The most common symptoms of cat struvite stones or calcium oxalate stones in cats is when they you cat has blood in the urine, struggles in the litter box or cries out during urination. You may mistake this for your cat being constipated. What really is occurring is that your cat has a stone blocking his ureter or urethra and his toxic urine is backing up in his body. Read this to get some pointers on how to prevent this painful cat disorder.
Uroliths are cat bladder stones and are caused by an overload of minerals like magnesium and salts, phosphorous, calcium and ammonia concentrating in your cat's urine. Your cat's urine normally has this stuff in it, but when it becomes over saturated with them then these painful crystals form.
Normally cat struvite stones and calcium oxalate crystals build up slowly. When conditions are right, they grow faster and larger. The main condition that causes these crystals to start to grow is when your cat doesn't get enough water. He may not have a good fresh source of water or doesn't get wet canned food to add water to his diet.
There are different types of bladder stones with the two most common being: struvite and calcium oxalate. Struvite stones occur more frequently than calcium oxalate stones. The difference being in what they are composed.
The shape of struvite stones are fairly large and round. Struvite stones in cats have a different chemical composition than calcium oxalate stones. They develop because of high concentrations of minerals in your cat's urine usually because he's not drinking enough water. He may not be urinating regularly to because of a feline bladder infection. A feline urinary tract infection can cause him to stop urinating too.
Calcium oxalate stones are typically smaller than struvite stones. If you look at them you will see they have jagged edges instead of round edges. They lodge in your cats' bladder, or in his kidneys or in his urethra or ureter. The ureter is the tube that connects the kidney to the bladder. When it is blocked by a calcium oxalate stone the urine can't pass.
Don't wait around waiting for the stone to pass, because this is a lethal situation for your cat. A blockage in your cat's urinary system is an emergency. When your cat's urine is blockeded for even one day, he will be very sick, in excruciating pain and his kidneys will be damaged.
What You Can Do To Prevent Struvite Stones In Cats
You may have heard about dog's getting struvite stones and they can. The difference is that struvite stones in dogs is caused by a canine urinary tract infection, not by a concentration of minerals in the dog's urine.
There is a good chance cat bladder stones will reoccur. It is wise to plan on a preventative program so you and your cat don't have to deal with cat struvite stones again.
This definitely needs to include plenty of fresh water every day. Don't let the bowl sit around with yesterday's water. Let your cat watch you do this chore and he'll reward you by immediately lapping up the fresh water.
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