Very large urinations

[lucyrima]

Hi - My 15 yr old 10 lb neutered shorthair male (who had successful anal gland surg. 3 yrs ago is producing very large (< 3" x 1 or 2" urine pads in regular sand iltter every day. Thyroid check was normal but he'd been on Thyroid Support Gold x 2+ wks by then (couple of mos. ago) so hard to tell if the supplemt had made a diff. or not though supposedly a longer time on it would have been better in terms of routine maintenance. His coat's not bad (never was the truly 'patent' type Bombays have), his appetite's still pretty aggressive tho' but he doesn't follow me all day long yowling as he did before the TSG. I'm just concerned about the v. large litter box production but he's only been back on the TSG x 10 days. A full thyroid/kidney work-up is SO expensive and I also don't want to put him through more vet visits if I can help it. His after-lunch 'coma' is a little lighter than normal, but he still sleeps more than less then and through the night. He should be on the supp. a bit longer for ideal results, but I'd still like to get feedback here if anyone has an opinion on what's what. Thank you!

 

[neely]

It's not unusual for older cats to have Hyperthyroidism but you're right, i.e. he would need to have a Free T-4 and full bloodwork done. Regarding the kidneys, you could get a urine kit from the vet to test his kidney function which is relatively inexpensive. You would follow the instructions using the kit's special litter, then bring the vial to your vet and they would run the test for you. This way you wouldn't have to actually bring your cat in to be tested which would be less stressful for him.

 

[lucyrima]

Thank you - Actually, as far as the urinalysis goes, I'm not sure they do the DIY kits here (tho' may do something simiar in a vet home visit, but charge a lot for that). Will look into it more... he seems fine otherwise. Stay tuned