peeing when picked up

fluffee

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I have been away a long time, so let me first re-introduce myself.

I am married with 8 teens and one teenager (making this 9 teenagers in my house...) ranging from an old man of 16 to the youngest at just under a year old now. All my cats are fixed and have all their shots. They spend most of the day either in our house or in our yard as we have cat doors to the outside. They are ALL brought in at night to sleep with us..lol

We have one, that we are not quite sure of her age, we thinking somewhere between 8-10 yrs old. She was my husband's mom's cat who passed away 2 yrs ago. When we got her, she was wayyyyyyy over weight and we have sent fixed that. In the last 2 months, she has developed a new problem. After looking into some of the achive stuff here, I could not find anything close to her problem. At times when she is picked up, she pees on you. She has done this 3 times so far, once to each of us. We thinking it is the way she was picked up. Or could it be to the amount of weight she lost. Because of the weight loss, she has a hanging belly now.

If anyone has any input, please help. Outside of these times, she does not pee anywhere else, and always uses the litter box. In fact if it is not clean enough for her usage, she comes and lets me know….she is very loud…..lol

Thanks!!
 

strange_wings

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I don't believe the weight loss and subsequent belly flab (I have one with some too) would cause this.
You say she's an older cat? Could she have fallen off anything recently? Landed or moved wrong? Does she have any arthritis? In people, spinal issues can cause incontinence. One possibility is that lifting her is affecting pressure on her spine which causes bladder control loss.

Other things could be UT disease and that you're accidentally pressing on her abdomen just enough to make her express her sensitive bladder. Or, a slim possibility, there could be something else in her abdomen pressing on things.

Either way, it's time for a thorough vet check up. A urinalysis, blood work (because of her age + how odd this is), look for possible masses, and if nothing is found there make sure they check for any nerve issues in her lower spine.

I hope you and the vet can get to the bottom of this.
 

the_food_lady

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are you 100% it's urine? Does it definitely smell like urine? leave a yellowed stain on clothing?

Just wondered about the possibility that what you think is urine really isn't; and maybe it's some type of fluid drainage from abdomen or somewhere that only "leaks out" when the pressure of picking her up/holding her takes place.

I'd definitely be taking her to the Vet for a good check-up about this all. Vet may need to shave belly to really have a good look for any openings, sores, etc. May also be a good idea (if no obvious sores, etc) to do an ultrasound of abdomen (namely bladder), to see if there's not something going on inside, like a mass either in bladder or pressing on bladder when being held.

A urinalysis should also be done, to rule out a urinary tract infection. She could have one but you not know due to so many cats (hard to keep track of who's doing what; I know, I have 5).

Basic senior bloodwork should be done, too........just to rule out basic things (kidney disease diabetes, etc).

How is she overall? Appetite? Drinking? Energy level any different?
 
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fluffee

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We know it is urine, just ask hubby, he can smell that 10 miles away


Does she have any arthritis?

Oh yes, and I hurt for her. One of the things my MIL did was have her front paws declawed(WE do not believe in that at all!) I know she aches at times, and I know she has been somewhat better down here, then where she did live up North.

She never acts like she is "hurting" in the middle when I touch her. She curls up beside me whenever I lay down on our bed to read or watch tv. As for as knowing she now going anywhere else, that one is easier, as she stays in our room or our bathroom(where she has a box, food and water). We DO have Daisy that sprays whenever Daisy is mad, but we know where and when she does it at.

What hubby is thinking is either a weak bladder due to age, or her getting nervous whenever one of us picks her up. On that note, she is a very nervous cat.

Thanks for all the replies, if I see or think she is doing it more, I'm off to the Cat hospital we have here.
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by Fluffee

In the last 2 months, she has developed a new problem.
Has the cat only recently became a nervous cat?

I have a semi feral outside who is beyond "nervous". He doesn't pee when picked up. It's just not something that cats really do. Extreme fear, such as when being attacked, can make a cat pee. But the fact that she does trust you really suggest she doesn't fear you like that.

