Cat Health

You arrive at home exhausted after a full day, wash your face, and start dinner but instead of the appetizing aroma of dinner you smell the unpleasant stench of urine. After a quick search you notice a puddle in the hall and what seem to be pinkish urine stains on the carpet. Your cat has uncharacteristically failed to use the litter box once again. Could these be signs your cat has a bladder infection?

Having experienced this scenario above first hand I can tell you that the summary above is a pretty good indication that something is medically wrong, with one of the most likely possibilities being infection of the bladder.

According to the Merck/Merial Manual for Pet Health "The signs your cat has a bladder infection include frequent urination, painful and difficult urination, and urinating in inappropriate places. There may also be blood in the urine. This may be more noticeable at the end of the urine stream. Rarely, cats with a bladder infection may show no signs at all."

While good information, most cat owners who have seen this condition up close and personal will tell you there likely will be quite a few other revealing signs as well.

Other are: licking the genital area for relief, redness or rawness in the genital area, howling when urinating, scooting across the floor, fatigue, uncharacteristic hissing when touched in the hind quarter, and isolationism.

Another sign that often signals the presence of a bacterial bladder infection is excessive water drinking.

The cause

Bacteria which has gains access through the urethra and made it way up the urinary tract to the bladder where it is flourishing is the cause. This occurrence can be a byproduct of a weakened immune system, possibly due to age, or another disease or condition altogether. Examples of other diseases and conditions would be stones in urinary tract, urinary tract cancer, urinary tract trauma, diabetes, and diminishing kidney function. In other words anything that either impedes the flow of urine, weakens the immune system, or alters urine pH to a point where bacteria can flourish.

What next?

A veterinary visit will likely be in order, complete with a urine analysis and bacterial culture, to confirm your suspicions. Additional tests may be required as well to rule out stones or other possible causes. Once bacterial infection of the bladder is confirmed your veterinarian will likely treat the condition with a round of antibiotics.

My veterinarian normally prescribes either Clindamycin or Amoxicillin but yours may favor another antibiotic depending on the type of bacteria causing the infection.

Additionally, bladder infections, especially in older cats, have a very high probability of becoming chronic, or recurring, especially when the infection is not treated successfully.

To avoid this many pet parents have chosen to add a homeopathic remedy containing such ingredients as Berberis, Cantharis, and Staphysagris combined with adequate exercise, easy access to a clean litter box, plenty of filtered water, and a high quality natural diet free additives. These types of treatments can be used in conjunction with conventional forms of treatment, as a standalone treatment in mild cases, or as a preventative measure to prevent infection down the road.

Robert D. Hawkins is an enthusiastic consumer advocate for natural health and natural living with over 10 years experience in the field. To learn more about bladder infections in cats along with information about safe and effective homeopathic remedies for treating pet bladder and urinary tract infections Click Here

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Fluffy hasn't been acting quite like herself lately. This of course is making the family parakeet feel a little safer but stoking your concerns that something could be wrong. So as a preventative measure you load up Fluffy in her pink pet taxi and head to the veterinary clinic. After arriving your vet palpates, tests, an probes. Finally, he comes to the conclusion that Fluffy may have a thickened bladder wall perhaps driven by her chronic urinary tract infection. OMG a cat bladder thickening what could be worse!

I think most pet parents would have a similar reaction but when you get right down to it cat bladder thickening sounds a lot worse than it really is; that is in the early stages.

Quick Biology Lesson - The Bladder

The bladder is the sac that hold urine produced in the kidneys until is expelled from the body. At the base of the bladder, a circular muscle called a sphincter is located that can be opened to allow urine to flow into a tube called the urethra, which exits the body in the genital area. The walls of the bladder are muscular and can stretch and expand to either accommodate more urine or contract to expel it.

The Problem with Cat Bladder Thickening

When cat bladder thickening occurs the muscle fibers of the bladder wall thicken and become shorter resulting in loss of suppleness. This of course creates problems in both accommodating more urine and/or effectively expelling urine.

When a feline urinates but is unable to completely empty the bladder it creates a sense of fullness even though some urine has been expelled. The condition may continue to increase in severity is left untreated as the already flexibility challenged bladder wall deals with the pressure and constant need to urinate.

Initially, cat bladder thickening is nothing more than an inconvenient symptoms but as the condition worsens it can become a condition in itself capable of trigger a number of health concerns.

Two of these health concerns are bacterial infections of the urinary tract and bladder stones. The frequency of both conditions is greatly increased by pooling of bladder urine. The worse the bladder functions the greater the risk!

What Can Be Done?

The chances of bacterial infection of the urinary tract and bladder stone/crystal formation can be greatly reduced through a specialized diet, basic pet care, and supplementation. You might even want to consider asking your veterinarian to prescribe one of a handful of cat foods specially formulated to prevent bacterial infection of the urinary tract and urinary crystal formation, which can worsen bladder thicken and inflammation.

At home make sure to keep those litter boxes clean, provide plenty of purified water, consider an eye dropper or two of cranberry juice a day to help keep bacterial away, reduce any stress they may be under, and provide your cat with a convenient private place to urinate.

Another helpful idea is to add a homeopathic pet urinary tract tonic containing Berberis, Cantharis, and Staphysagris to your pets daily routine. These formulas have a number of benefits including reconditioning the bladder wall, discouraging bacterial infection, soothing sore swollen tissue, and quelling inflammation.

In conclusion, when it comes to cat bladder thickening there are no easy answers since what you are trying to do is turn back the clock on what has already occurred. That said, by working with your veterinarian and implementing the at home steps above you will likely be able to stop it from getting worse and with a little luck possibly reverse the damage over time.

Robert D. Hawkins is an enthusiastic consumer advocate for natural pet health and natural living with over 10 years experience in the field. To learn more about cat bladder concerns along with information about a safe and effective herbal and homeopathic urinary tract tonic specially formulated to promote bladder health and treat bladder thickening Click Here.

Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert