Peeing, not peeing, not sure!

About the cat: Vince is a 17 month old maine coon neutered male. He was neutered by the humane society before we took him home at about 2 months old. He is a good eater, loves water, and is generally a good buddy.

The problem: Vince uses his litter box, but also occasionally has gone pee and poo on the carpet in a couple of different areas of the house. He has one of those self cleaning litter boxes, and we figured out that he was trying to tell us that the litter crystals were stinky, so changing them helped that problem a lot. He prefers crystals oddly enough, and hates sand, which is contrary to many cats (or so I have heard).

Recently though, Vince had been doing something 'weird'-- He has been squatting in the corners of the house as if he were going potty, staring intently ahead like he is really thinking, (he doesn't even look at you when you talk to him) and then getting up and turning around and sniffing the spot he was just squatting in--but there is no pee, no poo, no nothing!

Any thoughts on what he's doing, or reasons for concern?

We are new to cats, we have has a dog for years, so this is new to us!

Any ideas? Thanks!!

He needs to get to the vet ASAP. This sounds like a urinary infection and he could be blocked. I dont want to scare you but in male cats this can be deadly in a matter of hours so please get him to the vet now!!

I agree with Sicycat, this could be an emergency & he needs a vet right away. Sounds to me like he has a UTI or blockage. My Cow almost died because of a blockage.

If he's blocked he can die in a few days! Get him to the vet today - emergency.

You're getting the right advice. I went through that with my "mostly" Maine Coon Hemmy for nearly a year. He was so severe they eventually had to do surgery. See your vet don't even wait another day.

Thanks everybody. Vince is on his way to the vet as we speak. My husband came home early to take him since I have my own dr's appointment in an hour. When I called the vet they said they may have to keep him overnight. I am so worried! I am glad I was home today to witness the behavior! He is a GREAT boy, and I would hate for anything bad to happen to him.

I am so glad he's going to the vet right now. This may have saved his life! They probably will need to keep him overnight to unblock him with a cathader and iv fluids. Hopefully he will be ok

Thinking good thoughts for your kitty's full recovery -- and bless you for moving immediately to get him some help, too! Please let us know how he does...

Thanks everybody! It sounds like we caught a blockage just in time. He is on Clavamox (125 mg) twice daily. They did a urinalysis, and there was stuff floating in his urine, which apparently indicates an infection. He also gave us Hill's presciption s/d canned food, which is supposed to help flush out the infection. Kitty is licking his pee pee alot, so I am thinking it must hurt. He is also avoiding his litterbox and peeing in the carpet...sigh.

Here is my real concern though: He is not at all interested in the canned food. We sprinkled some dry food on top, mixed it in, etc..and he will eat around the wet to get the dry. He has barely eaten all day! What do we do? Wait it out, will he get hungry enough to eat it? I feel terrible for him!

Oh, but the dog LOVES it. He has already eaten two kitty bowls worth..sneaky dog.

I am sorry to hear about poor Vince, but luckily you caught it in time. I too have had the same problem with Dusty-which I discovered today and took him to work with me-he too has a UTI and we are treating with Clavamox and the canned C/D. As for Vince not eating-Hills does make S/D in a dry food I believe-it may be listed under X/D-I would call your vet and see if this is an option for your kitty-if he is a dry food kinda guy at least this would help get him on the right track. My problem is with 8 kitties and food allergies in Uno I have to be careful what everyone eats-and they all seem to share bowls. Good luck with Vince and keep us all posted on how he is doing.

Glad you caught it in time! Zoey was on s/d for her urinary issues/crystals and she didnt care for it either but I just kept trying, and I mixed it with a bit of her fav food and she started eating it so then I gradually decresed the mixture of her fav food until it was all s/d. Luckily the s/d is only a temporary food, most cats I think like the c/d better which is what she is on now for long term.

Also try to get him to drink a lot of water, that will help flush the bladder as well. Just put out bowls of water everywhere so that he has easy access to it.

They do make the food in a dry form. To help get more fluids in him consider offering him some free-range chicken broth. (Free-range has less additives and sodium plus happier, though still dead, chickens.) My vet recommended this for Hemmy who had so many infections they finally had to do surgery to permanently prevent possible blockages. I went through UTI's for a year with him. After his surgery he still got infections (though he could no longer block and possibly die) so the vet suggested trying the broth. We call it his "juice" (yeah, we're weird like that) and he LOVES it. He thinks he's getting a treat. Anyway, that solved the problem for him.

Oh, and Hemmy avoided his litter box too. I had to offer him some top notch treats and put them where he HAD to get in the litter box to get to them. He'll eat anything so the temptation proved too much and he's faithful to his box once more!