How Do I Know If My Cat Has A Urinary Infection
You might notice some of the following symptoms when your cat has a UTI or other urinary tract problem: Frequent urination, but only passing a small amount of urine. Urinating outside the litter box. Blood in the urine. Straining to urinate. Crying out in pain while urinating. Increased licking of urinary opening.
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Herbal Remedies For Uti
There are several herbal remedies, which are also used to cure a urinary tract infection:
1. Uva Ursi: this herb contains a compound, known as arbutin, which kills the bacteria present in the lining of the urinary passage. It also helps in stimulating urination.
Note: Children, nursing or pregnant women, and people with liver or kidney disease should not take this herb.
2. Horsetail is a good diuretic, which aids in the proper urine flow as well as stops bleeding during urinary tract infections.
3. Echinacea works as a natural antibiotic. Therefore, it helps to fight against the viruses and bacteria that are the main cause of infection in the urinary tract.
4. Parsley seeds are also helpful in treating urinary tract infection as it reduces the inflammation and pain caused due to the UTI.
5. Mullein: another effective herb for treating the inflammation caused due to the UTI is Mullein.
6. Horseradish is a natural antibiotic, which is good for controlling the infection of the urinary tract.
7. Goldenseal: the compound berberine found in this herb stops bacteria from sticking to the urethra walls.
What Does A Uti Feel Like
If you have a UTI, you almost always feel it.
The most common UTI symptoms include:
- Frequent and strong urge to urinate
- Burning sensation, or even pain, while urinating
- Feeling as if you are unable to empty completely while urinating
- Having urine that is strong-smelled, cloudy or discolored
- Pelvic pain, in some cases
“Some of these symptoms, such as a burning sensation during urination, can overlap with the symptoms of other vaginal infections, such as yeast infections which are treated very differently from UTIs,” says Dr. Kannady.
This is one reason why it’s so important to consult your doctor about UTI symptoms. He or she can determine if your symptoms are truly indicative of a UTI and run the tests needed to appropriately diagnose and treat your infection.
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Who Gets Utis Which Children And Toddlers Are At Risk
UTIs are most common in immunosuppressed children and children who have been on antibiotics for a long period of time for other issues. If your child recently went through an organ transplantation, they are also more vulnerable to a urinary tract infection. Children can also be born with abnormalities of their urinary tract that make them more likely to get an infection.
Adults are also vulnerable to urinary tract infections.
How Are Utis Treated
UTIs are treated with antibiotics. After several days of antibiotics, your doctor may repeat the urine tests to be sure that the infection is gone. Itâs important to make sure of this because an incompletely treated UTI can come back or spread.
If a child has severe pain when peeing, the doctor may also prescribe medicine that numbs the lining of the urinary tract.
Give prescribed antibiotics on schedule for as many days as your doctor directs. Keep track of your childâs trips to the bathroom, and ask your child about symptoms like pain or burning during peeing. These symptoms should improve within 2 to 3 days after antibiotics are started.
Encourage your child to drink plenty of fluids, but skip drinks that containe caffeine , such as soda and iced tea.
Most UTIs are cured within a week with treatment.
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What Happens If You Leave A Bladder Infection Untreated
The main danger associated with untreated UTIs is that the infection may spread from the bladder to one or both kidneys. When bacteria attack the kidneys, they can cause damage that will permanently reduce kidney function. In people who already have kidney problems, this can raise the risk of kidney failure.
Can You Treat A Uti Without Antibiotics
Antibiotics are an effective treatment for UTIs. However, the body can often resolve minor, uncomplicated UTIs on its own without the help of antibiotics.
Complicated UTIs will require medical treatment. These UTIs involve one or more of the following factors:
- changes in the urinary tract or organs, such as a swollen prostate or reduced flow of urine
More severe risks of using antibiotics include:
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When To Contact A Doctor
If a person suspects that they have a UTI, they should ask a healthcare professional for advice about the best way to treat it.
Antibiotics may not always be necessary, but it is still important to seek medical attention. This reduces the risk of developing a more severe infection that is harder to treat.
Below are answers to some frequently asked questions about treating UTIs.
When To See A Doctor
If youre experiencing symptoms consistent with a urinary tract infectionpainful urination, abdominal discomfort, frequent urge to pee, or blood in your urineseek out medical advice.
Your doctor is a resource to help you understand what type of UTI you have, how severe it is, and the best course of action for treatment. The good news is that your discomfort can be over in a matter of days if you take steps now to address it.
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What Is The First Line Treatment For Uti In The Elderly
Amoxicillin is now widely used as a first-line therapy for urinary tract infections in older persons. Other commonly prescribed narrow-spectrum medications should be taken with caution in patients with chronic renal disease or who are on blood pressure medication, as many older folks are or because their adverse effects can be life-threatening in older people.
