UTI in Elderly Cat with CKD

[epona]

He's been a lot perkier since I reduced his gabapentin dose - got his energy back, can walk properly, spent a good portion of the late afternoon sitting up and mithering me for attention and food like he normally would

He's still weeing on the puppy pads/towels I put on my lap and in his sleeping places rather than in the litter trays, so I am starting to think that might be a behavioural issue to do with him associating the litter tray with pain.

I am thinking remove the usual litter and try them with puppy pads and old towels in the litter trays to see if he finds that a better option??

Any advice about retraining an elderly cat to use a litter tray after they might have developed fear due to UTI pain would be most welcome - any links to external resources or threads here.

(I should add, although I hope it would be obvious from the way I have talked about my cats past and present over the years that I would never ever so much as scold them for going in the wrong place, I'm encouragement and positive reinforcement only)

 

[FeebysOwner]

Have you had any discussions with the vet about an anti-spasmodic? If it were me I would want to rule that out as a possible cause. Spasms can cause uncontrollable urination.

Most cats don't typically pee in their hang out or laying spots, even when it is behavioral. I sincerely think there is something else going on.

I won't repeat what I've already told you in a previous post in this thread, but my cat does not pee where she lays or hangs out despite the fact that she won't pee in the litter box.

P.S. I hope you were able to get your washer fixed.

 

[epona]

Have you had any discussions with the vet about an anti-spasmodic? If it were me I would want to rule that out as a possible cause. Spasms can cause uncontrollable urination.

Most cats don't typically pee in their hang out or laying spots, even when it is behavioral. I sincerely think there is something else going on.

I won't repeat what I've already told you in a previous post in this thread, but my cat does not pee where she lays or hangs out despite the fact that she won't pee in the litter box.

P.S. I hope you were able to get your washer fixed.

Yeah I know it sounds a bit odd - but tbh he is a bit of an odd cat, and when he was younger he liked to wee on laundry or on our bed and then he would go to sleep there - I would have said it's not likely except for my past experiences with Jakey and his toileting habits.

I mean - currently he is getting up, going to eat (he is eating well), and going back to the same damp towel/puppy pad to curl up and sleep, he's not choosing to sleep somewhere that isn't already damp with wee.

He has never been the brightest spark tbf.

We haven't discussed further treatment with the vet yet because he is still undergoing treatment for his UTI - we will come to that once the current treatment is over and we know his urine sample is free of bacteria (it was an e. coli UTI).

 

[silent meowlook]

Yes, that is so obvious.But, thank you for mentioning it.

The most important thing would be to get a new litter box. This of course need not be originally designed as a cat box. I have used the plastic puppy pad holders before. They actually work great. They have very low sided and are big enough that they don’t cramp a cat with any mobility issues. ( not that your cat has those). You want a litterpan that is completely different with a different litter as well. Unscented and get the heavier litter.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Just curious - what stopped Jakey from peeing on clothes/bed and the sleeping there when he was younger?

Most of the traditional things to do to 're-train' a cat to use a litter box probably won't apply to Jakey as most cats don't like to pee and then sleep in the same spot. In most cases, it isn't a matter of re-training a cat but finding the source of the problem and correcting it. If there is no source in Jakey's case, then I would not know what to suggest as a resolution.

I hope your plan works though.

 

[epona]

He's an elderly OSH, honestly not very intelligent to start out with, and possibly a bit mentally doddery in his old age - his lifelong friend and my soul cat Sonic died 2.5 years ago and since then he's been an only cat, he wants to be on me all the time.
So if I have a towel and a puppy pad on my lap, if he wees on them, he's not going to necessarily move off my lap and be away from me just to be in a dry spot that isn't on me.

Yes I am changing the puppy pads and towels regularly so he's not on damp fabric all the time, and yes it isn't really very pleasant for me either (I love him too much to worry deeply about that though).

I don't know if that makes any sense.

When he was weeing on our bed when he was younger, what stopped him was shutting both him and Sonic out of our bedroom at night, it was a bit different situation that was probably dominance related in terms of who owned various bits of the bed. They were fine in the sitting room together at night where the same issue never arose, and always slept curled up together in the same bed (Jakey stopped sleeping in those shared places after Sonic's death).

 

[FeebysOwner]

And, the peeing on clothes was stopped by removing them from anywhere he could get to? Does he now, and then, go to the litter box to poop? Sorry if you have told us and I forgot.

I honestly don't have any Ideas for you, other than what you are going to try. besides my other suggestions. I also don't think that cats can be considered unintelligent in general. There are instinctual behaviors that drive them, unless there are circumstances that impede those instincts. Yes, he could be 'doddery' due to old age. But, as I have said before, even my cat who is 19+ yo, with multiple health issues, and refuses to use a litter box. will not (so far anyway) pee where she lays.

I know you will take care of him and change the blankets/pee pads he lays on. That I have no doubt about. If this is now his life, I am glad that it is something that you are willing to deal with.

 

[epona]

I didn't mean that cats are unintelligent in general, just that this particular one is a bit different and wasn't breathing when he was born and I've long thought he could have some issues related to birth anoxia, he's also really quite uncoordinated (even when not on gabapentin, I've seen him regularly mess up jumping somewhere, fall off the edge of the sofa, and get his hind legs crossed over and trip himself up, when he was younger and we had other cats he'd follow them up to the top of the bookcases and try to get on top of doors, I'd get underneath him with a pillow just in case he fell - I think it's why the gabapentin affected him to the point where he was falling all over the place even on a low dose).

So I don't think he's necessarily going to react like a normal cat in every circumstance.

Anyway we're kind of getting off at a tangent now and I'm feeling a bit like I'm being asked to explain myself - I know what I mean and I know my cat, and I'm stressed without having to go into detail about every last thing. Thank you for the help - now if someone could provide a link about how to retrain a cat to use a litter tray, I'd be grateful - in case that might help me.

 

[epona]

Here is a photo of him from yesterday, I love him so much.
Yes he's a bit underweight, he has CKD also, he is very loved and well cared for. Nothing is too much trouble for me to do for my lovely sweet boy.

 

[epona]

It's very difficult to get a photo of him where he doesn't look out of proportion - because he is almost always on me and looking at me, so his face is always right up close to the camera/phone!

Here's a better one from earlier in the year

 

[silent meowlook]

He is so cute and his expression is priceless.