A urinary tract infection in cats is a condition known as cat cystitis. Thought the term can be used to describe other types of urological problems in cats, an umbrella term is used to describe the problem. A urinary infection in a cat usually results from a case of bad hygiene – mostly attributable to not cleaning out a cat’s litter box often.
This can result in the growth of bacterial colonies in the litter box and subsequently the transmission of the bacteria from the litter to the genital opening. From here, the bacteria can travel by various mechanisms to the urinary bladder and cause cystitis. The problem occurs in humans as well and sometimes can get worse ending up in an infection of the urethra and further to the kidneys in a condition called pyelonephritis.
Cat urinary infection cases are characterized by a sick cat that is constantly irritated. The urine of the cat itself may exhibit a foul odor and odd color. Should the urine by analyzed in a laboratory, cultures of bacteria would sometimes be found along with the white blood cells of the cat. This indicates that the cat’s body is trying to fight the infection. This is a very tough time for the cat considering that passing urine is extremely painful for the animal and in most cases, to avoid stretching the urinary bladder too much, the cat will pass urine more often. If there is any kind of pus or discharge in the urine, it is a sure sign of a urinary tract infection and therefore should be shown to the vet immediately. The vet might take a urine sample and sometimes also a blood test to check for elevated levels of leukocytes and white blood cells.
After confirming the diagnosis of cat urinary tract infection, the next step is to simply administer antibiotics. This will most likely be in the form of some kind of oral antibiotic. There is a possibility that the vet might even prescribe a diuretic as well. This is useful in treating a urinary tract infection because the normal flow of urine will keep the bacterial populations in check while the antibiotics are doing their job. If you have many cats in the house, you will have to ensure that the litter box is cleaned out after every trip by the infected cat to avoid the spread of the infection the others.
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