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Remedies For Cat Urinary Tract Infection
Urinary tract infections, or UTIs, can develop in any pet. Some cats are naturally more likely to develop UTIs, like male cats, overweight cats, or cats with diabetes. However, the infections can affect any cat throughout its lifetime.
A UTI affects the cat's urinary (peeing) system. This includes the bladder (organ that holds pee) and urethra (tube that pee comes out of). This bacterial infection can lead to symptoms like:
A UTI develops when bacteria enter the urinary tract, pass through the urethra, and reach the bladder. It can be caused by age, lack of proper hygiene around the genitalia, or abnormal pH levels (acidity or alkalinity in liquid) in the cat's diet. However, it may also be caused by more serious conditions like bladder stones (hard deposits in the bladder), injuries, tumors, or feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV).
Remedies and Treatments for Cat Urinary Tract InfectionUrinary tract diseases are common in cats and can cause discomfort and distress. If left untreated, a UTI can lead to partial or complete blockage of the urethra. This can lead to kidney failure or rupture of the bladder, which could be deadly.
Depending on the severity of the infection, a cat UTI can be treated using at-home remedies and treatments.
Cranberries
While cranberries are known as a UTI treatment in humans, they can also be used to treat a cat UTI. The acidity of cranberries can lower the pH of your cat's urine, which can help treat a UTI and stop it from coming back.
Many cranberry juices are high in sugar. Instead, you can find cranberry capsules (pills), supplements, or powder to add to your cat's diet.
Before giving your cat cranberry, you should first test the pH levels in your cat's urine. While the acidity of cranberries may help with some UTIs, in other cases, it could make the condition worse. Only provide cranberry supplements if your cat's urine is too alkaline.
ContinuedApple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar can also lower the pH in your cat's urine, eliminating and preventing any harmful bacteria. Add half a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to your cat's food each day. To reduce the bitter taste, you can mix it in with chicken or beef broth. Just make sure the broth doesn't contain onions, as this is toxic to cats.
Like cranberries, apple cider vinegar is only effective if your cat's urine is too alkaline. You can test your cat's pH using at-home kits or diagnostic cat litter, as well as through a reliable test given by your veterinarian.
Glucosamine and Chondroitin
While these two supplements are often used for arthritis joint pain management, glucosamine and chondroitin can also reduce the symptoms of a feline UTI. Glucosamine can help replace a compound in the lining of the cat's bladder wall. Chondroitin helps prevent this compound from breaking down.
Combining these two supplements can rebuild the bladder wall and prevent further damage from bacteria. This reduces inflammation and other UTI symptoms. For every 10 pounds of your cat's weight, you can give the cat 100 milligrams of glucosamine and 50 milligrams of chondroitin.
Marshmallow Root
Marshmallow root can kill bacteria, reduce inflammation, and strengthen the lining of the bladder to help fight off a UTI. It also acts as a diuretic — a drug that helps the kidneys flush out urine or other fluids — which increases the flow of urine and flushes out the bladder.
According to a study, marshmallow root contains mucilage (a sticky substance made by plants), which can soothe membranes and provide a barrier to support the lining of the bladder.
Bone Broth
In addition to treating the pH level and strengthening the bladder wall, an important part of treating a cat UTI is to make sure that your cat stays well hydrated. This will help flush out the bladder and avoid the buildup of harmful bacteria.
To make sure your cat is staying hydrated, you can introduce tasty fluids like bone broth. Not only will this provide necessary hydration, but bone broth also contains nutrients and minerals that can help fight the infection. The amino acids (organic compounds that form protein in the body) found in bone broth, including glycine, and arginine, have been shown to reduce inflammation.
Continued When to See a VetThese at-home treatments and remedies may be effective for clearing up minor infections, but more serious infections need to be treated by a professional animal doctor.
If your cat is experiencing mild or moderate symptoms, you can try these remedies to relieve their symptoms. If their symptoms show no sign of improvement in a few days, talk to a veterinarian. If your cat seems to be in pain or is unable to pass urine, see a vet immediately. This could be a sign of urethral obstruction, which can be fatal if not treated within 24 to 48 hours.