What Causes An Enlarged Prostate
Its not known what causes many cases of prostatitis. A bacterial infection is only sometimes responsible.
In many cases of chronic prostatitis, doctors cant find any infection in the prostate gland, although they may still prescribe a course of antibiotics. In these cases, the cause is poorly understood.
Chronic prostatitis is thought to be caused by a number of suggested factors, including partial blockage of the flow of urine and underlying problems with the immune system, pelvic floor or nervous system.
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Causes Of Utis And Bladder Infections
UTIs and bladder infections occur as a result of bacterial growth in your urinary tract. Your body is naturally home to billions of species of bacteria, and not all of them are bad.
In fact, bacteria help keep your body functioning the way its supposed to. But some bacteria dont belong in sensitive places in your body, and they can trigger some pretty miserable symptoms when they end up in the wrong place.
For example, E. coli, which is most commonly found in your digestive system, is also the most common type of bacteria to cause a UTI or bladder infection.
Several things can increase the risk of UTIs and bladder infections. While some of these risk factors are out of your control, you can control others.
- Sexual intercourse: As fun as sex is, it can increase the risk of developing UTIs. The friction and movement around your genital area during sexual activity can facilitate bacteria moving around down there.
- Hygiene: Things like forgetting to change your underwear, wiping from back to front, or sitting in wet or sweaty clothes for prolonged periods can up your chances of getting a UTI.
- Genetics: Some people are simply more prone to UTIs than others. If someone in your immediate family gets UTIs regularly, youre probably more susceptible to them too.
- Age: Due to urinary incontinence and estrogen deficiency, research shows that women are more likely to get recurrent UTIs after menopause.
Are Bananas Good For Utis
The American Urological Association calls bananas a bladder-friendly food. Thats because bananas arent likely to irritate the bladder in most people. Other bladder-friendly fruits and veggies include: pears, green beans, winter squash, and potatoes. While eating bananas may help to lessen bladder irritation, eating bananas alone wont make a UTI go away.
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Medical Treatment Of Uti
If natural remedies fail and there is no improvement in a few days, it is important to seek medical attention. Antibiotics are usually the first-line treatment for urinary tract infections given along with urine alkalizers. The type of antibiotics prescribed depends on the health condition and the type of bacteria found in the urine of the patient. Drinking plenty of fluids, having a healthy diet and maintaining hygiene are also advised along with medication.
Drugs commonly recommended for simple UTIs include
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Living With Urinary Tract Infections
If you have 3 or more urinary tract infections each year, your doctor may want you to begin a preventive antibiotic program. A small dose of an antibiotic taken every day helps to reduce the number of infections. If sexual intercourse seems to cause infections for you, your doctor many suggest taking the antibiotic after intercourse.
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Can A Yeast Infection Cause Uti Symptoms
Yeast infections are caused by the presence of yeast in the body. This happens when the balance between good bacteria and bad bacteria in the digestive tract is disrupted. In other words, when the normal flora good bacteria in the gut gets depleted, the yeast takes over. Yeast infections are usually treated with antibiotics. However, if you are pregnant, you should avoid taking antibiotics because they could harm the baby.
You can reduce your risk of developing urinary tract infections with these steps.
- Drink plenty of water
- Urinate when you first get the urge. Holding urine can increases bacteria growth in your bladder.
- After sex, urinate and drink a glass of water to help flush bacteria that may have been pushed into the urethra during intercourse
- Avoid genital cleansing products such as douches and deodorants. These remove your bodys natural protective secretions and oils
- Take showers instead of baths
- Wear cotton underwear
A Painful Problem: Can A Uti Go Away On Its Own
Healthcare professionals see 7 million office visits from people with a UTI every year.
A UTI isnt just an uncomfortable annoyance to brush off. Ignoring your symptoms can compromise your health and drain your bank account. Urinary tract infections cost patients over a billion dollars annually on hospital bills.
Urinary tract infections are one of the most common bacterial infections. But just because it is common doesnt mean you shouldnt take it seriously.
Can a UTI go away on its own?
The answer isnt a simple yes or no. Read the information below before you decide whether or not to see a doctor about your UTI.
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What Causes A Bladder Infection
Risk factors for developing bladder infections include:
- Frequent or recent sexual intercourse
- Use of spermicide-coated condoms, diaphragms, or spermicides alone for birth control
- Conditions such as kidney stones or ureteral reflux that block or change the flow of urine in the kidneys
- Structural or functional urinary tract abnormalities
- A genetic predisposition to UTIs
- Wiping the bottom from back to front after having a bowel movement
Can A Uti Be Treated Without Antibiotics
Antibiotics are very effective means of treatment for UTIs. However, in some cases, the body can often resolve minor and uncomplicated UTIs on its own without antibiotics.
Following some estimates, about 25-42 percent of uncomplicated UTI infections are usually clear on their own. In these cases, people may most likely try a number of home remedies to speed up recovery.
