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Isn’t it always the way. You’ve been recommending something for 25 years with complete confidence. Then along comes a piece of very inconvenient evidence.
This time it’s about cats preferring moving water. It turns out that despite a whole industry devoted to promoting cat fountains, until now no one has bothered to see if they actually work.
Continue reading “Do Cats Need A Water Fountain?”
‘Essential facts (Details Below)’
Now dive deeper…
Continue reading “Grape Sultana & Raisin Poisoning”
Emergency Care’ (details below)
Now dive deeper…
Continue reading “Help! My Cat Keeps Trying To Pee”
Cystitis in cats is a fascinating disease. How many other illnesses are more common after rainy weather or moving house? Or how about the fact that it usually isn’t caused by infection?
Continue reading “Help! My Cat Is Peeing Everywhere: Cystitis”
If the only way you could have a certain puppy was if they were already desexed, would it be a deal-breaker for you? It would be for me.
It’s not a trivial issue. Many breeds in Australia come already desexed by the breeder before sale. I can see why they do it, but as a vet, it makes me uncomfortable. What’s the big deal?
Continue reading “Early Age Desexing and Incontinence”
‘At A Glance (Details Below)’ What To Do
Let’s set the record straight: a lot of people have got dogs peeing inside all wrong. To me, never more spectacularly wrong than in the above example. Blaming dogs for something they can’t control? In reality, absolutely nothing could be further from the truth.
The easiest way to illustrate this is to talk about puppies and crates. Crate training is basically a ‘puppy toilet training hack’ built entirely around the knowledge that the last place a dog will choose to pee is in their own bed. Literally the very last place on Earth.
If you have a dog that urinates inside, it’s important to work out whether it’s by choice or accident.
Bedwetting is usually the most obvious difference between these two groups.
So if wetting the bed isn’t behavioural, what causes it?
USMI is when the bladder’s closing pressure gets low enough that urine begins to force its way out. This especially happens during sleep when there’s no longer any conscious part of urine control.
If a mature female dog is leaking puddles or wetness where she sleeps, USMI is usually the reason. We used to call this disease Hormone Responsive Incontinence. Although USMI occurs in all dogs, read here how the risk of incontinence increases with desexing.
Treatment is usually easy and successful using the following drugs either alone or in combination:
To diagnose USMI we must first rule out the other causes…
In my view, the biggest mistake vets can make is assuming an older female dog has USMI just because she’s leaking urine. It just so happens that a UTI is also common in female dogs and the angry, reactive bladder can mimic the signs. That’s why all incontinent dogs should have urine testing before a diagnosis.
Recurrent or repeated signs of urinary problems can be caused by a bladder stone, or a structural problem with the bladder like ectopic ureter. These are easily recognised via an ultrasound examination.
Just the other day I was nearly fooled when an older female dog who started wetting her bed turned out to have overflow incontinence. That’s when dogs drink more than they used to and the extra urine causes them to start having trouble getting out in time. I discovered the problem by noticing that the urine was excessively dilute and ordered a blood test. If you suspect your dog is drinking more, read our guide on how much a dog should drink and why dogs drink too much.
Read here how Millie’s wetting in the house was linked to a toxic jerky treat.
It’s obvious but easily overlooked. When dogs have arthritis, they are slow to get out of bed and therefore urine leakage is more likely. If we suspect painful joints, a short antiinflammatory trial is a great way to answer the question.
Very old dogs (usually over 15) can start to forget their toilet training or get confused or lost in the house. The best solution is to start taking them out to the toilet, just like you might for an elderly relative. However, just because a dog is old doesn’t mean they are going senile and the other causes of incontinence still need to be ruled out first.
Read more about cognitive dysfunction syndrome here.
Although a rarer cause, anything that interrupts the nerve supply to the urinary tract can cause incontinence. All the diseases listed on our disk or spinal problems page can possibly cause loss of control. Most of these diseases should show other signs as well.
Several readers suggested adding dogs who leak urine when excited. In puppies, this is very common and often confused with toilet training problems. There’s not much that can be done except to hope they grow out of it. If they don’t, all you can do is not get them too excited (if it bothers you) and accept that they can’t control it.
In summary, you can see that incontinence isn’t so simple. To a vet, it’s not too complicated either. By the time your dog has had a physical, blood and urine test, the diagnosis and treatment are usually clear. The common causes of wetting the bed are easily treated, and even if they aren’t, isn’t it so much better to know it’s not your dog’s fault?
Have something to add? Comments are welcome below and will appear within 24 hours of lodging.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. These help topics are from a series regularly posted on email and Twitter. Subscribe via email here to never miss a story! The information provided here is not intended to be used as a substitute for going to the vet. If your pet is unwell, please seek veterinary attention.
