Placement of stay sutures in the preputial fold as a novel urethral catheterization technique to relieve male feline urethral obstruction.

OBJECTIVE

To compare speed and success of performance of a novel versus conventional technique for male feline urethral catheterization by clinical-year veterinary students and novice veterinarians.

METHODS

In a prospective, randomized study between October 2024 and March 2025, client-owned male cats presenting to a university teaching hospital with urethral obstruction had a urinary catheter placed by way of either a conventional technique or a novel technique by clinical-year veterinary students or novice veterinarians ("operators") with no prior feline urethral catheterization experience. Operators were timed from the point of preputial retraction to the appearance of urine within the catheter and given 30 minutes to perform the procedure.

RESULTS

The mean time for urinary catheter placement was 14.6 minutes for cats in the conventional technique group (n = 10 cats) and 9.5 minutes for those in the novel technique group (10 cats). This difference was not statistically significant. Within the allotted time frame, 70% (7 of 10) of the cats in the conventional technique group and 100% (10 of 10) of cats in the novel technique group were successfully catheterized. Cats unsuccessfully catheterized in the conventional technique group weighed significantly more than those that were successfully catheterized by this method.

CONCLUSIONS

The novel technique was readily learned and performed by inexperienced students and veterinarians. The novel technique did not add additional time to the unblocking procedure.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The novel technique could easily be performed by novice veterinarians in the emergency setting and resulted in successful catheterization of obese cats.