Diseases of the urinary organs in cats are summarized under the term FLUTD (Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease).

FLUTD - the disease of the lower urinary tract - includes, for example, bladder infections, urinary stones, blockages in the urinary tract and much more. Cystitis in cats can have a variety of causes. It can be triggered, for example, by urinary crystals, malformations of the urinary tract and/or germs and mental stress. As a result, the mucous membrane of the bladder is irritated and a bladder infection develops with inflammatory products and bleeding. The “emotional” FLUTD is the most common. It is also called idiopathic FLUTD. Its exact cause is not known to this day. It is believed that affected cats cannot process stress sufficiently. Affected cats experience pain when urinating and urinate frequently, but only small amounts at a time. Smaller accumulations of minerals in the bladder are called crystals or grit. If these take on a larger shape, they are referred to as urinary stones. Different types of urinary stones can be distinguished based on their chemical composition. The most common types in cats are struvite stone and calcium oxalate stone. Since cats, like their ancestors, usually only drink a little, they only excrete small amounts of highly concentrated urine. As a result, the urinary tract is flushed less and the minerals in the urine have a lot of time to form crystals or even stones. A sick animal often goes to the litter box and often tries to urinate (even bloody) with pain. It licks its genitals, is apathetic, aggressive and may become unclean. If this is not recognized early, the disease progresses. Then there is danger to life, since the urinary tract becomes blocked and the urine and its "toxins" can no longer be excreted. The urinary bladder can burst and urine enters the abdominal cavity. Hangovers are more likely to suffer from such urinary tract plugs. This is due to the anatomical conditions. The urethra is longer and narrower in some places, so even relatively small stones can more easily lead to complete occlusion. The causes of this disease are very diverse: obesity, castration, the composition of the feed rich in minerals, an alkaline pH value in the urine, germs, etc. can trigger the disease. Overweight cats exercise less and are often far too lazy to visit the water bowl and litter box.
In order to avoid recurrence, lifelong prevention is necessary in affected cats. Talk to your vet.

How URINARY dry food supports your cat with urinary tract disease

MERAVITAL URINARY is a high premium diet dry food developed by veterinarians and nutritionists that acidifies your cat's urine and thus promotes the dissolution of struvite stones. Since calcium and magnesium are the main components of urinary stones, MERAVITAL URINARY has an undersaturated - but naturally needs-covering - content in order to avoid the formation of crystals. Your cat's water intake is stimulated, which means that the minerals in the diluted urine can no longer combine so easily. In addition, the urinary tract is flushed regularly, which eliminates germs and possible “urinary stone building blocks”. Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate can strengthen the epithelial cells of the bladder lining, which are often damaged in cystitis and allow pathogens to adhere.

Veterinarian Advice:

Frequent urination, pain and apathy can also be signs of other serious illnesses such as kidney problems and diabetes.
Therefore, have your cat examined by a veterinarian as soon as possible in order to be able to treat it promptly and specifically.

Our tips for using URINARY dry food:

You can also combine MERAVITAL URINARY dry food with MERAVITAL URINARY wet food.
· Please ensure your cat has access to fresh water at all times.
· If your cat does not drink enough despite MERAVITAL URINARY dry food, we recommend feeding it MERAVITAL URINARY wet food. This has the advantage that through the
      Feed intake at the same time a large proportion of water is absorbed.
· Make sure that your cat only eats MERAVITAL URINARY - if you have several cats, they must be separated when feeding or - if there is no
      contraindication - all cats eat MERAVITAL URINARY.
· There are now microchip-controlled automatic feeders, such as the "Sure Feed", which only open when the microchip carrier is present and can thus ensure that the
      sick animals cannot get at the food of the housemates.

General tips for cats with urinary tract diseases:

• Offer your cat several and above all clean toilets.
• Take a closer look at the urine that is passed. is it bloody How many times a day does your cat urinate? How many ml of water does she drink a day?
• This is all information that will help your veterinarian .
• To improve your cat's drinking habits, we recommend placing several water bowls throughout the home. The drinking water should never stand next to the food or the litter box. Cats probably avoid these places to drink water for reasons of hygiene.
• A cat fountain that encourages them to drink with fresh, rippling water also helps with some cats . Even for cases of hardship that only drink from dripping taps, there are now special cat fountains in faucet shape (www.katzenbrunnen.info).
• In the case of extremely hard water, offering filtered water has proven its worth.
• Keep your cat lean - if she was overweight when the urinary tract problems developed, this could be one of the reasons for the development of the disease
• After stone therapy, discuss with your veterinarian whether your cat should eat a weight loss diet such as MERAVITAL WEIGHT CONTROL to reach their ideal weight and thus reduce the chances of a urinary tract problem coming back.
• Have the urinary bladder scanned by your veterinarian once a year.
• Protect your cat from stress. It is assumed that stressed animals can develop stress-related cystitis (idiopathic cystitis). Therefore, offer your cat the opportunity to withdraw. For families with children or dogs, a door to a quiet room is often enough (there are even some with a built-in cat flap), through which the cat can slip in and stop the children or dogs. This means that the stress level does not rise so extremely and the bladder stays healthy.
• In cats with idiopathic cystitis, stress management is paramount. Make your cat's life more interesting by furnishing your home cat-friendly (Shelves up to the ceiling, scratching and climbing opportunities), free running, possibly a cat partner and more attention. Objects of typical cat life should be chosen in such a way that the cat feels comfortable. For example, different types of cat litter are “suggested” and then the litter that the cat “chooses” is used consistently.
• If necessary, seek advice from a competent cat psychologist who can help you identify the situations or places that are bothering the cat and eliminate the problem.
• Feeding L-tryptophan or casein (eg Zylkene) also helps the cat to become more relaxed. 

Indications:

· Struvite stones
· Calcium oxalate stones
· Urinary tract diseases

Contraindications:

· Kittens
· Pregnant and
lactating queens · Administration of urinary acidifying drugs
· High blood pressure
· Chronic renal insufficiency
· Cardiac insufficiency