AFTER being left terrified for her own cat’s life, a woman has issued an urgent warning to owners of felines.
Taking to her social media account, Renee explained that those with male cats should use her experience as a learning curve.
“I have some information that may save your cat’s life,” she said before encouraging viewers to share the video with friends and family who might have male cats, too.
Dressed in a white T-shirt as her ginger cat sat by her, she continued: “When I first got Beef he was a stray tomcat on the street, unneutered.
“I took him in, I got him neutered so he could become my indoor house cat and he wouldn’t be going around making babies like a normal tomcat and all was well.”
But one year later, while she was visiting her parents, she noticed that Beef spent 10 minutes in his litter box, straining to “get pee out”.
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Seeing this, she immediately set up a vet appointment for the next day and they told her this was quite common.
“The vet told me that this is extremely common in male cats,” she said. “Particularly recently neutered male cats.
“What happens is that crystals form in their urinary tract and block the flow of pee. If he becomes completely blocked, they will kiely die.”
Renee said that some cats cry out or vocalise their pains, but her own cat is a “silent struggler”.
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Luckily, once caught, the treatment is very simple.
She said: “You switch them to a specialised food that is higher acidity and doesn’t allow the crystals to form in their urinary tract.
“Over a couple of weeks, it will slowly break down and you have to continue to monitor them during that time, because if it gets any worse – the blockage – you have to take them to the emergency vet and they have to get surgery or else they will likely die.”
Explaining that she had no idea this could happen, she’s since found many people who have experienced these issues with their own cats – including her own parents.
Renee said people should keep an eye on the toilet habits of their feline friends to make sure they’re finding it easy.
Another sign of a problem could be your cat licking their privates more often, which is what she noticed Beef was doing.
“Keep an eye on your male cats, make sure they’re peeing and make sure they’re not getting blocked up,” she said. “Keep them alive.”
According to petMD, a neutered male cat’s urethra is so narrow that crystals can “easily become lodged inside the urethra and completely block the outflow of urine”.
They added: “Without rapid intervention, death will follow from this self-poisoning.”
People were quick to comment on TikTok user @reneerenovates’ video as one person wrote: “Straining in the litter box IMMEDIATE vet visit. IMMEDIATELY!!!!”
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Another said: “As a veterinary professional thank you for making this video. I would encourage all owners to bring their cats in right away if they are noticing an issue. It will save their life”.
A third person shared: “My cat ultimately needed the 3k surgery and 5 years later is healthy,” followed by a heart emoji.
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