How Can I Treat My Cats Uti At Home? – Home remedies that work

How can I treat my cats uti at home?. Natural remedies for cat uti.

The treatment of uti in Cats mainly consists of giving pain and anti-inflammatory drugs. Sometimes the symptoms only disappear after 14 days of treatment.

Furthermore, therapy depends on the underlying cause. For example, an antibiotic cure is provided when there is a bacterial infection. However, it is much more often the case that there is no bacterial infection in the bladder in cats. 

In particular, stress is more often the cause. Anxiety can develop reasonably quickly in cats. 

It is, therefore, essential to prevent stress as much as possible. That can be achieved by placing extra litter boxes in households with several cats. Spraying pheromones (Feliway) (these are calming cat odors) can also help.

Bladder grit can be treated with a special bladder diet. This bladder diet must be given for life to prevent new crystals from forming. This bladder diet also contains substances that dissolve already present grit. When choosing a bladder diet, you must look carefully at the quality of the food. 

In pet stores, brands are offered that have not been proven to be effective against bladder grit. Therefore, it makes no sense to feed such a diet. Ask our assistant for more information about bladder diets. There are many types and flavors available, both wet and dry food, something for every cat!

To treat a bladder stone, polyp, or tumor, it may be necessary to operate on an animal. That is the only way to get rid of your animal’s complaints. In most cases, we can perform these operations ourselves in our clinic.

Cat having trouble urinating home remedy

Feline uti home remedy. UTIs (urinary tract infections) occur in felines and humans. Treating a UTI without antibiotics is difficult, but not impossible. If you try to cure a disease but do so only partially, you run the risk of suppressing the symptoms without eliminating the bacteria, which would result in a long-term disease that could harm your cat’s health.

A mild urinary tract infection is like a time bomb because bacteria can travel upwards to the kidney and infect it. If possible, seek veterinary attention and administer appropriate antibiotic treatment.

Method1

Cat urinary tract infection home remedies

1.  Understand that age increases the risk of UTI. As your cat ages, it will increase its susceptibility to a urinary tract infection, due to changes in its urinary tract and liver function.

• Young cats under seven years have a low risk of urinary infections because their urine is very concentrated and acts as a natural disinfectant that inhibits bacterial growth.
  • If you see signs of blood in the urine of a young cat, you probably have a problem that has not originated from an infection, but from stones that have irritated the lining of the bladder.
  • There is an increased risk that the crystals agglomerate and block the urethra (the tube through which the cat urinates). If this occurs, it is an emergency and requires immediate veterinary attention.
• Cats older than seven years have a higher risk of infection. Older cats have a reduced ability to concentrate urine (as the cat ages, it is more likely to produce dilute urine) due to a reduction in renal function.
  • This diluted urine is not a potent disinfectant and increases the likelihood of developing urinary infections. Remember that it is essential to treat these infections before they ascend to the kidney and cause considerable damage and even the formation of scar tissue.

2.  Stimulate your cat to drink to wash his bladder. Although diluted urine is a risk factor for the development of a UTI, once the cat is already infected, urinating regularly and stably will help wash your bladder.

• The bacteria produce waste and chemicals that can irritate the lining of the bladder, causing inflammation.
• Regular hydration can dilute these factors and limit the amount of time they remain in contact with the bladder walls, which helps reduce inflammation and pain.
• To increase your cat’s water intake, change dry food to wet food. This will automatically increase your fluid intake.
• Also, put many large plates of water. Cats prefer to drink from large containers in which their whiskers do not touch the sides.
• Some cats will drink more water if you give them flowing water, such as from a cat drinker.
• Other cats do not like chlorine or tap water chemicals and are much happier when you offer them mineral water.

3.  Give your cat blueberry or ascorbic acid capsules to acidify its urine. They contain vitamin C and can acidify your cat’s urine naturally.

• The dose of cranberry capsules is 250 mg twice daily orally, while the treatment of vitamin C is 250 mg once daily.
• Remember that you should not increase the dose of these supplements, because there is a risk of reducing the pH too much and extreme acidity can irritate the lining of the bladder.