A vet may be able to prescribe antibiotics to target the harmful bacteria. Be sure to give your cat the full dose of prescribed antibiotics to prevent the UTI from returning or becoming resistant to treatment.
Even if you're pursuing professional treatment, these remedies can be effectively used alongside antibiotics to strengthen the bladder and balance your cat's pH levels. Some can also be used as a daily supplement to prevent the UTI from coming back. Remember to check the urine pH prior to starting some of the remedies to make sure you don't make the problem worse.
WebMD Medical Reference
SourcesSOURCES:
American Veterinary Medical Association: "Feline lower urinary tract disease."
Cornell Feline Health Center: "Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease."
Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care: "L-Glycine: a novel antiinflammatory, immunomodulatory, and cytoprotective agent."
Journal of Ethnopharmacology: "Aqueous extracts and polysaccharides from marshmallow roots (Althea officinalis L.): cellular internalisation and stimulation of cell physiology of human epithelial cells in vitro."
University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine: "STRESS, MALENESS LINKED TO URINARY TRACT DISORDERS IN CATS."
VCA Animal Hospital: "Glucosamine Chondroitin Combination."
© 2022 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.Cats And Dogs Pass Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria To Humans
New findings propose a significant role for pet dogs and cats in the dissemination of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Research conducted in Portugal and the UK indicates the transmission of multidrug-resistant bacteria between afflicted pets and their unaffected owners (1✔ ✔Trusted SourceUK/Portuguese study strongly suggests antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" are being passed from cats and dogs to their ownersGo to source). This discovery heightens apprehensions about pets potentially serving as reservoirs for resistance, thus facilitating the proliferation of resistance to crucial medications. 'Drug-resistant infections claim over 1.2 million lives annually worldwide, a number forecasted to escalate to 10 million by 2050 without intervention. #antibioticresistance ' Antibiotic resistance is reaching dangerously high levels around the world. World Health Organization (WHO) classes antibiotic resistance as one of the greatest public health threats facing humanity."Recent research indicates that the transmission of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) bacteria between humans and animals, including pets, is crucial in maintaining resistance levels, challenging the traditional belief that humans are the main carriers of AMR bacteria in the community," says lead researcher Juliana Menezes, of the Antibiotic Resistance Lab at the Centre of Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon.
"Understanding and addressing the transmission of AMR bacteria from pets to humans is essential for effectively combating antimicrobial resistance in both human and animal populations."
Ms Menezes and colleagues tested faucal and urine samples and skin swabs from dogs and cats and their owners for Enterobacterales (a large family of bacteria which includes E. Coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae) resistant to common antibiotics. They focused on bacteria resistant to third generation cephalosporins (used to treat a broad range of conditions, including meningitis, pneumonia and sepsis, they are classed among the most critically important antibiotics for human medicine by the World Health Organization) and carbapenems (part of the last line of defence when other antibiotics have failed).The prospective longitudinal study involved five cats, 38 dogs and 78 humans from 43 households in Portugal and 22 dogs and 56 humans from 22 households in the UK.Advertisement
All of the humans were healthy. All of the pets had skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI) or urinary tract infections (UTI).In Portugal, one dog (1/43 pets, 2.3%) was colonized by an OXA-181-producing multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli strain. OXA-181 is an enzyme that confers resistance to carbapenems.
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Three cats and 21 dogs (24/43 pets, 55.8%) and 28 owners (28/78 owners, 35.9%) harbored ESBL/Amp-C producing Enterobacterales. These are resistant to third generation cephalosporins.In five households, one home with a cat and four with dogs, both pet and owner were carrying ESBL/AmpC-producing bacteria. Genetic analysis showed the strains to be the same, indicating that the bacteria passed between pet and owner.
In one of these five households, a dog and owner also had the same strain of antibiotic-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae.
