CAARE has uncovered deeply disturbing, horrific experiments on cats at the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt). According to federal documents obtained by CAARE from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Pitt researchers are filling cats’ bladders with acetic acid to damage the delicate lining of the bladder wall, and then implanting their spines with electrodes.

Help us stop these egregious experiments on defenseless cats by sending your letter today to call for an end.

Pitt’s grant application submitted to the NIH is requesting to purchase and kill at least 90 cats for five years from July 2023 and continuing through June 2028.

The experiments are purportedly looking at how a certain nerve (hypogastric) is possibly related to several bladder disorders in humans, including interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) and overactive bladder (OAB).

According to federal documents acquired by CAARE, the experimenters plan to anesthetize cats, repeatedly irritate their bladders with acetic acid, and then shock the cats’ nerves through electrodes to study the brain’s control of bladder activity.

The documents detail continual, prolonged, and horrific abuse of the cats – filling their bladders with caustic acid in sessions lasting up to two hours. Ten of the cats will have already been subjected to 110 experimental trials involving bladder irritations with only a 10-minute “rest” period between repetitions.

Some of the cats will have their nerves cut, while others will have their spines severed. All the cats will be killed at the study’s end so the experimenter can “harvest” segments of their spines for additional testing.

These abominable experiments consumed nearly $400,000 of taxpayer-supported funding in 2023 alone, according to the NIH’s public records portal. This is money that could have been spent on valuable human research. Relevant and ethical human research is at the core of medical progress, because it delivers results that are truly applicable to patients.

The Pitt cat experiments are fundamentally flawed by combining research of overactive bladder and interstitial cystitis together. OAB and IC are distinctly different conditions, which by themselves have multiple different subtypes requiring independent research.

Astoundingly, new research presented at the American Urological Association in 2024 found that that 34% of IC patients had neuropathy that was unrelated to bladder disease, therefore IC is no longer considered a bladder disorder. This underscores how experiments that damage cats’ bladders to find underlying causes of IC are exceedingly off-target.

Innovative science is being conducted to deliver vital results that cannot come from inapplicable animal experiments.  Human cellular models, genomic analyses, 3D bioprinted models and biomodelling are contributing to advances in urology the can lead to new treatments.

It’s time for Pitt to stop inflicting suffering on innocent cats. Please send a letter to Pitt and NIH officials today calling for them to replace these terrible experiments with ethical human biology-based research.

Citizens for Alternatives to Animal Research and Experimentation (CAARE), is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, established to highlight and promote research without animals.

Please donate to support CAARE’s mission to reduce animal suffering by disseminating information about the power and progress of research without animals.