1133. The male cat had urethral obstruction 7 years ago - kidney failure now?

On July 8, 2013, a grey male neutered 12-year-old cat had difficulty in urination for 2 days. I palpated the bladder. It was not swollen and so there was no urethral obstruction. 7 years ago, he had urethral obstruction and was catheterised by a vet and had recovered. He was fed dry food mainly and BURP canned food since 4 months ago.

I gave antibiotics. I advised dental work and change to feline C/D diet.


Then in Feb 4, 2014, he had dysuria again for one day. He lost appetite. He meowed a lot after urination and so the owner brought him to see me. The bladder was painful on palpation but was not distended to omuch. No vomiting or drinking or peeing excessively. Blood test showed a higher level of urea 14.8 (7.2-10.8) and creatinine 177 (71-160). Platelets were low at 238 (300-800).

I gave dextrose saline SC, irrigated the bladder with saline, gave antibiotics and Vit K1. X-rays showed a swollen left kidney (tumour or swelling?).

I phoned 2 days later and the grey cat was back to normal. He could control his bladder.

No news from the lady owner till today Mar 2, 2015, asking about the price of dry food, Prescription Diet K/D and wanting to buy feline C/D.


In November 2014, she had consulted another vet. The cat had started to vomit prior to boarding him for 2.5 weeks from Sep to Oct 2014. He vomited more often and became thinner. So, she consulted the other vet who took a blood test which showed slightly elevated urea and creatinine levels.

He prescribed K/D.
"How long did it take the cat to recover from vomiting?" I asked the working lady in her late 40s. She had rushed back from work to buy the food.

"he took 2-3 weeks to recover from vomiting and now had put on some weight. No more vomiting. I just wanted to stock up the dry K/D and buy 2 cans of feline K/D."

The cat was fed another brand of dry food and BURP in the past but now she switched to dry K/D.

"My cat prefers the wet food nowadays," she said when we met today.
"I did advise dental work as the gums will be painful when the cat eats dry food."
"Too old," she said the cat would be 15 years old in Dec this year and so no point spending money on dental. 

The cat would be on one tablespoon of K/D canned, canned BURP with low salt day and night and dry food K/D available. The cat did not have abnormal drinking.

It is a cat's destiny as to whether he has dentistry to relieve his tooth ache. Just like people as to where we live and earn a living. One client told me his friend's 11-year-old girl was missing for the past 3 days after going to the cinema in a country outside Singapore.   

This cat may not have kidney disease as there are no signs of drinking excessively.

If the cat had dental work 2 years ago to extract the rotten loose teeth, he would have a better quality of life but cat owners do not want to incur medical costs. A cat can live a longer life if his diet and health is monitored closely together with your vet.  Vomiting and weight loss are signs of poor health, not necessary kidney disease as the cat does not drink a lot of water. It could just be bacterial infections from the rotten teeth and a simple dental work by the vet would have made this cat much more lively.