PSA to male cat owners: watch out for UTIs

[Deleted member 13328]

Our cats was also not drinking that much so we got a water fountain that has the water running all the time and they love it, they drink a lot more now. And we have a bowl of water in another room that they like to drink out of.

 

[Zen]

Just so I'm caught up: what causes a UTI? I'm not sure how much my buddy's previous owners took care of him, so I'm monitoring everything as closely as possible.

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From what I read it seems to be a combo of dehydration and diet. In the wild, cats eat bones, feathers and other parts of their prey. Cat food tends not to have those, so they don't get the same nutrition. They get most of their water from prey kills too.

 

[nihilence]

We have a kitty that got a mucus block and fixed right away.

Another kitty is a stress case, and needed PU surgery where they reconstruct the urethra.

Water fountains can help too.

 

[AstronaughtE]

Our cat would reliably get utis from drinking tap water. If we gave him distilled water he'd be just fine, but if he drank tap water for like a week they'd come roaring back.

 

[LProtagonist]

I have a water fountain and my boys like it a lot. I'm constantly filling it up.

 

[El Bombastico]

Sister's cat had to go the ER when he got an UTI. Poor little guy almost died.

 

[Tremagus]

Vey good advice because I actually lost one of my cats because of the same thing. There was blockage and eventually they had to surgically remove his penic and create a new hole for him to urinate from. Unfortunately he had more complications and eventually passed away a few months later. So his brother has been on a UTI prevention diet ever since. It definitely is pricier but hey, these little dudes depend on us to take care of them.

 

[mAcOdIn]

For cats I think dry food should probably be banned from the market. It's just not conducive to how cats eat and is basically exclusively for the owners convenience. My older cat also had to go to the vet over water intake and I've switched to wet food exclusively and she basically started acting years younger. I thought she was near the end and now I think she's got years and years left. Fuck dry food. Never should have been invented and then no-one would feel feeding wet food was an inconvenience.