‘At A Glance (Details Below)’ What To Do
I’ve talked before about cats drinking too much water. Now let’s look at the common reasons why dogs drink excessive amounts of water. Just like for cats, drinking too much in dogs is potentially serious and needs investigation.
First, though, how much is too much? The first thing to do is measure the amount.
A dog under normal ambient temperatures and exercise levels should drink no more than 70mL per kilogram of body weight per day. For example, a 10kg dog should drink less than 700mL per day. Dogs drinking more than this amount should be investigated by a vet.
Most dogs with excessive thirst will drink well over 100mL/kg/day. To measure the actual amount, mark the level of water in the bowl and after 24 hours refill it to the same mark using a measuring jug. Make sure all sources of water have been accounted for and other animals have their own separate water supplies.
If the result is high, here’s what your vet will be thinking about.
There are five common reasons why you might notice your dog wanting more water without other signs of illness.
Then there are the common causes where there will also usually be other, more obvious signs of a problem. These include:
There are in fact many other rare causes such as Addison’s disease, portosystemic shunts, hypercalcaemia (usually from cancer) or diabetes insipidus but don’t worry too much about these. The trick is simply to know that routine blood and urine testing should get you a long way towards finding the answer. Whatever the cause, drinking excessively is a sign to take seriously.
Early detection is vital for some diseases. So if you have a dog who starts drinking more, even if they don’t seem unwell, let us take a look! It might be nothing, or it might just be the clue that saves your dog.
Related: Why dogs pee inside
Have something to add? Comments are welcome below and will appear within 24 hours of lodging.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. These help topics are from a series regularly posted on email and Twitter. Subscribe via email here to never miss a story! The information provided here is not intended to be used as a substitute for going to the vet. If your pet is unwell, please seek veterinary attention.
‘At A Glance (Details Below)’ What To Do
All jokes aside, cats really do have a drinking problem. I’ve talked before about cats not drinking enough water but that’s nothing compared with what happens when cats are too thirsty.
A cat who starts drinking or urinating more than they used to is almost certainly in big trouble. The good news is, it’s not an emergency and there’s plenty you can do if you find the cause before your cat gets sick.
There are five common reasons why you might notice your cat wanting more water.
The last one should be obvious but it really is surprising how much more water cats need to drink on dry foods. Diarrhoea should also be obvious but many cats don’t use litter boxes so you might need to go poking about (quite literally).
Whatever the cause, drinking excessively is a sign to take seriously. Any change in a cat’s behaviour almost never happens just by chance. If there’s one thing I want you to take away from this blog, that’s it.
I’d like to say a few more words about kidney disease; it’s the most common cause of drinking excessively and the most common illness of older cats. Most cat lovers will at some point have to face it so it’s good to be prepared.
Correct treatment of kidney problems depends on knowing both the stage of the disease and the unique features of each cat. It can be fiendishly complex and no two cats are treated the same. You can read all about this at our kidney disease page but here’s a quick summary of what your vet should be thinking and doing.
It all depends on the individual. The most important therapy for the majority of cats is a change to a renal support diet. By reducing blood phosphate levels and adding extra nutrients, these diets can make a huge difference to your cat’s lifespan and quality of life.
There are also several drugs we use to treat cats with kidney problems, though most cats only need a few of these.
The most important thing, however, is close monitoring. There’s no such thing as ‘wait and see’ with a cat who might have kidney problems. If they get sick, the faster we get them rehydrated the better their chances are of returning to normal.
Early detection is even more important. So if you have a cat who starts drinking more, even if they haven’t yet lost weight, let us take a look! It might be nothing, or it might just be the clue that saves your cat.
Related: Why cats pee inside
Have something to add? Comments are welcome below and will appear within 24 hours of lodging.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. These help topics are from a series regularly posted on email and Twitter. Subscribe via email here to never miss a story! The information provided here is not intended to be used as a substitute for going to the vet. If your pet is unwell, please seek veterinary attention.
‘At A Glance (Details Below)’ What To Do
If your cat has started urinating in the wrong place, please act quickly. A habit can be very hard to change if it goes on for too long. To fix the problem you need to know why it’s happening…
The most important thing to understand is that there is always something wrong. There are three broad categories of problems that cause cats to pee inside.
Let’s look deeper at each of these.
Ever had cystitis? If you have you’ll remember the sudden burning need to urinate. FIC can make cats urinate outside of the litter tray and pass small amounts, often with a lot of straining. Sometimes there’s also blood.
