(no subject)

[camwyn]

Shula has a habit of pawing around in his litterbox. It's very common- every so often I hear SKRF SKRF SKRF and look up to see him wiping his paws on the side of the litterbox. Usually when I get there I don't see any sign of him having actually done anything, so I've assumed for the most part that he's just digging or kicking litter over stuff he didn't think was adequately buried. He's been doing it for ages.

I gave him a second litterbox the other week to reduce incidences of piddling in the wrong place after I caught him deliberately urinating on objects that Kamella had been using to lie down on. He paws around in that one, too. Uses both the new litterbox and the old. Kamella has her own litterbox, a Clevercat with the opening in the top. I've never seen her use anything but the Clevercat, or even come close. Which is fine with me, because aside from one brief attempt shortly after Tiki passed away, Shula has never been willing to use the Clevercat. I saw him trying once and he jumped out immediately, without having left anything visible behind. He's never touched it since. Doesn't like enclosed spaces.

Yesterday morning I scooped all the litterboxes out and spent a lot of quality time flushing (I use World's Best multi-cat formula litter, which is corn-based and flushable). Yesterday evening I came home and did some scooping, and got rid of the poop in front of the litterbox as well- sometimes Shula is for whatever reason unhappy with his litterbox so he goes directly in front of it instead. I realized over the course of the evening that he was squatting in a few places and only going a little bit, then getting up and grooming his butt region immediately. He did this several times. He never yowled or made any sounds while trying, and at no point did I find discolored urine, but I'm still worried. I feed him mostly wet, natural food by Pet Guard, with the occasional crunchy treat and a small bowl of dry that I put out mostly because Kamella is used to dry. I know dry food is considered a risk factor for feline urinary tract issues. I promised myself that if Shula didn't urinate properly by morning I'd call the vet.

There was ordinary urine and clumping in his main litterbox when I got up. Nothing in Kamella's, but like I said, I've never seen her use his litterbox so I assume it was his. I'm still ill at ease. When I get home I'm going to check all three litterboxes. If he hasn't had a normal urination I'm calling the vet. I'm not going to lose another cat, dammit.

Comments

[antepathy.livejournal.com]

Here's hoping that everything's okay! Cats are so good at masking symptoms--Bo was so diabetic by the time I noticed that the in-office test strip couldn't register his blood sugar--it was THAT HIGH. Because diabetic cats pee a lot--but he was peeing in the sink or bathtub and it was so dilute it didn't smell.

I hope Shula's well!

[camwyn]

Thank you. I just... I'm glad I got him health insurance, I so totally am. Even if it takes two weeks to get paid back and the insurance company isn't necessarily going to reimburse me for everything, it's still a step up from what happened with Tiki.

If he's peeing normally when I get home, I'm going to hold off on calling the vet until payday. If he's not, then I'll call for an afternoon or evening appointment.

[lordoflorien.livejournal.com]

*snug* I am sending good thoughts your way, sweetie.

His "symptoms" also sound similar to what my cat was doing a few months ago, which ended up being a moderate case of constipation. A little blood in her stool, lots of random small bathroom trips, constant grooming. My vet recommended that I mix a little pumpkin into her food (such as pumpkin pie filling, just about a half teaspoon into a quarter can of food) once a day to help soften and move things along. It's helped.

However, she's also always been a very healthy drinker, so. Will hope for the best, and send lots of kitty snuggles your way. ♥