Caging Cats

I have a three-year-old Manx cat who I adopted from the SPCA. He has chronic constipation and a urinary tract infection which we are treating with antibiotics. We kept him in a large room during his first few days in our house. Since he pees in his sleep, he had to stay in the room at night and while we were away for a few weeks. Every time we came home, the room was a wreck and there was pee every We took him to the vet and the vet said  that his destruction of the room was caused by stress and said that he had to be put in a cage at night and while we are away. I was wondering if this cruel or inhumane? Thank you! 

Hello, and welcome. I am having a bit of trouble figuring out your timeline here. Could you please answer a few questions?

How long have you had your boy? Did you go away right after you got him? Have you developed any sort of routine?

I've had him for two years. No, I did not go away for some time after getting him. And yes, we have a routine.

I'm still not understanding. The vet is suggesting a cage instead of being in a room at night and whenever you leave the house? What is the expected benefit?

Can you explain your routine?

Welcome to TheCatSite.  Thank you for adopting a special needs pet.

The word "cage" leaves a great deal to the imagination. 

Mine has a cage where he sometimes plays, sometimes naps, sometimes just hangs out.  It is about 3' tall, 4' deep, 5' long.  Its doors are always open.  He has never been confined within it.  It is here only so he can be familiar and at ease with it *just in case* of our ever having to make a long trip.  In that event, a familiar travel crate, a familiar litter box, and other items would be placed within for him, so he could travel with us in (relative) comfort by cargo van.

Mine also has a "safe room" where he is confined with all his needs whenever he must be left home alone.  It is our largest bathroom, and its cabinets and drawers have child safety devices installed to keep him from getting access to the typical bathroom hazards.  He has not been left alone for more than four hours.

The nature of your kitty's diet -- and adequate hydration or not -- would likely have some bearing on UTIs and would certainly have a great deal of bearing on management of the chronic constipation tendency.  Megacolon can be a consequence of chronic constipation.  It is absolutely dreadful.  It is often deadly.

Your long separation from him concerns me very much.  It is essential that you know (with certainty!) what and when he has eaten, and it is essential that his pottying is closely monitored (with certainty!).

I cannot over-stress how important it is to your kitty's well-being to have proper (very-very-wet) diet, ready access to clean drinking water at all times, and, assuming he is able-bodied enough, plenty of physical activity (playing, running, only low-impact jumping, any and all of that). 

You should not have any trouble finding disposable baby diapers to fit your kitty.  Once you have found the proper size to fit around his waist area, you may need to trim away a bit -- cut arcs -- from around the elasticized leg holes -- that is easily done with ordinary scissors.  Diaper use would be a much better choice than confinement to any cage for the sake of confining his accidental bladder leakage.  Please try to keep his life as normal (as much like ordinary housecat life) as practicable.

Here is my Little One, Bunny.  He is just over a year old.  At times he has had to wear diapers.  He often has constipation troubles too.

I never even thought about diapers before... Since we have to take Boone to the vet soon for his check-up, I'll have to ask about some of the things you mentioned above. Thank you so much!​​

I agree about confusion on the timeline, as you mentioned being away for a few weeks. Was he left alone for a few weeks? That could have had something to do with it.

Sorry about the confusion! I was not away from him for a few weeks. The most I have ever been away from him was two days and a close friend of mine took care of him and my other pets... 

Seeking a little more clarification...

Readung that your cat has Manx syndrome. How bad is it? Does he have control of his bladder at all? Does he ever use a litter box?

Assuming the vet said to crate him in an effort to keep the accident area contained.

Does kitty have chronic UTIs? Or is the current UTI a new issue?

Diapers can help with the mess if he can't control his bladder HOWEVER, diapers must be changed frequently as being left in a wet one will lead to chronic UTIs, many of which can be difficult to treat/cure.

I can understand where a vet would recommend crating (in a large size dog crate) and lining the crate with puppy pee pads in an effort to contain the mess. Especially if you were going to be away from the house for extended hours. This would eliminate the huge mess to clean up and would keep kitty out of a wet diaper.

I have a special needs (long term) foster that has neurologic problems with his rear limbs. He had control of his bladder (99% of the time) but did not have full control of his bowels. He would use the litter box 100% of the time IF the box was very close by. So, he was created whenever he was not directly supervised. He (luckily!) gained control of his bowels at about 10 months of age and now has free roam of a large room (supervised in the rest of the house.) I also had him contained as he didn't understand that he couldn't do certain things like jump from high surfaces and he was at high risk of injury because of this.

When thinking long term for him, I was actually going to get a friend to build him an enclosure (6' L x 4' W x 7' H).

You may also need a length of "vet wrap" (about 3" width is good) if you find that diaper waistbands tend to slide away from your kitty's midsection.

With the Search function here, you can find numerous threads with guidance on managing constipation, and constipation with Manx Syndrome in particular.