Blatter infection/peeing outside the litterbox

Question
Hi,

I have a female cat who is between 10 and 12 years old. She started peeing blood into the bathtub and straining ten days ago. I immediately took her to the vet, who - after taking an x-ray and a urine analysis - diagnosed her with a blatter infection and an enlarged kidney. The x-ray and the urine analysis indicated no other problems. The vet put her on Clavamox (62.5 mg twice a day for ten days). The cat seems to have recuperated just fine - except for her litterbox habits. She goes to her litterbox twice a day to pee, but each time she pees right outside the box. She pees pretty big amounts. She does not seem uncomfortable, has appetite, and continues to go on her daily, small explorations in the yard. (She does not poop outside her box.) I'm just worried that we are missing something here because of her changed peeing/litterbox habits. Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome. Thanks!

Answer
Sabine -

Many cats tend to associate using the litter box as an unpleasant experience once they have a bladder infection.  They tend to associate the pain from the bladder infection with the litter box and will not urinate into the litter box.  

You should give her a new litter box and place it in a new location if possible.  Leave the old litter box where it is and show her where the new box is located - hopefully by now she is comfortable and will see that she is not in pain when she uses the new box

Keep her litter boxes clean and scoop out the waste daily.  Cats can be very high maintenance (even if they appear not to be) and require clean litter boxes.  They tend to urinate more frequently in clean litter boxes, and that can keep the bladder healthy.


Best Regards,

Charlotte Sherrell, DVM