Information on Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease
Feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD) is a term that is used to cover many problems of the feline urinary tract, including stones and cystitis. The term feline urologic syndrome (FUS) is an older term which is still sometimes used for this condition. The condition can lead to plugged-penis syndrome also known as blocked cat syndrome.
FLUTD is not a specific diagnosis in and of itself, rather, it represents an array of problems within one body system.
It affects cats of both sexes, but tends to be more dangerous in males because they are more susceptible to blockages due to their longer, narrower urethrae. Urinary tract disorders have a high rate of recurrence, and some cats seem to be more susceptible to urinary problems than others.
Signs of FLUTD include:
Prolonged squatting or straining in or out of the litter box (some owners may confuse this with signs of constipation) and not producing urine or only a small amount
Frequent urination or straining
Pain while urinating (meowing or howling)
Urinating outside of the litter box
Blood in the urine
Frequent licking of the genital area
Vomiting
Depression
It can be treated by following ways:
If dire, life-threatening status, then correction of hydration, electrolyte and metabolic disturbances if possible is attempted. If the bladder has ruptured, then surgery is required.
Obstruction must be relieved. Quite often, cats are anesthetized and a urinary catheter is placed (in the urethra) to dislodge the offending occlusion and to empty the bladder. Sometimes, to maintain patency, the catheter is left in place for several days.
Antibiotics are administered if urinary infection is suspected; fluids are given to “flush” bladder content (diurese), maintain urine flow, hydration and to correct metabolic and electrolyte derangements.
If crystals or urinary tract calculi (“stones”) are suspected, based upon physical exam, urinalysis or x-rays, special diets and medications may be perscribed (depending upon the nature of the crystals/stones). However, some types are not amenable to medical dissolution and surgery may be required.
There are several causes of FLUTD in cats:
Feline Idiopathic Cystitis (FIC) or unknown cause: This is the most common cause of FLUTD in cats, and is seen in 50 – 65% of cases. Cystitis means “means irritation of the urinary bladder”. Even with extensive testing, much of the time a cause of the symptoms cannot be determined.
Urinary Stones (uroliths): Struvite or calcium oxalate are the most common form of urinary stones. Uroliths are seen in 15 – 20% of cases.
Diet: A diet of dry food & fish flavoured foods can both lead to FLUTD.
Cancer: This is seen in less than 1% of cases.
Trauma or anatomical defects of the urethra: This is seen in less than 1% of cases.
Bacterial infection: This is an uncommon cause of FLUTD & is seen in around 1 – 3% of cases.
How Can These Possible Causes Be Sorted Out?
In younger cats, there is a 50% chance that testing will be fruitless. Given this, testing beyond an examination and urinalysis may not be performed unless the syndrome is recurrent.
peterhutch
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/information-on-feline-lower-urinary-tract-disease-402690.html
Does you Cat Have Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (flutd)?
Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease. Help?
I need information on correct diets. The vet has given me Hills prescription s/d 4 a month then c/d for life. Is there anything else?
Also- weeing, small amounts and often? Is that right for my cat now he's on the diet.
No silly answers or I will report you. I'm sick of the foolish and mean people in here, when most people are trying to get serious answers!
Thanks cat, I rang the vet to check.
Purina might have a prescription diet too. I'm not sure what it's called though. Ask the vet if that would be ok.
References :
You don't nor sxhould you have to feed this junk for life. Why do I call it junk? read the label, What else do I mean? This food isn't healthy for the overall cat.
You need to learn about nutrtion. Please switch to a quality canned diet
Nutrition since there are so many bad things out there is very important to your cat’s health
Contrary to what you may have heard, dry foods are not a great thing to feed a cat.
Dry foods are the number 1 cause of diabetes in cats as well as being a huge contributing factor to kidney disease, obesity, crystals, u.t.i’s and a host of other problems. The problems with it are that they are loaded with carbohydrates which many cats (carnivores) cannot process. Most of the moisture a cat needs is gotten
out of the food and 95% of it is zapped out of dry foods in the processing. Also, most use horrible ingredients and don't use a muscle meat as the primary ingredient and use vegetable based protein versus animal. Not good for an animal that has to eat meat to survive.
You want to pick a canned food w/o gravy (gravy=carbs) that uses a muscle meat as the first ingredient and doesn't have corn at least in the first 3 ingredients if at all. Fancy feast is a middle grade food with 9lives, friskies whiskas lower grade canned and wellness and merrick upper grade human quality foods.Also, dry food is not proven to be better for teeth. Please read about cat nutrition.
http://www.newdestiny.us/nutritionbasics.html
References :
If you go to htttp://www.littlebigcat.com you can read Dr. Jean Hovfe's article, "Urinary Tract Disorders in Cats" and there are many others such as "What Cats Should Eat", "Why Cats Need Canned Food", "Selecting a Good Commercial Pet Food" etc. to give you some guidance on finding the best food for your cat and preventing further incidences of urinary problems.
