Urine Smells Very Weird

[Kelise]

I've been having an ongoing issue with my 8 year old female cat urinating outside of the box. Naturally, when I find the wet spot I smell it to be sure it is cat urine since I also have dogs. Twice now (once a few weeks ago, and once just now) when I've smelled it, it smells downright weird. I know what cat urine smells like. This doesn't smell like cat urine. But given that she was the only animal in a closed room, it had to be her.

Yes, she's been to the vet for a urinalysis. Not much revealed, mostly a very high specific gravity and just a few red and white blood cells. I recently purchased a water fountain for her to encourage drinking but I don't think she's using it really. She had a round of antibiotics which seemed like it helped a little. I am trying to water fountain now, and next I might try glucosamine because my vet said that can help with bladder inflammation (I want to read more about this, though, because I've never heard it until now).

But why does her urine smell weird? Usually cat urine is strong, pungent, and distinct. This is much weaker, but smells gross. If it wasn't in the spot she normally pees in when she goes outside the box, I probably wouldn't even think it was urine. Does she need to go back to the vet?

 

[FeebysOwner]

It is possible the infection is causing the unusual smell, but if she hasn't been off the original antibiotic for very long, it might be causing the smell too. I would ask the vet to do a urine culture - not just a urinalysis. The culture would help to identify what antibiotics would work best for her specific infection. Since she is still going outside the litter box, she may have not gotten completely over the infection.

The specific gravity of the urine being high could be related to some dehydration, but there are other illnesses that perhaps should be looked at too considering your cat is reaching senior stage - and perhaps that could also affect the smell. Did the vet do a thorough blood panel, if for no other reason than to just look at the numbers to help determine her overall health?

Glucosamine can help with the bladder lining as its compounds are similar to the mucous layer of the bladder that helps protect it from being damaged by urine.

 

[LTS3]

Does the urine smell sugary? That could indicate diabetes.

 

[Kelise]

I haven't done a blood panel yet, no. Figured I would first try the simplest explanation; a UTI. Didn't do a culture either. The behavior hasn't stopped but it does seem like it's gotten better after the antibiotics.

This cat has a history of urinating outside the box. Honestly I always thought it was behavioral as she developed the habit as a young cat when there was a cat urine war in my first apartment between her and my roommate's two cats.

I wouldn't say the urine smells sugary. It just smells.. gross. Like I know normal cat urine isn't all that pleasant, but it's unpleasant in sort of a chemical-y way. This smells gross in a way that is not chemical-y at all. And not gross in a bacteria way either. I don't know how to describe it. Like... You know when dogs vomit up water (just water) and it just sort of has an unpleasant, bodily odor to it? Honestly the first time this happened, I was truly uncertain that it was cat urine. I thought it had to be something else. Maybe really dilute urine from one of the dogs, or even just saliva from one of them. It's only because I know this had to be her that I'm coming to conclusion it must be urine. It's in the spot she pees on (some blankets I keep in the corner of my bedroom for the dogs), she was the only one in a closed room, and the puddle was too large to be anything but urine.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I haven't done a blood panel yet, no. Figured I would first try the simplest explanation; a UTI. Didn't do a culture either. The behavior hasn't stopped but it does seem like it's gotten better after the antibiotics.

A while back when Feeby had a UTI, she was placed on antibiotics and she did get better. However, came right back/never fully went away, and that is when we did a urine culture - which showed that she needed an altogether different type of antibiotic to completely clear the infection. So, that is why I recommended a urine culture.

Given her age, a senior blood panel (CBC, Full Chemistry Profile, T4 counts) seems very appropriate. If there is something going on with her that is causing the strange urine smell, it might be identified through the blood panel - and then be treated accordingly. Perhaps, if there is something going on, it could be exacerbating the peeing issue, or even attributed to the UTI.

 

[Kelise]

Update. Kitty started vomiting at 3 am last night. She vomited about 5-10 times in the space of 1 hour and then stopped. Behavior-wise she is doing okay this morning and hasn't vomited again, but that was extremely unusual and now I'm really concerned. The last time she had vomiting issues, she had a foreign body. So she's not a puke-y cat and vomiting is super not normal for her.

Going to the vet today.

 

[Kelise]

Figured I would just go ahead and update this and close it out.

She's fine. Did another UA which looked 100% healthy. Did a CBC, full chemistry panel, and T4 which was beautiful, not a value out of place. Even did x-rays once in the morning and once in the afternoon just to see that things were moving along and there were no masses or anything of the sort. The perks of working in at a vet, I suppose. My vet and I decided against a urine culture because everything about the UA looked so good. At this point we believe it is either behavioral, or idiopathic cystitis (IMO probably connected with dehydration, because her specific gravity was still high today). The good news is that, as of last night, she has started using her water fountain. I can honestly say that is the first time I've actually seen her drink water in a very long time and she drank from it twice last night. Vet didn't have an explanation for the urine smelling weird, but it doesn't appear to be an infection and is not metabolic relating to the kidneys/liver/etc. Vet was not worried about high specific gravity because any of the disorders associated with that would have produced abnormal blood values.

As for the vomiting. I think i can explain it. Earlier in the day before that happened, one of my snakes did not eat her baby rat. I hate wasting a life (they are frozen/thawed, so I would have to throw it away if a snake doesn't eat), so I walked around and offered it to all my cats. Usually my male cat eats them but he wasn't feeling well after being vaccinated so he didn't want it. My girl got it instead. I'm guessing that's what caused the vomiting, which is still strange to me because I give my male cat uneaten snake food all the time with no issues.

Anyways, from here on I'll just be working on things behaviorally. Encouraging drinking (adding water to food and having the water fountain), picking up the stuff she likes to pee on, and switching her litter box to a different one. It's good to know she is so healthy at 8 years old, and to get the most of doing the bloodwork I will be scheduling her a dental cleaning sometime in the next 6 months.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Thanks for the update and glad to hear all seems good!! Maybe just keep the snake food away from her!!