Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD) – VetVid Episode 008

Hello, I’m Dr. Mike. Today were going to talk
about feline lower urinary tract disease. This is a very common disease, especially
in male or overweight cats. It is veryimportant to recognize the signs of this disease,
as it can be serious, requiringemergency care and possibly surgery. FLUTD
stands for feline lower urinary tractdisease and its a disease that can affect
our cat population, usually the younger catswho are anywhere between about six months
to about five years or so. It is somethingwhere the kidneys are working and they’re
producing urine and making the urine go intothe bladder, but the bladder is not able to
evacuate itself, so the urine backs up intothe
urinary bladder and is not able to get tothe outside. Its predominately our male cats
with this particular disease. Overweight catstend to be more effected than our lean
cats, but the young male cats are the onesthat are most effected. Clinical signs that
they’ll often notice are cats that are goingto the litter box more frequently than normal,
so several times, not really producing anyurine. A lot of times, cats will also vomit
andnot want to eat. They will sometimes show
signs of discomfort as well, just as the urineis accumulating in the bladder, unable to
be passed. If an owner notices the clinicalsigns of this disease, this needs to be seen
by a veterinarian immediately. It is lifethreatening. Typical diagnostics that your
veterinarian may recommend start with aurinalysis, and a blood panel to evaluate
kidney function as well. Knowing that thecats
typically do not have urinary tract infectionassociated with FLUTD is up in the air as
faras if they will recommend a urinary culture
as well. Other tests that may berecommended include abdominal ultrasound.
X-rays are important, however, foranimals who are showing clinical signs for
the first time, it’s not always indicated. Treatments associated with this disease for
cats that are having the mild symptomsoften require a little bit of fluid therapy
so if you present to your veterinarian theymay
recommend fluids underneath the skin, sometimesthey will prophyllactically treat with antibiotics
but most importantly its pain control andmonitoring your animal to make sure that they
are not going to fully obstruct. Many times,dietary therapy is indicated as well, depending
on what we see on the urinalysis, but themost important thing with dietary therapy
is canned food at least initially. It a catobstructs completely, meaning they’re unable
to pass any urine at all, the veterinarianwill recommend most of the time to go ahead
and place an IV Catheter, sedate your cat,and actually place a urinary catheter to relieve
the obstruction. Most of the time, its nota stone, where this is not a surgical procedure,
it’s a medical management situation wherea few days on IV fluids and medical therapy
remove the catheter and then send it homefor at home care is usually what’s indicated.
There are preventative measures in as muchas depending on the urinalysis results that
your veterinarian will go over with you. Sometimesthere are crystals that are there that require
dietary therapy, sometimes fluids are indicated,sometimes other medications are indicated
as well, depending on the individual casethat presented for the feline urinary tract
disease. There you have it. Feline lower urinarytract disease can be a potentially fatal disease.
I would like to reiterate a very importantpoint that Dr. Mourning discussed. That is,
make sure your pet drinks more water. To recap,canned food is a way of getting more water
into your pets diet. I often send my patientshome on a very specific diet. I picked the
diet based on results of their lab tests andtheir individual needs. Your veterinarian
may discuss with you the importance of pHof the urine, if there are crystals, or if
there is an infection present, there are manyover the counter diets that claim to be urinary
diets and many of them can be very beneficial. However, you need to talk to your veterinarian
first to see if they think a dietary changeis necessary and which diet your pet should
have. Remember, if your recognize any of thesigns we discussed, call your veterinarian
immediately. Don’t wait. I hope this informationhas been helpful. Thank you for watching.