feline urinary tract infection

Question
My cat has a urinary tract infecion and I took him to the vet. His bladder was empty but he was not urinating. What would be normal tratment? Should liquids be injected?  

Answer
Unless your cat has a severe kidney problem or has bladder stones, urinary tract infections are extremely rare in cats. Most often, cats get FLUTD (feline lower urinary tract disease) which is usually caused by too much magnesium in the diet.  This causes microscopic struvite crystals to form in the urine causing urinary tract irritation. So the diagnosis should be confirmed by your vet with a microscopic analysis of the cat's urine and a urine culture. If the bladder was empty, then the cat is urinating somewhere.  With any urinary tract problem, fluids help create a flushing action to the kidneys and the bladder, so fluid therapy is indicated.  This can be done with injectible fluids or from adding water to a canned type of cat food.