Petco Text Logo
Petco Pet Logo

  • Two Easy Ways to Start Earning Rewards!

My cat has bladder stones. How can I help her get rid of them?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | American Shorthair | Female | spayed | 8 years and 5 months old | 15 lbs

We were told our 8yr old girl cat has bladder stones, not crystals. Other than Rx moist food, is there anything else we can do, or get, to help dissolve them? Or just help her get rid of them?

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

Image profile

Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on November 16th, 2019

Increasing water consumption can help. Get Bella a pet water fountain. That provides a continuous source of fresh water and may encourage her to drink more. I have one for my cats, and they love it. The vet can due a flush procedure to her under sedation where they fill the bladder and induce urination to get rid of the stones. Finally, they may need to be removed surgically. Speak to her vet about the best treatment options for her.

Vote icon

2Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Related Answers from Veterinarians

  • Image profile

    Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

    Veterinarian

    Published on November 16th, 2019

    Poor Bella. You are doing the best thing for her with the prescription food, and it's important to keep her water intake up. Maybe add water to her food to get more in her, and I'd get her a pet water fountain. It provides a fresh source of water, and encourages cats to drink. I have one for my cats, and they love it. I'm wondering if she got any medication from the vet, which can help too.

    Vote icon

    1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

See More Answers

Related Questions

Petco Pet Education Center
Food & Nutrition
Redneck has bladder stones. He will not eat hills diet so is now on fus-sol drops and hills urinary care dry food along with sheba wet food. 8 days in and he seems to be relapsing. What is our next option?
Surgery may be the next option if he won't eat the prescription diet. Discuss other diets, both canned and dry, with your veterinarian first. It may take several weeks to months to fully dissolve any stones or crystals. Try to get him to drink as much water as possible to dilute his urine.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
What else should/can we do for our 3 yr. old male cat who has been having bladder crystals (so urinary difficulty), other than the prescribed meds. (a blood pressure one, Gabapentin, & Elavil), and new Rx food (Royal Canin SO), plus some homeoathic d
Sounds like you all are doing quite a bit already. If you feel that pain is not well controlled the addition of something like buprenorphine may be beneficial. Also, there is a surgical procedure that is commonly performed on cats that get urinary blockages. Essentially the urinary tract is changed from a male to a female shape, thereby widening the urethra and making it much less likely to allow for obstruction in the future. Whether or not your vet is comfortable performing this procedure is another thing altogether. I know many vets that can perform it perfectly well while I know others that have never had to perform it a single time. It is a delicate procedure because the urethra of the cat is so small so finding a doctor that is comfortable with it is of utmost importance. If your cat is not a repeat offender or has not yet blocked completely, surgical change may not be the best option at this time. Continue following the directions of the doctor and be patient with waiti
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
My cat has finally been diagnosed with bladder stones after initially being diagnosed with cystitis & a urinary tract infection. She’s on prescription food (which she’s still learning to like) and 30 days worth of antibiotics, all to work to dissolve
I think the treatment plan is sound and you are all on the right track. As long as she is producing some urine I would not be overly worried. A blockage is not impossible in a female cat but it is uncommon. Very common to have a blockage in male cats as their urethra is very narrow (a females is wider). Only be worried if she is producing no urine at all. If you have multiple cats it is best to separate her and put her in her own room with her own food/water/litter box, etc so you can keep track. She can have stones and cystitis concurrently so I suggest you also try to reduce stress by using Feliway diffusers in the house (calming pheromones) and try to increase water consumption by giving her a water fountain to drink from. Many studies have shown that cats will drink twice as much water if they have running water to drink from. Hope this helps. If you have more questions you are welcome to post again or if you would like more 1 on 1 help you can opt for a private consultati
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
Took biscuit to the vet today and after taking an x-ray we found out that her bladder was full and that there are stones in the bladder. The vet isn’t very optimistic as he said a surgery would only be a temporary solution and that it’s the tendency
Hi, thanks for using Boop by Petco! I disagree with what you were told. There are options: 1) you can be prescribed a prescription urinary diet like Royal Canin SO or Hill's c/d which have been shown to be ABLE to dissolve bladder stones. IF they are a certain kind call struvite stones. 2) Be sure a urine was tested for a urinary tract infection and to see if there are any crystals in the urine that could help identify the stone type. Also struvite stones tend to FORM in the face of an infection. 3) you can give the diet 4-8 weeks to see if dissolve the stones before going to surgery. As long as she isn't too uncomfortable. 4) if the stones do not dissolve, I WOULD recommend the surgery to get the stones out and send some stones to the lab to identify the type. To say that they will come back with out knowing what kind they are is presumptive. Chloe will likely have to be on a prescription urinary diet and possibly other medications to manipulate her urine pH but they may not come bac
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
after your cat has bladder stones removed surgically, will they definitely get stones again or are chances of stones returning low enough to make the surgery the way to go? we have tried the dry food from our vet, she won't eat it, (smells awful) tri
