Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD) formerly known as Feline Urinary Syndrome, FUS

For information about the diagnoses and symptoms associated with FLUTD, please see the following link to an article by Wendy C. Brooks DVM, DABVP on VeterinaryPartner.com.  Diagnosis is important as there are various treatments and remedies to help with specific causes. Regardless of the cause of FLUTD, however, the basics are the same for every cat: diet and hydration.

Diet
Traditional veterinary treatment will often include prescription diets, many of which contain preservatives, fillers and insufficient nutrition. No cat should eat dry food as a large part of their diet, but for cats with FLUTD or who have had an episode of FLUTD avoiding dry kibble becomes essential. Cats eating a dry food diet have more concentrated urine and do not drink enough to compensate for the lack of moisture in their food. In addition, dry kibble contains too much grain and cats do not typically utilize the nutrients in grains well.

Raw food is ideal, freeze dried and dehydrated foods are also good options – try to make these at least part of your cat’s overall diet. Read canned food labels carefully to determine that the food is mainly meat and contains no fillers or meat by-products. See the article What You Need to Know About Your Pet's Food. You may be advised to look for a food low in ash or magnesium. Most all high quality canned foods qualify.

Hydration
The first step in increasing your cat’s hydration is changing from dry to raw or canned food. In addition to this it is important to encourage her to drink water. Use different sizes and shapes of bowls in different locations. Many cats like running water – see the Drinkwell Fountain. 

If your cat remains stubborn about not drinking water, you can bribe her with a bit of unsalted broth or clam juice (not tuna) if need be and dilute it over time until she will drink water. Bottled or filtered water is best and will likely taste better for your cat as well.

Holistic Treatment for FLUTD
In addition to diet and hydration, a variety of other holistic treatments can be helpful in treating FLUTD.

• Vetri-Science Acetylator: Helps improve mucosal lining of the bladder. Can be helpful when there is blood in the urine with no infection present.
• Solid Gold Berry Balance: Helps prevent Struvite crystals and bladder infections.
• Wysong Biotic pH- : Struvite crystal prevention / acidify urine
• Wysong Biotic pH+: Helps maintain alkaline urine to prevent oxalate crystals
• Solid Gold pH Test Strips: Use with Berry Balance, pH- or pH+ to test urine pH at home between veterinary visits. (This not a replacement for having pH checked by your veterinarian.)
• Vetri-Science UT Strength for Cats: Helps prevent recurring bladder infections, maintain pH, improve circulation and maintain health of the Urinary Tract.
• Genesis Resources Feline Urinary Tract Support: Helps prevent recurring bladder infections, aid elimination, and sooth inflamed membranes.
• Only Natural Pet Tract-Ease: Helps heal irritated urinary tract and fight or prevent infection.
• Animals’ Apawthecary Tinkle Tonic: Helps prevent recurring bladder infections and aids the healing of inflamed urinary tract tissues.
• NF Formulas Cranberry Forte: Antimicrobial to help prevent recurring bladder infections.

Additional Resources:

The Truth About Dry Food an online article by Michelle Bernard.

Article listed on www.catnutrion.org (an excellent site for information about raw diets for cats) : Notes from the 2003 AVMA Convention – The ‘CatKins’ diet: The feline diet: a historical look.

Felinefuture.com