody pays to be listed.
Feline Idiopathic Cystitis (FLUTD)
7 guides from PetsLikeMine
Feline Idiopathic Cystitis: Why Stress Gives Your Cat a Sore BladderA cat that keeps getting "urine infections" the antibiotics never quite fix is one of the odder problems we see, because the usual logic doesn't apply. There is no…10 min read · on PetsLikeMine Managing FIC with MEMO: The Environment Changes That Actually Work"Reduce your cat's stress" and "enrich the environment" are the two instructions vets hand out most often for feline idiopathic cystitis (FIC), and they're also the two…12 min read · on PetsLikeMine Water, Diet and Your Cat's Bladder: Increasing Intake and When a Urinary Diet HelpsCats treat "get more water into them" with the contempt they reserve for most of our ideas. They drink when they feel like it, ignore the lovely new bowl, and leave you…11 min read · on PetsLikeMine
All 7 guides on this topic
- Getting the Diagnosis: Why FIC Is What's Left When Everything Else Is Ruled Out 8 min
- The FIC Flare: Pain Relief, the First 48 Hours, and Watching for a Block 8 min
- Breaking the Cycle: Stress, Multi-Cat Tension and Preventing the Next Flare 8 min
- Calming Aids, Pheromones and When Medication Has a Role 10 min
Urethral Obstruction
5 guides from PetsLikeMine
The Blocked Cat: The Emergency Every Owner of a Male Cat Must RecogniseOf all the things that can go wrong with a male cat, one is worth keeping in your head ready, because it's the urinary emergency that actually kills, and it kills fast…11 min read · on PetsLikeMine Will It Happen Again? Preventing a Re-block After Your Cat Comes HomeYou've brought him home. He's a bit subdued, maybe shaved on one front leg from the drip, and you're watching the litter tray like it owes you money. That fear in your…11 min read · on PetsLikeMine What Happens at the Vet: Unblocking, the Catheter and the Hospital StayThe call is made, or about to be, and your blocked cat is going in. That's the hardest and most important step done, because a male cat who can't pass urine is in a true…9 min read · on PetsLikeMine
Bladder Stones (Uroliths)
6 guides from PetsLikeMine
Bladder Stones in Cats and Dogs: The Two Main Types, and Why the Difference Is EverythingBladder stones nearly always raise the same first question: does this mean surgery? It's a fair worry, and the honest answer is that it depends almost entirely on one…11 min read · on PetsLikeMine Dissolving Struvite Stones with Diet, and When Surgery Is Needed InsteadStruvite is the one common bladder stone that you can often make disappear without surgery. On the right diet it melts away over a few weeks, with your pet at home…8 min read · on PetsLikeMine Calcium Oxalate Stones: Prevention When You Can't Dissolve ThemWhen the lab report names a bladder stone as calcium oxalate, there's a conversation that catches almost everyone off guard: no special diet will melt this one away…9 min read · on PetsLikeMine
Urinary Incontinence
4 guides from PetsLikeMine
My Spayed Dog Is Leaking Urine: Urethral Sphincter Incontinence ExplainedA damp patch on her bed, a faint smell of urine in the mornings even though she's just been out, the odd wet spot on your own duvet: these are the signs that bring a lot…10 min read · on PetsLikeMine Treating Incontinence: The Medicines That Work, and What to Try When They Don'tSo the leaking now has a name (urethral sphincter mechanism incompetence, USMI, the weak bladder-neck muscle we explain in my spayed dog is leaking urine), and there's a…10 min read · on PetsLikeMine Is It Incontinence or Something Else? Ruling Out Infection, Stones and BehaviourA damp patch on the bed, a leaking spayed dog, and a tidy explanation that it's a weak bladder-neck muscle. That fits most cases, and it's reassuring. But before you…10 min read · on PetsLikeMine
All 4 guides on this topic
More guides
9 from PetsLikeMine
My Cat Is Straining in the Litter Tray: What's Going On, and What to DoA cat who goes to the tray, crouches, strains, and walks away with little or nothing to show for it, then heads back ten minutes later to repeat the whole thing, is one…10 min read · on PetsLikeMine Is This an Emergency? The Blocked-Cat Signs You Must Not Wait OnA male cat going in and out of the litter tray, straining, crying and passing little or no urine is the one scenario on this page that can't wait. If that's your cat…9 min read · on PetsLikeMine Blood in Your Pet's Urine: What It Means and How Worried to BeA pink puddle on the floor, a red-tinged clump in the litter tray, a drip that's clearly not the right colour: any of these makes your stomach drop. The word "blood"…9 min read · on PetsLikeMine
All 9 guides here
- "Is It a UTI?" Why Your Cat Probably Hasn't Got One (and Your Dog Might) 9 min
- How to Describe Urinary Signs to Your Vet, and How to Collect a Urine Sample 11 min
- Why Getting More Water in Is the Best Thing You Can Do for Your Pet's Bladder 9 min
- Urinary Tract Infections in Dogs: When Antibiotics Are, and Aren't, the Answer 10 min
- Weeing in the House: Telling a Medical Problem from Marking and Behaviour 11 min
- Bladder or Kidneys? When Urinary Signs Point Higher Up 10 min
Find care near you
Your urinary health care team
These are the practitioners this condition can call for, from your everyday vet to specialists and therapists. Enter your postcode to see who's near you at each step.
- Your vet (primary care)
Internal-medicine specialist ·Referral hospital
Emergency / out-of-hours vet
With PetsLikeMine
Read the whole journey on PetsLikeMine
Every urinary health guide, in order, sits in its own space on PetsLikeMine, written by owners and vets who have been through it. We show the first few here and link to the rest.
Read every urinary health guide