Cat Throwing Up And Spending Too Much Time In Litter Box

[maurice12]

I moved my 12 year old cat a little over 2 weeks ago. Aside from the first few days, he’s been totally okay and back to his normal self. He tends to hide under the bed when he hears people outside the apartment but other than that he’s been fine as in he plays, he eats on time, he uses the litter box regularly. Except since last night. He keeps using the litter box over and over again and I’ve watched him a couple times since I was concerned and he doesn’t cry in pain in there or anything he just kinda goes in there, pees a little, and then comes back out. Now I’ve been checking his pee and I don’t see any sign of urethral obstruction because he’s peeing a fair amount and actually I noticed a little more poop than usual but it looked like a normal stool, nothing too soft or hard. He also had an incident last night where he came out of the litter box in a rush and accidentally pooped outside of it. He hasn’t done that again ever since but he has been using the box a lot more ever since that incident. Tonight he was being his normal self with me I was actually about to feed him for the night (I feed him Sheba portions, 3 times a day) but then suddenly he threw up a substantial amount of liquid food. There was nothing yellow or red in the vomit which I’m hoping is a good sign. Ever since last night when he started using the litter box a lot I have been reading up on urethral obstructions and apart from the frequent litter box use (and now the vomiting) he hasn’t shown any other signs such as straining to pee, meowing inside the box, or blood in urine. I haven’t fed him for the night yet because I’ve been reading that you’re not supposed to feed them for at least 10 hours after they’ve thrown up. Can you guys help me figure out what the cause may be here? I thought it might be his treats but I feed him all natural ones that don’t have any by products or other harmful ingredients. Is it the catnip? I just can’t figure out what might’ve caused this. When we first moved in I threw a few treats around trying to get him to come out of his crate so it could it be that he found a couple and ate old treats which gave him indigestion? Moving out was pretty stressful for both of us so I’m really hoping that I won’t have to put him in his crate again and take him to the vet. Who knows if he’ll recover from that again. Let me know if you guys have any advice about this. Thanks a lot!

 

[jcat]

Moving out was pretty stressful for both of us so I’m really hoping that I won’t have to put him in his crate again and take him to the vet.

It's often in times of stress that pets become ill, and the vomiting and litter box behavior say your cat is. He really needs to go to a vet before it gets worse

 

[Wile]

Hi Maurice. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but frequent visits to the litter box are classic symptoms of a urinary tract infection. It is possible that stress from the move triggered it. He needs to have his urine tested at the vets and possibly antibiotics. I hope he feels better soon!

 

[duckpond]

Stress can indeed cause all kinds of health problems with cats. I think i would have him to the vet for a check up. Better to be safe than sorry. Do keep us updated with him!

 

[Jem]

I would agree that it could be a UTI, but it could still also be the beginning of an obstruction from cystitis (inflammation in the bladder and urethra caused by stress). Just because he's not straining or crying in pain and a decent amount of urine comes out does not mean he's not uncomfortable. Because you noticed it so early, it could just be very mild at this point. I would bring him to the vet ASAP, and get him tested. Treating this early means a much easier and faster healing time, less chances of having recurring problems and less chances of him developing litter avoidance. And if it's nothing, it's still better to be safe than sorry. And keep in mind that he IS showing signs that he is stressed and not feeling well. I know you don't want to bring him to the vet/put in carrier and stress him out but its better to stress him out, a bit more now, for short period of time, an get this resolved quickly, then let this go on and potentially KEEP him stressed just to have to bring him in anyway, when things are worse and treatment may be more intrusive, and more costly (catheter, medications, overnight stay, fluids....)
I hope your kitty feels better soon.

 

[maurice12]

Thank you guys for your advice. I had to muster up the courage and take him to the vet and it was and still is a highly trivial process. They did blood work and gave him fluids an anti vomit inducing injection. They gave me daily medication for his pain and medication for his vomit but not much of anything for his urinary trouble. They did find some crystals in the urethra and they want me to bring him back next week (which is really the worst part bc I just wanted this to be over) and they want him with a full bladder so we know exactly what’s happening with him. I also have to bring a stool sample. He also got a special new food that’s specifically for urinary care. I just hate all of this so much he is so skittish and pretty old and I hate that he has to go through this I wish this could be easier. The entire time I was at the vets office they were trying to tell me to stay calm bc I was so close to crying uncontrollably ((

 

[Wile]

Thank you guys for your advice. I had to muster up the courage and take him to the vet and it was and still is a highly trivial process. They did blood work and gave him fluids an anti vomit inducing injection. They gave me daily medication for his pain and medication for his vomit but not much of anything for his urinary trouble. They did find some crystals in the urethra and they want me to bring him back next week (which is really the worst part bc I just wanted this to be over) and they want him with a full bladder so we know exactly what’s happening with him. I also have to bring a stool sample. He also got a special new food that’s specifically for urinary care. I just hate all of this so much he is so skittish and pretty old and I hate that he has to go through this I wish this could be easier. The entire time I was at the vets office they were trying to tell me to stay calm bc I was so close to crying uncontrollably ((

I'm really glad you took him in. The pain meds should help a lot until you can get his underlying health problems sorted out. It sounds like you caught his crystals early, which is way better than him getting blocked and needing expensive surgery. A little bit of stress now saved you a ton of potential stress and money down the road.

 

[maurice12]

Thank you That does make me feel better although I am still concerned about him because he’s still continuously using the litter box over and over again. I just hope he survives this one week despite the discomfort he’s feeling and we can get this sorted through completely with the vet by next week.

 

[Jem]

I am still concerned about him because he’s still continuously using the litter box over and over again.

He's still using the litter box, that, honestly, is a great thing. If pee is still coming out that means he's not blocked. The medications and food should help a lot.

When my little one needed the prescription food for crystals, it took about 2 weeks before things started to go back to normal, although mine was further along and had started with litter avoidance as well. So don't lose heart, things will get better, and probably sooner than later, because you seemed to have caught things early.

One thing that my vet told me about ours is that, with crystals, the pressure added when trying to poop can also cause discomfort because it puts pressure on the urethra as well, irritating it because of the crystals. Ours was simply holding it in as long as he could to not feel pain. So hopefully your kitty's pooping will also resolve when the discomfort of "pushing" is gone.

Good luck with the next vet visit, but I'm sure things will work out soon.