Hi everyone,
Today we have teamed up with Hill’s to talk about a very important topic. Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease or Feline LUTD for short. But before we got into details on this let’s have a look at the fantastic purrst aid kit that they sent for Oliver and Nubia. Of course all in the theme of helping to prevent this disease! They have even setup a dedicated page for this here.
The idea behind the first aid box is to provide a fun and cute way of raising awareness!
So what does the Purrrst Aid Kit contain?
Oliver: Time to have a look…
Cranpurrry Juice – Well actually some scrummy Hill’s treats. 🙂
Porcelain Water Bowl – Because it’s super important to keep your cat hydrated in preventing FLUTDs
Cute Toy Mouse – Regular playtime prevents weight gain which is a common cause of FLUTDs
Feline Warmer Blanket – Just stick it in the microwave and put it out for the kitties! 😀
300g of Hill’s Science Plan Urinary Health Food – Because urinary cat food is important in keeping your cat’s urinary tract healthy.
Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease: The Facts
The urinary tract plays a huge role in your cat’s health. It’s important for waste removal, water level balancing and blood pressure regulation so it’s really vital that you keep a close eye on your cat for any changes to his or her litter tray habits. Yes, it’s not the most appealing subject matter, but it’s really important!
Feline lower urinary tract disease can be painful and if left untreated, can even be life-threatening as stones can form in the urine and cause a blockage. If you see any of the following, you should consult your vet:
- Your cat shows pain when urinating – straining, crying or any other obvious discomfort such as inflamed genitals
- Changes to your cat’s behaviour – urinating more frequently (possibly with little result), having accidents or passing urine in unusual places
- Changes to urine – cloudy urine or blood, often seen as pink spots in the litter tray
What Causes Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease?
Spending More Time Indoors – Indoor environment, lack of exercise, time spent outside, laziness and even the use of a litter box have been identified to affect a cats’ urinary tract health – which is why indoor cats are especially at risk.
Being Overweight – Inactivity, increased appetite leading to excess body weight can greatly increase the risk of developing urinary stones.
Being Neutered – Neutering can significantly increase life expectancy; however, the metabolic changes that follow can increase the risk of urinary issues.
Stress – As cats are naturally territorial, having more than 1 cat in the household can create a stressful environment with great significance on overall health1.
How Can You Prevent Feline LUTD?
Keep them hydrated
- Increase water consumption
- Feed your cat wet foods such as pouches
- Make sure water is clean, fresh and available at all times
Watch their weight
- Feed several small meals during the day instead of one or two larger meals
- Provide a scratching post and schedule time during the day to play with your cat – especially if it is an indoor cat
Relieve stress
- Cats are very sensitive to their environments and reducing potential causes of stress can go a long way
- Monitor the changes in the home and any conflicts with other pets in the house
- A stressed cat can often end up urinating in locations other than your litter box!
Urinary Health Pet Food
- New Science PlanTM Urinary Health is formulated with a unique bundle of minerals including potassium citrate – an alkaline salt which supports urinary health in cats.
- It is available in two varieties: “Sterilised Cat” or “Hairball Control” as meaty flavoured kibbles or soft wet food pouches
- The Hairball Control formula helps avoid hairball formation, naturally; while Science Plan Urinary Health Sterilised Cat with clinically proven L-carnitine helps converting fat to energy, to limit fat storage
Oliver: What else is in here?!? Where is the mouse hiding that I saw earlier!
Nubia: I may have put it in my cave…
Oliver: Typical!
Additional to the information above Hill’s also conducted a survey with 300 cat owners around the topic of FLUTD. You can find the results of this here.
We hope you found this useful and don’t forget to check out the dedicated page for more tips on how to keep your cats healthy.
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Thanks,
Marc
Useful advice.
Thanks ^^
2 years ago, our boy cat, Phantom, could not pee. He had 13 tiny crystals in his bladder. We took him to the vet, and his bladder was like a hard balloon when she felt it. He needed immediate surgery and had to stay overnight. After that, he spent a week with a lampshade collar on and took antibiotics.
His food had to be changed to a zero-ash content, because ash is what did it. When a cat can’t pee, it sits up straight and tall in its litter box, straining, with its tail draped neatly over the edge of the box behind it. This happens far more to male cats than to female cats simply because the pee has farther to go to exit the cat. Poor Phantom.
Now it’s Rx cat food for life. He’s on a moderate calorie blend, too, so that he won’t get fat. We don’t dare let our cats out because of hawks and coyotes. This is New England, United States.
The food he eats is Royal Canin Urinary SO Moderate Calorie, both dry and canned morsels of chicken in gravy. NO fish – it’s full of ash. We also add some organic canned pumpkin once a day, to his food and to Cherie’s (she’s just a year old, but fat – we’re working on that).
Thanks for sharing your own experience on this! And sorry to hear about Phantom’s problems. 🙁
This is a cute concept, and I do agree with their theory on how to treat urinary problems, but then Hill’s includes kibble in their kit. So contradictory!
First off, kibble is the worst thing you can feed your cats and Hill’s kibble is the worst of the worst. Ever read their ingredients? Corn, Wheat, Rice…and with only 10% moisture (as with any kibble), how is that going to provide moisture to help urinary problems? (And their wet foods are so carb loaded…cats don’t need peas, and carrots and potatoes!)
Want to help and prevent urinary problems? Feed a balanced, raw, species appropriate diet, find a good cranberry supplement (personally, I recommend Dr. Karen Becker’s Bladder Support), and get your kitty a pet fountain to keep your cat’s water fresh to encourage drinking.
Hey Pam. I do understand your concern about dry food. But the newer ranges of Hill’s have cut back a lot on the grains and the new range is actually over 60% meat content in the UK. As with all dry food it has to be “bound” to something though and that’s usually brown rice nowadays? At least it is for the one in the UK… I haven’t tried their wet food range but I do ensure they get pure chicken in the morning with oral care crunches in the evening. 😡
This article written by Veterinarian Lisa A. Pierson, explains the harm of dry food better than I ever could: http://www.catinfo.org/?link=urinarytracthealth
Also, I’d like to add that kibble doesn’t clean teeth, if that’s why you feed them oral care crunches: http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2014/01/01/pet-oral-health.aspx
Veru useful advices!
Ciao
Sid
Thanks 🙂
Reblogged this on ravenhawks' magazine and commented:
Good Information!
Thanks ^^
Good advice you have there. I find a diet which is balance with a mixture of raw food with dry/wet food combination to be working quite well. Not sure you are aware of this: http://truthaboutpetfood.com/voluntary-withdrawal-hills-science-diet-canned-pet-food/. The canned cat food range is pulled as well.
Interesting.