Cat UTI Home Test – For All Forms of Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease
Are you worried your cat may have a urinary tract infection or bladder stones? These are symptoms of Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease. These problems are extremely common, especially in older male cats and those that eat dry food. They can occur in any cat however and this product can save much worry and hassle as well as cost. If your cat pees outside it’s litter box suddenly, cries when going to the litter box or has other symptoms, you need to get it checked. Luckily, there is now an easy way to do a first level check at home. If your cat has blood in the urine or other serious symptoms, like inability to pee, don’t waste time with this! Take him straight to the vet! If you just don’t know why your cat peed outside the box, or want to do a periodic check just to be careful, then here is a cat UTI home test for you!
This is the Ultra brand “Monthly Monitor-Early Illness Detection” cat litter additive.
The Ultra Monthly Monitor cat litter additive allows you to check the pH of your cat’s urine anytime. The directions say to sprinkle a layer on top of freshly changed cat litter. You are supposed to watch and look at the color of the crystals after your cat uses the box. If you wait more than 10 or 15 minutes the results may not be accurate. It takes a few minutes for the color to develop however.
I found an easier way when my cat recently peed on the rubber mat outside the box. I dabbed up the puddle onto a paper plate (the coated, waterproof kind but you could use anything waterproof) and poured a small amount of the crystals on top. This way I did not have to risk the crystals getting completely mixed into the litter and wasting them. This way I also used a very small amount. The UltraPet website says you can use only part of the bag and keep the rest for later use.
When I sprinkled the crystals on the puddle, it turned light green. This is good. Light gold to light green is what you want to see. An orange color indicates low pH. A dark green to blue color indicates high pH. You could also just pour the crystals directly onto the puddle if your cat went on a hard surface. I only used the intermediary step to make it easier to clean up.
What does a low or high pH mean?
According to the FAQs on the UltraPet website, if the crystals turn orange indicating low pH, this could indicate bladder stones and painful urination. It can be caused by too little water consumption. High pH (dark green to blue color) can also indicate bladder stones as well as bladder infections which can cause painful urination. This can also indicate bladder obstruction (urethral plugs) which restrict or prevent urination. This is deadly and requires immediate treatment!
Consuming too little water can cause low pH as well as poor food quality or too much magnesium or phosphorus in the food among other causes.
A light, golden green color indicates a moderate pH, which is healthy.
Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease
Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease encompasses all of the above mentioned conditions and more.
- Bladder Infections
- Bladder Stones
- Urethral plugs
- Painful urination
- Increased frequency of urination
- Blood in the Urine
- Behavior changes such as aggression
- It can be linked to Overgrooming and Peeing outside the litter box as well.
What Cats are at risk for Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease?
Any cat can get Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease but these factors increase risk:
- Male cats (according to some but not all sources)
- Neutered cats
- Cats that eat dry food
- Middle aged cats
- Senior Cats
- Cats that are overweight or don’t get enough exercise
What can you do to keep your cat healthy and make sure they don’t have a urinary problem?
There are so many factors in Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (food, water, infection, age, gender etc) that it would be prudent to test your cat with a product like Ultra brand Monthly Monitor to make sure they are healthy and have a moderate urine pH.
How does Ultra brand Monthly Monitor compare to other products?
The only other product I could find was a brand of litter that looks great but you can only buy directly from the company and sign up for auto-shipping. If you have a problem and just want to check your cats health you may not want to sign up for this litter subscription. It also cost MUCH more than the Monthly Monitor package that is less than $10! I was so glad to find the affordable option of Monthly Monitor. It did exactly what I needed and was easy to use.
If you see your cat peeing outside the box, use some Monthly Monitor to make sure it is a behavioral issue rather than a medical issue. If it is a behavioral issue, you can check out my recommended products to cure cat anxiety and fix the problem here. If you want to clean up the mess of cat pee outside the box, here is my recommended cleaning method.
What if it is a Behavioral Problem?
Here is one of the two products I use on my anxious cat every day to prevent peeing outside the box for non-medical reasons:
Please check out my post on cat anxiety for the second.
