Why is my cat pretending to wee?

[TastesLikePanda]

My 2.5 yo boy, Matthew (Matt the Cat) has suddenly developed a wierd habit of following us into the bathroom (tbh he's always followed us in there - what does he think we're doing in there?) and squatting in his litter tray, but then nothing is coming out. He's using his 'wee' position as opposed to his 'poo' position (they are very different looking - oh god i'm a crazy cat lady arn't I?)

DH reckons he's just copying us - he insists 'copycat' is a real cat behaviour...

I'd be suspicious of a urinary problem. Is he in pain at all, or diplaying any other symptoms such as change of eating/drinking habits? Does he wee ok at other times? He may need a special diet.

He may have a partially blocked urethra. How long has it been going on?

Ultimatly, if it blocks totally they can get into serious trouble in a very short time with little outward sign. I would ask a vet to check him over and tell him of the behaviour.

Of course it could also be a weird little habit that means nothing but I would say be safe not sorry in this case.

(My cat had this, the only sign of a problem was my "gut" feeling. I insisted on an emergency visit - weekend, out of hours at great expense and the vet confirmed that he wouldn't have made it through the night. It really can be that fast hence my, possibly over, cautious advice to you!)

cystitis
he will start whimpering in pain next if you don't d/w it
your dh probably won't find it so amusing if he then develops kidney probs, which cats are prone to

Literally nothing has changed at all, he's eating normally, running around normally, fighting with his brother normally
He's only started doing it since saturday night.
I want to be safe so I'm going to contact the vets tomorrow.

If he is not passing urine at all then this is an emergency situation and you need to call the vet asap. If some has been seen in the past few hours then definately a check tomorrow with the vet. It sounds highly suspicious for a urinary problem with perhaps a partial obstruction which should it progress to full obstruction can be fatal. Any doubt please please call the vet now and don't feel stupid about it.

Well, when I got home last night he did the squatting thing again, only this time I noticed blood. I wouldn't normally have paid so much attention but this thread was running round my head - thank god I looked.

So it was straight off to the emergency vets and you were all right. He's got cystitis. His bladder was empty which was a good sign apparently, but he's still got to take medicine for a week, and had an injection last night.

So thank you all for your help and advice. I obviously knew something was wierd, but this is my first time being owned by a cat, so it's a steep learning curve.

on a cheerful note, he was the hit of the waiting room - people couldn't get over how calm he was... and how large as well - his nickname at home is Space Station!

My cat did this with IAMS food so we had to change back to canned.Hope he gets better

Good news, glad your radar was working well.

Yes, make sure he gets plenty of moisture in his diet if he doesn't drink much. So may be good to take him off biscuits. Also, put a water bowl somewhere else in the house other than by his food. My cat has had a few urinary infections and didn't used to drink much water at all. After the last episode we put a bowl in our bedroom and he drinks like a fish now! Apparently some cats like to drink away from their food.

You can encourage cats to drink more by

putting a bowl outside when it rains to catch it - lots of cats enjoy rainwater

using a water filter jug for their drinking water, especially in hard water areas

keeping the water bowl separate from the food bowl

making a herbal 'tea' from dried catnip and boiling water, cool well before giving

considering one of those drinking fountains for cats if they seem to like running water from taps.

Glad we could help.

Oh what good news! I was so worried that it would be something really bad! (the bladder being empty means that he didn't block up - this is especially good as, when it happens once, it can happen more easily in the future because of scar tissue from the unblocking process).

So pleased he is all healthy and happy again

Further too girlywhirly's suggestions, you can put cat water in an old mug:

1. higher up & much easier for them to slurp lots without bending too far

2. it looks like a Real Human Drink, so the cats feel as if they are getting bonus points for pinching your stuff.

I love the idea of putting cat water in a mug - especially the 'stealing' aspect of it!!!
I have a catit water fountain already, and bowls in the garden to catch rainwater (those were there anyway and the cats love drinking from them so we just kept them!)
They both jump in the shower and drink the leftover shower water - we just figured they were pervy wierd.

Have also now switched to half wet food and half biscuits - they love their biscuits so I couldn't take them away!

TMI alert - Matthew did a big wee this morning so I think he's getting a lot better and he is being so good at taking his medicine! I'm so proud of my little fur baby [boak at myself emoticon]

loon

That is great news!

my cat had the same as yours but it got worse and he now has no penis(otherwise he would have died).he can no longer have dried food and has to have special urinary food. hope yours gets better.

Oh grease, did he have the sex change op? That was the next port of call for mine too. Caused no end of hilarity - once we knew it was no longer needed of course, at the time I was devestated for him (not sure why really, I don't think he would have cared at all!)

yes he had to have it. lots of things were tried for a few weeks before hand tablets,injections,cathaters, but nothing worked.he is also on tablets for life.hes fine after the op no real difference in himself.

AMazing article about how cats drink witjout getting their faces wet - just passed to me today by coincidence!

That is so cool!

Just read it to dd who said "Is that why all cats think they are so clever?" [wmile]