frequent trips to litter box

hi, I'm Tea, new to this place, but I have a question maybe someone caould help with.

Lucy is about 3 years old. The last day or so she has been going to the litter box very frequently. She gets inside, stands there for about 10 seconds, scratches the sand and sides, and gets out. Then, she will go back less than five minutes later.

She is not crying when she is in there, nor is she doing anything- no poo, no pee. She is eating normally (this just started) and seems to be happy still. The litter box is sorta new, having purchased it about 3 weeks ago.

Signs of an illness? or maybe a delayed reaction to marking her territory? She lives here with her brother Leo. No changes in food recently. They get along splendidly. Any ideas or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to rush to the vet if I'm just being overly worried. Thank you!

Great job noticing this change in your little girl's behavior! I would definitely recommend a trip to the Vet for Lucy so she can be examined to rule out any health issue.

She might be straining; not all cats make noise when there's a problem. DawnofSierra is right - you need to call a vet.

Yep she is more than likely blocked and needs a vet pronto!

thank you for your responses. it is good to get advice from other cat lovers. This morning she still seems cheery, and such, but still going to the box frequently. Already called the vet, so she is going in for a visit. Better safe than sorry!!

Sounds like could be a urinary tract infection, I went through that with my cat. Catching it early is the key. He was fine, just had to be put on meds, and we changed his food. (not sure if the food change was necessary but the vet said to change it). Hope all works out for you, let us know.

If Lucy indeed does have a feline UTI, a permanent change of diet (supervised by your vet) will greatly decrease, if not eliminate the chances of future UTI episodes.

We switched Scout over to canned food 8 months ago. She's not had any recurrence of feline UTI, and uses her litter box faithfully. I also sprinkle DL-Methionine powder on her canned food, with my vet's concurrence.

Good luck; keep us posted,