Tag Archives: urination

Caring for your Cat, Cats, Diseases of cats

Keeping your pets safe this Summer – Blocked Cats the Medical Emergency

A cat that cannot urinate is a medical emergency. This can be life threatening in a short time!
We often take calls from owners who think their cat is constipated and it turns out they are actually trying to urinate but they have a blockage preventing urine from being passed.
Cats have two kidneys that filter their blood and remove the waste products from the blood into the urine. The urine flows down tubes called ureters from the kidneys to the bladder. It is then excreted from the body through a tube called the urethra which connects the bladder to the penis where it is expelled out of the body. A ‘blocked cat’ is one where the urethra is blocked which prevents the urine from being passed.
Male cats are most at risk of this because of their anatomy. The urethra runs from the bladder through the penis but there is a bend in the urethra and it becomes narrower at the bend. The blockage is often comprised of protein, cells and crystals or stones.
Male cats that are overweight, confined indoors, don’t consume enough water or are fed dry food only are at greater risk of becoming blocked.
Signs to look for: straining to urinate, vocalizing when trying to urinate, frequent visits to the litter tray but not passing more than a few drops, discoloured urine. As the condition progresses the cat may move restlessly or hide because of the discomfort and eventually lose their appetite and become lethargic.
If you see your cat straining to urinate, seek veterinary help immediately.

Caring for your Cat, Cats, Diseases of cats, Today's News

Kitty Dementia

Dementia, also known as feline cognitive dysfunction, is an age-related disorder of brain function causing multiple behaviour changes.

In cats the behaviour changes include:

  • Yowling excessively and inappropriately
  • Urinating or defecating outside the litter box and around the house
  • Disorientation and aimless wandering
  • Restlessness
  • Changes in interaction with people or other pets such as aggression, irritability and clinginess
  • Erratic sleeping behaviour: waking, pacing or yowling at night, sleeping less at night and more during the day
  • Decreased grooming

Some diseases mimic cognitive dysfunction. These include hyperthyroidism, brain tumours, viral diseases, high blood pressure, chronic pain, arthritis, diabetes, and urinary tract infections. Many of these diseases exacerbate the behaviour changes of cognitive dysfunction, too, so we must check for and/or treat them before we confirm a diagnosis of cognitive dysfunction.

Some commonly used drugs such as prednisolone and valium also reduce brain function. Alternatives that reduce decline are often available.

Therapies

1. Diet: Anti-oxidants delay and treat dementia. Antioxidants include Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Alpha-lipoic acid, L-carnitine and beta-carotene. Fruits and vegetables contain many of these.

Omega 3 fatty acids as found in fish oil or food supplements such as Nutricoat also help.

2. Physical therapy and environmental enrichment: Stimulate brain function and delay the onset of dementia with environmental enrichment and games. Try scattering or hiding food or catnip around the house, provide toys that require batting or rolling to release food, give opportunities for climbing, perching and exploring, trail ribbon or feathers along. Petting, brushing and massage stimulate the nerves and brains of old cats, too.

3. Your vet may prescribe medications to reduce inflammation, enhance memory or improve brain function.

Diseases of dogs, Dogs, Internal diseases of Dogs

Cushing’s disease

In dogs with Cushing’s disease the adrenal glands overproduce some of the body’s regulators, particularly cortisol.

What are the signs of Cushing’s disease?

The most common signs of Cushing’s disease are marked increases in appetite, water consumption and urination. Lethargy, panting and a poor hair coat are also common. We often see a pot-bellied or bloated abdomen due to increased fat within the abdominal organs and thinning of the muscular abdominal wall.

What causes Cushing’s disease?

The three major causes of Cushing’s Disease:

  1. A tumour of the pituitary gland, that stimulates the adrenal glands to produce excessive  amounts of cortisol.
  2. Excessive administration of synthetic cortisones cortisones such as prednisolone, triamcinolone or dexamethasone may cause Iatrogenic Cushing’s disease.
  3. An adrenal gland tumour is an uncommon cause of Cushing’s Disease.

If we suspect Cushing’s Disease we run a blood test to check your dog’s general health. An enzyme called Alkaline Phosphatase (ALKP) is often high in dogs with Cushing’s disease. A Low Dose Dexamethasone test (LDDT) confirms or denies Cushing’s disease.

To determine which type of Cushing’s disease your pet has, we ultrasound the adrenal glands and/or do an endogenous ACTH blood test.

What are the treatment options?

Pituitary Tumour: This is the most common cause of Cushing’s disease. There are two treatment options for it. Trilostane is our drug of choice. A daily capsule of Trilostane reduces the production of cortisone and another important hormone, aldosterone.  We monitor your dog’s response to Trilostane with a test called the ACTH stimulation test. Too little Trilostane won’t reduce appetite or water consumption but too much will cause illness.

If your dog has liver or kidney disease we may suggest treatment with Mitotane (also known as Lysodren). This drug destroys part of the adrenal gland. Careful monitoring and good communication with your vet is necessary during the initial intensive treatment to achieve good results and avoid life-threatening adrenal damage.

Although the pituitary tumour remains present and continues to stimulate the adrenal gland if the tumour is small successful control for many years in most dogs is possible.  If the tumour is large, it may invade surrounding brain tissue and cause other signs, but this is rare.

Iatrogenic Cushing’s Disease: To treat this type of Cushing’s disease we must stop the synthetic cortisone in a very controlled way. If we stop intensive cortisone treatment abruptly your dog may lose his appetite, vomit, develop diarrhea and collapse. The suppressed adrenal gland takes a while to regain normal production of cortisol.

Treatment of an Adrenal Tumour:

Adrenal tumours tend to invade surrounding tissue but if we can surgically remove it all and it is not malignant your dog will regain normal health. Otherwise we treat adrenal tumours with Trilostane also.

Caring for your Dog, Diseases of dogs, Dogs, general

Doggy dementia

Dementia affects old dogs in the same way it affects some older people with declining brain function.

Signs of dementia:

  • Disorientation: staring into space, getting lost in the house or yard, getting stuck in corners or under furniture, standing at the wrong door to go out
  • Reduced interaction with human family members: not greeting owners or seeking attention, following people around the house or losing interest in household events
  • Loss of house-training: urinating or defecating in the house, not using the doggie door or not asking to go out to toilet
  • Erratic sleeping behaviour: waking, pacing or vocalizing at night, sleeping less at night and more during the day
  • Loss of learned behaviours
  • Slow and cautious gait

An aged dog exhibiting at least one of these signs more than once a week for at least a month has dementia.

Dogs showing any signs are often severely affected within 12-18 months.

Treatment

  • Diet:

Anti-oxidants delay and treat dementia. Antioxidants include Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Alpha-lipoic acid, L-carnitine and beta-carotene. Fruits and vegetables contain many of these.

Omega 3 fatty acids as found in fish oil or food supplements such as Nutricoat also help.

Hills b/d (brain diet) is a prescription diet that contains these nutrients.

  • Physical therapy:

Stimulate brain function and delay the onset of dementia with basic obedience training, scent discrimination tasks, safety-modified obstacle courses and hide and seek games.

Gentle walks or swimming delay loss of brain function as well as improve muscle function.

  • Environmental enrichment

Petting, brushing and massage stimulate the nerves and brains of old dogs. New toys, blinking lights, walks in new areas with new smells, and meeting new animals and people boost an old dog’s brain function and enjoyment of life.