As always, if your cat has a serious problem like straining to use the box, not urinating or you see blood in the urine, take them straight to the vet! It could be serious.
Please let me know if you use Monthly Monitor and what you think of this easy cat UTI home test!
Jessica
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Hi, Jessica. Thank you for sharing this awareness on cat urinary tract infection. I have a neutered male cat that is over 6 years of age. He’s had this before a few years ago. He kept having the urge to pee but didn’t or peed very little. Took him to the vet for treatment.
Hi Cindy,
I think it is something all cat owners should be aware of. I am excited there are options like this for testing at home. It sounds like your boy was young when he had it. I’m glad you could get it treated.
Jessica
Hi Jessica,
Great article, I’ve found it very useful!
I have two cats at home, a female and a male. Not long ago, my female has urinated blood and to tell you the truth, I was in a panic when I saw this. She lives in my house but she does her business outside in the garden. What was weird to me is that she was always asking to go out. Then she urinated on a plastic that was on the floor and I saw blood in it. So I took her right away to the veterinary where she auscultated her and found out that it was poisoning due to something she ate outside. Today I decided to buy her a litter so that I can check her. I will definitely invest in the Ultra monthly monitor. I will be more reassured with this:)
Thank you very much for this excellent post!
Hello Daniella,
I am so glad this is a useful article for you! I am excited to see products like this since it allows everyone to take better care of their pets. It is pretty revolutionary that you can get a product like this for only about $6!
I am glad you were able to treat your girl. That is scary to think they get poisoned outside. It seems like it happens all the time though.
Thanks for your comment, and I hope you like the Monthly Monitor.
Jessica
Thank you for posting this article, as cats get older, they definitely seem to have health issues, as all animals do. Some cats better than others, but nonetheless it can happen to any of them.
It is interesting that cats eating dry food are at higher risk for UTI, why is this? over thousands of years as cats have been domesticated, they have most likely had consistent meals of raw meat, not dry processed food. does dry food plug them up?
In your paragraph you mentioned low pH twice, so which color indicates which? Other than that, awesome article, very interesting and informative!
Christopher,
The dark green to blue color indicates high pH. I am changing that sentence. Thanks for pointing that out!
Yes, dry food is totally different than a cat’s natural diet. Dry cat food is a very modern invention anyway. Many cats are not good at drinking water in a quantity high enough to balance out the dry food. In the wild some cats get all their water from their food and do not have to drink at all. They are just not built to process dry food.
Thanks for your comment,
Jessica
Wow wow wow..
You put a lot of information on this article. Awesome!
I never read such a detail article about this disease before.
It’s been more than 8 years since my cat was died. She cannot survive after got an infection on her leg.
Thank you for posting this article.
I am so sorry you lost your cat. I know I think about the pets I have lost even if it was many years ago.
Yes, I hope to get this kind of information out to help people take care of their pets more easily.
Thank you!
Jessica
Hi Jessica, Really informative article on urinary tract infection. Fortunately my cat, Max, does not have any symptoms but I will be on the look out in the future. Thanks.
Hi Luis,
I love that I can use just a little of this and so it costs less than a dollar! It is amazingly affordable. If you ever want to try it out let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Jessica
Hey Jessica, great article.
One thing I might add is that some male cats get so bad that an operation is required to fix the stones. And that basically means changing the urinary network to mimic a females. I guess that would make the tom worry a bit.
Our cats have never been ones to drink much water (unless it is from a mud puddle – so much for the recommended clean water)! But they managed very well until they reached the 19 year age vicinity.
Helen
Hello Helen,
That is interesting information. Yes, males are more prone and I could add that to the post.
Were your cats outside cats? If so maybe they were eating mice and natural foods instead of dry? The dry food is the biggest problem now. That is nice they lived so long!
Thanks!
Jessica
Our cats do go out in the day. Not the night though. This gives the outside critters a chance to not encounter them.
They ignore the daytime critters as most of them are bigger that the pusses.
And they have a mix of wet and dry food.
Helen
It sounds like they get a variety in their diet which is great. Thanks for stopping by Helen!
Jessica