4.  Try homeopathic remedies. There is no substantial evidence that the following solutions work, but some homeopathic veterinarians recommend infusions of dandelion, parsley, bearberry, or watercress.

• To prepare the infusion, you must add a teaspoon of the dried herb in a cup of boiled water.
• Let it sit for 20 minutes and then strain it.
• Give two teaspoons twice a day with your meal for a week. The infusion should be done every two days to be fresh.

Method2

Give a veterinary treatment

1.  Make a urine culture to identify and use effective antibiotics. The gold standard for treating a UTI with antibiotics is to perform a urine culture to analyze the bacteria’s sensitivity to antibiotics. Medicines are a family of drugs that can, depending on what type they are, inhibit the growth of bacteria or eliminate them.

• A culture will show your veterinarian precisely what bacteria are present and what antibiotics are effective in fighting it.
• Using targeted antibiotics reduces the risk of inducing antibiotic resistance in bacteria and is the best way to treat an infection.
• However, it is not always possible to get a large enough urine sample or, sometimes, the cost of the test may be too high.
• Another reason that could prevent the performance of a culture is that it is the cat’s first episode of UTI and that it needs immediate treatment because the test results could be obtained within a week.
• It is essential to perform a urine culture if the cat has recurrent urinary infections. In this case, it is likely that you have a mixed disease and have only partially healed or that the bacteria are resistant to the antibiotic used.

2.  Treat your cat with broad-spectrum antibiotics if you cannot perform a urine culture. These drugs eliminate various types of bacteria.

• If a cat has never had a urinary tract infection before, then it can be treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics that eliminate the various types of bacteria that are commonly found in the urine.
• Typically, these antibiotics are penicillins, such as amoxicillin, clavulanic acid, cephalosporins, or sulfonamides.
• A cat that weighs less than 6 kg should usually receive 50 mg of penicillin orally, twice a day.

3.  Give your cat a diet to take care of the urinary health. There is exceptional food to care for and promote the urinary health of cats, such as Hills CD or Purina UR.

• They can reduce the likelihood of crystals forming in your cat’s urine, because they contain fewer minerals, such as phosphate and magnesium.
• They also regulate the pH (acidity or alkalinity) of your cat’s urine to ensure optimal urinary health.
• They usually make the urine a bit acidic, with a pH of 6.2 to 6.4 (which coincidentally is the same pH of a cat that feeds exclusively on mice).
• This environment is hostile to most bacteria and, although it is unlikely that only with a diet you will get rid of a urinary infection, it could help you reduce the chance that the bacteria will survive in the bladder.

4.  Be careful with stones when acidifying your cat’s urine. The general rule is that bacteria do not like acidic urine and, therefore, acidic urine acts as a natural disinfectant. However, this type of treatment is best administered under the supervision of a veterinarian.

• Although the most common crystals and stones (struvite) grow in alkaline conditions, there are other, more rare types (oxalate) that develop in acidic conditions.
• Certain cat breeds, such as Burmese, tend to develop oxalate stones.
• This means that you could cure one problem (infection) just to create another in the form of oxalate stones.

5.  Use glucosamine to stimulate the glycosaminoglycan (GAG) layer. The bladder produces a segment of a mucus-like material that acts as a protective bandage on the lining against harmful substances in the urine.

• When a cat has a UTI, this GAG layer thins, exposing the bladder lining to irritation.
• Nutraceuticals such as glucosamine can help replenish the GAG ​​layer and make the cat feel more comfortable.
• Although the results of research on the benefits of glucosamine are still inconclusive, there are many over-the-counter preparations, such as “Feliway Cystease,” which contains glucosamine and tryptophan. Each capsule contains 125 mg of N-acetylglucosamine. You should give him a pill twice a day.
• If your cat does not take capsules, the veterinarian may give you an injection of acetylglucosamine. This treatment is used to treat arthritis in dogs, but it is used alternatively to treat bladder inflammation. The typical dose is a 10.5 ml injection once a week for four weeks, followed by a monthly injection.

Causes cystitis cat

Cats generally drink little.

