Urinary System Diseases

Dr. Cavallini - DEC 02, 2016
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A very common malady in our area are urinary infections, equally often in dogs and cats, male or female.

Generally, our clients report: presence of blood in the urine (hematuria), interrupted and weak flow of urine (stranguria), peeing in inappropriate places, perineal licking, frequency and quantity increase of urination, among other signs.

Possible causes are many: infectious agents, chemical agents, metabolic (diet), anatomic anomalies, neoplasias (tumors) and/or urinary tract compression for varied reasons. In all of the scenarios above, and knowing the area’s water is rich in minerals and that most of our patients drink some ocean water, pool water and have diets high in salt, all symptoms should be reported as soon as possible to your trusted vet, to run the necessary tests (hemogram, urine analysis, biochemistry, ultrasound, x-rays, etc).

In our case studies, we are very worried about the amount of canine and feline male patients that come in with partial or total urethral obstruction. We have received patients that have not urinated for days, yet they are only taken to the vet once they are vomiting because of inflammation and even presenting a bladder rupture. These are emergency cases, no mammal can survive without peeing, and need to be treated immediately.

In the case of a female patient, we have seen many with permanent incontinence issues, which are treated with dangerous medicines with severe side effects such as tumors, and even death. A vet has the responsibility to be very straight forward about these effects and only supply them when absolutely necessary. Sometimes a simple urinary infection can lead to this if left untreated.

In offering water to your pets, we suggest giving them either filtered, bottled or boiled water, to minimize the formation of renal stones. As your pet ages, we suggest running some biochemical control tests, this will give us the necessary information of their renal condition and allow us to catch in time whether your pet needs a special diet. Special diets are needed very often by pets with predisposition for these diseases, and helps to give them a long and quality life. In our area, we also recommend a preventive urine test every 6 months, to make sure we keep these issues at bay!

Dr. Cavallini
Dra. Carvajal
Hospital Veterinario Cavallini