The Cat Clinic

Full service feline only veterinary hospital

Cat Behavior

Urinary Tract Disease in Cats

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urinary tract disease cats
Cosmo at the animal hospital

Urinary Tract Disease in Cats-Why Won’t My Cat Use the Litter Box

Urinary tract disease in cats can cause inappropriate eliminations or going outside of the litter box. Many cat parents assume that this problem is caused because of spite thinking that their cat is trying to get back at them for something. Luckily, cats don’t share this very human emotion of spite and revenge. Going outside of the litter box is always caused by some very real medical or psychological problem.

The first avenue to explore is ruling out a medical condition causing discomfort to the cat. I laugh with my clients that when there cat is elimination outside of their litter box that is their way of saying TAKE ME TO THE VETERINARIAN! In fact, one client described her cat eliminating outside of the litter box for several weeks before finally climbing up on the kitchen counter and urinating on her sandwich! I think that is a clear cry for help.

Young cats usually don’t get urinary tract infections but can suffer from concentrated urine that produces stones or crystals that can wreak havoc inside their bladders. These stones or crystals have some genetic predisposition but can be prevented by feeding an appropriate diet.

The Cat Clinic of Plymouth always recommends a canned food diet that can reduce the incidence of formation of these issues by allowing the urine to have the appropriate pH and dilution. Studies have shown that cats concentrate their urine very well allowing the formation of these issues in the urine.  Studies further support that even when a client believes their cat drinks enough water but eats mostly dry food their cat’s urine is many times more concentrated than a cat that eats a mostly canned food diet.

Male cats that eat a mostly dry food diet are more prone to urinary blocking. A blockage in the urinary tract is life threatening. If your cat is straining in the litter box, this is an emergency.

Another predisposing factor for urinary tract issues in any aged cat is stress. Multiple cat households, indoor life, lack of environmental stimulation, changes in the household can cause physiological stress in a cat that result in increased circulating cortisol that attacks the bladder wall. This makes them feel as though they have a urinary tract infection. This feeling can come and go throughout the day or week making it difficult to track due to inconsistency. See our blog on litter box care and environmental stimulation for more information.

Older cats can also suffer from urinary tract infections caused by underlying medical conditions such as obesity, kidney disease, diabetes and hyperthyroidism to name a few. Many of these conditions are easily treatable. So again make sure your cat sees your veterinarian for routine checkups especially as they age. If you have trouble getting your cat in the carrier see our handy guide to Getting Your Cat in the Carrier.

Check List for a Successful Veterinary Visit

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Happy Cat going to her veterinary visit
Happy Cat going to the Veterinarian
By Cassandra Kelley DVM

 

At the Cat Clinic of Plymouth, we know that our clients want their cats to have a happy and healthy life. Part of achieving this level of wellness is by scheduling preventative care visits routinely with your veterinarian. However, getting some cats to the animal hospital for their veterinary visit can be a bit stressful for both you and your cat.

 

Guide to a stress free veterinary visit

Here is a checklist for making that trip to the animal hospital to see your veterinarian much less tricky.

  • Choose the correct carrier for your cat.

 

 

  • Familiarize your cat with its carrier

 

  • Use feline facial pheromones

 

  • Ask your veterinarian if they recommend any other medications for travel

 

  • Cover the cat carrier for travel and for entrance into the animal hospital

 

  • Make a list of changes in your cat and questions that you want to ask the veterinarian

 

  • Allow your cat to familiarize itself with its new surroundings in the exam room at the animal hospital

 

  • Make an appointment at a veterinary clinic designated as a Cat Friendly Practice by the Association of Feline Practitioners like the Cat Clinic of Plymouth

The Purrfect Litter Box for your Cat

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Hopefully, you have never had a cat that refused to use their litter box. If you have, I’m sorry. It is probably the worst problem to have and one that I encounter all too frequently at the Cat Clinic of Plymouth.

Of course, many times the issue is a medical one and why I always recommend meeting with your feline veterinarian and having your cat examined. However, often times the issue is one that we unknowingly have created. So here are some pointers to avoid, prevent or even fix your cat’s unwillingness to use the litter box 100% of the time.

