If you find that the cat does not urinate smoothly, often squatting in the litter box, and there is still a little blood in the urine, you should start to pay attention, which may be caused by urethral stones. If cat urethral stones are not treated well, they may evolve into more serious conditions such as urethral obstruction and inflammation. If pet owners want to prevent cat urethral stones, they can actually start from their daily feeding habits, and diet is one of the key points. Today, Pointe will popularize the three major dietary habits for the prevention of urinary tract stones in cats.
1. Cat urethral stones.
1.Causes of urethral stones in cats.
Urethral stones in cats often occur in male cats, and the causes may come from diet, urine holding, family genetics, environmental stress, or bacterial infection. Generally speaking, a small amount of crystals will not cause great harm to the cat's body, and can also be excreted through the urine, but if the crystals stay in the cat's urethra for too long, it may form urethral stones and block the urethra.
2.Symptoms of urethral stones in cats.
If cats have urethral stones, they may have blood in the urine, lick the urethral opening frequently, or make uncomfortable noises when urinating, or run the litter box all the time, but only pee a little each time, or they may suddenly pee in other places.
2. Three major dietary habits to prevent urethral stones in cats.
1.Small, frequent or all-you-can-eat meals.
Small, frequent or all-you-can-eat meals can help balance the pH level of your cat's urine. Cat urine with urinary stones is alkaline, and alkalinity favors the formation of crystals, so we need to stabilize the pH of the urine. If you eat a large amount of food in a short period of time, it may cause the sugar in the body to fluctuate too much, affecting the urine pH value, it is recommended to eat a small amount of meals or adopt an all-you-can-eat system, so that the cat's urine pH value is relatively moderate and stable. However, it should also be noted that casual feeding may make the food not fresh or cause the cat to have obesity problems, so if time allows, it is still preferable to take a regular feeding method of giving small and frequent meals.
2.A staple food high in meat and low in magnesium.
A staple food high in meat and low in magnesium helps to make the cat's urine more acidic, making it difficult for urinary stones to form. One of the reasons why cats can produce urinary stones is that they eat foods that contain more magnesium, which makes the urine more alkaline, resulting in crystals and urinary stones. Therefore, you can adjust the cat's staple food, choose foods with high meat volume to make the urine appear acidic, or choose canned food or feed with low magnesium content to reduce magnesium intake, which will help the pH balance of urine and make urine stones less likely to form.
3.Drink plenty of water and eat wet food.
Drinking plenty of water and eating wet food can help cats excrete crystals and balance urine pH. For cats with urinary stones, diluting urine is an important thing. If you have water, the pH of your urine will be less alkaline and less likely to crystallize. In addition, drinking water can promote frequent urination, which can discharge the small crystals that have just formed with the urine, so that they will not stay in the cat's body for too long and form stones.
Generally speaking, each kilogram of cats needs about 50 ml of water per day, so a 5 kg cat needs to drink 250 ml a day, but many cats are born very dislike to drink water, often do not drink the required amount, so you can also reduce the intake of dry food, change to eat wet food, so that cats can also get some water from the food, and then let the problem of cat urinary stones slowly improve.
Pointe reminds: In addition to eating habits, cats may also drink less water or hold urine due to environmental pressure, which can lead to stones. Therefore, it is recommended to place the cat's water basin and litter box in a place where few people will pass by, so as to give the cat a quiet and undisturbed space to drink water and go to the toilet!