Interstitial Cystitis Symptoms

• Cats with interstitial cystitis have both increased sensory bladder nerves and a decrease in the layer of mucus that protects the bladder from urinary acid.
  
  If your cat has started straining when he urinates, urinating outside his litter box, urinating more than usual or has blood in his urine, he may have IC.
  
  According to the Cornell Feline Health Center, symptoms of uncomplicated interstitial cystitis clear up on their own in about 2 weeks. Having your pet diagnosed when his symptoms first appear may let you take measures to stop future IC attacks.
  
  

Complications of Interstitial Cystitis

• While IC affects male and female cats equally, it can have far more serious consequences for male cats. Dr. Trae Cutchin, DVM, says that during an IC attack bladder substances from the bladder wall may enter the urine in clumps too large to pass through a male cat's urethra.
  
  A cat with an IC-related obstruction needs immediate veterinary treatment. If you cat can't urinate, her kidneys can't keep filtering the toxins from his blood. Her electrolytes and fluids will quickly become unbalanced, putting her at risk of heart failure. If she's completely obstructed, she could die in as little as a day.
  
  

Pain Relief for IC

• Several kinds of medication treat interstitial cystitis pain. Anti-spasmodics like diazepam and acepromazine will relax a cat's urethra so urine passes more easily.
  
  Because the cause of IC isn't known, many vets prescribe antibiotics to cover the few small percentage of cats whose symptoms might be infection related and for their potential anti-inflammatory properties.
  
  Steroids like prednisone are anti-inflammatories. While they do nothing to shorten an IC episode, they may alleviate pain.
  
  Pain relievers like fentanyl and tramadol help cats relax and may prevent urethral spasms. They're narcotics unsuitable for long-term use.
  
  

Stress Relief

• According to Mar Vista, the brains of cats that get IC don't properly regulate hormones, making the cats highly susceptible to stress that affects their urinary tracts.
  
  Treating these cats requires relieving their symptoms with medication and then making changes to limit their stress. Steps you can take to minimize your cat's environmental stress include giving her freedom to move around your home as she likes, providing her with objects to climb and giving her a private pace to rest with its own means of escape if something bothers her. This area should be far enough from the busy parts of your home that she won't be disturbed by appliances or other noise. Provide plenty of scratching posts and toys, and playing with her when she lets you know she'd like it. Keep her litter box clean, rinsing it weekly with unscented detergent, and putting it in a quiet well-ventilated area. Provide access to windows. They'll relieve her stress by letting her see what she hears going on outside.
  
  

Diet

• Make sure your cat has plenty of clean fresh water at all times. If he's been eating dry food, switch him to canned. The goal is to increase his water consumption so that his urine is more diluted and less likely to irritate his bladder and urethra. Canned cat food is as much as 80 percent water, so switching him from dry will automatically raise his water intake. Avoid stressing him by making the switch slowly, substituting increasingly larger portions of canned food for his dry food over a week or so.