[alvinbrown]

Good morning. I have 5 kitties, 4 of them rescue cats. My oldest kitty, Mollie, who is 13, has been peeing just outside the litter box for the last couple of months. She has been to the vet for ultraounds of her bladder, urine culture, basic blood work and everything came up with cystitis and some arthritis. The vet tried her on apresoline, which I stopped as she was so doped up it was awful and she was very very irritable. We have tried buprenex for 4 days now and her mood has improved tremendously but she is still peeing outside the litter box. I don't want to keep her on buprenex and was wondering if anyone else had any ideas. I was wondering about maybe her anal gland should be checked. I am running out of ideas. She doesn't like my other cats but has never had problems with them before.

 

[mimitabby]

two questions:
How many litter boxes do you have?
what kind of litter do you use?
if there are not enough litter boxes, she might be offended by having to use old litter.
If the litter (like pellets) hurts her delicate toes, she might decide it's not worth it to get in there.

 

[catloverami]

Put an extra litter box beside the one you have or some other place that is easy for her to get to. A shallow-sided box may be easier for her to step into. Have you tried Dr. Elsey's Cat Attract Litter? If not, I would give that a try. Hope something works out for you.

 

[Alpaca]

Good morning. I have 5 kitties, 4 of them rescue cats. My oldest kitty, Mollie, who is 13, has been peeing just outside the litter box for the last couple of months. She has been to the vet for ultraounds of her bladder, urine culture, basic blood work and everything came up with cystitis and some arthritis. The vet tried her on apresoline, which I stopped as she was so doped up it was awful and she was very very irritable. We have tried buprenex for 4 days now and her mood has improved tremendously but she is still peeing outside the litter box. I don't want to keep her on buprenex and was wondering if anyone else had any ideas. I was wondering about maybe her anal gland should be checked. I am running out of ideas. She doesn't like my other cats but has never had problems with them before.

If she's testing positive for cystitis (inflamed bladder), it makes sense that she's peeing outside the litterbox. She's obviously not having a walk in the park as this can be quite uncomfortable and painful for her. She's likely trying to alleviate the discomfort by peeing frequently too.

After the medication kicks in and she feels better she should return to her proper litterbox routine. Cats are notorious for hiding their pain and discomfort so although you think she's ok, she might still be in pain.

It also depends on the cause of her cystitis. Is it a bacterial infection or crystals. If it's crystals,does she have struvite or calcium oxylate?

Regardless of the cause, it would be a good idea to change her diet to a raw or wet one in order to increase water intake. You might also want to invest in a cat fountain as well if you don't have one already. Avoid any fish in the cat food as it wil aggravate her condition. Once your cat develops cystitis, reoccurences are common and so it's pertinent to take measures for the future.

The other major factor is reducing stress. Has anything changed for her such as moving house, moving furniture or litterbox location, new ppl/other animals in the house etc. Buprenex will reduce her pain which will at least reduce her stress if it's coming from pain. Also strive to keep her box spotless, increase the number of boxes to be 1 more than the number of cats in the house. So if you have 5 cats, then 6 boxes.

This is a complicated problem that requires long term treatment and monitoring. Do some research on Feline cystitis to understand more about it.

 

[alvinbrown]

Thank you so much for your help. I have taken a tote box and cut out one side of it so she can just step into the box without having to climb over it and I constantly keep it clean. I put a boot tray under it with newspaper. She now pees outside the open side. SIGH. I do use clumping litter. I am feeding her wet food with chicken but no fish, and am giving her a great deal of attention. I did bring in another rescue kitty a month before she got the cystitis who had been shot and has bone spurs in his knees and has to be on long term painkillers. He never goes near her and unfortunately no one wants this poor cat so I brought him home from the shelter where he was living. It is difficult because I can't get rid of my other cats but I hate to see Mollie in pain. I guess I will try adding some more litter boxes to the ones I have now. I don't want to leave her on Buprenex longterm. I will do some more research. Thank you again.nekitty

 

[Mitts & Tess]

Double check the ingrediences in her food. Youd be surprised at flavors of food which have fish in it when youd assume it wouldnt. My friends cat is allergic to fish. She was surprised to find it lurking in flavors she didnt expect.

 

[BoBear]

Your cat is on painkillers. That will make the cat more comfortable but doesn't deal with the symptom. Hills c/d perscription diet pet food or Royal Canin s/o diet are cat foods that are designed for cats proned to struvite cystitis and can be bought at most veterinarian clinics. Start by getting your cat on this diet. It has been known to eliminate the problem in a large majority of the cats. And feeding canned food to increase the fluids the cat takes in does help too. I struggled with one of my cats for years, before they had the prescription diets. We used Vitamin C to decrease the urine pH. This helps to eliminate the problem Today it is a little easier to deal with thanks to prescription food.

May I suggest having the cat checked by a different veterinarian!

In severe cases surgery is needed to remove the crystals.

 

[Two Siamese]

My senior baby did that for the last few years of his life. The vet checked him out and concluded (after much expense, and much testing) that it was behavioral. Once I tried all the obvious things (litter type, box type, box location, etc), I just gave up and lined the area around his box with puppy pee pads. He then used the box for solid waste and the pads for liquid. It wasn't ideal, but it also wasn't overly gross and was easy to clean up. I'd stock up on pee pads whenever they were on sale!

 

[alvinbrown]

Thank you for all of your help. I really appreciate it. Mollie does not have stones. There was a little blood in her urine but that has cleared up now After much testing and trying Amitrpytline and Buprenex she is still peeing just outside the box with her tail up. She stands there and watches me clean up her mess and then goes into the next litter box and does the same thing again. SIGH. Mollie does not like other cats and when I brought this rescue cat home in June making our house full of 5 cats, I think it was just too much for her and she is marking her territory all the time right beside the litter boxes.

I will try and get some Elsie's litter and puppy pads. I think the vet wants to try a medication called Calmitron but I am skeptical. I am using the Feliway aerosol in the bedroom where she spends most of her time. She has also become very clingy with me and wants to be beside me all the time when I am sitting or lying down.

I have taken her off the Buprenex as I did not want her to be on that long term and really I don't think it made much difference to her. I am giving her wet cat food to make sure she is hydrated and her appetite is fine. i will try changing her diet to what you suggested also. Thank you.nekitty

I just worry that I don't want her in pain. I can live with cleaning up the mess beside the litter boxes and will try the puppy pads. Thank you for that advice. It is so hard with an old cat and I certainly don't want to make the final decision to put her to sleep if she is doing okay and not in constant pain.