The most common signs of cat struvite stones or calcium oxalate stones in cats is when they struggle in the litter box, have blood in the urine or vocalize during urination. Sometimes people mistake this for their cat being constipated. In fact, what may be happening is that your cat has a blockage in his ureter and his urine is backing up in his body. Here's some tips on how to prevent this painful cat illness.
Cat bladder stones, sometimes referred to as uroliths, are caused by an overload of salt and minerals like magnesium, calcium, phosphorous and ammonia that concentrate in his urine. Your cat's urine normally has this stuff in it, but when it becomes over saturated with them then crystals form.
These crystals build up slowly over time, but when conditions are right, they start to grow faster becoming 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.
Struvite stones in cats develop because of high concentrations of minerals in your cat's urine. This may be because he's not drinking enough water or not urinating regularly due to a feline bladder infection. A feline urinary tract infection can cause him to stop urinating too. Struvite stones are fairly large and round.
Calcium oxalate stones are typically smaller than struvite stones. Their destructive characteristic is that they have jagged edges. They can get lodged in your cats' bladder, his kidneys or in the ureters. 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.
This is an emergency. Don't wait around waiting for the stone to pass, because this is a lethal situation for your cat. If a cat is obstructed for even one day, he will be very sick, in excruciating pain and his kidneys will be damaged.
You may have heard about dog's getting struvite stones and they can. The difference is that in dogs they are caused by a canine urinary tract infection, not by a concentration of minerals in the dog's urine.
Preventiion
Once your cat is cured of bladder stones, there is a good chance they will recur, so you need to put into action a prevention program.
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.
Anything you can do to get more water into his system will help prevent another expensive round of painful stones. Get a running water fountain, add a little water to his canned food - and if your not feeding a good quality canned cat food, start.
