How Can I Tell If My Cat Has a UTI?
Straining to urinate, urinating frequently (usually without success), peeing blood, and peeing outside of the litterbox are all common signs of a UTI in cats.
Why Is My Cat Sporadically Peeing Blood?
"My 11-year-old spayed female cat has had trouble peeing on 2 consecutive Saturdays. She will go to the first litterbox and stay 2–5 minutes and then go to the second box and do the same. There is a little spot of blood after each unsuccessful attempt. Then she will try to pee in random places around the house, again with a small amount of blood. The rest of the week, she is just fine and eats and drinks normally. She has always been consistent about drinking a good amount of water. What is wrong with my cat?" —Phil
Feline Idiopathic Cystitis (FIC)
Your cat has symptoms consistent with a urinary tract inflammation (feline idiopathic cystitis) and may have a urinary tract infection. About 20% of all cats with the signs of a urinary tract inflammation have an infection. (1)
Antibiotics Are Necessary for UTIs
If this is an infection, your cat will need to be on antibiotics. If she has an infection and you do not put her on antibiotics, this could become an ascending infection and lead to a kidney infection.
Kidney Infection From Untreated UTIs
Pyelonephritis, a kidney infection, can lead to serious health problems, including kidney failure, which is fatal. Once the kidneys have failed, there is no cure.
Urinary Tract Inflammation vs. Infection
It is also possible that this is just inflammation. There are several home cures for cats with cystitis, but the most important thing to do at this point is to take your cat, or a urine sample from your cat, to your local veterinarian so that they can determine if she has an infection.
If at all possible, take your cat for the examination, as she might need additional testing. Even the urine sample collected at the veterinary clinic will be better since they can draw the sample using cystocentesis (directly from the bladder), whereas if you take in a sample, it will be from the litter box. (You can use a litter that does not absorb the urine.)
Why Is It Only Happening Sporadically?
It is possible that your cat is forming struvite or other stones and crystals in her bladder. Male cats can become blocked and die if this issue is not taken care of immediately. Female cats have a larger opening at the base of the urinary tract and are able to pass stones more easily. It may pass with a little blood, as you noticed. In another few days or a week, however, the same thing will happen again.
Cats usually form stones in sterile urine but can have urinary stones as well as an infection (2), so besides the examination, your cat needs a urinalysis and may need antibiotics.
Urinary Blockages in Cats
This is an emergency in male cats. If their urine output is blocked by stones, they risk becoming uremic and dying from blood poisoning. In females, it is still very serious and needs to be taken care of as soon as possible.
Please get your cat examined right away.
Sources
(1) Teichmann-Knorrn S, Dorsch R. Signifikante Bakteriurie der Katze: bakterielle Harnwegsinfektion und subklinische Bakteriurie [Significant bacteriuria in cats: urinary tract infection and subclinical bacteriuria - A current review]. Tierarztl Prax Ausg K Kleintiere Heimtiere. 2018 Aug;46(4):247-259. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30149407/
(2) Tefft, K. M., Byron, J. K., Hostnik, E. T., Daristotle, L., Carmella, V., & Frantz, N. Z. (2021). Effect of a struvite dissolution diet in cats with naturally occurring struvite urolithiasis. Journal of feline medicine and surgery, 23(4), 269–277. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098612X20942382
This article is not meant to substitute for diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, prescription, or formal and individualized advice from your veterinarian. Animals exhibiting signs and symptoms of distress should be seen by a veterinarian immediately.
© 2023 Mark dos Anjos, DVM
