2967. INTERN. A cat has dysuria and pollakiuria after boarding

Aug 17, 2015

Aug 15, 2015. Cat. 4 years. Female. Boarded last week. Dysuria and pollakiuria for the past 5 days.

Black and white cat. (video).

AUGUST 15, 2015

On August 15, 2015, I saw this 3-year-old male, not neutered cat. He peed with difficulty (dysuria) and dribbled urine all over the apartment (pollakiuria) for the last 5 days.

AUGUST 5-10, 2015
He was in a boarding cattery in Pasir Ris ing for 5 days over the National Day holidays (Aug 5-10). The owners were worried about his illness.

"Are there other cats in the house?" I asked.
"No," the wife said.  So this cat would not be stressed out by sharing litter boxes or bullied by other cats. As for toilet, he goes to the squatting toilet bowl to do his business. 

AUGUST 15, 2015
I palpated the kidneys. The cat reacted in pain (Video clip). X-rays showed enlarged kidneys (image).

The blood was collected from the jugular vein (video clip). Blood results showed normal kidneys and liver. Only that the platelet count was low at 33 (300-800). The low platelet  count could mean that this cat had licked some poisons during boarding. The owners said that the cat's body had a strong stench of urine and smell on return from boarding. These body stains would be toxic and the cat would attempt to groom himself, licking off as much of the toxic contaminants on his body. The toxins entered his blood stream. They  caused pain in the bladder and urination.

Treatment was by haemodialysis with IV drip to flush out the toxins in the blood. Antibiotics and painkillers. The cat was boarded for one day and went home on August 16, 2015.


AUGUST 18, 2015 TEL TO OWNER.
As at Aug 18, 2015, the cat is active and has recovered fully his bladder control. 

ADVICES TO OWNER
1. Lifestyle of the cat is as follows:
1.1  Daytime - free to roam in the apartment. Toilet would be the squatting toilet bowl and toilet floor.
Night-time - confined to a small carrier (video). This is to prevent noise nuisance and urine marking. Sometimes he would soil his body with urine and stools overnight.
1.2  Next morning, the cat's body would be washed and cleaned before letting out. Most likely, the boarding cattery would not bother to adopt this lifestyle of cleaning the cat daily.

2. Neutering the male cat would have prevented the caterwauling noises and urine marking.  For religious reasons, the owners did not want to do it. So, night confinement to the carrier and daily body cleaning would be performed.


In Singapore, some male dogs are similarly confined to a cage at night to prevent urine marking. Some owners put on pads to cover the back of the dog to contain the urine or prevent urine marking when they are not at home. 

The best advice is to neuter the cat or dog at 6 months of age to prevent urine-marking and noise nuisance.

FOLLOW UP ON SEP 30, 2015
No complaints from the owner as the cat is normal now.