Cats can contract a urinary infection much more frequently than their owners would like to imagine. Most often, vets will conclude that the condition is idiopathic in nature, which is simply another way of saying they have no idea what might have caused it. As a result, a common symptom of a cat's urinary tract infection, such as urinating outside the litter box, is generally (and erroneously) assigned to behavioral causes, like stress.
However, it's far more likely that a cat's urinary tract infection is due to physical rather than behavioral problems. The condition is one among several urinary problems, including an obstruction in the urinary passage and inflammation of the bladder, known as Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD).
If you've ever experienced a UTI yourself, you'll understand what your kitty is enduring. A cat's urinary infection is just as unpleasant and painful as a human's. It will help ease your cat's discomfort if you familiarize yourself with the reasons for the condition and the basic rules of care when they are dealing with the condition.
Have you noticed how often your cat goes to the water bowl for a drink? Not very often, right? There's a reason for that. Cats originated in areas that were hot, arid, and desert-like. Through evolution, they became capable of extracting the necessary liquids from their prey. The animals they hunted gave them most of the fluids they needed to stay healthy, making finding an alternate water source of less importance. As this instinct is still predominant in them today, the result is a rise in occurrence of typical cat's urinary infections.
Your vet, of course, can determine a specific treatment for your cat's urinary infection based upon a review of the results of a urinalysis, among other avenues of investigation, but you can help keep your cat's urinary tract in tip-top health, as well as cut down on vet bills, by putting into practice some proven methods of prevention.
1. water is the most important thing.
Wash water bowls daily with clean, hot water. If you are using soap to clean them, make sure to rinse the bowl thoroughly as the chemicals in detergent can be harmful.
If your cat eats a lot of dry food, try moistening it by adding a little bit of water. To really pique their interest, try adding chicken broth.
If you are providing your cat with dry cat food, mix in a little water to moisten it. To make it even more attractive, try adding something tasty, such as chicken broth.
If you cat primarily eats dry food, moisten it by mixing in some water. Using chicken broth will make it even more attractive.
2. Steer clear of feeding your cat foods with a high magnesium content, like beef, pork, heart and oily fish.
3. Choose natural foods over prescription diets, buying organic whenever you can. Check with your vet to be sure that the food you provide will produce urine with the correct pH level.
4. Adding a tablespoon of vinegar to the water once a day will keep the urine pH a little acidic, and helps prevent the formation of bladder stones. Bladder stones can often lead to your cat's getting urinary infections.
When you follow these basic rules of health maintenance, you have done a great deal to ensure your cat lives a long, happy, and healthy life, untroubled by feline urinary tract infections.
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