Cat Q&A

Archive for October, 2009

Cat urine problems are probably one of the top feline behavior problems for cat owners.  This is a messy, smelly, frustrating problem, and it’s probably the number one reason why a cat owner would take their pet to the animal shelter, or even have it put down.

Some people mistakenly think that a pet who stops using the cat litter pan is trying to punish the owner for some slight.  We all love our kitties, but let’s be honest.  Cat just aren’t capable of that kind of reasoning.

Sometimes a veterinary problem, like a cat bladder infection, is causing the kitty to avoid the cat litter pan.  Maybe your kitty is older and has developed arthritis, which makes it hard to enter and leave her pan.  Taking her to the vet for a check-up is always recommended.

Don’t lose faith in your pet.Solve the problem of a cat who won’t use the cat litter pan quickly, or it may become a habit thats hard to break.  If you’re tired of finding cat urine on carpet, here are three tips that may help.

Three Reasons For Cat Urine Problems

• Your kitty doesn’t like her cat litter pan
• She doesn’t like the cat litter you’re using
• The pan is located someplace she doesn’t like

The Cat Litter Pan Is All Wrong

The cat won’t use the pan if she doesn’t like it.  A cat with a feline bladder infection may have learned to associate pain with the litter pan, so she goes elsewhere.A kitty who’s overweight may just need a bigger pan so she can be comfy.  An elderly cat, or a young kitten, may have trouble getting into and out of the box.

Odors are trapped in covered cat litter pans, which is why cats don’t care for them.  Keep the pan clean, because kitties don’t like a nasty bathroom any more than you do.

When she’s using her pan, don’t let another pet, or a small child, bother her?The result is that she’ll be more likely to find a quieter place for her potty activities.

She Hates The Cat Litter You’re Using

Cats especially dislike scented litter.  Keep the pan clean to avoid odors, instead of covering them up with scent.

Don’t change the type of cat litter suddenly.  Cats don’t like change.Do everything you can to keep using the type of cat litter she’s already accustomed to.  If you really must change brands, do it gradually, over a period of time.

Location, Location, Location

Just like people, cats like a private bathroom area.  A bathroom closet is usually a good spot.Put a block in the door so it can’t be closed accidentally.

Avoid putting the pan in the basement.  Most cats don’t care for dark places that come complete with loud, scary things like furnaces and clothes washers that come to life unexpectedly.

Stop spending your precious free time on cat urine cleaning.  If you’re dealing with cat urine problems, just click on any link in this article to find the solution.

A diagnosis of feline diabetes comes as a complete shock for many cat owners.  You probably have many questions.  What exactly is cat diabetes?  What options do you have for feline diabetes treatment?  Can natural remedies for cats help in controlling diabetes in cats?

What Is Feline Diabetes?

A kitty with this disease has problems either producing or using insulin, which keeps the levels of glucose in the blood at normal levels.  High blood sugar levels cause liver and kidney problems, gastrointestinal troubles, and an increased risk of infections.  If left untreated, a diabetic cat can go into a coma and die.

If you have an older male cat who is overweight, he’s definitely at risk for developing diabetes.

Feline Diabetes Treatment

Treatment for feline diabetes often starts with the cat being hospitalized while his blood sugar levels are stabilized.Before Kitty comes home, your vet and you wil need to sit down together to develop a long-term treatment plan for your pet.  It’s important that you have a good relationship with your vet, so you can work together to help control your pet’s diabetes.

Be aware that caring for a diabetic cat does take a lot of time, especially at first, when you’re learning how to check your kitty’s blood sugar levels, and how to give him insulin injections.

Controlling diabetes in cats can be challenging at first, but many cat owners are quite successful at it.  After a while, blood sugar tests and insulin shots will become routine, both for you and your feline conmpanion.

Are Natural Remedies For Cats Helpful In Controlling Feline Diabetes?

Many human diabetics are using herbal remedies and dietary supplements to help control their blood sugar levels.Researchers have found that these remedies are both effective and safe for kitties, too.Be sure the remedy you choose contains the herbs fenugreek, astragalus, and goat’s rue, along with chromium. 

