My cat pees while walking and never reaches the litter box

[Buenomini]

Hello!

We have a 3 legged cat name Onyx.
We received them 4 days ago and he’s super cuddly but also really easy to scare. He doesn’t hide anymore unless something scares him but comes out really quick when you offer him your hand.

The problem is when he’s walking. At least 5 to 6 times a day he leaks pee while walking fast or when he get’s scared of nothing. It also happends when he’s not scared at all and just walking.
Sometimes he properly pees on the floor really close to his litter box. Or in the middle of a walk.

Sometimes he also pees on the litter box (we found pee time to time) but those are the lesser times.
We also noticed that a few times he goes to the litter box and doesn’t do anything.

He leaks mostly on our living room, where there is a hardwood floor, and almost never where we leave him at night (and his first night) where there are tiles.

I don’t think it’s a problem with the litterbox because he poos in them without a problem. But pees while walking and peed in his bes once.

We want to take him to the vet but it could be too early to move him from the house while he’s adapting.
We are super worried that this could be some kind of untreatable urinary incontinence.
Any ideas that could explain his behaviour?
Thank you!

 

[mx4878]

Hello, I see three possible reasons
1. It takes time to realise that he needs to pee, and then it takes him time to get to the litterbox as well as the fact its harder to hold in your pee when you really need it.
2. He's finding it harder to walk on the harwood floor so it takes more time to get to the litterbox, as well as the fact its harder to hold in pee when you really need to go.
3. There's a medical issue.

If its not a medical issue, take him to the litterbox whenever you notice its been a while since he has gone there. Perhaps every 2 or 3 hours?

 

[FeebysOwner]

If you can 'free-catch' some urine (needs to be collected in a sterile container), you could take it to the vet and let them do a urinalysis, without having to take the cat in right now. There are also kits you can buy that contain crystals, which you can place in a clean litter box, that don't absorb the pee and then you can syringe urine from the crystals instead of trying to 'free-catch' it. That would be a good place to start your investigations if you can do one or the other. The fact that he does get to the litterbox and doesn't pee could mean many things, but the first most common issue would be to rule out a UTI - which can also cause leakage and/or incontinence.

For now, I would also get more litterboxes so that he doesn't need to travel as far to get to one, just to see if that helps any. You can buy 'throw away' ones if you don't want to have a bunch of spare litterboxes once you get this matter resolved. And, as inferred above, lay down some temporary rugs/runners to see if that helps him navigate more easily to a litter box.

How old is this cat? Did he just recently lose his 4th leg? And, if you adopted him - are there any records on file about his life before you? If there are, that would be very helpful to know and share with your vet.

 

[di and bob]

I think he does have a Urinary Tract Infection. That could cause all the problems you are talking about and is a place to start. Do you know where he had his surgery? They know him and might prescribe an antibiotic without dragging him in. He's also very new, only 4-5 days with you, and may be holding it too long before he makes it to the box. MANY cats prefer two boxes, one to pee in and the other to poo, and he may be one, so make sure you have two boxes at least, maybe three until he is settled. It also may help to confine him to one room until he uses the litter box consistently. All the luck!

 

[catsknowme]

Great advice above! I would also offer "low-sided" litter boxes placed in different locations to see if that helps. Please keep us updated!

 

[maggie101]

Hello!

We have a 3 legged cat name Onyx.
We received them 4 days ago and he’s super cuddly but also really easy to scare. He doesn’t hide anymore unless something scares him but comes out really quick when you offer him your hand.

The problem is when he’s walking. At least 5 to 6 times a day he leaks pee while walking fast or when he get’s scared of nothing. It also happends when he’s not scared at all and just walking.
Sometimes he properly pees on the floor really close to his litter box. Or in the middle of a walk.

Sometimes he also pees on the litter box (we found pee time to time) but those are the lesser times.
We also noticed that a few times he goes to the litter box and doesn’t do anything.

He leaks mostly on our living room, where there is a hardwood floor, and almost never where we leave him at night (and his first night) where there are tiles.

I don’t think it’s a problem with the litterbox because he poos in them without a problem. But pees while walking and peed in his bes once.

We want to take him to the vet but it could be too early to move him from the house while he’s adapting.
We are super worried that this could be some kind of untreatable urinary incontinence.
Any ideas that could explain his behaviour?
Thank you!

I have never had a male but cats like to smell,find a good spot,shuffle then pee. Males pee standing up so it may be hard for him? Just a guess. Having a longer box cut 5 inches low might help. Sooner he sees a vet the better so if he has uti it doesn't get worse