Complicated UTIs require medical treatment. Such UTIs involve at least one of the fundamental factors:
Change in the urinary system or organs, in the form of a swollen prostate as well a reduced flow of urine
Kinds of bacteria that may be resistant to antibiotics
Problems that affect the immune system, such as HIV, cardiovascular disease, or lupus
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Here Is Some Trivia For You:
Did you know that bladder infections are more common in women than men?
The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases estimates 40 to 60 percent of women will have at least one UTI in their lifetime.
This maybe due to the short urethra in women. The urethra is the tube that is about 1 ½ inches long and carries the urine out of the body.
The urethras short length makes it easy for bacteria to travel from outside the body to the bladder.
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How Long Does A Uti Last
While most UTIs last no longer than a week, there are a variety of factors that can influence when youll finally feel better and when your body will completely clear out the bacteria.
When thinking about how long a UTIs going to last, the first thing to consider is whether its considered uncomplicated or complicated. As the American Urological Association explains, uncomplicated UTIs are far more common than complicated UTIs . They tend to be located in the lower urinary tract and dont have other factors that could make them more difficult to treat.
How long an uncomplicated UTI lasts can vary based on what you do to treat it. Sometimes your bodys immune system can clear out the invading bacteria without any help from medications, says Courtenay Moore, MD, urologist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center,.
If untreated, a UTI would typically take about three to seven days to fight off on your own, Dr. Moore tells Health.
With that said, antibiotics are considered the gold standard for UTI treatment and its always a good idea to get symptoms of a UTI checked out by a doctor.
Doctors often give people who show up with UTI symptoms a prescription for antibiotics that they think will kill the pathogen. Theyll also take a urine sample to see whats going on. Once the lab results come back , the doctor may switch you to another antibiotic thats better at killing the particular bacteria responsible for your infection.
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The Risks Of Leaving A Uti Untreated
âThere was a suggestion in a small German study in 2010 that using just painkillers may be no worse than antibiotics,â adds Ali. âBut a more extensive study by the same group in 2015 refuted this and showed that women who did not take antibiotics had a significantly higher total burden of symptoms, and more cases of pyelonephritisâ a severe infection of the kidney which can require hospital admission and can lead to sepsis.â
Similar results to the German trial were seen in a Swiss study in 2017 and a recent Norwegian one in 2018. Both showed that avoiding antibiotics was an inferior approach to treating UTIs. While many women will get over the infection without antibiotics, a proportion will experience severe complications.
âAlthough substantial numbers of women recovered without antibiotics, between 4-5% of the women not treated with antibiotics went on to develop pyelonephritis,â explains Ali. âThe authors of the Norwegian paper stated that they could not recommend ibuprofen alone as initial treatment for women with uncomplicated UTIs.â
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What Are The Causes Of Kidney Infections
Normally, bacteria are flushed out by the flow of urine. However, several problems can increase the risk of a kidney infection. These problems can include:
- Structural abnormalities blocking urine flow.
- An enlarged prostate gland compressing the urethra.
- Backflow of urine from the bladder to the kidneys.
- If your immune system is affected .
- Pregnancy, during which time the enlarging uterus can squeeze the ureters and reduce the flow of urine, allowing the bacteria to migrate to the kidneys.
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How Is A Bladder Infection Diagnosed
Bladder infections are usually diagnosed with a urine test.
- Urinalysis, which checks for white blood cells in the urine that can be a sign of infection
- Urine culture, which uses a sample of urine to try and grow bacteria in a laboratory to identify the type of bacteria causing the UTI and determine which antibiotics would be effective against that bacteria
In people who have recurrent bladder infections, additional testing may be indicated to check for abnormalities in the kidneys, ureter, bladder, or urethra, or for kidney stones. Tests may include:
- Computed tomography scan
What Is The Urinary Tract
The urinary tract makes and stores urine, one of the bodyâs liquid waste products. The urinary tract includes the following parts:
- Kidneys: These small organs are located on back of your body, just above the hips. They are the filters of your body removing waste and water from your blood. This waste becomes urine.
- Ureters: The ureters are thin tubes that carry urine from the kidneys to your bladder.
- Bladder: A sac-like container, the bladder stores your urine before it leaves the body.
- Urethra: This tube carries the urine from your bladder to the outside of the body.
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Cystitis Relief At Home
Many women take dissolvable cystitis sachets containing sodium citrate or potassium citrate, which can help to relieve cystitis symptoms. These potassium or sodium citrate cystitis sachets work to reduce the acidity of your urine and thus reduce the burning sensation when urinating. Its important to note that these wont actually kill the bacteria in your bladder or fight the infection.
Sodium citrate cystitis relief sachets dont require a prescription, and can be bought over-the-counter at most pharmacies. You can also take anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen or aspirin to ease painful symptoms.