There are people on here with older cats, too, that don't have this issue. It really suggest a serious health issue even though she isn't showing any pain - cats tend not to unless it's really really bad.
 

Willowy

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Unless she's really struggling to get away I don't think she's peeing from fear. I suspect her bladder has weakened and picking her up in a certain way will make it let loose.

I'd have her fully checked out by a vet. Full blood panel, urinalysis, etc.
 

the_food_lady

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Originally Posted by Fluffee

What hubby is thinking is either a weak bladder due to age, or her getting nervous whenever one of us picks her up. On that note, she is a very nervous cat.

Thanks for all the replies, if I see or think she is doing it more, I'm off to the Cat hospital we have here.
It doesn't seem plausible that this would be caused by her being a 'nervous cat' because you indicated that this just started 2 months ago. If it WAS due to her being so terrified from being picked up, I suspect she would have been doing it a long time ago........and truly, a cat has to be absolutely panic-stricken to pee themselves.

Unlike humans, cat's done generally lose bladder control with old age, I don't think. It happens in humans due to reasons that don't really apply to cats, based on totally different anatomical issues. I've never heard of old cats losing bladder control when picked up and I've had cats for 25 yrs, have had pretty old cats and I've been on cat health forums for years, too. This is the first I've read about this (your post).

Plus, if it was due to old age, it would seem reasonable to me that she'd have issues with bladder control at all times and not just when you're picking her up. You know? PLUS.....8-10 yrs old isn't really terrrrribly old. Yes, it's considered a 'senior' but it's not terribly old at all.

I'd really encourage you to not 'wait' but instead, take her into the Vet this week if you can and have this addressed. By the way, cats are notorious for hiding their pain and discomfort.....they often purr when in a great amount of pain, sometimes confusing us owners into believing cat must not be in pain "because they're purring!"

Let us know what the Vet figures.
 
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fluffee

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Thanks ladies,

She has always been "afraid" of being picked up. I do understand that has she hates ( would imagine it hurts her front feet) to climb down from even the height of our bed. Before she came to us, my SIL had her with 2 dogs, she spend alot of time alone(MIL was very sick for over a year) My husband had always promised his mom we would make sure her Prescious was taken care of (we call her Mama now).

One thing in common with the way she pees, she is suggling to get out of our arms and has very sharp back claws. Because of her struggling, I remember seeing each of us holding her the same way.....her back legs down and us holding her from the middle with our arms around her belly, trying not to drop her.

Vet I going to try for, but money will be the issue


She not having a hard time peeing whenever I have seen her in the box so I'm hoping that is a good sign.

ahh, we love our babies
 

strange_wings

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Some cats just don't trust being picked up. I think it's more due to their feet not being on a surface and that they don't like being restrained - then it is fear of the person picking them up. I have a kitten like this, she acts like I'm trying to kill her every time I have to pick her up for anything.
So I limit it to just lifting her up short distances and placing her on a surface - such as from the floor to the table. Then pet her there.
No carrying her, because like your kitty, she'll kick with her back claws and scratch you. You should probably just avoid picking your kitty up as much as possible, too.

I hope you can get her in to see the vet soon. Like with a lot of things, waiting can make the problem more difficult (and expensive) to deal with.
 

tamgirl99

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I have some experience with this so I'll share my two cents. My cat does this on occasion but it is always when I pick her up to put her in her carrier (for a vet visit). I believe most of it IS fear because I pick her up every night to take her into the bedroom with me and although she complains
, she never pees. So that leads me to believe it is fear induced. HOWEVER, I also believe it is also caused by her chronic urinary problems as it never happened until she was diagnosed with intersitital cystitis. So, my suggestion is to definitely take her in and have her checked as I do feel there is a root medical cause to this behavior. Good luck and keep us posted!
 

merrytreecats

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The pelvic floor muscles weaken with age and incontinence is not too uncommon in older animals of many species--humans included. From what you say she just may have weak control as she gets on in years. It is probably chronic but shouldn't affect her health as long as you make sure she keeps clean.
 
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