Feline Interstitial Cystitis

Feline Interstitial Cystitis is the name vets give a bladder condition when they have ruled out every other possible cause. This is the catch-all name for a group of symptoms that can't be linked back to a UTI, kidney stone, bladder stone, or any other sickness or disease. Your vet will preform a series of tests, including blood work, x-rays, and urine samples. It may take more than one visit, or more than one vet to finally diagnose this disease. Over the course of 6 years, Miles was taken to 3 different vets. The first two preformed all the tests except the x-rays, and both of them told me that there was nothing wrong with my cat. I was given the impression that they thought I was wasting their time with phantom symptoms that didn't exist. It wasn't until the end of last year that I found a vet who believed me and was able to tell me what was wrong with my girl. And yes, even though her name is Miles, she IS a girl!

This can affect boys and girls both, though the signs don't tend to show up until they are 2 years of age. The symptoms include but are not limited to:

Repeated trips to the litter box where nothing happens, or only a few drops of urine are passed.
Pain while urinating.
Blood in the urine.
Peeing in places other than the litter box.

Miles exhibits only the first and last symptoms in that list. When it starts, she will be in and out of the litter box every 5min or so unless she is sleeping, eating, or can be distracted by play time. This will last from 5 to 7 days, and then she goes back to being able to use the litter box as normal. She also licks that area obsessively as though by cleaning it enough, it will suddenly stop bothering her and work correctly again. In the first few years, she would wash so often that she made herself bloody and lost hair. Now I can get her attention and redirect her to something else with a sharp calling of her name.

She also attempts to use the kitchen sink to pee in during this time, I don't know if it's the coldness of the sink basin that feels good to her, or what, but that is her favorite spot in the house while having her issues. She tends to sleep a lot as well as hide under things during this 5 to 7 day period. She doesn't respond if I call her when she's hiding, she just hides and watches. Running up and crying plaintively is also common, I don't know if she thinks I can fix it for her, or if she just wants the reassurance that I still love her, but she'll spend any time she isn't in the litter box or hiding, curled up in my lap or as close to me as possible if I'm not sitting down.

What most vets who diagnose Cystitis will tell you is that it is caused by stress. This could be stress from other animals in the house, a recent move, changes in your habits, not cleaning the litter box enough, or many other causes. And yes, cats CAN get stressed out, just like humans can. If you can find the cause of the stress and fix it, the episodes will happen less frequently but they won't stop altogether. In good years, Miles will have an episode about 4 or 5 times a year. In bad ones, she will have one almost every month. I've figured out most of the triggers for her, but new ones seem to crop up every time I find and fix the last one. It's been especially bad the last 2 years since the economy went south. Lots of stress for the humans in the house equals stress for the cats as they get stressed because we do.

It's usually recommended that you try to up the cats water intake. Adding wet food to their diet is a good idea, unless you have a cat like Miles who will take one or two licks of the wet food and then walk off. Getting a pet fountain is a very good idea as well. If your cat has never had a fountain, it may take up to a week or two to get used to it. To help with transitioning, you can leave the fountain unplugged so your cat gets used to it as a water source. After the cat is drinking from it regularly, plug the fountain in. If it's one of the fancier ones, you should put it at the lowest water output setting, if it doesn't have a water flow setting, just plug it in and see how your cat reacts. Some will love it and be drinking out of it after only a day or two, others will need more time. Don't give up! Almost every cat will come to love the fountain.

If litter box cleanliness is a possible cause of stress, getting an automatic litter box will be a huge help. They are noisy when they turn on to move the waste into the receptacle, but your cats will come to love it. Miles' sister Kaylynn was afraid of the thing for about a week or so, but I set it up so it was the ONLY litter box she had access to. She'd use it when it was off, and hide when it turned on. After she got used to the noise, she RUNS from the other side of the house when she hears it come on so she can hang over the side and stare. It's like it's the most fascinating thing she's ever seen. I've had it for 2 years now and she STILL comes running multiple times a day to stare at it working.

Play time with you every day is a big help. Playing decreases stress and also tires them out. Playing is a big part of keeping your cat healthy, and it also helps them bond with you. You should play with your cat at least 10 minutes a day. More often will make your cat happier, but if you have a busy life, even just a few minutes a few times a day will help.

Give your cat somewhere it can hide out. This can be a tall cat climber with a hidey-hole the cat can hide in to watch guests from, a covered cat bed, a play tunnel, or even a room in your house that is strictly off limits to any children, other animals, and guests. If your cat retreats to this spot, make sure everyone in the house knows not to disturb kitty. Having somewhere the cat knows it is totally safe and that no one will drag it out from that safe place, will help with stress.

If you're one of those people who moves furniture around your house often, constantly changing where the couches, chairs, tv, or other items are in the room, this will be a big source of stress on your cat. Cats like things to stay the same. They don't like change, even something simple like dragging the coffee table 3 feet to the left if that table has been in the same place most of the cats life, will stress out some cats.

If you're gone for most of the day, your cat will get bored. Even if it has another cat and lots of toys around, it will still get bored. Try leaving the tv or a radio on low while you're gone. Just having noise in the house instead of silence will be different enough to help. Or if you'd rather, you can buy DVDs that are actually marketed for home alone pets. Let your kitty watch hours of wild birds on the tv, fish swimming by, or nature programs about cats!

In the theme of bored cats, try changing out the toys you leave for your cat to play with. Every few weeks I take away a few toys the girls seem to be bored with and give them something different. This doesn't mean I buy all new toys! I just put them in a drawer and in a few weeks, the toys they haven't seen suddenly become new and exciting again. Doing this rotation means the cats are constantly excited about the toys they have, and I don't have to go out and buy new toys unless the old ones need replacing due to wear, or I find something new I want to try on them.

If you have tried all these things and Still can't figure out what is causing the stress, or like me, you just want to help with the symptoms, the best thing I've found is a product called Urinary Tract Infections For Cats. While it does not say it is for cystitis, it DOES list a few of the symptoms on the box. I figured it couldn't be worse than what the vet had given me (and which Miles consistently foamed at the mouth when taking. She'd even bite me when I dosed her, something she has never done before!). I had to dose her by mouth as she shares a water fountain with her sister who does not have cystitis. I found that if I gave her 0.7ml twice a day from the first day I noticed her symptoms, she was normal again by the third day most of the time. I don't have to dose her unless she's having her issues, and since the stuff says it tastes like water, there is no problems when I use the syringe to dose her. She just sits there and lets me do it, she'll even follow me into the kitchen when I show her the syringe and tell her it's time for her meds!