does your cat seem to be visiting the litter tray more often than normal is it
taking longer to empty their bladder do they seem to be straining or are they a
bit more grumpy than usual well cystitis is a pretty common issue in
our pet cats but if you think shot of antibiotics will make them better I'm
afraid it's a little more complicated than that hi I'm dr. Alex Avery from
ourpetshealth.com helping you and your pet to live healthier happier lives and
when we think of cystitis our first thought is of a bacterial infection must
be the cause and that a short course of antibiotics will quickly clear
things up while that might be the case in dogs and then people cats far more
complicated as always now infection is a fairly uncommon cause
in fact feline idiopathic cystitis accounts from the majority of cases it
can also be known as feline lower urinary tract disease and idiopathic
simply means that no one knows exactly what the cause is although it does share
many similarities with interstitial cystitis in humans now there is no
single test that can be used to diagnose your cat with this condition instead
your vet can rule out other causes now these might be bladder stones or sludge
cancerous masses and infection this diagnostic workup can be done with
x-rays ultrasound and urine testing now in some cases blood tests will also be
advised to check on kidney health or any other concerns your vet may have very
often though in the initial stages a presumptive diagnosis will be made
without the full range of tests and a more thorough work up only needs to take
place if the problem it's more severe if it doesn't clear up as expected or if it
quickly comes back now if these tests all come back is negative then the
diagnosis idiopathic cystitis will be made so even though we don't know the
exact cause of this disease we do know there are a couple of things that can
really increase the risk of your cat becoming infected first of these is
stress and an abnormal stress response now you might feel that your cat lives
the life of Riley but very often they are under a certain degree of stress now
this may simply be due to living inside and sharing their environment with
another cat there's always stress in a multi-cat household no matter how well
they appear to get on there may be more obvious stresses such
as the arrival of a new baby having the builders round fireworks season or a new
cat may have moved into the neighborhood now stress alone is not enough or else
every cat would develop idiopathic cystitis something else that seems
apparent is the fact that cystitis cats seem to have an abnormal stress response
they release different levels of stress hormones compared to unaffected cats and
in some way this affects the bladder now our second predisposing factor is the
disruption to the normal mucous lining of the bladder
along with inflammation to the bladder caused by nerve signals sent straight
from the brain now the bladder is normally lined by a layer of mucus that
protects it from the harsh urine that is contained within it in cats that
develops cystitis it seems that this layer is disrupted which causes damage
to the cells lining the bladder and this causes inflammation ulceration and so pain
now why this abnormal layer develops is not clear but it also seems that signals
sent to the bladder from the brain possibly due to stress can actually also
cause inflammation and pain in the bladder now this may also play a role in
the disruption of the normal protective layer what this all means is that
certain cats are likely to be genetically predisposed to developing
cystitis and their environment then just tips them over the edge in one way or
the other now knowing this allows us to make management changes to cats that have
had episodes of cystitis this treatment can help to prevent
repeat episodes in the future as we learn more about this disease new
approaches may be suggested so really watch this space so what treatments can
we give well we can split treatment into actual treatment of a flare-up and then
preventative treatment for long term management in the short term feline
idiopathic cystitis it's actually a self-limiting disease and this means
that it will tend to get better by itself given time often within two to
five days now giving pain relief dispensed by your vet and encouraging
water intake during this time should see the majority of cats remain comfortable
and the symptoms should pass uneventful remember that infection is actually
very rare and so antibiotics are generally not needed with males there is
also always the risk of a blocked bladder from developing
if you have a male cat make sure to check out my video of why your cat can't
pee it's a real emergency in the long-term half of all cats will
experience at least one more episode of cystitis within a year of their last
episode this is potentially a really long-term condition and so long-term
management is really important in any cat that has had an episode of cystitis
management focuses on two aspects reducing stress and increasing water
intake now you might not feel that your cat is stressed but if they suffer from
cystitis then they will be cats are very good at hiding problems and so stress
can be hard to spot in reality there's a lot of things in a modern cat's life
that can be the source of underlying stress this includes multiple cats in a
house competition for resources such as food bowls water and litter trays being
confined inside going for long periods without owner company or alternatively
having interaction forced on them and finally strange cats competing for
territory a lot of cats will have one or more of these factors present in their
lives trying to correct them will help a lot in preventing future cystitis and
small changes in your house can make a huge difference so what exactly can we
do well there are four broad areas we can target let's start with food bowls
water bowls and litter trace the number of each of these should be one more than
