Lately my cat Salem has been acting strange. He started urinating everywhere except his litter box, and also there was blood in his urine. We thought maybe he had a UTI so we took him to the vet. The vet couldn’t get him to urinate there so we brought him home. The vet told us to isolate him from the other cat and fill Salem’s litter box with unpopped popcorn kernels, and when he urinated in there, strain the urine and bring it in to be tested. The problem is that he will not go in the litter box, but on the floor. Any ideas on how to collect his urine.
Lock him in the bathroom (or other small room) with popcorn on the floor.
I am suprised the Vet just could withdraw some urine from him though.
Goddam! Take the poor cat back to the vet now, and tell the vet to withdraw the urine with a needle or a catheter of however they do it—the longer an infection is left untreated, the longer it will take to heal! And, the longer the poor cat will be uncomfortable.
Stupid lazy vet.
Err… should read - I am suprised the vet couldn’t just withdraw some urine from him.
And yeah, it sounds like he has UIT. I can’t imagine why a vet would sluff that off. That is very common for male cats. Sounds lazy.
BTW - As Eve mentioned, Salem is in pain. It is not a nice thing to watch the poor little fella try to piss in his box and he can’t. He ends up just going where/whenever he can. Does he lick himself alot around his genitals too? That is another almost certain sign… especially if he pops his penis out of its “hood” to lick it.
It should be easy for the vet to get a urine sample. They just stick a large needle into his bladder and draw some out (although if he has recently gone and has not much urine left this could be problematic).
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IANAV(eterinarian), although my wife is - but she’s sleeping right now - so I’m not entirely sure what “UTI” is, but if that means Urinary Tract Infection, you might want to read this page on “Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease”:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/feline_lower_urinary_tract_dis.html
UTI does indeed mean “urinary tract infection”.
To add yet a bit more on this:
UTI is very treatable and preventable. Basically, my understanding is that the food the Vet gives give his urine a really high acidity that disolves the crystals that cause the blockage. After that is cleared up, the vet will recomend a good food that just keeps the acidic level high enough in his urine to stop them from forming again.
Spud, our little male tabby had a case of it. It took us about a week to clue in and take him to the vet. After we did, he was “better” in less than a week… I’d say about 4-5 days. And when I say “better” I mean urinating normally.
Yes, I’d say that vet is stupid and lazy. I don’t know how some of these people ever made it through vet school.
Your poor kitty is urinating outside the litter box because since he feels pain when he uses it, he has learned to associate the litter box with pain and thus avoids it. Kitties with UTIs also often want to urinate on a tile floor or in the bathtub, because the coolness of the tile/tub provides a sense of relief from the burning the cat feels while urinating.
You might be able to get a sample from him while he’s urinating. It’s not as hard as it sounds. You just have to be ready and waiting, and then stick a shallow cup (like a cut-down paper cup) or a Tupperware lid underneath him. I’ve done it lots of times. However, if you can’t get this sample like, right now, then get him back to the vet (or another vet) and ask them to withdraw it. The longer you wait the more pain your cat will be in and the harder it will be to treat. Good luck.