Living with urinary incontinent cat

[Anjelika]

My beautiful boy came home 3 weeks ago today with a serious spine/tail injury and hasn't got his urinary function back since. He goes out and about in the garden in the day now and can get around OK but when he's indoors he either leaks drops of urine or leaves a sizeable puddle if asleep.

At night we keep him in one room and have put puppy training pads on a chair with a blanket over which we wash and change every morning.

I was hoping he would recover but from what I've read I'm now thinking that's unlikely after this time and would love to hear from anyone who has lived with or lives with an incontinent cat. I can cope with one room not smelling the best but don't want my entire house smelling of cat pee. He's only 3 and it's a really sad situation. He's going to need his tail amputating too but they don't want to do this until he gets bladder control back.

A friend had this and they used small nappies on their cat, with a tail hole cut out until the cat got bladder control back.

Oh god this is really awful situation I'm so sorry this has happened
I'm not sure I have any advice
I'm not sure what I'd do really in this situation
So sorry

I can't imagine putting a nappy on him but can imagine why you might!

My worry is how we manage this long term if he never gets control back.

We had one that had control but would choose to wee in the corner of the kitchen. He couldn’t be persuaded not to so we put him in a cat basket at night. You could also use a dog crate and put puppy pads in it at night time.

We had this years ago and confined the cat to the conservatory that we had then. Definitely keep away from sofas/beds/carpets. Very sad but at the same time they probably feel glad to have a smaller, more cosy area at that stage. Thank

Oops, I don't know why the word 'thank' came up - didn't type that!

We have a spare bedroom (no bed in it) which we have set up for him to use at night but we can't lock him in there 24/7 any more. He goes outside a lot in the day - the problem is when he comes in. Yesterday he lay on the kitchen chairs which was OK as they have vinyl covers but still had to wipe up wee off the floor and chairs.

My worry is that this is a permanent situation now rather than a temporary one.

Three weeks is a very short time for a spinal injury to recover. Has he been on crate rest?
What did your vet tell you to expect longer term?

He had just over 2 weeks locked in the spare room but we have started letting him out now as he was going stir crazy. The vet didn't say he needed crate rest. In himself he is OK - healthy appetite and even climbed a tree yesterday - it's just the weeing that's the problem.

I did some reading yesterday which suggested if he is to regain badder control it's likely to be within 4 weeks. Stats given by vet said as much which is why I'm starting to lose hope.