• There are many bacteria growth-inhibiting substances in the concentrated urine. These substances prevent bacterial bladder infection.
• However, the risk of bladder grit, bladder stones, and kidney stones and bladder irritation are increasing.

Stress and highly concentrated urine

60 to 70% of all cats with cystitis have idiopathic cystitis (Feline Idiopathic Cystitis, FIC). This condition is caused by:

• Stress
• A different release of stress hormones
• A deviation of the mucous layer in the bladder
• Overstimulation of the bladder nerves 

Often the pressure is not recognizable for the owner: the cat is an inner vetter. With idiopathic cystitis, there is, therefore, no single apparent cause. Fortunately, we do know this disease, and we also know what to do about it.

Grit 

20 to 30% of bladder infections in the cat are caused by bladder grit or stones. The microscopically small grains of sand can irritate the bladder wall and hide the urethra at the hangover (urinary hangover).

Bacteria 

In less than 5% of cats, the cause of cystitis is bacterial. The younger the cat, the smaller the chance of a bacterial origin of the bladder complaints.

Bacterial cystitis is more often diagnosed in:

• Cats that are regularly catheterized (paternal cat)
• Cats operated on the urinary tract
• Cats who drink or urinate more (for example due to kidney failure, diabetes, thyroid problems )
• Cats treated with drugs such as prednisone
• Cats with an FIV and FeLV infection

Tumors

1 to 2% of the urinary problems in the cat is caused by a tumor.

Symptoms cystitis cat

A cat with a bladder infection shows the following symptoms:

• Peeing difficult or painful (meowing when peeing)
• Many small puddles
• Pee outside the litter box
• Blood with the urine
• Smell urine differently
• Extra washing (especially the area under the tail) 

Bladder grit and inflammatory cells can hide the penis of males. These males cannot pee, which is sometimes incorrectly explained as a bladder infection.

If we do not intervene quickly, this hangover may die.

Diagnosis of cystitis in the cat

The examination of a cat with a bladder infection consists of urine tests, an ultrasound, and possibly a bacterial culture. During the physical examination, the bladder is small and painful; the kidneys are regular in shape and size. A cat has no fever, and the blood test cannot be abnormal.

 

Treatment cystitis cat

 We often treat cats with idiopathic cystitis with pain killers. Other drugs are not needed with most cats. In most cats with FIC, the symptoms disappear spontaneously after 5-10 days, with or without medication.

Bacterial culture and bladder dust research are needed to find a functional medicine or diet.

– We treat bacterial cystitis with antibiotics.

– We treat bladder grit with a menu.

Bladder infection prevention

The preventive treatment of FIC focuses on drinking more, urinating more often, and reducing stress. Antidepressants are sometimes prescribed in severe cases.

– Drink more

If a cat starts drinking more and the urine is less concentrated, the chance of FIC decreases.

• Give the cat canned food instead of kibble
• Give the cat a bladder food diet (if canned food is not an option)
• Add a sweet taste to the drinking water
• Many cats have a preferred place where they drink: running water, from the watering, can, from a birdbath, etc. Make sure that the cat can always drink. Put water in many places, make sure the cat is not disturbed when drinking

– Pee more often

• Make sure there are enough litter boxes in the house (each cat has its own litter box and then one extra box)
• Keep the litter boxes clean
• Spread the litter boxes around the home (one on each floor) and make sure they are in a quiet place

– Stress reduction

• Feeding changes, vacation, other people in the house, stress at the owner; all this can cause stress in a sensitive cat
• Cats that do not come outside have a higher risk of stress and bladder problems
• Play with your cat
• Make an outside run
• Furnish your home cat-friendly (enough places to retreat)
• Cat behavior experts can help you with this
• The most important cause of stress in cats are other (catty) cats. Sometimes placing a cat out of the house is necessary to get the symptoms under control

– antidepressants

In cats with a severe chronic FIC who do not respond to the above measures, we sometimes prescribe an antidepressant such as amitryptiline.