the number of cats in your house so if you have two cats and there should be
three food bowls three water bowls and three litter trays food and water bowls
can be next to each other but each feeding and toileting station should be
separate from each other to allow your cat to access them without having to be
next to each other it's also important to make sure litter trays are in a quiet
location and are cleaned out promptly some cats will refuse to use a dirty litter
tray if they hold on for a long time then they may be more likely to develop
cystitis now our second target is space cats a very three-dimensional in the way
they interact with their environment they just love to climb to sleep off the
ground and to have safe retreats now for our indoor cats providing raised
sleeping platforms climbing frame style furniture having cupboards they can
climb into and explore as well as having quiet and secluded sleeping areas can
all help reduce a cat's stress levels these changes are also great for cats
which go outside they may only want to go out for a short period of time
due to the weather or because other cats are in the environment they may feel it's
too dangerous to go outside at certain times and so be restricted indoors
this also means that if possible your cat should have a free choice to go out
when they choose rather than being forced out at specific times now
securing your home is at number three now imagine if a stranger kept coming
into your house and eating your food and using your toilet you'd be pretty
stressed out so is your cat if you have other cats coming through your cat flap
then consider a more secure type such as one which reads your cat's microchip and
only opens to them not any old mogey routine also helps feelings of security
where possible try and be consistent with mealtimes the people in the house
with noise levels and with degree of interactions now some cats love
interaction with their owners others only like it on their own terms
be consistent and don't force your cat okay so at number four is extra help for
those cats that are super stressed or during known stressful events some cats
will benefit from just a little extra support
now this can take the form of certain dietary supplements or even pheromone
therapy Feliway is an excellent safe product for all that can really help to
relax a stressed out kitty your vet will have other suggestions that will be
suitable for your cat for more details and extra tips on creating a stress-free
environment for your cat as well as learning how to tell if your cat is
stressed and watch out for future articles and videos on this topic
now moving on to how to get cats to drink water now this is the second
cornerstone of prevention cats generally have a very poor drive to drink and many
people will never really see their cat use the water bowl as such it can be a
real challenge to get more water into them well the following may just help
change from dry to a special prescription wet diet wet food is
three-quarters water if a cat won't eat a wet food though then a prescription
dry diet is probably the next best food these are designed and proven to reduce
the number of flare-ups in a cat with cystitis from suffering and it also
makes any flare-ups less severe extra water can also be added to your
cat's diet although again that may put some cats off eating it use shallow
bowls for water can help cats will often not drink if their whiskers touch the
sides also experiment with different material bowls your cat may prefer
plastic or metal or glass or china as each one's has subtle flavors in the
water that your cat may be picking up on on that notes you can also flavor the
water using something like dilute tuna juice or chicken broth just avoid any
high salt additives even if just plain water is used regularly refreshing your
cat's bowl even if it looks untouched is important and using filtered or
distilled water may also help for those who really won't drink from a bowl they
may just love running water use a cat fountain now this is a great way to
provide running water without needing to keep the tap running again for more
details on how to change your cats diet and how to encourage your cat to drink
more than look out for future videos there have been several drugs that have
been put forward for the treatment and prevention of cystitis these generally
either target the bladder with the aim to try and replace or repair the
protective layer of mucus that becomes disrupted or those that aim to reduce
stress now the first type are known as poly
sulfated glycosaminoglycansglycans and come in injectable and oral forms
unfortunately there is little evidence to show that they consistently have a
significant benefit they are however very safe it could be something to try
if all of the above strategies failed to control the disease it is important
though that your cat doesn't become stressed when you actually give this
treatment or else you may be just undoing all of your hard work in
reducing stress levels finally stress relieving drugs such as the
antidepressant amitriptyline can be used in cases of severe persistent cystitis
these can be very effective but also come with potential side effects so
unlikely to be the first thing your vet suggests I hope this video helps you
understand the sometimes frustrating condition of idiopathic cystitis in cats
as well as to give you some really useful changes that you can easily make
to help prevent future episodes of this disease in the future if you have any
questions or if there any tips that you have that have helped your own cat with
this condition then I'd love to hear them
please leave them down in the comments below also if it's your first time here
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allow me to continue to help you and your pet to live a healthier happier
life so until next time i'm dr. alex from our pets health because they're
family