Homoeopathic pet cures - Does your cat suffer with recurring bladder infections? Well read on this could be of benefit to you!


Firstly apologises for posting under Acupuncture, but it was the nearest I could find to Homoeopathic , I did try and "Make a new section", but it kept defaulting back to the main Discussion category. So here I am.


Bladder infections in cats or UTI's (Feline Urinary Tract Infections) as they are also know, are more common in males than they are in females, this is because of the way their urethra is constructed. Females have a lot larger hole, than males hence why they are at a greater risk of infection.

It's important to understand what can cause a UTI, some of the most common causes are:

1) Stress - This can be because of a new animal in the house, a baby, new cats in the neighbourhood, change of diet, building works in the home, decorating, other cats coming in through your can flap or simply down to moving your furniture around. You wouldn't believe what could stress your moggy out! So the first thing to do when dealing with any recurring UTI's is to take a look at your cats environment, try and figure out what has changed in and around his home.
2) Ph Balance - Has your cat been on any antibiotics of late? If so this could have caused an imbalance in his urinary track Ph levels.
3) Crystals - Do you feed your cat dry food only? Because male cats have a small urethra it means that if crystals form they are less likely to be able to pass them unlike females with a larger urethra. Crystals can form if you cat isn't drinking enough water with the intake of biscuits.
4) Clean Water - Believe it or not but some chemicals that are added to drinking water can make your animal avoid drinking it. So if he/she isn't drinking enough it can cause a thickening of urine. Thickened urine impedes your cat from regularly emptying their bladder. Which in turn makes them more susceptible to developing a UTI. If you notice your cat isn't drinking much of the water you put down, try buying a bottle of filtered water or a still spring water, this can believe it or not encourage them to take in more fluids. If it helps you can also buy the large own brand 4Lt bottles in most super markets, that don't cost an arm and a leg. A bottle should last you a whole week!


When you've have had a think of what could be triggering it, then you can make changes to help him feel less stressed. If you have work being done in the home, think about putting him/her in a catery or have a family member have them to stay. Vet bills aren't cheap, and if you are constantly returning to the vets to pick up another does of antibiotics, you do have to wonder how long you can keep this up before the infection and their bodies become immune to the drugs?

This of course coupled with the cost was why I did a couple weeks worth of research before Christmas to treat my 11yr old male cat named Peter. Over a period of six months in 2010 he had a total of 7 bouts of UTI 's, every 3 or 4 weeks. The expense alone was causing me a lot of problems, plus I began to feel awful for Peter, it couldn't be comfortable for him.

Well here's the best bit, if your cat has been suffering like mine was, then this could be your answer! Distilled vinegar. Yep that's right, it's not just to put on your fish and chip supper!

I first came across a couple of chats on message boards about Distilled Vinegar, though it didn't give any guidelines, or details on how to use it to treat UTI's in cats. A little more digging later, and I came across an Holistic veterinary practice in the USA, that had done some research and studies into it's use and benefits. So with what seemed like an endless amount of questions, I sent them off an email.

Two days later I got my reply. Over the course of 18months they had (through the collaboration of seven other Vet surgery's in the area), studied 100 cats both male and female, half were treated with antibiotics, the other half tried the Distilled Vinegar.

The half that were treated with antibiotics results were as follows:
38 - found the infection cleared completely within 10 days maximum
12 - required a follow up course of the antibiotics

The half that were treated with Distilled vinegar:
47 - found the infection cleared completely within 4 to 6 days of being on the Vinegar
1 - noticed some improvement, but decided to have their animal treated with antibiotics in the end.
2 - found a noticeable improvement in 10 -14 days.

Of the hundred in the study it was noted that over a third of those treated with antibiotics where treated again within the 18 month period for another UTI.

Of those treated with Distilled vinegar, less than a quarter were re-treated for another UTI, of that quarter all but one chose to continue treating with Vinegar.

I was astounded when I read this. So the first thing I did was contact my own vets to question him. He informed me that he had heard of the use of Distilled vinegar in treating UTI's but had not actually known anyone who had used this method. I asked him if in his opinion he thought it would be safe to try on my 11yr old Peter. He replied with a Yes, saying he couldn't see it causing any problems. Apparently cats have a higher acidic urine. And this would explain why introducing it into their food/water would help to correct the balance. He also asked me if I would keep him informed, and call every couple of days to explain to him what I had noticed and how it help Peter.

Armed with this information I decided to give it a go. If you are at all interested these are the doses:

To add to water bowl:
Add one tbsp to a large water bowl and stir. (change daily)

To add to wet food:
In a cup 1/4 teaspoon of white distilled vinegar with 1/4 teaspoon of water, stir and then pour over wet food and mix well. ( repeat twice a day)

To add to dry food: (Though I would suggest if your cat is getting repeating UTI's switch to wet)
1/4 teaspoon of vinegar with 1/4 teaspoon water. Drizzle this over dry cat food and repeat daily. The vinegar smell will evaporate, but some fussy cats may require you to do this in small amounts with each meal. ( repeat twice a day)

What are you going to notice:
Well the first thing you are going to notice is that you cat starts peeing more, don't worry this is normal. You may also notice (especially if you have a litter tray) his/her urine will be really strong smelling. Also don't worry about this, it means the vinegar is working. You know what it's like that first wee you have in the morning, how sometimes it can be a darker colour and smell stronger? Well this is what is happening to your moggy. He may have held onto his urine because it hurt him/her to go for a pee, and this is more than likely why it smells so strong. Now that he's not in so much pain they are emptying their bladder properly. The one thing I can say is that you will notice a remarkable change in him within a couple of days. And it's safe to use when every you need.

Well that's about it. Hope if is useful to those of you out there with cats that suffer with reoccurring UTI's