Public Service Announcement For Cat Owners

If you own a cat, you may already know this, but just in case you don't tuck this nugget of information away for future reference.

If your cat suddenly starts peeing all over your house, there's a problem, and I'm not just talking about the smell and cleaning you're going to have to do with a pet odor eliminator. Your cat isn't being spiteful; cats have an innate desire to cover their urine, et al, so if they're doing their thing outside of the box it's because "somethin' ain't right". Usually it's something as easily treated as a UTI. Neutered males are more prone to them, but females get them too. I had two females (one for 15 years, the other for 17 years), and only once did one of them get a UTI, so while a common thing for a cat, not all cats get them. So besides urinating outside of their box, some other symptoms of a UTI are that the cat will sometimes start crying out in pain, spend a lot of time in and out of their box, and lick their genital region. It's just as painful for a cat as it is for a human to have a UTI, and if left untreated, can create all kinds of problems for your feline.



That being said, our cat Keats didn't pee all over the house. To his credit he just camped out right outside the litter box to save himself the trouble of having to keep walking back to it. When I saw that on Friday night, I knew something was up; no cat hangs out right by their litter box when they have a whole house in which to roam. When he didn't move after I put food in his bowl, I knew there was trouble. This is a cat that never misses a meal. Ever. When I picked him up and placed him on his feet, he started walking funny, started licking himself, and was hanging out in the box quite frequently. I figured he had a UTI, so I called the vet first thing Saturday morning. I was able to bring him in immediately, and a good thing too. Turns out he had a blocked urethra (not so common) and couldn't pee at all......toxic and deadly if left alone for more than a day or two.

Poor Keats. He had to be sedated and catheterized for a couple days, received fluid therapy and meds. And humiliation of all humiliations, a cone was placed upon his head so he couldn't chew off the cath. He still managed to disconnect the thing on Sunday, cone head and all. Since he recovered fairly quickly, he was able to come home a day early on Monday, and seems to be piddling just fine in his box. But I also have to give him meds twice daily for the next 7 days, we're scheduled to go out of town before the end of his meds, and he doesn't travel well (he'd have to be tranquilized; trips to the vet are traumatic enough, let alone a 7 hour drive....and then what happens if he has a relapse while we're there...blablabla) ....UNLESS I can find a trustworthy person who can either house/cat sit OR come check on him at least twice a day over a holiday weekend, scoop his box daily to make sure he's peeing, give him four pills a day, and rush him to the vet any time of day or night if he gets another blockage. Know anyone like that? Cause I don't think I do. If you're the praying kind, please pray for an answer to show up. I really don't want to stay behind while my family goes off for the weekend without me.

Anyway, nugget of information: Cats don't pee outside of the box for no reason at all. It's surprising how many people surrender their cats to the shelter where I volunteer because their cat isn't using the box. In almost every case I've heard of, the surrendered cat has an untreated UTI, which the shelter treats, and the UTI and litter box problem are gone. If only people would think to seek medical attention when their pets start acting oddly. If only....