Expert: Ali - 10/15/2011

Question
My husband and I recently rescued a pair of kittens from a house where an owner was keeping a bevy of cats in a basement, basically locked in. They were well-cared for, for the most part [access to food/water, and actual veterinary care], except the cats were living in pretty filthy conditions. I could barely begin to descend into the basement without gagging, the smell of cat urine and feces was so overwhelming. There were plenty of litter-boxes, and it did seem as if the owner cleaned them out at certain times, however, the entire basement was saturated with urine. My question is... can cat urine actually make a cat sick? The kittens seem fine, but they both reek of urine, and there is some sneezing. We used the cat shampoo wipes several times and it has done nothing to lessen the odor they carry. We have an appointment with the vet, but it's not for 4 days and I was unable to find any information about whether or not cat urine could medically affect cats adversely. Any advice would be much appreciated, thank you!

Answer
Tania,

Unhygienic and somewhat crowded conditions such as those you describe can cause respiratory issues with kittens but they also provide the ideal breeding ground for viral and bacterial upper respiratory infections which are highly contagious. Urine contains ammonia which can irritate the sensitive tissues within the respiratory tract. I would strongly suggest that you take your newly rescued kittens to the veterinarian ASAP as they may require antibiotics and other medications to help them overcome their upper respiratory symptoms. It would be important information to provide to your veterinarian in terms of letting them know just what type of conditions these kittens came from so that s/he can treat/screen for any other potential health problems involved with housing large numbers of cats in crowded and unsanitary conditions. Be sure to bring any vet records you have for these kittens with you to the appointment as they may provide information such as vaccine records, deworming information, parasite screenings, etc. You should watch for any signs of illness such as vomiting, diarrea, coughing, sneezing, nasal/eye discharge, fever, lethargy, loss of appetite, weight loss, etc.... These are all indicators that your kittens need immediate veterinary care to help keep them as healthy as possible.

You can try adding baking soda to kitten shampoo and giving the babies a soap and water bath to reduce/eliminate the urine odor from their coats, just be sure that you rinse very well to get all traces of soap and baking soda out of their coats, otherwise they may develop skin irritation. It is important however that you do not bathe the kittens while there's any reason to suspect that they might not be feeling 100% healthy, otherwise you could make them sicker. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me again at any time - I'm more than happy to help in any way that I can.

Kind regards,

Ali