Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties:
I have a 5-year-old neutered male cat who has been having urinary tract infections for 2 years now. Prior to this, he always used his litterbox, but since the first infection, he’s been spraying all over the house. Of course all that comes out is urine. I’ve tried cleaning the areas with enzyme cleaner, followed up with Feliway and it made no difference. We have three boxes (three cats in the house) that we keep clean. Any advice would be very appreciated as we are at our wits’ end and getting rid of him is out of the question — he’s our baby!
~ Lynne
Kiska the cat resting on box of cat litter, (CC-BY-SA) by Ildar Sagdejev
Siouxsie: It’s not uncommon for cats to stop using their litterboxes after experiencing chronic urinary tract infections.
Thomas: The pain creates a negative association, which makes the affected cat want to avoid the litterbox for fear that he might experience that discomfort again.
Kissy: You’ve done all the right things so far, so congratulations on that. But we do have some tips that we think will help your cat learn to love his litterbox again.
Siouxsie: First of all, you’re going to have to make sure you’ve cleaned up all your cat’s pee/spray spots, and you’re going to have to make sure any trace of them is gone for good
Thomas: Enzyme cleaners are good, and they do help a lot. But we think you should get the big guns! Celebrity cat behaviorist Jackson Galaxy used Fizzion, a carbon dioxide-based cleaner, on one episode of his TV show “My Cat From Hell,” and since then many people have tried it and given it great reviews.
Kissy: Get yourself a hand-held black light and go around your house, using it on any surfaces up to about 12 inches off the ground and on the floors and carpets near the walls. The cat urine will glow under the black light. Wherever you see a glow, take the Fizzion to it.
Siouxsie: While you’re taking care of the old urine deposits, make sure he doesn’t make any new ones.
Thomas: Get a brand new litterbox, an uncovered one with high sides in case he still wants to pee vertically rather than horizontally, and put a new litter in it. (Protip: A storage tote with an opening cut out of one side makes a great, and inexpensive, high-sided litterbox.)
Kissy: We haven’t used it ourselves, but Dr. Elsey’s Cat Attract litter has gotten great reviews for its effectiveness in retraining cats to use their litterboxes. Cat Attract litter is available at most big-box pet supply stores, and if one of your local independent stores carries cat litter, they may have it too.
Siouxsie: We don’t know how many pet stores carry Fizzion, but you can order it online if you can’t find it locally. And just about every pet store anywhere carries hand-held black lights.
Kissy: You may need to isolate your cat in one room, preferably one without carpets, while he learns how to use the box again.
Siouxsie: But you don’t have to do this all day. Most cats will use the facilities within an hour after they eat, so put him in the room with his box for about an hour after breakfast and an hour after dinner.
Thomas: Of course, if he pees before an hour is up, feel free to let him out. Give him lots of love and praise every time he successfully uses the litterbox.
Kissy: This advice assumes that you feed your cats in meals rather than leaving food down all day. If you free feed, we’d urge you to strongly consider going to scheduled feedings of two meals a day. Eating twice a day rather than grazing all day is closer to the way cats eat in the wild, and scheduled feeding is a great tool for weight management as well.
Siouxsie: With a complete cleaning, a new litter and litterbox, and a training interval where he stays in a room until he pees, we think he’ll get back on track and do his business where he’s supposed to.
Thomas: Good luck, Lynne. Please let us know how things turn out!
My cat had one urinary tract infection and she was put on antibiatics, she was good for a
few weeks and it came back I was not about to have my cat going back and forth to the
vet and have her have to take med all the time, I research the problem with web site like
this one and I watched her all the time. 1. I had gotten a new kittie because my other
cat died (after 20 years) she was so upset and she went looking for her old friend and
couldn figure were he went and then this new kitten a female and my older cat is also
a female she hated the sight of her and this is when the problem started it took her
a long time to get used to the cat. These are the thing I did to help her.
!. I would put a blanket on my lap and she would just lay there purring she was content.
2..No dry cat food what so ever
3.Got Vet+Best natural formula urinary tract support(1/2 pill in the morning and dinner time.
they desolved very well and she likes the flavor.
4.I changed her cat food from all Friskies to 1/2 Friskies and 1/2 Wellness , Wellness is
expensive so I mix them and she likes it. NO FISH WHAT SO EVER CATS LIKE MEAT
SO IT’S CHICKEN, TURKEY ,BEEF AND GIBLETS.(read about canned fish product not
good)
5. switched to bottled water.
Here is another little trick if your cat will not eat canned cat food after it was put in a fridge
just add a teapoon of hot water it will warm it up and she will get extra water.(canned cat
food has more water and meat. dry cat food has a lot of carbs. CHECK IT OUT!
Maggie has not so far had another urinary track infection it been almost a year.
She also loves Maddie the kitten she couldnt stand. It all works out, or maybe when
I told them they beter get along, cause your both staying! CHOW! Gabi
If your kitty is very food-motivated, don’t underestimate the power of treats either. I had a kitten that was litterbox trained until he discovered the joys of pooping in my bathtub. So after he ate and when I thought he needed to go, I would gently put him in his litterbox and use his little paw to make scratching/digging motions (if he pulls his paw away, though, let him go – you don’t want to force or scare him). As soon as he hopped out of the litterbox, he got a treat. It only took two days for him to start going to the litterbox himself, and using it. He got treats and extra love for every time he actually pooped/peed in the litterbox. Now he’s a year old and no accidents at all!
I agree that food can make a huge difference in a kitty with urinary issues. No dry is step one, but you want to find a canned (or raw) food that has as few plant based ingredients as possible. Plants cause the urine to become alkaline, meat causing it to be acidic. the proper PH for cat urine is 6.0-6.5 Canned or raw will keep the kitty well hydrated as well which helps to continue to flush things out regularly.