Vetgirl Veterinary Continuing Education Podcasts

In this VETgirl online veterinary CE podcast, we discuss the feline uroabdomen. Uroabdomen simply refers to free urine within the abdominal cavity, which occurs secondary to a breach anywhere in the urinary tract. In cats, the urinary bladder itself is the most common location for a rupture, and it most commonly occurs secondary to trauma (Stafford). The consequences of a uroabdomen can be severe and life-threatening. Common metabolic disturbances include hyponatremia, hyperkalemia, hyperphosphatemia, metabolic acidosis, and azotemia. In a dog, you may see this laboratory work and think of an Addisonian crisis! Importantly, cats that have a palpable bladder or that are still able to void normally could still have a uroabdomen, so do not rule it out based on those findings alone. When faced with such a case, you brilliant clinicians out there are fully prepared to jump into action and stabilize the patient. However, you may not have the best guidance when providing the owners with evidence-based prognostic inf