Cat peeing behavior

[Lakek]

Hi everyone,

so I have a 2 year old, spayed female cat who just got over a UTI. She had a UTI a year ago when my roommate got a puppy and it cleared up with HomeoPet feline UTI+
(I did a lot of research before using and everyone raved on how good it worked) now this past week I noticed the same UTI symptoms that she had before. Constant urination trips to the litter box & struggle peeing. So again I used the product and after a couple days she was back on tract. I don’t feel like there is any underlying health problems. She has a great appetite (always lets me know when it’s wet food time) she’s constantly running and playing, she doesn’t drink an over amount of water...
But now she’s back to peeing on my bed. She does it at least once a month & the peeing on my stuff started when we got out second kitty Jackie, 5 months ago, as pictured in my profile picture they’re always together and constantly playing. However, June is definitely very attached to me and Jackie, being a Russian blue that have strong connections with their owner, is very attached to me as well.
so I’m just wondering what you guys think I should do and also what I could do about this peeing problem.On this site people have recommended putting an extra shower curtain on your bed (easy clean up/doesn’t smell like you much/ protects bedding)
I thought that was a good idea, but I’m wondering if there is anything else however.
thank you!

 

[ArtNJ]

The shower curtain idea is just a method of breaking the habit. The gold standard for habit breaking would be excluding the cat from the bedroom for a couple weeks. It might be a PITA, but another good option is to put the bedding in the closet during the day. I'd put the shower curtain idea in the "if you can't or wont" use those methods. Among other problems, your cat could easily decide to pee on it, claw at it incessantly, and maybe get under it and pee on the bed if you aren't super careful. AFAIK, its an idea one of us had rather than a battle-tested method. Its reasonable, and might work, but it doesn't remotely strike me as a first option.

(I'm not going to comment on using a homeopathic remedy that doesn't seem to list an active ingredient on its website, since that doesn't seem to have contributed to the situation.)

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Was your cat actually diagnosed with a UTI? From what I have read about the product you have used, there is nothing in the ingredients that would actually cure an infection. It seems most of the ingredients are from flowering plants or herbs - and, tbh, I have never heard of any of them effectively treating an actual infection. But, they can be considered to beneficial in promoting urinary tract health and act as soothing agents, as I understand it. A lot of times this type of product is used ongoingly to encourage urinary tract health, so maybe you would want to keep her on a regular daily dosage to see if that might help in the long run?

Have you talked to your vet about the possibility that June is experiencing some form of cystitis? Cystitis generally causes bladder inflammation, and doesn't always lead to an actual infection, even though some of the 'symptoms' appear the same. If your vet hasn't already done so, they might recommend a full blood panel, urinalysis, and possibly an x-ray to see if there are any specific causes behind June's intermittent inappropriate peeing. These tests would look for kidney function issues, crystals/stones, and/or possible structural abnormalities that could be attributing to her peeing problems. Here is an article you might find interesting relative to cystitis. Bladder Inflammation in Cats | Feline Interstitial Cystitis | PetMD

Some cats are just more stress-prone than others - this could be true of June. Many people have taken to logging/charting daily occurrences in their households to see if they can find stress-triggers that correlate with the times their cats have peed inappropriately. There are just so many things that go on from day-to-day which we humans take for granted that can upset/disturb certain cats. It would be worth trying this approach for a while to see if you come up with anything.