References :
If he is just going in small amounts the disease might be flairing up again. Call the vet and ask about that. Some cats really suffer with this and it takes time to get the diet adjusted. He might have to go back on the s/d. Make sure you are not giving him anything else. Even cat treats could pose a problem. I would call the vet to ease your mind. They will answer your questions for free and if they don't, find another vet.
References :
My cat has the same problem. I was told by my vet to switch him to c/d slowly (and r/d to help with obesity problems) and after a couple of months, this hasn't worked well so they switched me to s/d (which he's not fond of eating). Luckily I work at the vet's office that I use, so I get a discount on the food and such. I think there may be other brands (but am not sure), but Hill's is the best, which is why it is recommended. Other than the c/d and s/d , there is no other type of food that I'm aware of to help with urinary tract problems. They are made specifically for that problem. And, as catsaver said, be sure to not let him have anything to eat other than the diet he is supposed to be on. It could potentially prevent him from returning to normal.
As for the weeing, that really isn't normal, even on the diet. You can take the cat to the vet and get meds to help him get normal and they can also do a urinalysis, which tells them if there is blood and other things in the urine that isn't supposed to be there. They can also spin the urine down to see if there are any crystals still in it (which is my cat's problem). It would be a good idea to go back, if not now, then at least after the month on s/d to see if everything has returned to normal.
References :
You won't do any harm sticking with the food given for a month. But please don't sentence your cat to a lifetime of eating inferior food!
That's what Science Diet is. Crap in a bag (or can).
If you don't believe me, then at least give it the canned variety if you're going to feed that on a long-term basis. It's still crap but at least your cat will be more or less properly hydrated by eating the canned food.
Why do I say it's crap? Look at the ingredients.
Pork By-Products – um, WHICH byproducts? Hooves? Ears? What?
…Water, Pork Liver, Salmon, …
Ground Whole Grain Corn, Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, – Carbs, grains, sugar – cats don't need these! All corn is a known allergen for cats.
….Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Chicken Liver Flavor, Powdered Cellulose, Calcium Sulfate, Choline Chloride, Fish Oil, Glucose, Calcium Carbonate, Iron Oxide, Xanthan Gum, Locust Bean Gum, DL-Methionine, Potassium Chloride, Brewers Dried Yeast, Taurine, Cysteine, Dried Egg Yolk, Glycine, Iodized Salt, Vitamin E Supplement, Potassium Citrate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Manganous Oxide, Beta-Carotene, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin, Biotin, Folic Acid, Calcium Iodate, Vitamin D3 Supplement.
I don't have any quibble with the rest of the ingredients, assuming I know what they are. But the top of the list is bad enough!
In a nutshell what I recommend is switching your cat to a good canned food. See the What to feed link for some suggestions and info on how to identify the better foods. This will also help you understand why SD is so inferior.
And also from my blog:
CATS AND URINARY ISSUES
This is not my area of expertise, but this has been my experience: As a kitten, Poppy developed both a weight problem and a UTI. My vet told me to start feeding her special food which he happily sold me *gulp*. Poppy refused to eat it. Back then I was less aware of how to get cats to eat new foods, so I just said the hell with it and bought Purina's urinary health food, mixed with weight management. She ate that from then until she was 2 years old. She never had another UTI, so that tells me that the overpriced CRAP the vets sell you are typically unnecessary. The grocery store crap is just as good.
For various reasons, I soon thereafter began researching cat nutrition. I learned about the benefits of wet food, and found that in many cases, that's all that's required to prevent future UTI's. Even the crappy brands like Friskies would be better than dry food!
I don't claim to be a vet, vet tech, vet student or anything like that. But I know how to research and examine results. I've read a bit on this topic which is how I've reached the conclusions I have.
At the very least, were I to have another cat with urinary problems, I'd sooner try them on a GOOD QUALITY canned food before shelling out the dough for a "prescription" dry food (or even their canned varieties). That's because I believe that good nutrition and species appropriate food is much more likely to keep a cat healthy than something designed to change their chemical composition.
References :
Urinary Tract Disorders in Cats: http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=whycatsnee…
8. What to feed: http : // www . catinfo . org /commercialcannedfoods.htm
(I have trouble posting this link – just remove the spaces and it's a valid site).