My cat seems to have lost control of his bladder. Help.

December 20, 2011 1:34 PM

My cat seems to have lost control of his bladder as of a few hours ago. He is going in little puddles sort of wherever he lies or sits down. I live a bit of a ways from a vet. I am wondering what to do.

Thanks in advance everyone.

So my dear cat Wittgenstein (male, 3 years old) seems to have lost control of his bladder this morning. I found him sitting in his chair and it seemed he had peed in it and was still lying there. Over the next few hours, he has peed little puddles in various random spots around the house (including the litter box). He has never done anything like this before.

He also seems sluggish and not himself, though he does seem a bit more active now than he did this morning.

I live in a rural area and the vet is a jaunt. I'm not saying I won't take him in right now if he needs it. I'm just wondering if this seems like something I should wait until tomorrow morning and see if he is any better, as in is this something that might pass, or is this a get thee to the vet right away emergency type situation. Has anyone been in a similar situation? Thoughts? Advice?

posted by Lutoslawski to Pets & Animals (17 answers total)

Best answer: You should not wait until tomorrow. It's worth the urgent trip. Call the vet ahead of time so they are prepared for whatever tests need to be taken.
posted by batmonkey at 1:36 PM on December 20, 2011 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Definitely do not wait on this one. Get thee (and the cat) to the vet, pronto!
posted by bolognius maximus at 1:37 PM on December 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Ok. Thanks. I am leaving momentarily.
posted by Lutoslawski at 1:38 PM on December 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Okay, his health issues aside, think about it from a practical perspective: If you wait on this, your house is going to be covered in small puddles of cat pee by tomorrow morning. He needs to go to the vet now.
posted by something something at 1:38 PM on December 20, 2011

If a cat is being lethargic, not eating or drinking and has a change in elimination habits... it's vet time. Call the vet, describe it and be prepared for them to ask you to come in ASAP.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 1:38 PM on December 20, 2011

Good luck with kitty. I'm glad you're going -- as others have said this is an emergency situation.
posted by sweetkid at 1:43 PM on December 20, 2011

Mod note: Folks, don't pre-doom threads, please.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:46 PM on December 20, 2011

Glad you are on your way to the vet. He's a young kitty, hopefully this can be cured. You are doing the right thing.
posted by mermayd at 2:12 PM on December 20, 2011

Good luck, Lutoslawski. Please keep us updated. I really hope kitty is okay.
posted by msali at 4:19 PM on December 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I hope all goes well, and if you need it, the FLUTD tag on AskMe has a lot of great answers and links.
posted by gladly at 5:52 PM on December 20, 2011

Response by poster: Hey everyone,

So, thank you all for the input. This is the only cat I've ever had and I've never had to deal with any health concerns with him before. I just didn't know if this was a serious kind of thing. I'm out in the boonies alone right now (I'm also 2,000 miles away from his usual vet), and I just needed a sounding board, i.e. someone to tell me 'go now!'

So several hours at the vet and my life savings later, they think he just has an infection (UTI or bladder, it doesn't seem to be clear). He was also dehydrated. They gave him some subcutaneous hydration and a shot of an anti-biotic, and sent me home with pain meds and a couple weeks of antibiotics.

This has been scary. He seems to be doing ok now, a little sedated. All I can do is give him his meds and hope for the best at this point. I guess I'll know more in the next couple days as the meds take hold.

Thank you everyone again for the insight and advice. Much appreciated.
posted by Lutoslawski at 6:16 PM on December 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Thank you for updating us!

That's actually probably really good news. I'm really glad you went.

Now you can enjoy learning how to pill a cat if you haven't before. (There are lots of tutorial videos on the internet.) Spoiler: be firm but soothing! (Double spoiler: TRIM HIS NAILS FIRST.) Best of luck!
posted by RJ Reynolds at 7:06 PM on December 20, 2011

If you are having trouble dealing with this problem financially, MANY vets will work within your means. You just have to talk to them openly about what you can afford. Most vets will err on the side of keeping a cat in its own home with an owner who cares for it enough to take it to the vet than keep from treating the animal due to lack of funds on the owner's part.

If his meds are liquid, or if he's not drinking water regularly, stop by a regular human store and buy an oral medication syringe (which you can often find in the baby supplies aisle) to be able to squirt meds and water right onto his tongue. Kneel down on the floor after filling your syringe, back your kitty up between your knees, and hold an arm in front of his chest. With your free hand, administer the liquid. When I was trying to nurse my cat to health this was the only way I got her to drink any water. It was much less stressful for everyone than any other way I tried. Hydration is super important to a sick cat, so keep an eye on it.
posted by Mizu at 7:13 PM on December 20, 2011

When my cat was very old, and having trouble staying hydrated, I started putting water all around the house; a bowl of water by her favorite sleeping place, for instance. The favorite place turned out to be a large drinking glass on a window seat -- go figure. The vet was amazed I didn't need to start forcing fluids on her. Can't hurt to try, anyway.

Also, take a look at what Wittgenstein's eating. I wish I'd read up on it a lot earlier than I did, and started feeding my male cats less dry food and more canned food. There's a lot of information out there about preventing urinary tract infections in male cats -- and even more opinions, many contradicting each other. And several reputable brands of cat food have special "urinary health" blends.

Wishing you many happy cat years ahead of you!
posted by kestralwing at 7:29 PM on December 20, 2011

Thank you for updating! I had this happen with my second kitten a few years ago, and the kitten had a liver disease and had to be put down, which is the only reason I said "go now" with no further explanation --in most cases it's not as bad as all that, especially with the younger ones ( didn't want to scare you) . It's very very good to get it sorted out.
posted by sweetkid at 7:57 PM on December 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Wishing Wittgenstein a speedy and full recovery!

If the medications are pills and you have trouble giving them to him, try Pill Pockets. We've also had a lot of luck wish squishing pills into soft treats like these.
posted by amarynth at 12:34 PM on December 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

Just to note: definitely watch for recurrences. Urinary problems in male cats really can be very serious, and once they've had them once, it seems to be more likely that it will come up again. Much of the time the problem is crystals in the urine, which can rip up the urethra and eventually cause scarring, which can lead to blockages. Which can lead to bacterial infections, and all sorts of Bad Places. My boy cats are all three prone to this sort of thing, so I feed them a special food meant to keep them from getting crystals that I buy at the vet's office. I almost learned all this the hard way when my Firstborn Son kitty ended up with such a horrible blockage that the vet couldn't even get a catheter in to drain his bladder, which they said was the size of a grapefruit. They said he would have died within a couple of days if I hadn't brought him in. In the end, they had to perform an operation to remove his penis so he could, you know, urinate again, ever.

This was in 2000 and he is curled up on my lap very much alive and cuddly right now, so this is not a scary story at all. Just want to emphasize the importance of being watchful. Another vet's office had told me the day before I took him in to the place that actually fixed him that he would be fine in a couple of days. This is only true if one considers "fine" and "dead" to be synonomous, and I gotta say I don't. So trust the kitty to know whether he's doing all right, and yourself to be right if you think his behaviour is odd. Anyway, odds are this is going to be it, and I am glad he's feeling better!
posted by Because at 3:05 AM on December 22, 2011 [1 favorite]