Always talk with your vet before you start using natural remedies for cats.These days, most vets are already familiar with these remedies, and yours will probably be willing to work with you.  Since it may be possible to control diabetes in cats by making dietary changes and using natural remedies, you’ll need to check your kitty’s blood sugar levels often.It may be necessary for your vet to adjust the insulin dosage as time passes.

Just click any link in this article to learn how diet, exercise and natural remedies for cats can help to control diabetes in cats.

Can natural remedies for cats help to prevent feline cystitis?  Many cat owners who have had a long and frustrating battle with feline lower urinary tract disease, or FLUTD, wonder if natural remedies, along with holistic cat care, would help.

What Is Holistic Cat Care?

Holistic cat care involves looking at your kitty as a whole, as an alternative to focusing on her kidneys and bladder when she has cat urinary problems.Instead of just zeroing in on the symptoms of FLUTD, a holistic practitioner will want to know more about your cat’s diet, stressful situations in her life, and any underlying problems.Natural remedies for cats are commonly used, too.

Cat Urinary Problems And Your Kitty’s Diet

Many cat owners don’t realize that there’s a direct link between their cat’s diet and cat cystitis.  Ads on tv and in magazines tell us repeatedly how great dry food is for our cats.  It has all the nutrients your cats needs, yes.  But that’s not the whole truth.

Here’s the problem.  In the wild, cats don’t drink much water, for the simple reason that they’ve been designed to get most of their water from their food.  All people and animals are over 90% water.  A cat who eats mice and other prey animals will almost completely satisfy her water requirements without having to drink any extra water.

It’s a different story for our kitties.  We want to do the best for them, so we feed them what we have been told is the best possible diet.  But dry cat food has a moisture content of less than 10%.  This is good for a long shelf life, but it’s not so good for your cat’s health.  A cat who eats only dry food is probably a chronically dehydrated cat, since it’s hard for her to drink enough water to make up the difference between what’s in her diet, and what her body needs.

Did you know that kidney failure is the leading cause of death in older cats?This often results from a lifetime of chronic dehydration.

You should know that is the best way to prevent FLUTD is to increase the amount of water going through your cat.  A more than adequate water intake flushes impurities out of your cat’s body and his urinary system.  Be sure your kitty always has access to plenty of clean fresh water.

Cat Stress Is Linked To Feline Cystitis

Most of us would think that our cats lead a charmed life.Just laying around and sleeping all day sounds great, doesn’t it?

Well, maybe not.  Cats face a lot more stress than most of us realize.  Just being an indoor cat is a stress on an animal that’s meant to be outside hunting, and slinking around in the dark.  Add a lack of exercise, too much of the wrong food, not enough water, annoyances from other cats and pets, and just being cooped up inside, and you can see that maybe life isn’t quite as easy as you thought for your furball.

Feline interstitial cystitis has been linked to cat stress.  If your vet can’t find any reason for your cat’s bladder problems, maybe you should be looking for hidden stress in your cat’s life.

Natural Remedies For Cats With Cat Urinary Problems

You may be interested in one of the many natural remedies for cats available now.  You should look for one that contains the herbs uva ursi and barberry, along with the homeopathic remedies Cantharis and Staphysagris.These remedies prevent feline cystitis by keeping your cat’s urinary system working well.

Learn more about natural remedies for cats with feline cystitis, and find the best place to buy them, by clicking on any link in this article.

Living through the financial crisis is difficult enough, but add animals which rely on you for sustenance, shelter and medical care, anything that can be done, helps.
It’s a shame that many animals are given up or abandoned every day, as animal lovers fight to cope with the current economic climate.
This is exceedingly difficult for animal charities who have look after pets when money is limited, surviving on donations to keep their pets in good shape.
Here are a few points which should help make owning a pet on a budget more manageable:
1. Consider every pet cost? Do you need that branded pet food or product? It is always a good idea to raise pets up with variety, both dry and wet, as well as different brands and flavours. Keep an eye on special deals. You can stock up. Investigate vouchers, search on the net for some promotions. Buy based on price per pound / Kg, as sometimes, especially with special deals, the smaller pack can be more economical.
2. Wherever possible, pet owners can often club together to buy feed and bedding in bulk, reducing the total price and passing on savings to all.
3. Vets bills are an unknown factor but must be considered. If cash is a little stretched, you may find a lot of Vets will consider spreading the costs, and reimburse in instalments. If you can, afford it – have or keep pet insurance.
4. Most people can make lifestyle changes! It’s not all about finding ways to keep your pet more economically, what about yourself!
5. Can you earn some money? Why not offer to walk other peoples pet? Dog Walking as a profession Good companies will require you do it regularly. Another alternative is to become a pet sitter, though professional businesses such as London Pet Sitter will also require you be a London dog walker.
6. What about your other pets, you may have put your cats in a cattery, what about using a cat sitter? The animal may prefer it and the pet sitters often do other things.
7. Do use external stabling or boarding? Most horses can exist quite contentedly outside for most of the year, as long as there’s nourishment, water and protection to harsh elements available. Could this be an option for your horse, it should diminish the cost of stabling significantly.
8. Are you thinking of choosing a pet, certainly consider taking an animal from a charity, they have so many pets looking for a home at the moment.
Enjoy your pet, they are worth the cost.

