Cat experts need I need some advice

[hsmomto5]

My 2 year old female (spayed) cat has been occasionally urinating outside her box. I took her to the vet 6 weeks ago for this and they were not able to get a urine sample so they treated her with antibiotics just in case of a uti. She went 6 weeks without peeing in her spot. Well a few days ago she peed in a spare bedroom bed. Two days later she went back to her old "spot" again. I took her back and they did a urinalysis on her. It is clean. Now we are looking at a behavioral problem. He gave me some suggestions... Feliway, aluminum foil and to consider using an anti anxiety medication. I would love to hear your success stories and some advice in what to do.

Thanks!

Lora in NC

[fhjmom]

Just wondering if there has been a change in the routine that might have upset her. I know my cats would get really upset when I would go out of town, even for a day or two and even when there were still other family members in the house. They would pee in certain spots to relay their aggitation.

[lisabelle]

I would ask the vet about the possibility of interstitial cystitis. What you will is is litterbox avoidance (really, in my experience if a cat's not using the litterbox so often he or she is trying to tell you something is physically wrong), straining to urinate and blood in the urine. It *looks* like a UTI, bu there's no sign of infection. For some reason antibiotics do help even though there's no infection, but one can't have a cat on antibiotics full-time and it's not effective long-term.

 

There's no cure. But stress does cause it to kick into gear. With my Suki, the vet wrote a prescription for amitriptyline (an tricyclic antidepressant). With the dose for cats being so small he recommended I send the prescription to a compounding pharmacy where they made an ointment. I'd put a small dab on Suki's ear every day. It helped quite a bit.

 

I'd be interested in hearing if Feliway helps--since the pheromones are supposed to promote a sense of well-being and relieve stress. I assume the anti-anxiety med is BuSpar? Keep us posted...

[DesertDweller]

Just wondering if there has been a change in the routine that might have upset her. I know my cats would get really upset when I would go out of town, even for a day or two and even when there were still other family members in the house. They would pee in certain spots to relay their aggitation.

 

 

 

• I would try to close any doors that allow your cat access to other rooms in the house.

• Move the litter box where you can keep an eye on the cat and his/her bathroom habits.

• Purchase something from the pet store to spray on the areas the cat's already peed to discourage it from going there again.

• Maybe put something directly over the spot such as tape or a plant.

• Make sure you haven't changed to a different brand of cat litter that the cat doesn't like or hasn't gotten adjusted to yet.

• Look for any changes in the household routine or interaction with people to see if there is something upsetting the cat. Some cats are very emotional and don't respond well to even small changes in their routine or environment.

 

[Perry]

My cat had all sorts of urinary/kidney issues. I changed him to canned Innova and we haven't had any medical problems since.

 

Canned food is so much healthier for cats. I'd try that first.

[duckens]

Chances are, this is a medical issue.

 

However, in addition to the other advice you have received here, think in terms of:

 

1) Wherever she is peeing that is unacceptable to you, you need to make that location LESS appealing to her (like the suggestion of putting a plant over the spot).

 

2) You need to make the litter box MORE appealing to her. This may mean cleaning out the litter box every time!

 

For example, we have 3 cats that are toilet trained. A few months ago, one started pooping in the bathtub. (Which, if I was going to pick a non-toilet location, is preferable to almost any other place I would pick). Now we run a couple inches of water in the bathtub after we are done for the night. One cat still likes to play in the water, but the pooping problem has gone away. :D

[hsmomto5]

I went out and bought Cat Attract litter. She was very excited when I put it in her litter box. Her accident are very infrequesnt so I am tying to make a note of when it happens and if anything else may be going on. The other day when she peed I had been gone a lot the day before. It always happens when we are in bed. I just plugged in the Feliway and put aluminum foil down. She is such a sweet cat and getting rid of her is NOT an option for me. I just have to work really hard to figure this out. If she does have another accident I think I will try BuSpar...

Lora

[hsmomto5]

Well I just discovered cat urine on my sofa and on my chair. These are in the same room as the areas she had peed before. I thought she was better and now I have found pee again.I am so upset. I don't know what to do. I just read an article that talked about sequestering the cat for some period of time to help retrain her and prevent her from being able to mark. I have put her in a small room without furniture. It is where her second litter box is and away from the other cat. I am going to call the vet on Monday and put her on some medication and try that. I covered the other area with foil and of course she didn't go there again. I was so hopeful until I realized she was using the furniture:tongue_smilie:

Lora in NC