There are some other ways of making urination a more pleasant experience for a cat.  Where pain is an issue, low-sided, easy to access litter trays can make a huge difference.   Cats can be very picky about where they urinate, particularly if there are other cats sharing their territory.   It can certainly help to provide multiple litter trays (one per cat, plus a spare, as a minimum) in places preferred by the patient (on the patients’ usual  territory, ideally without crossing the territory of any other cat to reach it).   Dogs or other cats, stra ..read more

Lets talk about drugs first.  Hello – I just want to start by saying, so that it doesn’t get lost, that a lot of household painkillers in general and paracetamol in particular are toxic to cats and can damage the kidneys, so you are doing the right thing in not simply guessing and giving household drugs!  All drugs can potentially damage the body if not given at the correct dose and frequency in the correct patient – and I havent met this patient, nor do I have any other claim to interfere in his care.  However, your vets should have someone available 24/7, sometimes at another ..read more

Two final thoughts: One, if a cat does has cystitis, providing interesting drinking opportunities eg a urine fountain, soaking biscuits before feeding (but take them up again – mould risk), making sure that water is readably acessible on the cats’ own territory, can help to increase water input and thereby bladder flow-through.     2)  hopefully goes without saying, but if a cat is potentally in pain, please do not ignore it while trying out tips such as this – always keep in good contact with your vet ..read more

Sorry – correction – radiography of the hips is, as you suggested, no guarentee of an absence of pain ..read more

I hope that something there will provide some useful leads ..read more

Urine holding in cats can be a direct result of pain and stress. As well as pain relef, veterinary acupuncture has a good record in treating this, although veterinary acupuncturists can be hard to find. The ABVA (association of British veterinary acupuncturists) might be helpful in this regard.  More to follow ..read more

Are there OTC options for arthritis and urinary tract health that you as a vet would recommend?   Our 15 year old cat has perfect blood and urine tests, but is holding his pee in as long as possible before evacuating his bladder. The vet does not have great answers for us other than, bring him in and we will look at him… which does nothing… the Gabopentine they gave him made him crazy, so we were looking for a treat or drop that we could add to his food in a more natural/ reduced medicinal form to help him feel better. They say his xray shows no signs of  arthritis, but at 15, I am s ..read more

Thank you for the update.  You sound to be in the uneviable position of trying to balance your cats’ directly conflicting physical and mental needs.   Im pleased to hear that he seems more at ease in himself now, although obviously i am in no position to assess that.  I wonder whether phone consulting with your vet might be useful as a first point of assessment, so that as little as possible is missed and most of the conulting happens before your cat gets stressed…. either way, we would always reccommend keeping in close contact with them if you have any concerns.  &nb ..read more

Hmmm I have read this through a few times now.  Your question, ‘any advice,’ is quite broad.  Obviously, the best source of advice at this stage is the vet wjo knows your cat, and the best advice i can give you probably relates to getting the best out of them.   So here goes: 1)  Is your cat having a reasonable quality of life and can anything be done to improve it?  I think that this is the key question in a 15 yesr old cat. 2) what is the problem list at the moment?  This is a list of complaints, usually starting with the most severe, usually as witnes ..read more

Hello, thank you so much for your response. It’s actually a cat only vet that I take him too. He has been red flagged at many of the other area vets because of his aggression and they are one of the few left willing to see him. With me he’s perfectly fine. But he just hates people so it’s already hard for him to deal with a vet even when he isn’t feeling bad. They had me just drop him off as an emergency because they were full and everything was done without me there. Since being home he is still just sleeping. But I know the vaccines can also make him tired too. He had peed a few times now bu ..read more