Did you know that up to 1.5 percent of all cats in the US are plagued with feline urinary problems? That’s a lot of cats.

Your cat may suffer from an uncomfortable cat bladder infection, or his life may be threatened by a cat urinary blockage. An an informed cat owner, you should always be on the lookout for cat urinary problems.

What’s The Difference Between FUS And FLUTD?

Many cat owners are confused, and rightfully so, over the terms used to describe cat urinary problems. FLUTD is an acronym that stands for Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease. FLUTD used to be known as FUS, or Feline Urologic Syndrome. Feline Urologic Syndrome has been renamed as Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease to reflect that most of the urinary problems in cats happen in the lower urinary tract, which includes the bladder and urethra.

Overview Of Feline Urinary Disease

There are many different aspects to feline urinary problems. Here’s a quick overview of a few different conditions that can affect your cat’s urinary tract.

• An inflammation of your cat’s bladder is known as cystitis.
• If your cat’s urethra is inflamed, he has urethritis.
• Idiopathic cystitis means that the cause of the bladder inflammation is not known.
• Bladder stones in cats often occur as a result of feline urinary crystals.
• A bladder tumor may cause problems, too.

You can see that it’s important to pinpoint what’s causing your cat’s urinary tract problems in order to treat his condition successfully.

Symptoms of Cat Urinary Problems

No matter what’s causing the feline urinary tract problems, your cat will show these symptoms:

• Bloody urine
• Urinating in places other than his litter box
• Urinating often, but passing only small amounts of urine
• Straining to urinate, or not being able to pass urine at all
• Crying out in pain in the litter box

Any of these symptoms should be enough for you to take your cat to the vet for a check-up.

What Your Vet Will Do

Your vet will examine your cat and feel his bladder to see how full it is. The vet will also want to do a urinalysis to check for infection or feline urinary crystals, and may want to do a cat urine culture to see if bacteria are present. If your kitty’s bladder is distended, that indicates a cat urinary blockage, and your vet may want to take x-rays or do an ultrasound to look for feline bladder stones.

Simple Ways You Can To Prevent Feline Urinary Disease?

There are many steps cat owners can take to prevent their cats from developing feline urinary tract problems. The most important thing you can do is to feed a high-quality canned food.

Because cats are supposed to get most of their water from their food, a kitty who eats only dry food is usually chronically dehydrated, which leads to his urine becoming concentrated. And concentrated urine can lead to cat bladder stones, and a whole host of problems that goes along with them.

Be sure your cat always has access to plenty of clean, fresh water, too.

You might want to think about treating your kitty with  natural remedies for cats that support feline bladder health. This remedy should contain the homeopathic remedies Cantharis and Staphysagria, along with herbal extracts of barberry and uva ursi. There natural treatments, which have stood the test of time for bladder infections in humans, have proved to work very well in felines.

Click on any link in this article to learn how natural remedies for cats can help to prevent and treat feline urinary problems.

You may be surprised to learn that one of the symptoms of feline diabetes is weakness in your cat’s legs.  If you notice your kitty walking on her “elbows” on her back legs instead of her feet, or on her “wrists” on her front legs, you may have a diabetic cat.Her feet may go out from underneath her, too, or she may need to lie down and rest after a short walk.  This problem is called “feline neuropathy.”

Why Does Diabetes In Cats Cause Weak Legs?

