My 13 y/o cat is rebelling against her new litterbox. She is dropping piles around the garage and leaving puddles a couple times a day. Now, this wouldn’t be so confusing if that were all there was to it.
I’ve noticed for the last few days that if a puddle if left to evaporate, it leaves a sticky substance behind that would make you think of frozen lemonade. That is the area of confusion.
Why is my cat peeing sticky stuff? Any ideas?
I’ve found the urine left to dry often ends up something like you describe. However I have a 15 year old cat, and I was told once that older cats can often can develope some form of feline diabetes, so maybe a lot of sugar is coming out in your cats urine. Does it drink a lot of water? That could be a sign of kidney problems.
I don’t have a good source for this though, it’s just something I’ve heard.
Is your cat possibly dehydrated? When I’ve seen piles of dried urine, it was because normal urine evaporated. If you are finding thick residue, perhaps kitty is not drinking properly. That in conjunction with the litterbox issues makes me think you might want to have kitty looked at.
Cartooniverse
Well for one thing, a cat’s urine is very concentrated so it’s possible that this could account for some stickiness.
However, the fact that kitty is going outside of her box is a little troubling. It could be that she just hates the new box. Is that the only change that you’ve made. Have you switched litter brands or have you moved the location of the box? If not, it may be wise to contact your vet. At least speak to her/him on the phone and see if they want to check kitty’s urine. Often times cats will pee outside of their box if they are sick such as suffering a bladder infection or kidney infection and as Egad said, it could be diabetes. Given kitty’s age, I would highly recommend that you get her in for a urinalysis and a blood work-up. (Check kidney and liver function, get a T-3 and T-4 (thyroid) a CBC, blood sugar, and hematocrit.)
It could be nothing but better safe than sorry.
Urinary problems are very common in cats and they’re one of the major causes when a cat is spraying. So go to the vet and get it checked out. That said, cat urine is much more concentrated than human urine - hence the horrible smell when they spray. Cats are adapted to very dry habitats, so their urine is going to contain more wastes in a smaller volume.
I think it means the poor thing’s diabetic. It’s sticky because there’s sugar in it, and she goes outside the box because the urine burns and stings when it’s sugary (or so a human diabetic told me) - cats urinate out of place when it hurts. Other signs would be spending a lot of time around the water bowl, and being overweight, and perhaps having dandruff or having excess, runny earwax.
I have taken in and cared for many sick and injured cats, and have two now that are diabetic and need insulin shots twice a day. They are very easy to give shots to, and usually wait around at shot time in order to get them. The shots make them look and act a good deal better. I wouldn’t hesitate to start shots on a cat that needed them, based on my experience, but YMMV. However, I must admit that I never mastered drawing blood from them for tests, and leave that to vets at checkup time.
Well, Chloe went to the vet and after bloodwork, urine analysis and still further bloodwork, it has been determined that yes, she has diabetes. Thanks for suggestions folks.
Vet said oral meds might not work, but I’m gonna try that first, since I don’t really relish the thought of having needles and meds around when I have two boys under 4.
How do I administer the pills? Any suggestions for making it an easier process. Also please explain the procedure used for giving the shots. I appreciate your experiences!
You might try crushing the pills and adding the powder to some particularly delightful wet food or treat. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the popular internet humor piece How to Give a Cat a Pill but let it suffice to say, if the cat protests, it is not an easy process.
In Theory: Hold cat firmly in lap with right hand. With left hand gently tip the head back and squeeze the corners of the jaw. The cat will open its mouth. Drop pill in, hold head up, stroking throat, until cat swallows.
I can’t add much except a little anecdote about personal anecdote that assures me just how sticky cat urine can be.
One night, I was rolling over to go to sleep, covers and blankets up. My cat Buddy comes into my room and jumps up on my bed. Well, it seems like he wasn’t coming to be friendly…instead he just lets rip and pisses all over me…the blanket, the cover, sheets, hits the matress itself, and most irritatingly…ME! Eventually, I managed to wash out the cat urine of most of the stuff (including off my skin), but the mattress was ruined and eventually I had to throw it out :(.
So, trust me, I’m well aware of how sticky cat urine is!!
You might want to ask about nutritional approaches to the management of feline diabetes mellitus. In my practice I see 50% or so of my diabetic feline patients become euglycemic (normal) within a year of starting a prescription diet that is high in protein.