Caring for your cat - cystitis prevention and early signs

Cats are stoical creatures so it's often difficult to know if there is something wrong. Injuries are easier to spot but illness and internal injuries are not.

Warning signs 
One way to look for illness in your cat is to watch for changes in behaviour. Especially changes in their cat litter behaviour such as not using their cat litter or staying in their box after they've made their contribution. Sophie's story Sophie was a rescue cat I was fostering and I noticed she stayed in her cat litter tray as if it were her new bed. Being quite inexperienced I didn't recognise this as a problem. Then to my horror I found blood in my bathroom but had no idea where or from which cat it was coming from. I started taking a keener note of each cat's behaviour and frantically checking each one for signs of blood.

Eventually I saw that Sophie had blood trails coming from her. I was very upset and thought I was going to lose her. I rushed Sophie to the vet who diagnosed it as cat Cystitis. Poor little Sophie had to stay overnight at the vets but thankfully we got her there in time. Cat cystitis can be a common problem in cats. Males are more susceptible as they have a narrower urinary tract. It is treatable if caught in time. Sophie started on a 7 day medication and it's not always easy getting a cat to take a pill but wrapped in tuna or chicken seems to work.

My cat rescue co-ordinator advised I should bring in more fluids to her diet because dehydration can be a contributing factor. So Sophie was treated to canned tuna juice (brine not oil) a little evaporated milk mixed with water along with a little extra water in her wet food.

Cat stress 
After a little research into cat cystitis I found another factor can be stress. And as I looked back over Sophie's life the previous couple of weeks before she became ill it all began to make sense. Another rescue cat was staying with us. The new cat bullied Sophie a little. Sophie protected herself by staying high up on the fridge out of his way. This meant the little cat's access to her food, water and litter tray was restricted at times. To us humans this might appear to be no big deal but to a cat, I learned, it can be traumatic. I did everything I could to de-stress her life making sure all her cat "things" were easy for her to get to. She was given regular little healthy food snacks and plenty of human care and attention. She was also kept separate from the bully cat.

The story ended well and I'm happy to say Sophie returned to health and was adopted by a human who was just purrrfect for her.

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Love cats? Visit Catbuddy for t shirts, hoodies, bags and more. Your purchase will provide food, shelter and medical treatment for rescue cats and kittens.

Top 5 hacks for cat owners

Top 5 hacks for cat owners that will save you time and money

1 Cool cats

Cool your cat down in hot weather by running your hands under the cold tap then stroke your cat with damp hands.

2 Cat litter conundrums
To remove clumps from the cat litter tray use a child's spade rather than a cat litter scoop. Smaller clumps fall through the grills and mean more mess.   Small gardening spades also work.

3 Cat litter costs
Cat litter bags can be expensive but you can save money by using nappy bags instead.  They tend to be cheaper and get the job done just as well.

4 Tablet trauma

Getting your cat to take a tablet can be very tricky. somehow they know what you're up to and firstly run off.  Then when you finally catch them you're struggling with sprawling cat legs, claws and a mouth shut clam tight.  So one tip that was passed onto me by a veteran cat fosterer was to wrap your cat in a towel so his legs are kept swaddled.  Then "hide" the pill in tuna.


5 Get cat carrier clever
You try and coax your cat in with treats - he runs off. Then you try a few gentle shoves through the door and he legs it under a table so you can't get to him. My cat life got easier when I was shown this effective way which is tip which  was firstly turn the  cat carrier n it's side  with the door facing upwards.  Next simply  drop your cat in tail first.  Don't forget to put something that smells familiar in their along with a treat or two.

Rescue Cat Jack's story

Cat buddy is where, through various media, we raise money for the cats and kittens we rescue. All designs are inspired by the cat's I've fostered and you can shop for tee shirts hoodies, bags, mugs and more.  Money raised will go toward food, shelter and vet bills.


Along with the shop I'm experimenting with Youtube videos.  Jack's story is the first video I did, I'l admit it's not that great but it was fun creating the video. 

Jack's still with me and sat here on my knee as I type.  Jack has very few teeth so it can be a little tricky with food.  I've tried softening his dried foot in hot water mixed with cat yogurt and mix that in with his wet food, like cat stew. 


I've also tried the softer cat chews and kitten treats. Anyway please post any tips for toothless cats.  

Jack's a very quiet little boy so I have been able to take so many photographs without the usual running off or blurry cat face because they are nosing into the camera. I've done lots of tee shirt designs around Jack.


BTW if you live in the UK and are looking to adopt visit on www.catchat.org to see some of cats available for rehoming.

Thank you for reading.