Cats are by nature very clean and want a desirable place to deposit their wastes. They are not much different from us in that respect. How many times have you walked into that lavatory only to walk out immediately deciding that being uncomfortable was worth not spending any more time in that room. I know I have done this many times.

Where is the litter box?

The first rule of thumb is making sure that there are adequate numbers of litter boxes in your home. This usually means one box per cat plus one. Having litter boxes in different living areas and different floors also helps. This insures that cats are not being blocked by other cats or humans in the household from getting to a litter box.

What is the litter box?

The next issue to consider is the box itself. They should be of adequate size to accommodate the size of the cat and allow them to turn around and comfortably posture for elimination. Litter box hoods are often a cause of concern for a cat making them uncomfortable getting into the litter box.  Using a taller box without a hood can sometimes keep the litter in while still allowing the cat to feel comfortable.

Just as we would not want to use a dirty bathroom, cats don’t like a dirty litter box. Use a scooping litter that allows you to scoop waste at the very minimum daily. Having a larger number of litter boxes also helps to keep at least one acceptable at all times.

Good litter box
Healthy Cat

Cats tend to have a preference for the type of litter that is used as well as the amount of litter. Most cats seem to prefer 2-3 inches and tend to avoid litter liners. If you are using a scented litter try unscented. If you are using a pelleted product try a sand product. Every cat can be different on the type of substrate they wish to scratch in to cover their waste. Instinctively, they want to cover their waste to avoid detection from predators.

These simple tips may avoid a problem in the future but what about fixing a problem that has already started? Again, I recommend a meeting with and a full exam from your veterinarian complete with lab work to rule out a medical condition. Often times, infections or metabolic diseases can contribute to an ongoing problem and the litter box issue may be the only symptom.

Once a medical condition is ruled out, your veterinarian might suggest medications to help with stress if that is appropriate. However the above rules still must be followed to ensure success. Adding litter boxes, moving them to the desirable locations and addressing stress with Feliway Diffusers and environmental stimulation also will help. See my blog on www.catclinicplymouth.com/blog.

By Cassandra Kelley DVM

Check List for a Successful Veterinary Visit

By

Happy Cat going to the Veterinarian

At the Cat Clinic of Plymouth, we know that our clients want their kitties to have a happy and healthy life. Part of achieving this level of wellness is by scheduling preventative care visits routinely with your veterinarian. However, getting some cats to the animal hospital can be a bit stressful for both you and your cat.

 

 

Here is a checklist for making that trip to the animal hospital to see your veterinarian much less tricky.

  • Choose the correct carrier for your cat.

 

 

  • Familiarize your cat with its carrier

 

  • Use feline facial pheromones

 

  • Ask your veterinarian if they recommend any other medications for travel

 

  • Cover the carrier for travel and for entrance into the animal hospital

 

  • Make a list of changes in your cat and questions that you want to ask the veterinarian

 

  • Allow your cat to familiarize itself with its new surroundings

 

  • Make an appointment at a veterinary clinic designated as a Cat Friendly Practice by the Association of Feline Practitioners like the Cat Clinic of Plymouth

By Cassandra Kelley DVM

 

Stress Free Veterinary Visits for your Cat

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Happy Cat going to the Veterinarian
Happy Cat going to the Veterinarian

Check List for a Stree Free Veterinary Visit

At the Cat Clinic of Plymouth, we know that our clients want their kitties to have a happy and healthy life. Part of achieving this level of wellness is by scheduling preventative care visits routinely with your veterinarian. However, getting some cats to the animal hospital can be a bit stressful for both you and your cat.

Make the Experience Stress Free

Here is a checklist for making that trip to the animal hospital to see your veterinarian much less tricky.