Many pet owners are shocked to learn that feline neuropathy may be a symptom of feline diabetes.  This condition is a result of nerve damage caused by high blood sugar levels.  It’s very important that a diabetic cat receives veterinary treatment to lower blood glucose levels as soon as possible to prevent any further damage to her nerves.

Why Is Nerve Damage Often a Problem With Feline Diabetes?

When the body is unable to regulate blood sugar levels, diabetes in the result, both in pets and humans.  Either your kitty’s body isn’t producing enough insulin (type 1 feline diabetes), or her body isn’t able to use the insulin being produced (type 2 feline diabetes).

High blood sugar levels are especially dangerous for nerve, kidney, and eye cells.  Why?Damage to these cells occurs because they absorb too much glucose from the blood, since they don’t need insulin to be able to use the glucose.This is why it’s important that owners of feline diabetics keep the cat’s blood glucose at normal levels.  

Can Feline Neuropathy Be Reversed?

Sometimes the nerve damage is reversed when the high blood sugar levels are brought under control, and the cat is able to walk normally again.

It’s also possible that the weakness in the cat’s legs is due to muscle wasting, which is a result of untreated feline diabetes.  Once the blood sugar levels are controlled, the cat owner may wish to gently exercise the feline to rebuild the muscle.  

Some owners have had some success in reversing feline neuropathy by treating their cats with methylcobalamin, also known as methyl B-12.  This product is available at natural food stores.

The Best Treatment Is Prevention

The best way to avoid complications of diabetes in cats is to prevent the disease in the first place.  Avoid letting your feline friend get too heavy.A kitty carrying too much weight is at risk for many health problems, in addition to feline diabetes.Avoid high-carb dry cat food, and feed the kitty a high-quality canned food instead.

Regular exercise is a natural way to control blood sugar levels, besides keeping your pet slim and in good condition.

Can Natural Remedies For Cats Help A Feline Diabetic?

Herbs, including fenugreek, goat’s rue, and astragalus, along with the trace mineral chromium, are used to control blood sugar levels naturally in human diabetics.  Would these herbs work in cats, too?  The answer is yes.   

Many cat owners have been successful in using a combination of diet, exercise, and herbal remedies to regulate their pets’ blood sugar levels naturally.  You can learn more about natural remedies for cats with diabetes by clicking on any link in this article.

Feline diabetes is problem that is being seen more often in cats.  Unfortunately, there are several myths circulating about diabetes in cats.Help your diabetic cat by knowing the facts about what you can do to keep him healthy. 

Myth #1. The Only Treatment For A Diabetic Feline Is To Put Him Down

This isn’t necessarily true.This disease can usually be managed with great success, unless the cat is very old or has other health problems, like kidney failure. 

It’s not difficult to learn how to check your diabetic cat’s blood sugar levels and give him insulin injections, but there is a learning curve. 

Myth #2. Feline Diabetes Cannot Be Prevented

Quite a few pet experts believe that this disease is a man-made condition that can be prevented by feeding your kitty a high-quality canned food, not dry cat food.

Why is feeding your kitty dry food a problem?Grain is the main ingredient in this type of food, which lead to weight gain, as it contains more carbs than your cat needs.  Cats have evolved to eat meat, not grains.  Free-feeding dry cat food will more than likely lead to a fat cat, and overweight kitties are predisposed to many health problems, including diabetes in cats.   

Myth #3.  It’s Too Hard To Check Your Kitty’s Blood Glucose Levels At Home

It can be challenging at first, but anyone who lives with a feline diabetic should learn how to check their cat’s blood sugar levels.Never administer an insulin shot unless you know what your cat’s blood glucose levels are.  Plus, it’s much less expensive for you, and less stressful for your cat, if your vet teaches you how to do this simple test at home.

Myth #4. Your Kitty Will Need Insulin Injections For The Rest Of His Life

This isn’t true.In fact, simply switching your kitty to canned food instead of dry food may be all that’s needed to reverse feline diabetes.  Losing weight can help, too.If you kitty loses weight too quickly, it can cause serious problems for him, so always check with your vet first.

Mild exercise is a natural way to manage blood sugar.Remember to start slowly to gradually get your kitty into shape.  Gradually work up to two or three ten-minute exercise sessions every day.

