Holistic Vet Dr Clare Middle offers seasonal advice for our cats and dogs.

It is autumn and, yes, cats especially, but also dogs, do tend to get more infections of the bladder in this weather. I do see this sometimes as a result of animals who hate getting wet being unwilling to go out in the rain to wee in the garden, and thus getting a retention cystitis (as you may get sitting for long periods of time while travelling, for example).

Another explanation comes from traditional Chinese medicine, which sees weather as effecting our health. TCM describes cystitis as "damp in the lower burner" and is therefore expected to be more common in damp or rainy weather.

Regardless of the cause, cystitis is a common problem in cats and dogs.

When you must visit the vet
A very important point here is that male animals, especially cats, can get a totally obstructed urethra within hours from bladder stones that can accompany a bladder infection, so any male cat or dog seen repeatedly straining to urinate must be taken immediately for veterinary attention, as bladder obstruction can cause death quite quickly.

Female animals have a wider urethra so can sometimes be safely treated at home. However, it is always better to have the vet check the pet if this is a first time problem.

Acidifying the urine
An important point in treating cystitis is that cats and dogs need an acidic urine, ideally about pH 5.5 to 6. This acidic urine will usually dissolve bladder stones and make bacterial infection very unlikely, as the bacteria cannot usually survive in an acidic urine. Therefore, giving plenty of water to drink (to dilute the urine) and dosing with a pinch to a teaspoon of ascorbic acid powder twice daily can settle the problem down quickly. You must use this acidic form of vitamin C (sodium ascorbate or calcium ascorbate are respectively alkaline or neutral so cannot be used). Acidifying the urine can reduce cystitis markedly in hours.

Homeopathics to treat cystitis
Homeopathic remedies follow the same descriptions of symptoms as with human cystitis.
I rarely name a particular homeopathic remedy for a certain condition, but I have to say that homeopathic Cantharis (use a 6C or 30C potency) is usually effective in reducing the painful straining to urinate (of a female pet, or a male which is under veterinary treatment). Thalaspi Bursa can help reduce the inflammation or Lycopodium can help if "gravel" is present in the urine, and the animal is at its worst between about 4pm and 8pm. Staphysagria is a good remedy for breeding animals or if they have recently had surgery, especially a sterilisation operation. A large percentage of cats are found by vets to have "sterile" or "idiopathic" cystitis, where there are no bacteria or other causes found. In such cases there may be an emotional cause, such as moving house, a cat fight etc, and homeopathics and herbs are sometimes the only useful treatment when the vet cannot find a cause or cure. Vets may treat these cases with Valium or another anti-anxiety drug, which can help to settle things initially, but homeopathics or flower essences are likely to resolve the underlying emotional issue more specifically.
It is, however, necessary to get a vet to diagnose the problem first if the problem does not resolve within hours using the above treatments.

Diet
Recent research shows that feeding cats dried food can worsen bladder problems as the urine becomes more concentrated. Some dried foods are specifically made for this condition, and are more acidic and contain less magnesium (a component of bladder stones). However, the high carbohydrate content of all dried cat and dog foods also reduces full glycogen metabolism in the liver, and reduces glutathione based antioxidation, thus reducing innate immunity, so feeding raw meat/bone, fish etc is a much better long term option than dried food for a cat or dog predisposed to bladder problems. Raw meat produces acidic urine a few hours after it is eaten, giving the bladder a good acidic "wash out".

Herbs to treat cystitis
For less severe, chronic or ongoing cystitis, the correctly chosen homeopathic remedies plus herbs (barberry, couch, parsley, crataeva, corn silk, dandelion leaf, echinacea) can have a greater long term success rate than antibiotics according to research literature, for chronic or recurrent cystitis, even of bacterial origin. I do not find cranberry to be as effective in animals as it is in people. Maybe this is due to the fact that humans benefit from the urine being more alkaline, whereas the carnivorous pets need to have their urine acidified, an important difference between treating humans and cats/dogs. Chinese herbs work very well, probably the best, when treating cystitis. These are best chosen by a practitioner of Chinese medicine, as they are prescribed to suit the animal: some patients are "hot" (and will need cooling herbs), some patients are "cold" animals (and will need heating herbs), or they are yin (weak, deficient, so will need strengthening herbs) or yang (excitable, irritable, hyperactive animals who need calming or moderating herbs), so different herb combinations will be required for the different types of patient. Herbs are so effective for bladder problems in general. In fact, some herb formulas (in double blinded placebo trials) have been found to be of greater effectiveness and resulting in lesser recurrence rate of the condition in any patient type than the appropriately chosen antibiotic.

This long term milder type of cystitis is more common in older dogs, including those who show incontinence, especially female dogs. It is a good idea to take a urine sample to your vet to verify the pH, infection or crystal formation status (which can lead to bladder stones) of the urine before starting treatment, so a follow up sample can be checked a few weeks after the herbs are started to assess the results of treatment.

The best results for treating cystitis, then, are a combination of vet diagnosis and emergency treatment, with ongoing monitoring of urine. Better still, is reducing the likelihood of developing an ongoing problem - through diet, herbs, flower essences and homeopathics.

Dr Clare Middle BVMS CVAc CVHom is a qualified holistic veterinarian.
She welcomes your questions On animal health and diet.
Please send them to editorial@novamagazine.com.au