84 Chapter 6and physiological changes, especially the continued release of stress hormones, can be
directly damaging to both health and welfare.
The impact of stress on feline welfare
The welfare of an animal can be measured by the following factors:
● Physical health.
● The ability and opportunity to perform normal or ‘natural’ behaviours.
● Mental and emotional health (Casey and Bradshaw, 2007).
Stress can be highly damaging to the welfare of pet cats as it can negatively influence
all of these factors.
The Impact of Stress on Physical Health
The urinary system
Feline idiopathic cystitis
Probably the most well-known and well-accepted link between feline stress and dis-
ease is the association with feline idiopathic cystitis (FIC).
The term feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD) is used to describe a variety
of diseases of the bladder and urethra, and is a common and potentially serious health
issue in cats. Symptoms of FLUTD can include any or all of the following:
● Difficulty in urinating: the cat may strain to urinate but produce very little or no urine.
● Pain when urinating: the cat may cry out when trying to urinate.
● Increased frequency of urination or attempts to urinate.
● Blood in the urine.
● Urinating in inappropriate and often multiple places. This can be partly due to
discomfort causing an ‘urgent’ need to urinate but can also be due to a learned
association with pain and the locations where the cat attempts to urinate.
● Excessive licking of the penis or vulva.
● Over grooming, especially of the lower abdomen and perineum (Bowen and
Heath, 2005; Griffiths, 2016).
Causes of FLUTD include:
● Uroliths: bladder stones or stones in the urethra.
● Urinary crystals.
● Trauma.
● Bacterial infection.
● Neoplasia (tumour).
However, the majority of cases (more than 50%) have been found to be idiopathic,
meaning that no underlying physical cause can be identified despite affected cats
showing signs of bladder inflammation (cystitis), such as blood in the urine, symptoms
of discomfort and associated behavioural changes (Buffington et al., 1997; Gerber
et al., 2005).