Regardless of age, felines tend to experience problems with the lower portion of their urinary tract. A feline urinary tract is susceptible to infections that affect the urethra and urinary bladder.
Urinary Tract Infections in felines are gruesome as they might lead to severe conditions. The worst part, cats with a UTI get abandoned by their owners or left at animal shelters.
When cats get diagnosed with urinary tract problems, it is unfortunate for them and their owners. It is disheartening for cat owners to watch their furkids suffer badly.
Felines with FLUTD (Feline lower urinary tract disease) tend to lick themselves excessively. Usually, they urinate outside the litter box, sometimes on rough surfaces like a bathtub or tiles.
Pet owners are likely to come up with a question: How do you know if your cat has a UTI? With proper care, a veterinary specialist visits, your furkid can get over a UTI.
Why Your Cat Could Have a UTI
Urinary Tract Infections in cats could occur due to the following reasons:
- An infected pet has urinary stones developed in the urethra and the bladder.
- A UTI is due to bacteria that find their entryway from the bladder to the urethra.
- It is due to the obstruction caused by a tumor, injury, or genetic abnormality existing from its birth.
- FIC or idiopathic cystic is the abnormal inflammation of the bladder due to unknown reasons. It is common in felines less than ten years old. A veterinary specialist diagnosed it after ruling out other symptoms.
Signs That Your Cat Has a UTI
Unfortunately, some cats don’t show any symptoms unless it becomes severe. It is more frequent in stray cats that roam outside as their parents spend less time with them.
Following are the symptoms of feline urinary tract disease:
- Purring while urinating
- Excessive wetting of the urinary bladder
- Bleeding while urinating
- Prolonged attempts to urinate
Well, there is no age limit for experiencing FLUTD. It is common among overweight cats with little exercise. Cats with outdoor access or eating dry fries have more chance to get lower urinary tract problems.
Note that felines with urinary obstruction are more likely to exhibit these symptoms. It passes little to no urine and gets distressed. Urinary problems are frequent in male kittens as compared to females as their bladder is narrow.
Straining to Urinate
How to tell if your cat has a UTI? The symptoms make it clear whether it is suffering from not urinary problems or not. Your furry pet strains while urinating, and it is due to the formation of stones in the urinary bladder, creating difficulties for the felines to urinate.
Increased Urination Frequency
Your Four-legged friend with a UTI urinates several times a day as little to no urine gets released each time. It is not only frustrating but also disheartening for the feline.
Infection or blockage might cause difficulties for them to urinate. They are unable to release toxic materials that come out of urine.
Painful Urination
Sometimes the pain linked with Urinary infection becomes so severe that the cat licks the penile or vaginal area to soothe the pain. The pain due to Urinary Tract Infection and redness of the spots due to constant licking causes it to scream during urination.
Blood-Clotted Urine
Kitties with Urinary Tract Infections have discolored urine with a clot of blood. If it is a female, it is more likely to have a UTI than a male.
Urinating Outside the Cat Litter
Well, urinating outside the cat litter does not necessarily indicate that your cat has a UTI. However, pet owners should consult a vet if they notice such symptoms.
How to Tell if Your Cat Has a UTI
If this thought crosses your mind, you should take it to a veterinary doctor who may recommend an antibiotic even before getting it diagnosed.
If the doctor recommends an antibiotic, make sure that you follow the prescriptions as stated.
The DVM at Ooltewah says that if your cat gets diagnosed with a bacterial infection, it’s imperative to follow the medications as needed.
Otherwise, you end up killing bacteria susceptible to the medicine while leaving others to reproduce.
The doctor will tell you how long you need to follow the medications. Inform the doctor if you find it challenging to provide medicines to your feline. There are alternatives to antibiotics like lotion or pills.
But unfinished treatments trigger bacterial regeneration and reduce more potent strains of bacteria that cause harm to animals and humans.
On the off chance that UTI antibiotics don’t work, doctors would recommend alternatives or ask for testing to identify the cause of Urinary Tract Infection.
A UTI treatment Expenses might vary depending on the complication of the disease and medications needed to make your cat feel better and healthy.
Primm, a DVM based in Ooltewah, claims that people want to treat their cats with antibiotics, but it isn’t always the case.
It depends upon the intricacies of the disease and the age of the feline. Cooperating with a veterinarian is the best way to get your kitten back to life.
Ways to Treat Your Cat’s UTI
If you suspect that your cat is suffering from a UTI, take it to a veterinarian or look for a homemade treatment. If you don’t treat it on time, it might lead to permanent blockage to its urethra.
It might lead to kidney failure or a ruptured bladder that is detrimental. Homemade UTI treatments include cranberries used to treat a cat UTI.
The acidity of the cranberry lowers the pH of the urine and prevents it from coming back. Cranberries are rich in sugar. Find supplements, powders, and cranberry caps to add to your cat’s diet.
Treatments for Cat UTI
Pressed apple vinegar can lower the pH in your catlike’s pee, killing and preventing any shocking microorganisms. Add a teaspoon of pressed apple vinegar to your catlike’s food reliably.
To reduce the strong taste, you can blend it in with chicken or cheeseburger stock. Ensure the stock doesn’t contain onions, as this is destructive to felines.
Like cranberries, pressed apple vinegar is just common sense if your catlike’s pee is irrationally crucial. You can test your catlike’s pH using at-home units or trademark feline litter, likewise as through a solid test given by your veterinarian.
Wrap Up
If your feline shows any aftereffects of urinary group contamination, you should plan a consultation with your veterinarian quickly.
On the off chance that your feline (particularly a male feline) has quit peeing altogether (depending on hindrance), you ought to immediately take it to a veterinarian emergency office.
The vet inspects your feline and collects records for testing and inexplicit conditions. A blood test is necessary. When urinary bundle contamination gets detected, your veterinarian will suggest the best plan for its treatment.
If you think your feline might have a urinary infection or another kind of issue that might be meddling with pee, visit your vet today.