Myth #5. Don’t Waste Your Time With Natural Remedies For Cats

On the contrary, researchers have found that the mineral chromium, along with certain herbs, including goat’s rue, astragalus, and fenugreek, are all very effective in helping to control blood sugar levels in human diabetics.  These remedies are also effective for kitties, as well.  Many cat owners have found that a combination of dietary changes, daily exercise, and natural remedies for cats has made it possible to discontinue insulin injections for their pets.

Don’t believe any of these myths about feline diabetes.  Click on any link in this article to find out how natural remedies for cats can help keep your favorite kitty healthy.

Do you know how natural feline urinary support can help your kitty avoid frequent cat urinary problems?  If your pet suffers from repeated cat bladder infection, here are three ways you can support his feline urinary health.

Diet And Feline Urinary Support

Your cat’s diet is extremely important in promoting cat urinary health.  Many cat owners are unaware that a one-year study showed that feeding a high-quality canned food reduced feline urinary problems significantly.  Why is this?

It’s been proven that the best way to prevent feline lower urinary tract disease, or FLUTD, is to increase the amount of water that goes through your cat.  The easiest way to do this is to feed him canned cat food, which has a moisture level of around 75%.This is more like a cat’s natural diet.

The problem is that dry cat food, which is what most kitties eat, has a very low moisture level, under ten percent.If your cat eats only dry food, it’s essential that he drinks plenty of water to get enough fluid intake to prevent cat urinary problems.  Unfortunately, it can be very difficult to get your cat to drink more water, since he has evolved to get most of his water from his diet.

If your cat isnt’ drinking enough water, he’s probably chronically dehydrated.  His urine is very concentrated, which can lead to cat bladder stones.  These stones irritate the bladder wall, and cause feline cystitis, which is a bladder inflammation.  Just feeding your cat moist food can help to prevent this problem.

Another way to get your cat to drink more water is to divide his food into three equal amounts and feed him three times a day.  It’s been shown that feeding your cat two or three times a day as opposed to once a day is associated with an increase in his daily water intake.

Reduce Cat Stress To Reduce Cat Bladder Infection Problems

Cats appear to lead charmed lives, but this isn’t really true.  Our kitties are creatures of habit, and they don’t like changes at all.  Moving to a new home, remodeling, adding a new pet or person to your household, and even changing your feline’s food causes cat stress.  Cats don’t handle stress well.  In fact, stress in cats has been linked to feline idiopathic cystitis, which is a bladder inflammation that doesn’t appear to have any cause.

Be on the lookout for anything that’s stressing your cat.  Reducing or removing the cause of the stress may help to reduce cat urinary problems.

Natural Remedies For Cats Can Support Cat Urinary Health

Humans have been dealing with bladder infections since the beginning of time.  Before we had access to modern antibiotics, herbs were the usual treatment for bladder infections.  In many parts of the world, people still use these remedies.  Can these natural remedies work on cats too?

The answer is yes.  Uva ursi and barberry are two herbs that have stood the test of time for treating cystitis in people.Cantharis and Staphysagris are two well-known homeopathic remedies that also have a successful history for treating human urinary tract infections.  These four remedies have been specially formulated into a remedy that’s not only safe, but effective, to prevent feline urinary problems.

Click on any link in this article to learn how natural remedies for cats can support cat urinary health.

Do you share your home with a diabetic cat?  If you do, you already know that it’s necessary to pay a lot more attention to your kitty’s health.  Although cat diabetes doesn’t cause circulatory problems or blindness like diabetes in people does, there are four dangerous complications of feline diabetes that you need to know about. 

Feline Neuropathy

The cat owner will notice weakness in the pet’s legs.  Be aware that your kitty may have feline diabetes if you notice her walking on her “wrists” on her front legs, or on her “elbows” in the back.  This is a result of nerve damage from high blood sugar levels.  Sometimes this condition is reversable when cat diabetes is treated.

Feline Ketoacidosis

This problem is often seen in an untreated feline diabetic.  The kitty’s body usually breaks down glucose for energy for bodily processes.  But in cat diabetes, the body can’t break down this glucose, so the body starts breaking down fat instead.  This process produces ketones, which are a waste product.  A ketone build-up results in ketoacidosis, which requires immediate veterinary care to save the cat’s life.

