Cystitis, Urethral Obstruction, Urinary Tract Infection. Lisa A. Pierson, DVM French translation Spanish translation. Important points: Any cat that is having trouble urinating may have an obstructed urethra which is a medical emergency.“Water” is the most important word when considering urinary tract health. Feeding a water- rich diet of canned or homemade food is critical for urinary tract health. Feeding dry (water- depleted) food contributes significantly to urinary tract dieases. Cats consume double the amount of water when fed a water- rich diet versus dry food. Dry food is ~5- 1. The higher the number, the more concentrated the urine.(See the Urinalysis/Dietary Issues section below for information and a video regarding how to obtain a urine sample from your cat for a USG measurement.)We know that bladders are . That said, they don’t seem to have any downsides and may be worth a try. Tricks used to increase water consumption: water fountain; flavored waters such as tuna water, chicken or beef broth, clam juice, lactose- free cat milk (Cat. Sip), etc. Break up the tuna and let it sit for awhile (~1. ![]() After warming the flavored ice cubes to . This sounds much worse than it really is. This should result in the patient’s bladder filling up enough to obtain a sample for a urinalysis and a C & S. Please ask your vet to put your cat in a cage in the quietest part of the hospital and put a towel over the cage door to decrease stress. A note about cost: Many veterinarians do not run a C & S on their cystitis patients because they are worried about running up a client’s bill. This not only results in added expense and stress for the client, but please also consider the added stress to the patient’s mind and body and the significant potential for promoting bacterial resistance. This “tail chasing” often results in far more cost to the client than would have been incurred if a C & S would have been run when the patient first presented with clinical signs.
![]() There is a joke in veterinary medicine that states: “Sterile cystitis patients get better in 1 week with antibiotics and in 7 days without antibiotics.”The good news is that cystitis often resolves within a few days to a week. The bad news is that it tends to recur – especially in patients that are fed dry food and/or continue to live in a stressful environment. See below for further discussion of Urinary Tract Infections.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Urethral Obstruction – Opie’s Story. The urethra is the tube that drains urine from the bladder to the outside. It is highly unlikely that he would have had to suffer like this if he had been fed a proper, species- appropriate diet of water- rich cannedfood instead of dry food. Does “I” mean infection? The only way you can differentiate relapses from re- infections is to compare the results of the initial culture obtained prior to antibiotic usage to those of cultures obtained during and/or after discontinuation of the antibiotic. Relapses represent a possible antibiotic treatment failure that may have resulted from improper antibiotic choice, dose and duration of therapy, lack of owner or patient compliance, failure of the patient to absorb an orally administered drug, deep- seated infections, failure to identify predisposing factors, or acquired drug resistance. Re- infections, on the other hand, usually represents failure to recognize and eliminate predisposing factors associated with continuing dysfunction of host defenses, or UT infections caused by procedures such as catheterization or perineal urethrostomy (PU) surgery. Frequent re- infection is an absolute indication to evaluate the patient for anatomic, metabolic, and immunologic disorders that may compromise normal host defenses. It is important to understand that when a cat has had his penis amputated (PU surgery) a vital barrier to infection has been removed. For a patient’s first time infection, therapeutic and surveillance cultures are not usually performed due to cost and added stress for the patient. However, keep in mind that if an adverse reaction occurs, you cannot retrieve the drug from the body. Convenia can cause severe anemia, as well as other serious health problems. This drug can cause blindness (very rarely) so I do not take its use lightly. Clavamox is the most common broad- spectrum antibiotic that is administered to cats. I greatly prefer the pills because they are very palatable and can be crushed and added to canned food, or administered in a small piece of a Pill Pocket. Never use a whole Pill Pocket since they are too large making it far more likely that the cat will bite down on the pill versus swallowing it whole. There is no way to dissolve them with dietary manipulation. Therefore, it is suggest that cats eat multiple small meals throughout the day to help keep the p. ![]() H in a normal range. This is because males are much more prone to a urethral obstruction than females due to their long, narrow urethra. In these cases, I will consider the use of canned s/d (the most acidifying diet on the market) for a short period of time until the patient shows radiographic or ultrasound evidence of stone dissolution/crystal clearance. This is why it is so important to monitor the patient with radiographs or ultrasound and urinalyses and to not just leave them on s/d. Remember, Ca. O will not dissolve with diet manipulation and Hill’s s/d will actually promote the formation of Ca. O – creating a dangerous situation. I would not want to leave a cat like this unattended for more than ~1. Also note that meat- based diets promote an acidic urine (but not overly acidic like Hill’s s/d) and that carbohydrate- based diets promote an alkaline urine. As stated in the first section of this webpage, manipulating the p. H of urine is not the most important factor in preventing feline urinary tract diseases yet it is so heavily focused on. ![]() ![]() Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman MD (2003/2011): Food list – what to eat and foods to avoid. Many of you have asked this question over the past few months, and I’m sure many more of you have at least contemplated this question at some point. I know I did. A Paleo diet can help you achieve weight loss while reducing your blood pressure and cholesterol levels, which are risk factors for many health problems. How To Lose Weight By Eating More Often Fast Fat Burning Diets Burning Fat Building Muscle The Best Way To Burn Body Fat How To Determine Your Heart Rate To Burn Fat. ![]() I am finding it increasingly frustrating to watch the veterinary community continue to be fixated on the p. H of cat urine and the presence of urinary crystals instead of focusing on the much more important issue of dietary water content. Veterinarians are exhibiting a serious lack critical thought when prescribing a water- depleted diet to any cat but especially one with urinary tract issues, including kidney disease which is very common in cats. Instead of reflexively reaching for the prescription diets when patients present with urinary tract issues, I would like to see the emphasis switch to getting the patient off of all dry food and onto a meat- based canned food with added water. ![]() This diet will help maintain a species- appropriate urine p. H and will keep the bladder flushed out. When I say it is illogical to feed “any” cat a diet of dry food, think about practicing preventative nutrition. Do you really want to wait until your cat develops urinary tract problems before you implement the feeding of a water- rich diet to a species with a naturally low thirst drive? Think about closing the barn door before the horse is running down the roadway. Updated: December 2. Lisa A. Pierson, DVM. ![]() ![]() ![]()
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