Daily Archives: November 6, 2015
The Truth About Cystitis
As We Found It pt.1
Well here we are a few weeks after meez diagnosis with Sterile Cystitis to tell ya’ da truth as we have found it. We told you then what we were told by da VET. We told you dat this was very common ‘specially among cats who eat Blue Buffalo foods and dat it was caused from too much protein in da diet. Yep we wrote it as we was told, but we also included dat mommy wuld be duin’ a lot of little research herself. Just didn’t seem right dat an obligate carnivore kuld be eatin’ too much protein?.
Meez sure glad you don’t believe everything your told mommy. Me just wuldn’t like eatin’ salads and cereals.
No sweety you sure wouldn’t have, nor could you survive on those. Quite frankly I’m sick and tired of hearing from vets and pet food companies that cats, who everybody knows are “obligate carnivores,” need less protein. And I’m tired of pet food companies including so many ingredients in their foods that cats don’t need, can’t process and that could literally kill them.
Me thinks we oughtta ‘splain what dat means. Wikipedia says Obligate means by necessity. And Carnivore means flesh (meat) eating animal. In plain human English dat means Cats MUST eat meat. So how is it dat me kuld eat too much meat?
- Pull up a chair, get’cha’ a cup of joe, tea, or whatever you dwink and let mommy tell ya’ how it is.
That’s just exactly what I wanted to know baby, and one of the many reasons I like to research everything myself. And the biggest thing I found in my research was not the amount of protein in cat foods but the amount of carbohydrates. High carbs can cause inflammation in the bladder and thus bring on a bout of Cystitis. Your grain free diet was full of them as are many cat foods regardless of quality or price, grain free or not. Pet parents almost need to become scientists to understand the labels on their pets’ food. The photo on the package is rarely indicative of the actual ingredients in the bag or can of that food in your cabinet. You can read the Truth About Pet Food for more information about what’s in your pets’ food and the FDA regulations, etc. Again, there are many other places to gather this information and you need to research and decide for yourself what is fact and what is fiction.
Ingredients on the Hills bag the vet recommended below:
Ingredients
Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Powdered Cellulose, Wheat Gluten, Chicken Meal, Dried Tomato Pomace, Chicken Liver Flavor, Soybean Oil, Flaxseed, Coconut Oil, L-Lysine, Fish Oil, Lactic Acid, Potassium Citrate, Potassium Chloride, DL-Methionine, Carrots, Choline Chloride , Taurine, Iodized Salt, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), L-Carnitine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Calcium Sulfate, Mixed Tocopherols for freshness, Natural Flavors, Beta-Carotene
Sterile Cystitis can be called a myriad of things such as, Idiopathic Cystitis, Urinary Tract Infection, and others. Anything having to do with the lower urinary tract is put under the umbrella of Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease. Altho’ Sterile Cystitis is NOT an infection.
Sterile Cystitis is a condition that can affect both cats and kittens, male and female alike. The first occasion of Cystitis often occurs in young cats between the ages of 2 and 6 years old. The name implies an inflammation of the bladder of unknown origin with no infection present. In other words, they don’t really know what causes it. And altho’ there’s no infection, the cat is most likely in pain.
Vets make assumptions and all too often give bad or outdated information. We were told Dezi was eating too much protein and that the prescription diets for this condition (like the one for Lexi’s CKD) had a lower protein percentage and would clear up her symptoms. And that a lifetime switch would keep it from coming back.
Another assumption is that stress is a leading factor in causing Cystitis. For cats, stress could be anything. In general (not always) cats don’t like change. They are creatures of habit. Anything out of the ordinary can stress a cat. Boredom can cause stress as much as a thunderstorm or a house full of guests.
You can find a list of “typical” symptoms all over the internet, but I will list them here as well.
1. Frequent attempts to urinate
2. Straining in the litter box
3. Crying out while in the litter box
4. Blood in the urine
5. Urinating outside the litter box
These are the main symptoms that alert to a problem in your cat or kitten’s urinary tract. BUT Dezi had none of these symptoms. Altho’ Dezi went to the litter box 4-5 times a day, she never strained or cried out and there was never blood in her urine. She wasn’t drinking excessively, altho’ she did like to play in the water fountain, thus justifying her 1-2 extra trips a day. When she did use the piddle pads instead of the box, it was always because the box had been used and not yet scooped. If she poops before urinating, she won’t go in the same box. The only time she will do both in the box at the same time is when she urinates first. Yes I know she’s got a few strange quirks, but that’s my baby girl and I love her no matter what.