Incontinent cat problem

[SallyF]

My 10 yo male cat just had surgery for a urinary blockage and is now dribbling urine all over the place. He pees a little at a time, but often; uses a litterbox sometimes but seems to prefer soft flat surfaces like chair seats, folded towels, mattresses, etc. The vet says its OK as long as urine is still coming out, but the vet doesn't have to do the housekeeping! I'm debating whether to just confine him to a large dog crate for the rest of his life or try to put him in diapers. Has anyone had experience with either of these solutions? Any suggestions appreciated.

 

[dirtdoctor]

Sounds like puss just got promoted to "head outdoor cat".

 

[KellyHM]

How long ago was the surgery? Is he on antibiotics? A lot of times after being blocked they have an infection and/or inflammation that persists for a little while and will feel like they need to pee constantly...just like a person with a UTI. As long as the infection/inflammation is being treated it should go away shortly and he should go back to normal.

 

[KellyHM]

Also, do you know what kind of crystals he had? Some of these guys need to be on special food that makes their urine the correct pH.

 

[SallyF]

The surgery was May 7. At first we attributed the problem to lax muscle tone due to having the catheter post surgery, and to the irritation factor that KellyHM mentioned. But it doesn't seem to be getting any better. We did see some blood in the urine last week and called the vet, but he wasn't concerned as long as the cat was still peeing. Haven't seen that since. He's on special diet cat food, Hill's C/D dry and Friskies Special Diet canned for cats with urinary problems.

Outdoor cat won't work. He'll go outside for short periods, but can't live out there. We live in the middle of wild 270 acres, with stray dogs, coyotes, snakes and God knows what else out there, and he's been an indoor cat for 10 years.

Thanks for the responses.

 

[patandchickens]

One possibility, for making it less of a problem to you, might be to cover his usual "peeing surfaces" with vinyl and then towels or an old afghan or whatever on top of that. So that he has an attractive surface to pee into, but it can't soak thru into the furniture.

I have not dealt with what you describe, but I did have a cat with megacolon/IBS issues who for the last five or so years of his life would move his bowels unpredictably and *anywhere*... I just got used to covering all furniture with vinyl as soon as I stood up, and it really worked reasonably well. You can buy stuff at a fabric store that is sort of, I dunno, "upholstery-type fake leather" vinyl -- it has a woven backing and is reasonably thick-ish and matte textured, not all slippery and crinkly and loud like a shower curtain would be. It is not super cheap but it is very waterproof and lasts quite well, and not obnoxious if YOU happen to sit on it

Might it also be useful to keep a litterbox in every room, or something like that, so he doesn't have to go as far to use it?

Best of luck, to you and to your cat,

Pat

 

[Brindlebtch]

You might try some tiny baby daipers (preemy?) or they also make small britches/diapers for dogs that are in season.

What a house keeping nightmare.

I have had 2 neutered male house cats that lived to be very old. Both of them became very lax about their toilet habits late in life. I replaced a sofa and rugs after the last one died. Decided not to have anymore indoor cats. You can't just put an old cat like that outside once they have lived their entire lives indoors.

 

[babyblue]

rather then turning a very old cat outside a friends family bought a very very large ferret cage and when the cat was not actively being watched or played with he had to live in the cage. it was nice and had toys, seperate levels and the cat honestly slept most of the day. when a family has young children or one, both or all of the adults work full time letting an animal have free potty range of the house is just not always going to work.