Symptoms of ketoacidosis in cats include:

• Breath either smells sweet, or like nail polish remover
• Dehydration
• Either excessive thirst, or not drinking any water at all
• Not eating for more than twelve hours
• Fast breathing
• Vomiting
• Weakness and lethargy
• Frequent urination

Feline Hypoglycemia

If a diabetic cat is given too much insulin, or doesn’t eat on schedule, her blood sugar levels may drop to dangerously low levels.  The cat may act strangely and stagger around, and even have seizures.  A fatal coma may follow. 

Treat feline hypoglycemia by rubbing a little corn syrup or honey on the cat’s gums.  Take her to the vet as soon as possible, since this is an emergency.

Hepatic Lipidosis

This problem results when a heavy cat suddenly stops eating.When the kitty’s body breaks down fat for energy instead of glucose, it causes a build-up of fat in the liver.  Symptoms are similar to ketoacidosis, and also include jaundice, or a yellowing of the cat’s eyes and gums.  Again, get Kitty to the vet right away, as this is an emergency.

Is It Possible To Avoid Complications Of Diabetes In Cats

Preventing the complications of feline diabetes is often dependent on keeping the cat’s blood sugar at normal levels.  Research shows that natural remedies for cats, which include the herbs astragalus, fenugreek, and goat’s rue, along with chromium, are very effective for regulating blood sugar levels in kitties.

Don’t wait for your feline diabetic to fall victim to these complications.  Click on any link above to learn more.

Is feline incontinence becoming a problem for your cat? You need to realize that incontinence in cats, or dribbling and leaking of urine, and inappropriate urination are two different things.

Often an incontinent pet is unaware that she has a problem. Inappropriate urination, on the other hand, is when a cat is purposely urinating in places other than her litter box. This may be a behavior issue, but it can also be cause by feline lower urinary tract disease.

It’s important to know the difference between the two because incontinence in cats can be a sign of serious health issues for your feline friend.

Ten Reasons For Feline Incontinence

1. Usually the simplest reason is feline lower urinary tract disease. One of the symptoms of a feline bladder infection is needing to urinate often. The problem happens when your cat isn’t able to make it to the litter box in time.

2. If your cat has had repeated feline urinary problems, her bladder may be scarred. This prevents her bladder from expanding to hold urine, which leads to very frequent urination.

3. Cat bladder stones can cause a partial blockage of your cat’s urethra, making it impossible for her to empty her bladder completely. As her bladder fills with urine, the pressure can force some urine around the blockage. If you suspect a blocked cat, get her to the vet as soon as possible, as this can be fatal within a day or two.

4. A weak urinary sphincter is often the reason for an incontinent cat. This is more common in older spayed female dogs, but it does occasionally happen in spayed cats, too, especially if they’re heavy. This type of incontinence, called hormone-responsive incontinence, can develop years after she’s been spayed.

5. Feline diabetes can cause an incontinent cat. A diabetic cat is drinking lots more water than normal because the disease makes her very thirsty in an effort to flush the excess sugar out of her body. This leads her to need to urinate more, too. She may have trouble making it to her litter box before she has an accident.

6. Cats with feline leukemia sometimes become incontinent, too. This can happen in both males and females.

7. As a cat ages, the urinary sphincter can weaken. Your cat may develop other problems as she gets older, such as diabetes, which cause her body to produce more urine than normal. Combine a very full bladder with a weak urinary sphincter, and it’s easy to see why urinary incontinence in cats is the result.

8. She may have a neurological problem with the nerves in her bladder that cause her to be unable to hold her urine.

9. Bladder tumors can be another factor.

10. Sometimes an older cat starts getting forgetful, or is in the early stages of senility, which can lead to litter box problems.

Natural Feline Urinary Support

If your furball is having cat urinary problems, it’s important to take her to the vet for a check-up to rule out anything serious. Most cases of inappropriate urination are due to feline lower urinary tract disease, which can be a frustrating condition to deal with.

The most important thing you can do is to feed your cat a high-quality canned food. Cats are meant to get most of their water from their food, so feeding a cat dry food all the time is an invitation to disaster in the form of cat urinary problems.

You may want to consider giving your kitty one of the many natural remedies for cats that are available for feline urinary support. Herbs and homeopathic remedies have a long history of success in humans, and they’re very effective for urinary problems in pets, too.  Just click on any link to learn more.