Monday, February 9, 2009

A Guide to Holistic Cat Care For Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease

By Darlene L. Norris

Have you ever wondered if holistic cat care would help with feline lower urinary tract disease, or FLUTD? Many cat owners who have had a long and frustrating battle with feline cystitis wonder if natural feline urinary support would help.

What Is Holistic Cat Care?

Holistic care involves looking at your kitty as a whole, as an alternative to focusing on her kidneys and bladder when she has cat urinary problems. Instead of just treating the symptoms of FLUTD, a holistic practitioner will want to know about your cat's diet, and stress in her life. Natural remedies for pets are often used, too.

Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease And Your Cat's Diet

Many cat owners don't realize that there's a direct link between their cat's diet and feline lower urinary tract disease. Ads on tv and in magazines tell us repeatedly how great dry food is for our cats. It has all the nutrients your cats needs, yes. But that's not the whole truth.

In the wild, cats don't drink much water, for the simple reason that they've been designed to get most of their water from their food. All people and animals are over 90% water. A cat who eats mice and other prey animals will almost completely satisfy her water requirements.

It's a different story for our kitties. We want to do the best for them, so we feed them what we have been told is the best possible diet. But dry cat food has a moisture content of less than 10%. This is good for a long storage life, but it's not so good for your cat's health. A cat who eats only dry food is probably a chronically dehydrated cat, since it's hard for her to drink enough water to make up the difference between what's in her diet, and what her body needs.

Did you know that kidney failure is the leading cause of death in older cats? It can be the result of a lifetime of chronic dehydration.

It's also been proven that the best way to prevent FLUTD is to increase the amount of water going through your cat. A more than adequate water intake flushes impurities out of your cat's body and his urinary system. Be sure your kitty always has access to plenty of clean fresh water.

Cat Stress Is Linked To Feline Cystitis

Most of us would think that our cats lead a charmed life. Wouldn't it be great to just lay around and sleep all day?

Well, maybe not. Cats face a lot more stress than most of us realize. Just being an indoor cat is a stress on an animal that's meant to be outside hunting, and slinking around in the dark. Add a lack of exercise, too much of the wrong food, not enough water, annoyances from other cats and pets, and just being cooped up inside, and you can see that maybe life isn't quite as easy as you thought for your fur ball.

Feline interstitial cystitis has been linked to cat stress. If your vet can't find any reason for your cat's bladder inflammation, maybe you should be looking for hidden stress in your cat's life.

Natural Feline Urinary Support

You may be interested in one of the many natural remedies for pets available now. You should look for one that contains the herbs uva ursi and barberry, along with the homeopathic remedies Cantharis and Staphysagris. These remedies work together to provide natural feline urinary support to keep your cat's urinary system working well.

Your goal now? To use holistic cat care to keep your cat healthy and to prevent feline cystitis.

Darlene Norris has combined her long-time interest in natural healing with her experience working at a vet clinic to bring you her new website, Natural Pet Urinary Health. Learn more about holistic cat care, and find the best place to buy herbal pet remedies at http://naturalpeturinaryhealth.com/

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