Expert: Tina - 5/3/2007

Question
Hi there,

My 13 year old cat has ALWAYS used her litterbox. Recently I noticed she started urinating on the walls of my bedroom and even urinated on my bed! She would be laying there asleep then just jump up all of a sudden and urinate on something, in a "spraying" position, not squatting like she does in the litterbox.

So it seemed to me like she had a urinary infection, because I know when i've had one it feels like you have to urinate ALL THE TIME!

Ok so i took her to the vet and YES she does have a UTI and they gave me 15 days worth of anti-biotics. This is the 3rd day and each day I've given them to her she immediately goes and urinates on something. So i guess my questions are will this behavior stop when the infection goes away? How long will it take? And am I going to have to re-train her to use the litterbox? She does poop in the litterbox still. Thanks for your time

Answer
HI Laura,

You were a good cat caregiver by recognizing her problem - we all know how painful a UTI can be! Unfortunately often the inflammation persists even after the bacteria are gone, and of course the cat may associate the pain with the litterbox.

First, make sure you switch to a high quality high protein canned food only (no dry food) - that's the best thing you can do to help combat the current problem and prevent future recurrence.

Getting a new litterbox (preferably several) and trying a brand of litter called "cat attract" or using their additive in your current litter may help:

http://www.preciouscat.com

Stay away from pellets and scented litter including pine or cedar.

Also you can try all of the tips in this article I wrote on the subject (can you tell this is a frequently asked question?)

http://catnet.stanford.edu/articles/litterbox.html

Good luck!