This April 18th post from the blog of Mikel Maria Delgado, cats and squirrels and other important things…, discusses a study which examines the connection between stress and the incidence of feline idiopathic cystitis (FIC) in cats. Signs of this disorder include straining to urinate, urinating outside the litter box, or blood in the urine. The study indicated that the five top factors related to FIC were:
- being male,
- having a litter box with non-clumping litter,
- living with other cats,
- living in an apartment (versus a house),
- and not having an elevated vantage point for use (such as a cat condo or vertical space).
To read Delgado’s post, go to http://catsandsquirrels.com/stress-and-your-cats-health/
To read an abstract of the study, go to http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1098612X17734067
To download a PDF of the entire study, go to http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1098612X17734067