One of my cats (Linus) has been straining to urinate lately so I’ve had the vet trying to figure out the problem so he can travel safely. Well, I got this picture sent to me yesterday - made me cringe as soon as I saw it!
Note: the needle on the radiograph that appears to be up his butt actually isn’t - I’m told it had a cap on it and was just placed to keep his tail in the right position for the image - I’m horrified by the five large-ish (1mm-2mm) stones jammed in his urethra which were removed ($2k later). I can’t even begin to imagine how unpleasant that must’ve felt and how much better he must feel now!
I should have an update later but even you non cat people out there should feel a little pity for this poor guy! If you do have cats (particularly male cats) please keep an eye on their peeing habits. If they block (thankfully he didn’t, not completely anyway) it can kill them and they’re apparently notoriously prone to this.