– Other medicines

• Glycosaminoglycans (GAG) are offered for improving the mucous layer in the bladder. Research has not been able to show that this medicine is useful for cystitis
• Feliway® can reduce stress

Prognosis cystitis cat

The treatment of cystitis in the cat is comprehensive and intensive.

Research has shown that these efforts have the desired effect on most cats. The symptoms of aging often also decrease. 

With a small proportion of cats, it is not possible to make the symptoms bearable.

Bladder infection in cats

Cystitis is the official term for a bladder infection. Cystitis occurs regularly in cats. Cystitis can be caused by an infection. Such as bacteria, but also fungi and viruses. Often a bladder infection has no apparent cause.

Often a bladder infection in cats is often chronic and comes back intermittently (recurring). The exact cause is unknown, but there are several factors that seem to play a role. For example, this cystitis mainly occurs in cats younger than ten years. Castrated animals seem to suffer from it more often than uncastrated cats.

Most cats with cystitis are too fat, live indoors, exercise little, and are mainly fed chunks. In addition, stress is a significant factor in the development of cystitis in cats.

How can I recognize cystitis in my cat?

Many cats with cystitis are in pain. Your cat will look for another place to urinate than in the litter box. Your cat also has a constant urge to pee, without the bladder being sufficiently filled. Because of this, your cat will pee very often. Occasionally the urine may be a bit redder; there will be blood in the urine.

Doing small pee in the house should not be confused with peeing in the house due to a behavioral problem. That’s why it’s always essential to have the urine tested by your vet if your cat has unwanted peeing behavior.

In many cases, it is necessary for the vet to examine the cat, an infection of the bladder is not always so obvious, and there may also be other causes for still small amounts of urine (such as a blockage). If you go to the vet, take some urine with you. That way, your vet can examine it immediately.

It’s best if this urine is as fresh as possible and no more than 4 hours old. What often strikes you is that there are no changes in the urine.

If necessary, your vet can recommend an ultrasound. In the case and vane of cystitis, you will see a thickened bladder wall.

What is the treatment of cystitis in cats?

Since cystitis in cats is rarely the result of an infection, antibiotics are seldom recommended.

The treatment consists of relieving the symptoms. This is usually done by means of an anti-inflammatory, which also contains a painkiller. In this way, both the bladder wall is calmed, and the pain reduced. Your cat will feel more comfortable and recover faster.

Many cats also seem to benefit from giving wet food to make extra urine. Stimulating water absorption also seems to help. Here are unique water fountains for cats for sale.

In addition, reducing stress is also very important in the treatment of cystitis. This can be done with particular vaporizers that release pheromones. These can be hung in the room where your cat sits the most. In many cases, these vaporizers have positive effects, but often this has to be combined with an anti-inflammatory.

In most cases, cats recover within a week from the moment therapy is started.

What can I do about cystitis in cats?

In many cases, stress plays an important role. Some cats get cystitis once, but in most cats, it will come back again and again. Often a change in the environment is enough to get a bladder infection still. For example, moving house, giving birth to a baby, or taking in a new cat can be stressful enough for your cat to get a bladder infection again.

In that case, the treatment is the same as last time.

If the symptoms keep coming back or never go away, then it may be necessary to examine the urine further. Occasionally your cat may still suffer from a bacterium. In that case, it’s essential that your vet has ‘sterile urine.’ He/she can do this by taking some urine from the bladder with a needle.

This is often not painful for your cat at all, and most cats allow this to happen as well. Your vet can then put this sterile urine on culture to see if any bacteria are growing. In that case, antibiotics are necessary.

Refences:

This article is purely informative; at Redargentina.Com, we have no power to prescribe veterinary treatments or make any diagnosis. We invite you to take your pet to the veterinarian in case he presents any condition or discomfort.

https://www.avma.org/resources/pet-owners/petcare/feline-lower-urinary-tract-disease

urinary tract infection in cats treatment home remedies

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Feline lower urinary tract disease. (n.d.). https://www.avma.org/public/PetCare/Pages/FLUTD.aspx
Common urinary & kidney ailments. (n.d.). https://www.vet.upenn.edu/veterinary-hospitals/ryan-veterinary-hospital