In the UK, one dog (1/22 pets,14.3%) was colonized by two strains of multidrug-resistant E. Coli producing NDM-5 beta-lactamase. These E. Coli were resistant to third generation cephalosporins, carbapenems and several other families of antibiotics.
ESBL/AmpC-producing Enterobacterales were isolated from eight dogs (8/22 pets, 36.4%) and three owners (3/24 owners, 12.5%).
In two households, both dog and owner were carrying the same ESBL/AmpC-producing bacteria.
It wasn't possible to prove the direction of transmission, however, in three of the homes in Portugal, the timing of the positive tests for the ESBL/AmpC-producing bacteria strongly suggest that, in these cases at least, the bacteria were being passed from pet (two dogs and one cat) to human.
Ms Menezes, a PhD student, says: "Our findings underline the importance of including pet-owning households in national programmes that monitor levels of antibiotic resistance.
"Learning more about the resistance in pets would aid in the development of informed and targeted interventions to safeguard both animal and human health."
Bacteria can be passed between pets and humans by petting, touching or kissing and through the handling of faeces. To prevent transmission, the researchers recommend owners practice good hygiene, including washing their hands after petting their dog or cat and after handling their waste.
"When your pet is unwell, consider isolating them in one room to prevent the spread of bacteria throughout the house and clean the other rooms thoroughly," adds Ms Menezes.
All of the dogs and cats were successfully treated for their infections. The owners did not have infections and so did not need treatment.
Reference:
Rare Fungal Infection Reported In Two Cats, Vet Tech
A rare fungal infection has been diagnosed in two cats and a vet tech who treated one of the animals, a new report warns.
The three cases—discovered in Kansas in late 2022 and early 2023—were caused by a fungus called Sporothrix schenckii, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in the May issue of the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.
"The good news is that this fungal infection is treatable and cats can be cured if a diagnosis is made early," Dr. Arturo Casadevall, chair of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, told NBC News.
However, "these infections take a long time to get better," he noted.
Sporotrichosis is rare in the United States and typically causes a skin infection that isn't contagious, according to the CDC.
But when cats are infected, they carry a very high fungal load, meaning they are more likely to spread the infection to other cats, dogs and people, said report author Ian Hennessee, an epidemic intelligence service officer at the CDC.
"They get these awful wounds on their face, in their nasal cavities and on their paws, and those lesions are full of these fungi," Hennessee told NBC News.
Usually, these infections don't concern public health officials.
"The only reason this particular case came to the attention of the health department was because of the human involvement," Dr. Erin Petro, a state public health veterinarian at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, told NBC News. "That piqued our interest."
The first case was in an indoor-outdoor cat who had a wound on her paw that didn't heal, even with antibiotics. She spread the infection to a veterinary technician through a scratch. Several months later, a second cat from the same home also fell ill, NBC News reported.
Neither the first cat nor the vet tech were diagnosed right away, delaying how quickly they were given antifungal medications. The vet tech was put on an antifungal for eight months, and her infection finally cleared. The first cat also got an antifungal, but she got sicker and her owners had her euthanized. The second cat was treated much more quickly and recovered, NBC News reported.
While cats rarely spread S. Schenckii infections, that's not the case in South America, where the Sporothrix brasiliensis species is much more contagious.
The CDC is monitoring the spread of that particular fungal infection, also in cats, but it hasn't yet been detected in this country.
The Kansas cases raised concerns that S. Braziliensis could be the culprit, but testing revealed it was the less contagious species.
"We are not sounding the alarm that Sporothrix schenckii is nearly as much of a concern as Sporothrix brasiliensis," Hennessee said.
"We know it's a possibility that we could one day see Sporothrix brasiliensis cases in the U.S.," he said. "We want to raise awareness without making folks too alarmed."
Most fungal infections, including sporotrichosis, aren't tracked by the CDC, NBC News reported.
"There is a big problem with fungal diseases, but they tend to run under the radar," Casadevall said.
"If you have an outdoor cat that has a lesion that has not healed, you should at least ask their veterinarian if it could be a fungus," Casadevall said. "You have to think about it."
More information: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on sporotrichosis.
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