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Feline Urinary Problems -- What Every Cat Owner Should Know
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by: Darlene Norris
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Did you know that up to 1.5 percent of all cats in the US are plagued with feline urinary problems? That's a lot of cats.
These problems can range from an uncomfortable cat bladder infection to a life-threatening cat urinary blockage. An an informed cat owner, you should always be on the lookout for cat urinary problems.
What's The Difference Between FUS And FLUTD?
Many cat owners are confused, and rightfully so, over the terms used to describe cat urinary problems. FLUTD is an acronym that stands for Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease. FLUTD used to be known as FUS, or Feline Urologic Syndrome. Feline Urologic Syndrome has been renamed as Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease to reflect that most of the urinary problems in cats happen in the lower urinary tract, which includes the bladder and urethra.
Overview Of Feline Urinary Disease
There are many different aspects to feline urinary problems. Here's a quick overview of a few different conditions that can affect your cat's urinary tract.
Cystitis is an inflammation of your cat's bladder.
If your cat's urethra is inflamed, he has urethritis.
Idiopathic cystitis means that the cause of the bladder inflammation is not known.
Bladder stones in cats often occur as a result of feline urinary crystals.
A tumor in your cat's bladder may cause problems, too.
You can see that it's important to pinpoint what's causing your cat's urinary tract problems in order to treat his condition successfully.
Symptoms of Cat Urinary Problems
No matter what's causing the feline urinary tract problems, your cat will show these symptoms:
Bloody urine
Urinating in places other than his litter box
Urinating often, but passing only small amounts of urine
Straining to urinate, or not being able to pass urine at all
Crying out in pain in the litter box
Any of these symptoms should be enough for you to take your cat to the vet for a check-up.
What Your Vet Will Do
Your vet will examine your cat and feel his bladder to see how full it is. The vet will also want to do a urinalysis to check for infection or feline urinary crystals, and may want to do a cat urine culture to see if bacteria are present. If your cat's bladder is distended, that indicates a cat urinary blockage, and your vet may want to take x-rays or do an ultrasound to look for cat bladder stones.
What Can You Do To Prevent Feline Urinary Disease?
There are many steps cat owners can take to prevent their cats from developing feline urinary tract problems. The most important thing you can do is to feed a high-quality canned food. Cats are supposed to get most of their water from their food.
A cat who eats only dry food is usually chronically dehydrated, which leads to his urine becoming concentrated. And concentrated urine can lead to cat bladder stones, and a whole host of problems that goes along with them.
Be sure your cat always has access to plenty of clean, fresh water, too.
You may want to consider giving your cat a natural remedy for pets that supports bladder health in felines. This remedy should contain herbal extracts of barberry and uva ursi, along with the homeopathic remedies Cantharis and Staphysagria. These natural treatments have stood the test of time for bladder infections in humans, and they have been proven to work very well in cats.
Your goal now? To make sure your cat doesn't become a statistic suffering from feline urinary problems.
About the Author
Darlene Norris has combined her long-time interest in natural healing with her experience working at a vet clinic to bring you her new website, Natural Pet Urinary Health. Learn how to prevent feline urinary problems, and find the best place to buy herbal pet remedies at http://naturalpeturinaryhealth.com
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