One of the more common conditions we see in cats are lower urinary tract issues, bladder problems says Dr. Wylegala. She says the symptoms for many cats are inappropriate urination where these cats will start urinating outside their litterbox where normally they are very well trained and have no issues otherwise at all.
The first thing you need to do, says Dr. Wylegala, is get to your veterinarian and have them get a urinary sample to rule underlying medical issues. Is there any underlying urinary tract infection; are there crystals in the urine: is your pet diabetic, do they have underlying kidney problems that may be contributing to some of these urinary issues?
For many cats, there are multi factors that are involved in their inappropriate urination. She says to rule out medical first and then deal with behavioral. If it is a behavioral issue, look at how many litter boxes you have. She says the rule is a litter box per cat plus one. Look at what type of litter boxes you have. Are they covered, are they uncovered; are they scoopable, are they not scoopable; is there a liner or no liner? Each cat is different in what their litter box preference is. If you have more than one cat, are they being bullied in the litter box and that may be why they are choosing to go outside the litter box. All of these are things you can easily impact as far as your pets use of the litter box.
If you are dealing with an underlying medical issue, one of the important things we need to realize is that is in male cats when they have underlying urinary tract issues they can develop a potential fatal syndrome where they have a urinary obstruction and they can’t urinate. If you see your cat going in and out of the litter box straining, licking the perineum, the first thing you need to do is get to your veterinarian immediately to rule out any underlying life-threatening condition that they may have especially if you have a male cat. If you have any questions, reach out to your veterinarian, ask, get them in, get a urine sample and make some changes that may have a lovely impact on the quality of your cat’s life.
Click here to go to the Niagara Frontier Veterinary Society. http://nfveterinarysociety.org
