At what point does cat pee just become water?
January 5, 2019 7:19 PM   Subscribe

My cat has kidney disease, which results in dilute urine. She is also leaking what is probably urine, but which doesn't glow (at all) in under UV light. ...Does dilute cat urine leave stains and glow in the dark? Are the glow-ing and stain-leaving chemicals active in extremely small concentrations?

She's been to see a vet. Vet agrees it is probably pee but hard to tell; follow-up soon. Yes, it's definitely coming from her hindquarters. It's definitely not a wet rump that she is plopping down on dry surfaces; she is leaking some fluid (vaginal, anal, or urine).
posted by flibbertigibbet to Pets & Animals (6 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Response by poster: I have been tasked by the vet with gathering data and also tasked by myself to, y'know, clear up Mystery Fluid and it is difficult to do either if the fluid leaves no trace, like a fictional Soviet bioweapon from a Cold War spy film. It would help my sanity to know that it would leave a stain, at least.

I'm not exactly holding my breath for a conclusive answer, here.
posted by flibbertigibbet at 7:25 PM on January 5, 2019


Best answer: This suggests that some pets may just not have urine that shows up very well. There’s a bunch of other UV light troubleshooting included as well.

If it were my elderly cat I’d assume pee in the absence of evidence to the contrary, and I think you’re right that you’re probably not going to get a super-conclusive answer.

Also, cat pee troubles suck and are stressful, and I’m sorry you and your kitty are dealing with this.
posted by charmedimsure at 7:49 PM on January 5, 2019 [2 favorites]


Have you checked for odor? Maybe have her sit on some clean cloth, and then you'll have an easier time detecting whether there's a smell and, if so, what the smell is.
posted by amtho at 7:52 PM on January 5, 2019


Best answer: I too have an older cat with kidney disease and diabetes, meaning she drinks a lot and has a lot of volume to her pee. She had an incident on the couch that did not show up noticeably under UV. I’m guessing if it’s diluted enough it won’t be visible or as obvious as normal cat urine.

Does she sit in the same spots? Could you put down a pee pad where she usually sits to collect some for analyzing?

Sorry about your kitty’s health problems. Hope that you can get things sorted out.
posted by jzb at 3:27 AM on January 6, 2019


Do you think she would tolerate diapers? That would take stress off of you regarding mess in the house and you could put a sterile cotton pad in the diaper to collect the discharge for your vet to analyze. The pee pads have deodorant and other chemicals that could interfere with a good "read" of the liquid.
posted by agatha_magatha at 8:04 AM on January 6, 2019


Does the origin change your cleanup choices? I'd bet you at high odds that it's urine. But, who cares? Old cats leak. From every orifice, if they live long enough to do so. It sucks, but cleaning it up is part of the deal we make when caring for cats.

Best wishes and sympathy for you and your kitty. Leaky cats can live happily for a surprisingly long time.
posted by eotvos at 5:09 PM on January 6, 2019


« Older Help me understand my car problem?   |   How would I learn to do this dance? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.