cats and urinary tract infection?

One of the biggest symptoms is exactly what you're seeing - the cat used to use the box, but has now stopped. It can be a UTI, or crystals in the urine. Either way it's painful for the cat to pee, and he avoids the box. That may be the only symptom, or there could be signs of straining, some blood in the urine, urinating frequently in small amounts, or even a cat that's listless and acts sick.

At the vet, they will get a urine sample and test it for bacteria. They'll prescribe a suitable antibiotic, and that should clear it up. They may also test for crystals at the same time. Crystals are treated with a more appropriate diet - canned is generally a big help.

Did you know that concrete is porous so it will absorb the smell of the urine and the cat will think that's where he should go. Clean up the best you can using an enzymatic cleaner such as Simple Solution or Nature's Miracle. Then buy some cheap spray varnish and spray over the cement where your cat has urinated. This will seal the smell into the concrete so nobody can smell it. Take your cat to the vet to rule out any illness. Cats can get diabetes, so that might be something to check out. When my cat had urinary tract problems he tried to urinate but couldn't. The urine backed up into his kidneys and he almost died. I had to change his food to try to prevent him from getting this again. Cats that are neutered are less likely to get this. I also lost one cat to kidney failure caused by a urinary tract infection. This can happen within 24 hours, so if you suspect something like this, an immediate vet visit is needed.

Unfortunately, urinary tract issues often aren't infection. Otherwise, you could get an antibiotic and the cat would be fine. But, that's often not the case, the cat continues to pee alternate places (peeing in the litter box hurts!). So what the cat actually has is not infection, but bladder irritation and inflammation. Try changing your cat to a quality meat canned (or raw) food with no gravy, or added grains, fruits or vegetables. Cats as carnivores don't tolerate the grains (or potatoes) necessary to create dry food very well, and bladder irritation is one of the ways it shows.

Everyone who's answered so far are correct...those are the symptoms.

But there are ways to help urinary problems! The reason they develop these problems in the first place is because cat's urine is very concentrated and they need lots of water to dilute it, or else crystals/stones will start forming and cause a lot of problems! Even death if not detected right away!

What you need to do is get your cat on a canned food diet. Canned food is about 78% water, so then they're getting quite a bit of the water from the food. Cats don't have a great thirst mechanism, so they rarely drink as much water as they should! There are some great commerical canned foods out there like Innova EVO (that's what my cats are on), Wellness, Merrick.... You could even add a bit of water to the canned food, just to make sure that he's getting enough!

My cats all developed urinary problems because I fed them all dry food! So I started feeding them canned food, and the symptoms have gone away and stayed away!

If you do take your cat to the vet and they recommend that you put him on a "prescription" diet, like Royal Canin, Hills, Science diet...DON'T. Believe me, feeding a wet food diet will help your cat out more!

Good luck!!!

All good advice -- go to a vet

One thing I did not see said is: your cat (sounds like it's a male) as a male is at a greater risk for urethral obstruction. If he has lots of protein or crystals in his urine, it can cause his urethra to become obstructed, which means he CANNOT urinate. If this happens, his bladder will continue to fill and eventually rupture - which will cause death.

Symptmos - urinating outside of the litterbox, visiting the litterbox more frequently, straining to urinate, blood in the urine, lethargy and a decrease in appetite. Cats with urinary infection do not usually increase the amount they drink although they usually increase the amount of times they visit the litterbox (usually produce less urine per visit to the box).

Going to the litter box frequently, only urinating small amounts at a time, crying while urinating, not using the litterbox correctly. A vet can easily diagnose this. Sometimes it is not an infection, but rather inflammation or irritation from crystals.

if his apetite is listless and he won't drink, you might want to consult a vet. if it smells too strong, bloody urination and crying, howling when he tries to pee means a real bad infection has set in. he should see a vet immediately.

but if he is just peeing all over and not in the box, and seems healthy enough, he really might not like the cat litter you are buying, or even the box. sometimes just changing the litter or buying a new box helps. you might want to try small packages of other litter to find one he likes.

or he might want to boxes, one for defecation, one for urine. cats can be finicky

i hope yours is not sick, just finicky, but infections can kill in days, so see a vet if you suspect illness.

There is a certain type of litter you can get at the vets office that draws cats to the litter box if the problem is something else, just an FYI.

symptoms include: straining hard to urinate but only producing small amounts.

the timing of urination might be interrupted (going at irregular intervals).

There may be blood in the urine that is produced.

Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD) is not caused by one singular thing - it is usually a variety of factors - monitor his water intake daily (write it down) and also his urine output (again writing it down) and take your findings to your vet.

FLUTD is usually caused by crystals forming in the bladder and blocking the urethra - your best bet is to seek veterinary advice as soon as possible to really get this problem sorted.

i hope this has helped slightly - please keep me posted!!

well, my cat had one a few years ago. the vet said because of too much magnesium?

anyhoo, he would constantly go to his litterbox but would not actually go, he just started hiding and would not eat or drink, after about 2 days of no improvement we rushed him to the vet and the vet said if we would have waited about another hour he would have been dead! :(

take the kitty to the vet!