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

Novel stay suture technique improves feline urethral catheterization success, especially in obese cats.

This prospective randomized study evaluated a novel urethral catheterization technique using stay sutures placed in the preputial fold compared to conventional catheterization methods in male cats with urethral obstruction. Clinical-year veterinary students and novice veterinarians with no prior feline urethral catheterization experience performed procedures on 20 client-owned male cats (10 per group) at a university teaching hospital between October 2024 and March 2025. Mean catheterization time was 9.5 minutes for the novel technique versus 14.6 minutes for conventional technique, a difference that was not statistically significant. However, the novel technique demonstrated superior success rates, achieving 100% successful catheterization (10/10 cats) compared to 70% (7/10) with conventional technique. Notably, unsuccessful conventional catheterizations occurred in cats weighing significantly more than successful cases, suggesting body weight limitations with traditional methods. The novel technique was readily learned by inexperienced operators and proved particularly advantageous for obese cats, offering improved clinical outcomes without increased procedural time in emergency settings.

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