Expert: Karen Craft - 8/24/2008

Question
Hi,

My 5 year old neutered male cat has been spraying around the house and licking his penis a lot the last two months. He's been in and out of the vet for urinary tests and cultures and they haven't found any bacterial infections. Last test turned up a few crystals but that's all. We decided to try some anti-anxiety meds as other short-term pain relief and anti-spasm (of the bladder) meds didn't work. The vet prescribed 1/2 tab of Prozac per day, which we started earlier this week. Since then he's been pretty lethargic and is now much more anti-social -- he used to be very loving and now just keeps to himself. I'm wondering if you have any other suggestions on how to improve his condition so he stops licking and spraying instead of Prozac. A few background details about Calvin: I'm really not sure why his behavior suddenly changed. There haven't been any major changes in his life. He's lived with another male cat for about 3 years and they get along fine. I have him on half dry (Iams & Innova) and half canned food (Science Diet). He's a fairly fussy eater so it's a chore trying to get him to eat wet food. He also gets a dose of cosequin each day to combat some bleeding in his bladder which was discovered earlier. If you have any suggestions for what else might help improve his condition or what could be causing it, I'd appreciate your thoughts! Thanks.

Answer
Hi Britt,

The first thing I would suggest would be take him to another vet. Sometimes another exam will find something that was overlooked. Crystals in his urine would be a red flag for me. And the bleeding in his bladder would give me concern. You definitely need to have him rechecked at another vet. I would also try to switch him to a low or no grain food. This helps with urinary problems. And your cat is displaying classic symptoms. Here's a good link about foods and UTIs. http://www.catinfo.org/#Common_Feline_Health_Problems_and_Their_Ties_to_Diet_

Get him to another vet for a second opinion. This is your best option right now. Then gradually switch him over to one of the foods listed on that links pages. And make sure it's only the wet brand. Feed him twice a day. That's all he needs. Clean the areas he sprays with a good enzymatic cat urine cleaner so he won't be tempted to use the area again.  Try a product called Precious Cat Litter. This stuff works pretty good. Hopefully all of this will help. Good luck.

Ciao, Karen