Your cat starts urinating more frequently and often does so outside the litter box, straining while he relieves himself. He also has started over-grooming “down there” and may even have blood in his urine. Is it a urinary tract infection? Nope. The vet checked for that. A bladder stone? No, not that, either. In fact, the doctor has screened for a number of conditions that fall under the umbrella of Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD), and all the tests came back negative. So what is it? Is your cat just being difficult?
Hardly. The vet diagnoses feline idiopathic cystitis (FIC). There’s no tool that can diagnose it directly, so she arrives at the diagnosis via the process of elimination.
By some estimates, FIC accounts for two out of three illnesses that fall under the FLUTD heading. It tends to affect cats that live indoors, particularly those that exhibit anxiety by hiding or startling frequently. That is, there’s an emotional component to the onset of the condition. Indeed, FIC is a disease of the central nervous system, not just the bladder.
The stress component
To be sure, researchers have been able to come up with some evidence of physiological contributors to FIC. One is a patchy bladder lining. Normally, the cells of the bladder are coated by a mucus layer. But if that layer is deficient in some way, the actual cells of the bladder itself become irritated and even ulcerated (think of ulcers as little holes or interruptions in the smoothness of the bladder that characterize the patchiness). That could cause irritation and urination difficulties.
Additionally, it is thought that FIC is associated with irritation of nerves in the bladder lining that also cause discomfort, as well as inflammation.
But then there’s stress, a brain-modulated influence. Evidence suggests that stress plays a significant role in the onset of FIC, and stress is of course relatively common among house cats who are not sufficiently stimulated with adequate environmental enrichment to help make up for their indoor lives. Cats who have an imbalance of hormones involved in the stress response may be at special risk.
Treatment and fending off a “next time”
A pain reliever may be in order on a short-term basis, but the mainstay of FIC treatment involves the environment and the diet.
More water. Dietary treatment for FIC involves making sure your cat drinks plenty of water. You can try switching your pet from dry food to wet, but note that dietary changes made too quickly can result in gastrointestinal upset. If you go that route, work gradually. Take a full week to keep changing the ratio of your pet’s dry and wet food until he is eating 100 percent wet.
Also entice your cat to drink more water by giving him cool, fresh water more frequently and washing his bowl more often — perhaps twice a day. Some cats might enjoy drinking running water from a battery-operated water fountain.
Another approach is to place more water bowls around the house. Adding a little water to your cat’s food will help, too, if he will tolerate that.
Create a cat-conducive environment. There are a number of steps to lighten your pet’s mental load.
- Be scrupulous about keeping the litter box clean and changing it on a strict schedule.
- Play with your cat — every single day. Remember, your cat is not a goldfish you stare at just because he’s good-looking. It’s critical that you interact with him in fun ways — flashing a beam of light on the wall, teaching him tricks, and setting out scratching posts and other toys.
- Stick to a predictable schedule of brushing his fur and brushing his teeth.
If you engage in a conscientious effort to increase your cat’s water intake and make his environment more to his liking in order to alleviate his stress (and the boredom that can lead to stress), chances are high that the FIC will resolve. Some cats may also need an antidepressant. You and your vet can figure that out as you go.
Bonus: A focus on improving your cat’s environmental enrichment will prevent FIC from occurring in the first place as well as treating it.