Most cats with cystitis don’t have an infection but instead, have this poorly understood disease. If you suspect your cat has pain on urination, read our guide to managing and treating cystitis in cats.
There’s no way to tell FIC from true bacterial cystitis without urine testing, which your vet will do when needed. I see infections more in elderly cats who don’t have a previous history of urinary problems.
Once common, bladder stones (called urolithiasis) are now a rare cause of urinary problems in cats. Modern cat diets have been adjusted to reduce urine pH so that stones are less likely to form.
When they do, signs look much like for FIC or infection. The exception is the male cat straining to urinate. This can be a true emergency due to bladder stones blocking the urethra.
Any disease that causes problems moving will make it hard for your cat to go to the toilet, especially if outside or in a high-sided litter box.
Read about my old cat’s arthritis here; as well as being less active, she started toileting on the floor until I recognised the problem.
Cats normally produce small amounts of urine, but there are many diseases that can change that. When cats are forced to produce large amounts of dilute urine, we often see overflow incontinence.
Common diseases causing cats to pass more urine include chronic kidney disease, diabetes and thyroid problems. Your vet can find the answer using routine blood and urine testing. Visit this page for more on the diseases causing increased drinking and urination in cats.
Urine in cats is also a tool for territorial marking. Normally a cat won’t mark the core of their territory unless something is wrong. The exception is tomcats (undesexed males) who usually mark the house.
To spray urine the cat stands up, usually making a treading motion with its back feet, quivers its tail and a small amount of urine is sprayed backwards onto a vertical surface such as a wall, leaving an obvious scent mark. Common sites for spraying include doors, windows, around cat flaps, curtains, electrical equipment and shopping or rubbish bags. https://icatcare.org/advice/problem-behaviour/soiling-indoors
I won’t assume a cat is marking until I’ve also proven that the urine is normal. Here are some behavioural reasons why cats may pee in the house.
In my experience, it’s best to assume the cause is another cat, even if you haven’t seen the evidence. Cats are very good at hiding the signs of conflict or stress. Examples could be:
Your cat’s physical and mental health often depends on keeping strange cats away. That includes not allowing cats to look in through the window.
I’ve seen urine marking after renovations or moving into a new house. The new place just doesn’t feel like home anymore. Here are our ideas for making the home more cat-friendly. Minimalist open plan living isn’t how most cats would choose to live!
Cats are very sensitive to their environment, so even changes in people or other pets could trigger urine marking. A common example is a new dog in the house.
If something causes your cat to fear going outside the problem may not be marking at all. Cats may urinate inside simply through the lack of a litter tray option.
If you suspect a behavioural cause, visit our page on treating anxiety and stress in cats.
The fact that cats will pee & poop in a box can make us take this very convenient behaviour for granted. Don’t; it’s precious. Here’s when litter trays don’t work:
Provide at least one per cat unless you are sure your cats don’t mind sharing
The tray needs to be semi-secluded but easy to access. It can’t be where a cat feels watched or under threat from children, dogs or other cats. It also shouldn’t be near food and water if possible.
If your cat is using a spot you don’t like, put a litter tray there for a few weeks until it’s used regularly. Then ’walk’ the litter tray slowly day by day to where you prefer.
The message here is to use whatever your cat likes, or beware! Dry sandy soil seems to be the innate preference but cats should adapt to artificial litters if transitioned slowly. Scented litters are best avoided.
Enclosed litter boxes with lids are all about human convenience. Ammonia can build up to intolerable levels inside these small spaces without us even noticing. Generally, it’s good to use open litter boxes at least one-and-a-half times the length of your cat.
Yes, both are a problem for some cats! The ideal tray for most cats has a slight toilet smell but no urine or faeces present. I had a cat who would never use a litter tray even twice without cleaning but most can be changed every few days without refusal.
I only scoop or knock out the old litter and replace with fresh so that the tray retains a slight odour. Using chemical cleaners is more likely to put cats off than help them.
If your cat keeps peeing in the wrong place, it may be because it still smells like a toilet. Cat urine is detectable by cats long after we can’t smell anything. Here’s how to reduce the odour:
Areas often get re-used despite your best efforts. Cats are creatures of habit. Even if you remove the smell, your cat may continue to use an area based on past experience.
How to conclude? By saying the obvious: cats peeing inside isn’t just a simple case of laziness or spite. It’s complicated and they need our understanding. Now spread the word!
Have something to add? Comments are welcome below and will appear within 24 hours of lodging.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. These help topics are from a series regularly posted on email and Twitter. Subscribe via email here to never miss a story! The information provided here is not intended to be used as a substitute for going to the vet. If your pet is unwell, please seek veterinary attention.
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