  • Choose the correct carrier for your cat.
  • Make the carrier a place of comfort. See our blog.
  • Familiarize your cat with its carrier
  • Use feline facial pheromones for a stress free ride
  • Ask your veterinarian if they recommend any other medications for travel
  • Cover the carrier for travel and for entrance into the animal hospital
  • Make a list of changes in your cat and questions that you want to ask the veterinarian
  • Allow your cat to familiarize itself with its new surroundings
  • Make an appointment at a veterinary clinic designated as a Cat Friendly Practice by the Association of Feline Practitioners like the Cat Clinic of PlymouthCat Clinic Plymouth MA

By Cassandra Kelley DVM, veterinarian and owner Cat Clinic of Plymouth

Tulip – one feral cat’s story

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Introducing Tulip

feral cat
Feral Cat – Tulip

The first time I laid eyes on our feral cat Tulip she was in a Have-A-Heart Trap that smelled like tuna

fish and urine.She was wet and cold, shivering in the far reaches of the cage in order to give as much distance from her captors. Despite all that, she was beautiful! Her black and white coat and round little facial features made her appear sweet and kind. Tulip was indeed a feral cat.

What is a Feral Cat

A feral cat is a cat that was born outside and receives no socialization with humans. They are fearful of humans and would rather flee from the human than attack. Feral cats would only lash out if trapped with no means of escape. Feral cats can have certain levels based on how many generations the population has been on their own, human social interaction as a feeding station, and individual personality. Feral cats will usually live in a colony that may also include domesticated cat that has lost their owners in some manner. They are not wild in the sense that most of them require food from human sources even if that means picking from a dumpster.

In fact, that was Tulip’s story.  She and her babies were living behind a dumpster at the condominium complex where my mother was living. Some of my mom’s neighbors started helping the little family out by bringing cat food and placing it under the dumpster for them. Unfortunately, there were some complaints from the non-feline fan club around the condos. The condo association then announced that the feeding needed to stop and in fact the pests were to be exterminated at some future date.

Trapping, Neutering and Release of Feral Cats

You can’t imagine the horror of my mother and her neighbors. The thought of the destruction of this little family was too much to bear and they reached out to me and the Cat Clinic of Plymouth for help. We were able to find a kitty angel that spent most of her time volunteering to help trap feral cats. She would work to get them veterinary care and then either re-release them spayed, neutered and vaccinated or would find placement for them if they could be socialized. Obviously this little family could not be released at the same area. So that posed another dilemma. Where would this little family go?

The Cat Clinic of Plymouth volunteered to help with the veterinary care once they were captured with the caveat that the neighbors would find a place where they could go. Interestingly enough capturing these little cats was the easy part. They caught two males first. One was pretty well socialized and was adopted by one of our wonderful clients and transitioned to household living well. The other male was extremely feral. He was adopted by one of our wonderful veterinary technicians and was able to adjust to his new colony and indoor living but never socialized with humans.

They next caught the two baby cats who at this time were months old and therefore more difficult to socialize. At the time there were no options for this rag tag team so they remained at the clinic taking up my cage space for several months. They slowly became more and more socialized as a result of their forced loving from their veterinary technicians at the Cat Clinic of Plymouth. The boy cats were finally adopted to one of the neighbors after causing much commotion at the clinic. The staff would put them in an exam room overnight so they could play with a little more room than a double wide cat condominium. The boy cats were able to somehow manage to get the cover off of the heating duct and enter the duct system overnight. It took hours of removing ducts from the heating system to finally capture them!

Finally, Tulip was trapped. After her veterinary care, she adjusted to cage living but clearly was not socialized. With the help of Victor, our hospital cat, she began very slowly adjust to human companionship. After almost a year of cage living and no prospects, she began to show some progress. We could at least touch her with a brush without her striking out from the back of the cage obviously scared out of her mind!

Happy Endings

While this was developing, I lost my elderly dog. I figured that this was an opportunity for Tulip. There was an opening at my house. Maybe just maybe, she would transfer her crush from Victor to my male cat. Luckily that worked out. We moved her cage into my back bedroom and allowed everyone to visit. With only mild hostility from my female cat Olive, we slowly made the transition from cage to room to house.

I would still consider Tulip somewhat feral. After years of working with her she can socialize with us allowing us to brush her, pet her with one hand under certain conditions. She still cannot be picked up, medicated or treated for fleas without a great deal of planning and effort, in other words, capturing her when she comes for her meal and scruffing her on the floor while my husband attempts to treat her. Even so, she always forgives us. And she has no interest in going outside again ever.

To learn more about cat care and cat behavior, go to  Cat Clinic Blog

By Cassandra Kelley DVM, veterinarian and owner Cat Clinic of Plymouth