Cat Urinary Tract Infections

Urinary Tract or Bladder infections in cats are a quite common problem occurring and unfortunately reoccurring in cats. It's a problem that is seen most often in male cats that are both neutered and unneutered but the problem can also occur in female cats. The signs of a urinary tract infection in a cat are quite often hard to see because cats hide pain and discomfort well. But left untreated and a urinary tract infection can kill your cat because if left untreated the feline UTI can lead to blockage and complete obstruction of the urinary tract which will result in the death of your cat.

You need to know that there are many factors that can lead to a feline urinary tract infection. They include.

1. You need to choose cat food that is low in magnesium to prevent kidney stones from forming. You really need to be feeding your cat high quality canned cat food.

2. Keeping everything clean including the cats litter box , the home environment and making sure that your cat always has plenty of clean water will greatly help in making sure your cat does not develop feline urinary tract infections.

3. You need to make sure as much as possible that your cat does not come into stressful situations. Changes to the cats environment or its diet can cause problems.

4. Keep in mind that male cats are at an increased level of developing a feline urinary tract infection. And it doesn't matter if the male cat has been neutered or not.

5. Just like us humans as your cat ages he or she has a increased possibility of developing feline urinary tract infections , kidney stones and the possibility of urinary tract blockage and death. Once your cat reaches 7 years of age you need to have your cats kidney function tested on a regular basis. They should be checked to detect fungus , infections , kidney stones and feline urinary tract infections.

If your cat is healthy then its bladder will be devoid of bacteria. However if a feline urinary tract infection is present you will want to watch for these symptoms.

1. Your cat suddenly starts urinating outside the litter box.

2. If your cat starts yowling or crying when it uses its litter box.

3. Your cat seems to be straining to urinate.

4. You see bloody urine. Or see blood in the cats litter box.

5. Your cats urine suddenly has a real strong urine smell.

6. Your cat suddenly develops a real excessive thirst.

7. Your cat suddenly goes inactive.

If you see any of those symptoms you need to take your cat to the vet as soon as possible.

If you think or suspect that your cat has feline urinary tract infection you need to take your cat to the veterinarian as soon as possible.

If the veterinarian confirms that a feline urinary tract infection is present in your cat then antibiotics will be prescribed for your cat. Be sure that you discuss all of your concerns with the vet while you are there. Most veterinarians are quite often busy so make a short list of your concerns and ask the vet your questions.

Know that future feline urinary tract infections may occur again especially in male cats. You may want to be especially sure that in the future that your cats diet is especially low in magnesium and that you keep your cats litter box especially clean. And always provide your cat with plenty of fresh water to drink.

While I have written this hub page to give you information about feline urinary tract infections you need to take your cat to your own local veterinarian if you suspect that your cat has a feline urinary tract infection. Its very important that you get the cat to a vet as soon as possible because if left untreated a feline urinary tract infection can result in the death of your cat. 

The content on this hub page was produced for this hubpage on December 31 2009 by Thomas Byers and is for this hubpage only. It is not to be copied or used in any way. If you like this page please link to it.