5 Signs your cat has a urinary tract infection & how to prevent them

How Do I Know If My Cat Has a Urinary Tract Infection?

Hi. My name is Dr. Sean McPeck. I am the CEO and owner of Tier 1 Veterinary Medical Center.

So, a urinary tract infection is a bacterial contamination moving from the external area up through the urethra. It can get into the bladder. It can even extend further up into the ureter and into the kidneys.

Not all cats are going to display the exact same symptoms. But, universally, what we see for the most part, is a change in their litter box use. Accidents outside the litter box. And one of the big ones, one of the big things that we see behavioral wise, is cats going to use the litter box and as they start to urinate,
they sense pain and so they launch out of the litter box and then they avoid using it.

One of the reasons why they’re avoiding using it, is because they’re associating the use of the litter box with the pain they’re feeling during urination. And then we start to see random spots throughout the house. And sometimes those urination spots, if you look at them, they may have some blood in them.

The other behavior thing that we may see is excessive grooming the genital area and even an alteration in their behavior. Seeming more lethargic. Maybe not wanting to eat. Hiding is a big one with cats because they’re in pain, they don’t understand why, but they know if they try to hide instinctively, maybe that pain will go away. Which it doesn’t.

Those are some of the major things that we see.

So early detection and monitoring of your cat to avoid it getting farther up in their kidneys is key to helping keep good health for your cat.

So, recognizing abnormalities in their behavior and doing a little bit of detective work.

One of the things that are going to happen is you’re going to have to give a urination sample, a urinary analysis, a cystocentesis is primarily how we’re going to get that from the cat, because getting a free catch is going to give us a false contamination. There’s going to be bacteria in a free catch and analysis of that.

Sometimes, the doctors may want bloodwork to confirm. Looking at the kidney values and seeing how those things are displaying on the bloodwork.

And then a lot of times the therapy consists of some type of an antibiotic and some type of an anti-inflammatory and pain medication.

There’s another part of urinary tract infections that is good to rule out is whether we have the presence of stones or crystals, because a stone in the bladder can lead to a bladder infection.

And with the constant inflammation irritation and going through the urinary tract, if there is a lot of sludge and a lot of crystals, we can get the manifestation of what we call FLUTD. F-L-U-T-D. Feline lower urinary tract disease.

And there’s a lot of different reasons for that occurring. Stress is one that can cause that to occur. Changes in their environment, the introduction of a new animal into the house, even a newborn child. But severe changes in moving within the household. If you’re doing remodeling or construction, all these things can impact your cat and cause a significant amount of stress which can then affect their water intake, reduction in urine, a higher concentration of the urine ending up with inflammation in the urinary tract.

But there’s also different diets can impact that. And if you do find that you’re visiting the doctor for a urinary issue, talk with your veterinarian and find out if there would be a better diet for your cat than what your cat is currently on.

And then increasing the water intake for your cat is a great way to help flush the system.

Cats are strict carnivores. Their primary source of energy is protein, and so they must eat a lot of protein. Protein requires hydrolysis to break it

down. So, you use water in the body to break down the protein, and that can cause them to be literally in a constant state of dehydration.

Cats are not the best water drinkers so finding ways to entice your cat, whether it’s a fountain, if they like drinking out of the sink and having that

running for them, sometimes mixing in some higher moisture content into the food, even, you know, some cats will enjoy a fresh can of tuna in spring water and draining that water out for your cat.

There are different ways and there are some additives for water to help encourage the palatability and entice the cat to drink the water. But have that conversation with your veterinarian.

Let us know if this video is helpful, if there’s any other topics that you’d like us to hit on, please leave a comment. Make sure to like and subscribe for future content. Thanks.