Poor Pearl and poor you! I can certainly understand why this is driving you crazy. When a cat has bladder stones, unfortunately, there is the chance that they will occur again. You can try covering the food in tuna juice or gently warmed low sodium beef broth. Also try mixing it with some really smelly wet food that you've gently warmed up, such as sardine or fished based. If these things don't help and Pearl won't eat the dry food from the vet, then the stones will likely have to be removed surgically. I'm not sure which brand of food you are feeding her, but you can ask the vet if there is another brand you can try before having to resort to surgery. I'm sorry you are going through this, but I hope my answer helps you!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
If my cat were to start a diet of Hill's® Prescription Diet® c/d Multicare Urinary Care Stress Cat Food, could this bladder stone break up/dissolve and pass?
I'm sorry to see that Beau has this large bladder stone! The most common types of bladder stones in cats are struvite and calcium oxalate, but the only surefire way to differentiate between the two is with a stone analysis after the stone has been surgically removed. The Hill's C/D multicare can dissolve some struvite stones, but will not dissolve calcium oxalate stones. For the long term, however, this diet is fantastic at preventing a recurrence of such bladder stones and crystals. It's a bit of a gamble using a diet to dissolve stones, particularly in male cats, because of the potential of part of the stone breaking off and causing a urinary obstruction, or blockage, as this is a life-threatening emergency. I generally find it to be safest and most effective to remove bladder stones surgically since you know that it's going to work right away without the same obstruction risks. I hope that everything goes well for Beau!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
Franko has bladder stones and I was looking for home ideas to help. Oolong tea,apple cider vinegar anything. He has pasted 1 of them that I know of.
I am afraid bladder stones are very painful. Home remedies are not reliable and at best prolong this painful condition. It is much more humane to feed Franko a specific diet food that will usually dissolve bladder stones within about three to six weeks, provided they are struvite stones. Your veterinarian can sell you the diet. Apple Cider Vinegar, Oolong tea etc., are not palatable for cats and will not dissolve bladder stones.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
Is there any alternative to urinary food for persian cat with bladder stones? We have no access to food like that where im from. Hes 2 yrs old.
Thanks for the additional information! In general, cats with a history of bladder stones benefit from feeding a canned-only diet to help keep their urine from becoming overly concentrated, as this can increase the risk of stone formation. Depending on the type of stones he has had in the past, it's possible that any over-the-counter canned food diet might work. In other cases, certain ingredients may be recommended to help change the pH of the urine - but this depends greatly on the type of stones (struvite, calcium oxalate, urate, etc.) that he had previously, so I'm not able to give any specific suggestions for this without knowing exactly what his diagnosis was. Routine monitoring of the urine (urinalysis and bacterial culture) may also be recommended as part of a plan to prevent further stone formation, depending on the stone type. I would recommend talking with your veterinarian to see what he/she would recommend for your kitty as an alternative to a prescription urinary di
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
How can I prevent a UTI for my cat? He was blocked and had to go to the vet and it wiped us financially. We can not afford to do that again. How can we keep this from happening again?
Any cat that has blocked in the past should be on a prescription urinary crystal dissolving diet for life such as Hills c/d or Royal Canin Urinary SO wet and dry. You can get these diets from your veterinarian or request a prescription from your veterinarian. These diets prevent formation of and help dissolve struvite crystals. Feeding at least a partially wet prescription urinary diet is also recommended as wet food provides more better hydration than dry food alone, thus minimizing the chances of recurring urethral blockages. Purchasing a water fountain also encourages drinking which will help minimize chances of a repeat blockage. Lastly, dosing of VetriScience UT Strength Feline chews can help minimize the chances of your Cat developing a urinary tract infections caused by bacteria. You can also look into different Pet Insurance plans and whether they will partially cover a repeat blockage if there is a history of one in the past. Best of luck!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
Okay so my cat has been diagnosed with bladder stones and so they gave us UTI diet food to give him and medicine twice a day i give him the medicine and the food but the food he doesn't eat, he doesn't urinate either, or drinks water he doesn't see
I would recommend that you have Milo examined by a vet immediately. Lack of urination in a cat diagnosed with bladder stones can indicate blockage or severe kidney damage, and this is a medical emergency. Sometimes you have to try a couple different brands of the prescription food for urinary disease to find which one a cat will like. But this is a secondary issue to the fact that he isn't producing urine right now.
Updated on September 24th, 2025

Related Searches

Cat Supplies Cat Food Cat Urinary Tract & Kidney Medication Cat Urinary Care Diuretics for Cats UTI Cat Food Electrolytes for Cats Cat Water Fountains, Waterers & Accessories Cat Laxatives Cat Health & Wellness Potassium Citrate Cat Urinary Tract & Kidney Medication Prescription Diet Cat Urinary Care Hill's Cat Urinary Care CitraVet Cat Urinary Tract & Kidney Medication Potassium Citrate Cat Medicine Nutri-Vet Cat Urinary Care HomeoPet Cat Urinary Care VetriScience Cat Urinary Care Fera Pets Cat Urinary Care Pet Wellbeing Cat Urinary Care
image
Have A Vet Question?

Book an appointment with the pros – our expert vets are here to help.

Book Now

Sponsored