Home


Columns, Special
Topics & Features:



The Columns:


Angels, Guides, &
Loving Spirits:


Angel Blessings:
with Dr. Doreen Virtue


Ask Valerie Morrison,
Internationally
Acclaimed Psychic


Trust Your Vibes
By Dr. Sonia Choquette, PhD.
Internationally Acclaimed Psychic Healer & Author


Love Letters
by Erika Morrell,
Soul Mate Medium™




Astrologer's Notes:


Carin Martin,
Astrologer


Donna Cunningham, MSW, Astrologer


Basil Fearrington,
Astrologer


Diana Stone,
Astrologer &
Huna Shaman


Jeff Jawer
Astrologer


Ray Merriman,
Financial Astrology:
MMA Market Week


Noel Tyl,
Astrologer


Daily Aspect Calendar
by Care


MoonWatching with Dana Gerhardt and Friends


Starlight Musings
by Nancy Sommers,
Mundane Astrologer


Creating Bridges:
The Spiritual &
Philosophical




Act of Power
Discovering the Key to Living Your Sacred Dream
by Lynn Andrews


Avant-Gardening:
Insights
by Frank &
Vicky Giannangelo


From The Heart:
Alan Cohen


Teachings from the Western Mystery Traditions: The Esoteric "Paths of Return"
by Jacquelyn Small, Eupsychia


Spirituality in Daily Life: by Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron


The Conscious Column
by David Ault


Spiritual Mastery
for the 21st Century
Dr. Gwen MacGregor


Encounters on the
Shaman's Path with
Dr. Hank Wesselman, PhD.
Anthropologist, Zoologist, Author, Shamanic Healer & Teacher


The Divine Human
by Ornesha De Paoli


Awakenings
by Karen Johnson


Worshipping by Wondering with
Sankara Saranam, MA Founder of the Pranayama Institute


Wisdom Walks in Circles
by Margaret Lewis
Author & Shamanic Practitioner:


Water For The Dry Sponge: Chronicles and Essays
by Shaun Brown,
Be Well Publications


“I of my own knowledge…”
by Frank DeMarco,
Author & Psychic




Crystals, Minerals
& Gemstones


Light and Love with Crystals, Minerals & Gemstones
by Raven,
Raven Crystals




Furry & Feathered Family Members:


Dr. Carson's Holistic Animal Care
by Dr. Kathleen Carson, D.V.M.


Animal Insights
by Charlene Boyd, Animal Communicator,
talk-to-animals.com




Healing & Alternative
Health:


"Spirit and Practice
of the Wise Woman
Tradition"
By Susun Weed


The Holistic Mystic,
by Lonny Brown


Medical Intuition: Tune
in to Your Body and Improve Your Health
by Caroline Sutherland, Sutherland Communications


Transformational Healing through the Violet Flame!
by Eva Kettles


Herbs for Health
with Kami McBride


Cure Your Cravings
...For Life
Rena Greenberg,
Practitioner of Neuro Linguistic Programming & Hypnotherapist




Humor:


Wake Up Laughing.Com:
Swami Beyondananda




Interviews:


Watch for Upcoming Announcements




Kabbalah:

Kabbalah Revealed:
Rav Michael Laitman, PhD, Kabbalalist




Numberscope Forecast

by Vincent J. Barra




Oracle & Divination Systems:


Be Your Own Oracle
by James Wanless, Ph.D. Creator of the Voyager Tarot Deck




Resources:


Archives


Blessings & Messages


The Book Nook


The Directory


Event Calendar


Historical Notes & Data


The MetaPersonals




S.O.L.A.R.®:

S.O.L.A.R ®
Beyond Materiality. Beyond Spirituality. Toward the Complete Human Being...
by Martin Lass, Emissary




Tarot:


Moment to Moment
by Gigi Miner
Author, Tarot Consultant, & Teacher


Reviews:
Tarot, Cartomancy,
Oracle Decks,
Books, & Software.
by Bonnie Cehovet,
Tarot Educator




Tidbits:


Almanac of the Ancients
by TripleMoonGoddess


News Briefs


Op-Ed


Pearls of Wisdom
by Astro Aeon
& Astro Care


Symbols, Seals,
Amulets & Talismans


The What in the
World Department


Trivia & Life's Other
Novel Moments


Publisher's Corner





General Information:



Advertising Information & Opportunities:


The Directory Advertising Rates


Premium Pages:
Groups 1, 2 & Display
Advertising Rates


The BookNook
Advertising Rates



About
The Meta Arts Magazine



Editorial Submission
Information:



Contact Us



Legal Notices

Last month I started my discussion of the two most common problems affecting the lower urinary tract in older dogs and cats, most specifically, the bladder. For my July column I wrote about urinary incontinence. This month I’ll cover urinary tract infections or UTIs in geriatric cats.


