Cat peeing standing up..

peeka73

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I am starting to lose my mind at this point.. but if anyone can help, I'd truly appreciate it!

My cat Tripper has decided to add shooting out pee from the litterbox to the list of problems. Since the 2nd week of May, he's been in and out of the vet office. Treated for anal gland infection, then later vet found crystals in his pee. Then he got allergies and was injected with depo-medrol, which caused the crystals lining hia bladder to shed, which required more pain meds. And since then, he's been having bouts of peeing standing up with his butt sticking out.

The litterbox is already a jumbo size. Covered because his urine tends to spray all over. Other than duct taping plastic sheeting on all sides of the wall for all 3 litterboxes in the house, are there any other suggestions? If I catch him stepping in, sometimes I give him a gentle nudge and he turns around to pee properly. But I'm not home all the time. Tonight's pee sprayed all over my walls and carpet.

Help please!

- Grace
 

gloriajh

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Originally Posted by peeka73

I am starting to lose my mind at this point.. but if anyone can help, I'd truly appreciate it!

My cat Tripper has decided to add shooting out pee from the litterbox to the list of problems. Since the 2nd week of May, he's been in and out of the vet office. Treated for anal gland infection, then later vet found crystals in his pee. Then he got allergies and was injected with depo-medrol, which caused the crystals lining hia bladder to shed, which required more pain meds. And since then, he's been having bouts of peeing standing up with his butt sticking out.

The litterbox is already a jumbo size. Covered because his urine tends to spray all over. Other than duct taping plastic sheeting on all sides of the wall for all 3 litterboxes in the house, are there any other suggestions? If I catch him stepping in, sometimes I give him a gentle nudge and he turns around to pee properly. But I'm not home all the time. Tonight's pee sprayed all over my walls and carpet.

Help please!

- Grace
Oh!! your poor baby! He must be in a lot of pain, I'm so sorry - and I'm sorry that you're having to do extra in order to care for him.

I have one male that will just stand up and pee, too, so I know about this "procedure".


Buy an inexpensive tote tub - it has tall walls. I have two sizes, a 20 gal, and a 30 gallon (I think). The 30 gal is large and if you have room it might work better for you since he'll be able to get his whole body inside easily and direct his aim at the side that is high, and not the hole that you'll be cutting for an entrance.

The 30 gal tote has the hole in the middle of the tote, and some of my smaller 20 gal totes have the entry hole on the end as in my picture here.

Sterilite tote: I just cut the hole up a little higher, and put a step up in front of the hole.



The clear plastic containers are harder to cut, so I get the colored totes if I need to cut.
I use a box cutter, but maybe a Dremel tool would work?

I usually leave the lid off - makes it easier to keep the litter cleaned out - and cuts down on the cats breathing dust when they are taking care of business.

I hope that you're on your way to getting his health back to normal - I'm sure he's hoping that you'll be able to help him feel good again.
 

otto

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I use high sided tote boxes too, but don't cut holes in them, the cats just jump right in over the edge.

It's my FLUTD female who pees standing up, but back in the '80s I had a male cat with cystitis who also peed standing up.

Hope your Tripper is feeling better soon, he may need to be on a special diet all his life. Or perhaps just a high quality canned diet will work for him. Keep us posted!
 
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peeka73

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GloriaJH: Thanks so much for the photo of your setup! That was really useful and I took your advice! I got a 30 gal Sterilite bin that is about 17" in height. Cut the hole in the middle of the long side and Tripper walks right in, turns and then goes! He occasionally still stands up, and the pees stops short of 1" of the bin! *phew* Might have to still shop for a TALLER bin, but this is awesome compared to shooting out of a regular litterbox! Thanks so much for your help! He does seem to be getting better, and super playful lately. *crosses fingers*

otto: Is peeing while standing a symptom of cystitis/uti issues? It was just so odd because he never did this in the past. He's eating a bit of the Purina Special Urinary care kibble, plus lots of canned Wellness (grainfree) with added water daily. I'm still working on transitioning him over to all canned. He *really* likes the Wellness canned! Thanks for the well wishes!


Momofmany: Thank you! Ah, so it seems like it can be common thing for cats to pee standing up?

tabster: I did try the box with the door in the past, and one of my cats refuses to go in, it frightens her.


