How Often Should A Cat Urinate?

My cat had a blockage today according to the vet. But after the vet gave him something he went, but that was early this morning. How often do they urinate? Should it be every 5 hours or 8 hours? I've given him alot to drink all day. I'm worried that he hasn't gone to the litterbox in like 9.5 hours.

I'd wait till one of the mods answer your question, but, I know that Angel urinates sometimes 2 or 3 times a day.
I don't know the answer for sure, but, anything out of the ordinary, for your cat, I'd question. Sorry I couldn't help.

Well, I guess I don't really pay attention to how often my cats go to the bathroom, so I don't know what out of the ordinary is. Thanks though.

What was the blockage from, did the Vet say? Is this your first kitty? I know how often Angel goes because I'm home all day with him and I have an obsession of cleaning out his litter box after everytime he goes in.

I am also another obsessed one lol. Saki used to only pee once every 12 hours (before I started them on new canned/diet food, now they pee more often). Zoey pees 2 or 3 times a day, maybe once every 7 or 8 hours.

It really depends on how much they are drinking, but I would say once or twice per day is normal. Does your cat seem uncomfortable? Is his belly painful to the touch? Is he licking his penis a lot? Is he TRYING to urinate but unsuccessfull?
If the answer is yes to any of these questions I would call our vet.

Just wondering how your kitty was feeling today? Please update us.

Originally Posted by ccoccocats

What was the blockage from, did the Vet say? Is this your first kitty? I know how often Angel goes because I'm home all day with him and I have an obsession of cleaning out his litter box after everytime he goes in.

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No, he didn't really say. Maybe stones or something. Every male's worst nightmare.

No not first Kitty.

Yeah, i'm not home all day to watch.

Originally Posted by Sicycat

I am also another obsessed one lol. Saki used to only pee once every 12 hours (before I started them on new canned/diet food, now they pee more often). Zoey pees 2 or 3 times a day, maybe once every 7 or 8 hours.

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Yeah, i'm going to have to give him moist food more often. The vet warned me about dry catfood. This probably could have been avoided. I just want them to eat crunchy stuff for their teeth.

Originally Posted by Dr. Doolittle

It really depends on how much they are drinking, but I would say once or twice per day is normal. Does your cat seem uncomfortable? Is his belly painful to the touch? Is he licking his penis a lot? Is he TRYING to urinate but unsuccessfull?
If the answer is yes to any of these questions I would call our vet.

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lol. Quite blunt there with the questions...

Umm, he was "getting friendly" with the blankets alot lately I noticed. I thought he was just feeling frisky, although it was strange since he hasn't done that in a long time. I guess that was a sign..

He seems better today. He isn't walking funny, but I doubt he's 100%. I haven't seen him go to urinate. He could be while i'm sleeping. I gave him his first dose of some medicine from the vet. Clavamox I think it's called. Have to squirt it into his mouth. Lucky cats can't spit or it would be hard to get him to swallow it.

Just want to let you know that there are pharmacies that compound medications for animals into transdermal gels that can be applied to the inside of the tip of the cat's ears, hence going into their system through the poors and blood stream.

You may want to check into that if medications ever become a problem.

Another FYI: Dry Foods are totally acceptable to be their exlusive food. As long as it has a Complete and Balanced Diet worded into their ingredients there is the required amount of moisture in the dry food to not cause constipation.

Plus, there's another benefit to dry food only, it keeps their gums strong (making loose teeth less threatening) as well as, the dry abrasive food cleans the teeth.

3 to 5 times for a healthy cat. Poo 1 to 2 times a day. if your cat is receiving transdermal meds make sure to apply it with a glove on. if it is transdermal for your cat, it's transdermal for you also, especially thyroid meds.

my 15 year old female has both kidney and thyroid disease. she receives fluids M, W, and F. at the vets. She would pee 3 large amounts after fluids but her output over the last few days has dropped to one large lump a day. i think it's time for the vet to re-check her kidney functions. if your cat is not going more than once a day, i would ask the vet about doing a kidney function test.

My cat goes approx 1-2xs/day.  I also clean out the litter box every time he uses it.

ccoccocats said:

Another FYI: Dry Foods are totally acceptable to be their exlusive food. As long as it has a Complete and Balanced Diet worded into their ingredients there is the required amount of moisture in the dry food to not cause constipation.

Plus, there's another benefit to dry food only, it keeps their gums strong (making loose teeth less threatening) as well as, the dry abrasive food cleans the teeth.

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I would have to disagree with the above statement though. After going through Cystitis twice in just a few months w/ Angel, I speak from experience. SOME cats just can't be on any dry. (That's the ONLY thing I did different between him having it again, I gave him a little dry, just as a snack, & it was good quality, Natural Balance).

Angel had been on wet & some dry for the last 3+ yrs that I have had him. I had even recently switched him to mainly commercial raw, w/ some wet. (Before the Grain/by nature), approx. 3 months ago.

I don't know where the Cystitis could have come from, other that years of eating low quality dry food only, from the previous owner, & the little bit of dry he got still. There is no other explanation. He has always been a good water drinker. I learned the hard way, & from some of the experts on here, that some kitties just don't do well on dry for that reason. He got it in Aug. & then again in Oct.

Both times I had to give him fluids every other day, until the bag was used. Believe me, sticking your baby w/ a big 18 gage needle is no fun!!!  (The fluids helped him pee more, to flush out any debris in his bladder). He was also on an anti-biotic, pain meds, an anti-spasmodic/anxiety, AND Dssequin for cats (a glucosomine supplement for the bladder inflammation). He now stays on the supplement. So trust me, this is something you don't want to mess with. It's very painful & uncomfortable for your baby. It doesn't sound like his was that bad a case if only on one med. but I just wanted to give you this information to have. It's helped me a lot. You do need to keep an eye on the litter box after he has gone, if you are home, just to make sure you are not seeing any blood in the urine as well.

I also used to use the pine pellet litter, now I have to use the clumping to be able to monitor the amount he pees.

I hope some of this info helps. That's all I'm trying to do.

(you can read my thread from Aug. tittled "had to rush Angel to the vet" if you want to check it all out.)

Good luck to you!

call the vet, now. Period. Blockages in males can be fatal. Maybe he went, but the crystal/stone is too big and he could be blocked again. Ask your vet how long you should wait for him to urinate. If you're not around/dots, drop him off so they can monitor him.

It is also very painful for a cat not to be able to pee. So, yes, call your vet, please.

Someone new to the forum must have found this thread via a search function, because this thread is actually from 2005.

Of course, it's still instructive, it's just that members replying before the post that brought it back up are most likely not here to read or respond any longer.

Good catch Laurie!