we’ve got what I think could be a serious problem – our oldest cat seems to be getting incontinent. When her arthritic joints started getting to be too sore to enable her to easily get up and down the stairs we moved a litter box into the den for her, but now she’s peeing at unexpected times and places. She’s normally fastidious, so I think these are cases where she can’t help it. She peed on the couch las week (fortunately caught by the covers before it could get the couch pillows), which is entirely unlike her. This morning I found a wet spot in the living room, again unlike her.
Thius is scary – the only solutions I can think of are confining her in a cage or kennel, or else, well, you know.
Anybody else have to deal with this? Any suggestions?
I’ve had 3 cats but never had this particular problem. If she’s elderly it may just be the ravages of old age, although there are other problems that could cause it, such as a urinary tract infection or neurological problem. It’s probably worth a trip to the vet.
I’d say a trip to the vet couldn’t hurt at all. Sometimes older cats do not like changes - like moving their litter to another room - and will protest (pee) wherever they please.
No, Midnight’s not reacting to any change – she’s been happily using the litter box in the den for months. When she peed on the sofa, Pepper Mill says she acted as if she’d done something wrong and expected to be bopped for it. (You cat owners know what I mean) – it seemed to be an unexpected thing. As for the living room floor, that’s totally unexpected. There were times well back when she tried that, I think to mark her territory, but that was years ago.
Maybe she’s having trouble climbing up into the box; try a slanted board.
Otherwise, take her to the vet. I had a cat who got cancer late in life and that was one of his symptoms, peeing everywhere. Poor baby. I still miss that guy. Anyhow, go to the vet. She also might have a bladder infection.
It does sound as if she’s incontinent. It could be because she’s nearing her end, or it could be something acute and treatable. Only the vet can tell you for sure.
If it’s not treatable, you can help by putting extra litter boxes around the house so she won’t have as far to go to find one. There’s also a great cat litter called Cat Attract that she might like - it’s odorless to humans, but cats really seem to like the chlorophyll and other herby scents in it.
Unfortunately, it attracts the other cats, too, so now all the cats are using the litter pans in the den and ignoring the original ones downstairs. (“Gee, why didn’t you do this sooner?” I picture them saying. Bt Clarence can produce bowel movements that can blister paint, that’s why.) But even with the CatAttract, Midnight’s been having accidents well away from the boxes. That’s the problem.
Time for the vet. Missing the litter box is one of the first symptoms of a urinary tract infection. It also could be old age, but if it is a UTI it is treatable, and there is no point in leaving the old girl in discomfort any longer than necessary.
Sounds less like incontinence than polyuria. As a cat ages, renal insufficiency leads to an increase in the volume of urine produced. If the cat is arthritic, this sometimes leads to a very full bladder and the inability to reach litter.
One Catch-22 is that the medication that relieves the arthritis oftentimes has negative effects onthe kidney.
A visit to the veterinarian and some bloodwork would be my suggestion. Rule outs typically would be (in decreasing order of likelyhood) chronic renal failure, diabetes mellitus, liver disease, hyperthyroidism.