Good for you for hearing your girl loud and clear – cats have a way of saying “Hello!! Problem here!!” So, why is she getting bladder infections in the first place? You are exactly right that we have to figure this out. A few things can play a role. First, is your girl a bit round? If she’s too big to reach around to her bottom and clean it herself, then feces and urine will stay on her fur, and make their way back up inside to her bladder and cause an infection. Next, if she’s an older kitty, perhaps she has some arthritis and can’t get a really good hunch to fully empty her bladder. Then, the urine pools and bacteria overgrow. A third cause of recurrent bladder infections relates to diet. Cats who eat dry food do not get enough moisture and are predisposed to crystal formation and infections. Furthermore, most dry foods are made from corn and other grains – making the urine pH too alkaline (not enough acid). Acid kills bacteria. How to make acid urine? Meat. What kind of meat? Preferably real meat, but I’ll take canned food over dry.
Now that you know the top three ways that bladder infections occur, let’s briefly cover how to fix them. Eating meat will take care of not only roundness, but also dryness. Feeding a cat what she is designed to eat – fresh meat – will make her trim and strengthen her immune system. Now what about arthritis? Exercise, massage and even animal chiropractic (veterinary spinal manipulation therapy) can do wonders for a kitty with a stiff back. And, is she’s overweight and arthritic, losing weight will help her move around and make the arthritis less of an issue.
Thank you Dr. Cathy for your suggestions. I have a 13 year old Rotty with this issue. She does have some arthritis in her back but vet never associated one with the other, (nor did I until recently) but issue did come about around the same time. She has been on antibiotics, bladder herbs, tinkle tonic etc…nothing has worked. I am in the process of changing her over from canned food (Wysong) to Darwin raw. She has been on no grain food for the last 4 years. I read your book and decided that cooking for them would be the ultimate but since this is not possible with so many others I decided to put the dogs and cats on Darwin. Hopefully I have covered all the bases. I did have one question: with the feeding of raw food do I still supplement with Vitamins, minerals, enzymes etc…?
If the food is well-varied, you should not need to add supplements for and otherwise healthy dog. That being said, sounds like your girl has some underlying issues. Now that she has eaten raw for a while, what is her pH? Check oral and urine. They should be around 6.5-7 (ish). If there is a disconnect, she has some digestive issues. Depending on where her pH is then determines some supplements. If her pH is good, but she’s having trouble digesting, she may need enzymes. If she is still shedding, there is a deficiency and you might add omega fatty acids, but which one? That depends on her special needs. Wish I could be more specific, but some questions need to see the baby in person.
This is what happened to my cat 3 times in the last year. Every time we went to vet she too had an UTI. I’m looking for some real meat she likes, she very picky. Just want to mention my cat is very thin.
Darwin’s is a complete diet. Normally, this means for the otherwise healthy dog, no other supplement is needed. If you find your Rotty having a hard time digesting, you may need to warm the food or add an enzyme. If she continues to have bladder problems, then you might look at the salivary and/or urine pH. If she is still sheds after 2 weeks on the raw, then she needs a supplement – hard to say which. Many things can cause inflammation. Do you take your dog to a veterinary chiropractor? This may also help.
Good luck!
Baby steps. Some cats are very hard to switch. And, if dry is always available, those cats won’t switch. I have one cat I didn’t feed all day until once a day and she received 10 pieces of kibble. After 2 weeks, a few pieces of kibble on top of lightly cooked ground meat finally got her to eating. She still prefers dry, but that’s too bad for her as she was so obese she had fat rolls over her girl parts creating a horrible bladder infection.
Does the modern definition of UTI mean upper urinary infection or inflammation? I thought a culture was needed to confirm an infection? Are there more recent findings where that the majority of UTIs were actually inflammation, but still caused by chronic dehydration and wrong pH, still caused by feeding a species inappropriate dry food instead of balanced raw or low carb canned? Since this inflammation is painful, are enough vets taking it seriously and prescribing pain medication for pets suffering from it?
If an animal is suffering from chronic pain, are they more likely to have inflammation and high cortisol levels? Are there findings that support such animals are more likely to suffer from UTIs, diabetes, and any other inflammatory disease processes?
UTI stands for urinary tract infection. The infection is confirmed when bacteria is found, either by culture, growing the bacteria in the laboratory, or looking underneath the microscope, called cytology. When bacteria are present, it is an easier diagnosis then when bacteria are not found. Blood in the urine can kill bacteria making it difficult to grow the bacteria, if there are any bacteria present. Therefore, there are times when antibiotics are still appropriate when there is blood in the urine, even if bacteria are not found.
FLUTD stands for feline lower urinary tract disorder and includes all those times when cats act like they have bladder infections but there does not seem to be an infection, or at least we cannot find an infection. Another name is FUS – feline urological syndrome. Regardless of the name, yes, the cat has inflammation. As you suggest, the inflammation can be from an inappropriate diet and the use of too many medications. Just as in humans, chronic inflammation can lead to more serious health issues. Slowly, the medical community is recognizing the effects of long-term inflammation on health. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of money to be made on supplements and diet, therefore the industry does not support this kind of thinking.
As far as treating pain, the most common method of treating pain is with medications-medications with chronic use that end up causing more inflammation. Therefore it is a vicious cycle. For this reason, any manual therapy is the best treatment for inflammation and cat: massage, chiropractic, acupuncture, light therapy, play. Anything that stimulates the body better, plus the brain better, which can decrease pain.