more on feline urinary tract disease

About two years ago, Chloe was diagnosed with ideopathic feline urinary tract disease. She went on antibiotics and recovered very quickly.

At the time, I couldn’t find too much information on this subject, but more has been written lately. The term ideopathic means relating to a disease with no known cause. And over 1/2 the cats diagnosed with FLUTD are considered ideopathic…the cause is not clear…and the illness is called IFLUTD (the “i” stands for ideopathic).

An interesting thing has been discovered with IFLUTD however. It is often triggered by some stressful event – the addition of a new animal or person in the household, construction or remodeling in the home, a move to a new home, etc. Chloe’s IFLUTD developed after I came home from an extended trip. Even though her housesitter adores her, perhaps my being away for several weeks was hard on her. I am thinking of ways I can make the situation easier for her next time I am away for awhile.

The good news is that IFLUTD usually clears up quite easily with antibiotics, and can even clear up on its own.

Meanwhile Chloe is happily sleeping on my lap right now as I type…and I do plan to do more research into this interesting topic and will report back.