Let me first digress briefly to discuss another condition which also affects the bladder in cats. This condition, called Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease, or FLUTD, usually affects younger cats. A cat with FLUTD is acutely uncomfortable. He has a constant urge to urinate, and, yet, urinating is uncomfortable or even painful. He’ll visit the litter box frequently, usually passing only a small amount of urine. He’ll strain to urinate even after his bladder is empty. His urine is often bloody or at least blood-tinged. He may not make it to his kitty box each time; he will probably urinate outside his box in places such as the tub, the bathroom sink, the floor, etc. The urine of a cat with FLUTD often contains microscopic crystals, which can coalesce into stones in the bladder. In male cats, with their narrower and more curvy urethra (the tube which carries urine from the bladder to the outside), these stones can completely block the passage of urine. A blocked cat will try and try to urinate, but nothing comes out. A cat who is blocked for any time needs emergency care. If he’s been blocked longer than a day or so he can die, so the sooner the blockage is caught and treatment is started, the better. FLUTD is not associated with infections of the bladder, at least not bacterial infections. (It’s long been theorized that a virus or viruses may be involved, but this has never been completely proven.)


By contrast, older cats with UTIs usually don’t show any outward symptoms. (Though, occasionally, they'll develop incontinence.) This lack of symptoms can lead to serious complications. If the UTI goes on long enough, it can cause kidney infections and, possibly, body-wide infection (septicemia). (A cat with a kidney infection - called pyelonepthritis - does show symptoms, for he’s a pretty sick cat. He’ll be lethargic, have little or no appetite, run a fever, possibly vomit, and be sore over the kidney area in the mid-back.)


Another tricky thing about UTIs in geriatric cats is that they usually can’t be diagnosed by common lab tests. The reason for that is this: the urine of most older cats is very dilute. This is because their kidneys lose the ability to concentrate the urine as they age. In fact, this dilution of urine helps lead to the UTI, for the factors in the bladder which inhibit infection have been diluted out and lose their effectiveness.


One would expect the urinalysis (UA) done on a cat with a UTI to show large numbers of white blood cells (WBCs), red blood cells (RBCs), protein, and bacteria. However, all these are diluted out in the older cat’s watery urine, so few are found. Also, unless the bladder infection has ascended to the kidneys/the whole body, their blood won’t show high numbers of WBCs either.


How, then, does one diagnose these UTIs? The answer is through a urine culture and sensitivity (C&S). Laboratory technicians swab some of your cat’s urine onto special dishes containing material which nourish bacteria. If there are bacteria in the urine, after several days, colonies of bacteria will form on top of this growth medium. The bacteria can then be identified, and the antibiotics to which the various bacteria are sensitive to can be determined.


Unsurprisingly, most of the bacteria which cause UTIs are from the intestines, since the outside openings for the intestines and the bladder are so close together. These UTIs, however, are not contagious to other cats.


If your veterinarian finds a UTI in your cat, he will prescribe a course of antibiotics (chosen from the antibiotics indicated from the C&S), usually for at least 2 weeks.


A crucial follow-up to this course of antibiotics is a repeat C&S which should be done 4-7 days after the last of the antibiotics is given. Since the UTI caused no symptoms in the first place (unless a kidney or bodywide infection was present), the absence of signs is not proof that the UTI is gone; only another C&S can determine that. If the same or different bacteria are found on the second C&S, then more antibiotics (probably for a longer time) must be given, and then a third C&S is done. This procedure is repeated until the C&S shows no bacterial growth.


The UTIs of some cats are so entrenched that the cats must be kept on antibiotics for months or even indefinitely.


However long it takes to clear your cat’s UTI, your veterinarian should do a follow-up C&S several weeks to a few months after the last (negative) C&S. A cat who’s had one UTI will be prone to such infections in the future, and, as was shown above, it’s best to nip them in the bud.


As a general rule, urine C&S’s should be done at the minimum of once of twice a year for all geriatric cats, even those with no prior history of UTIs, as part of a thorough geriatric checkup.

Dr. Kathleen Carson, DVM
Veterinarian & Author

Click to find the best!