Thanks so much for your help! Tripper's immediately taken a liking to the new litterbox and went several times. The other 2 cats sniffed, but didn't use yet. One of the 2 decided it was a GREAAAAT sandbox to dig and play in. o_O Guess she REALLY liked the Cat Attract!
 

otto

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I don't know if it is really a symptom. Some cats with no issues do the same thing, and my male cat only had one bout with cystitis, after that I switched him to canned, but he always stood up to pee forever more,


I would advise you against feeding wellness to a cat with urinary tract and bladder issues. Grain free is good, but not wellness. My Mazy's pH shot up to 7.5 and her urine was chock full of crystals when I tried her on wellness, and I have read other reports of the same thing. (all anecdotal, not scientific "proof")
 
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peeka73

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Otto: Would that be canned grain-free Wellness or the dried grain-free Wellness? If it is the canned, then I'll definitely need to switch them out. I thought it was the kibble grain-free? *confused*
 

otto

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I'm talking about the canned Wellness. Even Tolly, my senior male cat who does not have FLUTD, and has never had any problems in that way, had an elevated urine pH when I was feeding wellness. (I do a routine urine check on him every year, just because I like to be thorough.)

My experience was enough for me, but I have seen similar stories posted in various pet forums.
 
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peeka73

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Oh no.. that's awful.
What brand are you feeding your cats?
 

ritz

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Ritz (female) pees standing up at least 50% of the time. Has for the 18 months since I rescued her from the streets. Don't know why; it's just her lovely strangness.
 

kailie

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My Imhotep also does this and would spray EVERYWHERE without our large Rubbermaid tote bins.
Glad your's is helping as well!
 

levi68

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If he's had crystals in his urine, he could be standing up because of pain.
My Mario went through this and he started to spray in the house right in front of me!! But he'd have a funny look on his face and didn't understand why I was upset!
He was at the vets for two weeks, getting expressed every day because it hurt to pee so he'd hold it and hold it.
Make sure you boy is on a low ash food. Do you have dogs? I think Mario got crystals because he used to eat the dog food which is high in ash.
Watch his diet closely.
 
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peeka73

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Wow, it seems that many cats pee standing up? Crazy. I think Tripper started doing it after the bout with UTI/crystals. Still, it's a 50/50 deal, sometimes he does it, sometimes not. The Sterilite bin is DEFINITELY helping, and the other cats all love it and have pretty much abandoned the other 2 boxes in the house. Haha. Looks like I'll have to replace the upstairs box with another large bin!

Levi68: My vet called me last Friday and gave me the urinalysis report. No bacteria, no crystals, urine pH of 7. She thinks the urine pH is a tad too high, so he will be given the Purina UR food (canned version). Other than that, he seems to be doing LOTS better. So I thiiink the standing while peeing may be something leftover from the previous painful episode. Hopefully he'll return to squatting later? And nope, no dogs, just a 3 cat, 1 human household.
I hope your cat Mario is doing well now!
 

gloriajh

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So glad that you've been able to find a solution to the problem - it's rewarding to know that you've been able to help someone - this forum is such a benefit to us all.


BTW - I love my 30 gal tote that I have, too.


Having more than one (tote) litter box (they're cheap enough) is great for when you want to sanitize one - if you don't have time to clean it, all you have to do is trade it out for the clean one and then clean the dirty one when it's more more convenient.
 

otto

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Originally Posted by GloriaJH

So glad that you've been able to find a solution to the problem - it's rewarding to know that you've been able to help someone - this forum is such a benefit to us all.


BTW - I love my 30 gal tote that I have, too.


Having more than one (tote) litter box (they're cheap enough) is great for when you want to sanitize one - if you don't have time to clean it, all you have to do is trade it out for the clean one and then clean the dirty one when it's more more convenient.
I have two sets of litter boxes. One set to be in use, the other being washed and aired.
 

bellacora

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Wow i'm so glad I found this thread!! I don't have any of these problems yet (cross fingers), but I LOVE the tote/bin idea and am totally doing this!!!
 

parsleysage

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Originally Posted by BellaCora

Wow i'm so glad I found this thread!! I don't have any of these problems yet (cross fingers), but I LOVE the tote/bin idea and am totally doing this!!!
Same!! I think when I move into a bigger apartment in January, I'll get a couple Sterilite bins instead of the tiny litter pans.
 

donnamea

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What happens if the cat goes in and pees out the door entrance? Also, is the container (30gallon) heavy? I have lifting problems.
 

otto

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What happens if the cat goes in and pees out the door entrance? Also, is the container (30gallon) heavy? I have lifting problems.
You don't need a door. The cats jump in over the side. The totes are not heavy.

Welcome to TCS!
 
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