Urainry tract infections?
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Urainry tract infections?
| Sun, 06-12-2005 - 12:19am |
So one of my cats was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection 2 weeks ago. I noticed he was urinating blood, so i took a sample in to the doc, and they gave me some baytril for it. He's good now. However, one of my other cats are now urinating blood. I didn't think this was contagious? So I don't understand what's going on. He's doing the same thing my other cat was, going outside the litter box (specifically in the garbage can), peeing blood, and trying to go to the bathroom but nothing comes out. He's not crying in pain or anything, but he's obviously uncomfortable. What would be causing this? I have 4 cats, and so far 2 of them have done this. I don't want the others to do it too.

No, it's not contagious but it's also not uncommon for more than one kitty in the same household to develop UTI's.
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I don't know what type of food you're feeding but I'm betting it's primarily dry and a switch to canned food would very likely help out not only in this area but the the overal health of your kitties. Cat's are obligate carnivores and as such shouldn't be eating meat flavor basted hard cereal. Feeding a species appropriate diet one that contains a high quality meat as the primary ingredient and a sufficient amount of water is the ideal. Dry foods tend to keep a cat in a chronic state of dehydration as cat's are not by nature big water drinkers.
I am not a believer in all of the prescription diets as they are generally low quality protein sources and had a experience with one with my kitty who had chronic renal failure. My vet even agrees that the food actually made her worse. We(he even called the company) tried to get them to take a sample of the food I had to run tests on it and they refused. Once we got her off that food and on to a more acceptable diet that condition improved significantly. She too had been a dry food eater as I was unaware of all the research surrounding this issue at the time.
Search the board here for other recent food discussions and see additional links below:
http://cats.about.com/cs/catfood/a/canned_food.htm
http://www.catinfo.org/
http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/
Good luck with your kitties.
Lynn
There are dry cat foods that are made and labeled as such, that are designed for urinary tract health. We won't feed our catbabies any other type of dry food. My boyfriend lost one of his babies because he was feeding him one of the well known catfoods that was not designed for this purpose, and he had to be put down he was in so much pain, he couldn't stand to watch him go through it any longer and there wasn't much they could do at that point. It was very hard for him, and since then, we won't touch that type of food, and tell all of our friends the same thing. It's the one everyone one thinks of when they think of cat food also. It's much worse for male cats. They develop stones alot from it and can't pass them, and get infections. It's just not good for them in general. My babies drink plenty of water, I don't know about everyone else. They are always in the water bowl, and we keep it full.
You really should talk to your vet about the right kind of food, but look at the labels for urinary tract health. I promise, my boyfriend lost a cat because if this problem, it's no joke.
As I indicated in my post, my vet and I are in total agreement on my kitties diet and they will not eat dry food, prescription or commercial. In my opinion and his it is not an adequate diet for cats.
To quote Dr. Richard Pitcairn from The Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats:
" Some commercial foods now add extra acid to make the urine more acid. There are side effects from use of these acid formulation, however, and all they do is cover up the tendency to this problem without curing it.
It is clear to me that much of this problem originates in feeding pets poor-quality food with a resulting toxicity & excessive elimination load on the linings of the urinary system. Almost invariably, the first attack follows a a history of feeding dry commercial foods over a long period. Sometimes I say(as a way to make a point) that if you want to increase the chance of a bladder problem, feed dry food and leave it out all the time.
I've found that, once the through the crisis, the condition is very responsive to diet changes and natural therapies, resulting in a stable cure rather than a temporary relief."
The fact that a cat drinks a lot of water only serves to prove my point of dry keeping them in a chronic state of dehydration, as cat's by nature don't have a strong thirst drive. Some of the first symptoms of kidney problems is increased thirst and urination. By increasing acid in the dry food, it can lead to metabloic acidosis and with resulting kidney impairment and mineral imbalances including potassium depletion.
Just as in my own health care, I am an active participant and do not just accept verbatim what any doctor tells me. I research everything. Some doctors and vets, appreciate this and others don't. Lucky for me I have some good doctors and vet's who believe the way that I do when it comes to natural holistic medicine for myself and my furbabies. There is a time and place for traditional meds, but when so many issues can be solved with diet that is the place I look to first. Based on my extensive research on cat nutrition there is not a doubt in my mind, my cat's will be fed premium meat based grain free canned food, not dry.
I urge everyone to do the research, read labels of the cat food. If it starts out with a grain say corn which is a know allergen, followed by chicken or fish meal, and/or by products it's not a great diet. As the old commercial used to say "Where's the beef?" In this instance, I say "where's the MEAT?" (And no I do not consider beef a good source of protein for cats but that's another issue.) The first ingredient should be MEAT, as cat's are obligate carnivores! I basically look at this way, the ingredients must be human grade for me to feed it to my cats. I wouldn't eat fish or chicken by products or meal or any of a lot of the junk I see in most commercial dry foods, therefore I don't expect my cat's to either.
We all love our furbabies and try to do the best for them. Just as in the raising of children there are different viewpoints as to what that is. I do agree with you that the subject of FLUTD (particularly with male cats) is no joking matter which is why I take their diet so seriously. Both of my kitties are males.
Take care, Lynn
Edited 6/12/2005 12:39 pm ET ET by eghtyslady
Yes that would be the brand I was refering to. He was told not to ever use that one at all with adult male cats. As to the previous post, from my experience it is best to feed them both canned and dry, not one nor the other exclusively. And to get the best in both cases. Always read labels! As with my own food, I don't eat thinks that sound unedible. My cats have never had problems with their food, and I have always feed them this way. I take care of my babies. They get only dry that says it's for urinary tract health, along with canned food. I have both males and females, and none have had unrinary problems, nor any other problems. As a matter of fact the only time they have been to the Vet recently was to get their shots up-to-date.