Yuck, why is this happening?

Recently every time Henry urinates in the litterbox, he ends up with urine sprayed/splashed onto himself on the lower part of his stomach - almost as if he is splashing it onto himself somehow. This is really unsanitary, as his lower stomach will literally be soaked, and if I'm not there to catch him immediately after he gets out of the litterbox, and then he goes and sits somewhere, the urine gets onto my couch/bed/his bed/etc. - this never used to happen, so I'm puzzled as to what's going on - the litterbox is very clean (scooped at least twice a day, fully changed once a week) and he recently had a checkup and was totally fine, and other than this seems to be symptom free (he isn't having any trouble urinating or anything, I've been keeping an eye as I've been concerned about this) so I'm not sure why this is happening - is he just squatting 'wrong' and managing to squirt himself, or what? Any suggestions?

Also, I want to give him a bath to clean him up, but have never bathed any of my cats, other than Meeko once as a very tiny kitten - what should I wash him with (is there a special kind of shampoo I can buy?), and is there anything I should know to minimise difficulty in doing this (he has no front claws, so he can't tear me up too much, but I imagine he will not be happy)?

Thanks!

Well, I went ahead and bathed him, and it was so strange - he let me put him right down in the water without a struggle and then stood there while I washed him the way a dog does! I even moved away for a minute to get a cup to rinse him with, and he didn't try to escape or anything, just walked around in the water!

Have you watched him urinate? Is he squatting like he's supposed to?

Hmm. Nothing comes to mind immediately--but its possible he may have some sort of urinary tract infection thats causing him discomfort and so his "normal" peeing stance is altered to compensate. I'd say take him to the vets on Monday just to be sure. Other than that: new litterbox? New litter? More litter than usual? Less than usual?

those are my only ideas...hope I helped

Yeah, I've been watching because I was wondering that as well, and he *looks* like he's squatting normally, so I dunno. Yes, good ideas, I think maybe I will experiment with more and less litter and see what happens (as well as call the vet). Thanks!

That is not normal. It does sound like something for the vet to check out. Hope it is nothing to serious. Huggs to Henry.

Is he still a growing boy or are you talking about an adult cat?

Maybe he is getting physically too big for his litterbox? Most cats need room to move around and make a complete turn inside the litter box.

I agree that the way your cat is urinating doesn't sound right and he needs to go to a vet. Regarding the bath you gave him... I'm not surprised he took it well! Many cats tolerate bathing fairly well if you are calm and take some extra steps to make it more comfortable for the cat. First time I bathed each of mine they would struggle a little bit but after the first time they did fine. I put them in the kitchen sink so that it is small and the cat feels more secure and I use a rubbermaid mat on the bottom of the sink so they don't slip and skid. If a cat is a little more restless, I wrap my left arm around the cat and under so I can grab the two front paws and hold them together gently while I wash him. It's hard to explain but it works very well.

I hope you can get your cat to the vet asap and have him checked out! It really does sound like he needs verternarian attention.

Yeah, the first thing I thought when I read your post was a possible UTI that's changing his "stance"... I also agree with the comment that maybe he's outgrown his box and doesn't have room to correctly squat... my orange tabby, Oliver, absolutely loves his monthly baths! I use hypoallergenic kitty shampoo and bathe him in my bath tub, once he's soaked down, he's completely calm... he even tries to play in the tub when I'm in the shower - it's funny to see little whiskers poking around the shower curtain and then hear "Mew!" The only reason I ever even attempted to bathe him was A) I bathed many a cat while working at the animal hospital and shelter and had my fair share of experiences and B) my mom's quite allergic to cats and he had to stay with her for awhile, so the bathing helped with her allergies.... good luck with the pee-pee problem... I would definitely get him to the vet though

Thanks, guys!

Well, interestingly, since I bathed him two days ago, it hasn't happened again. Not sure if this is a coincidence or not.

At any rate, I have a call in to me vet to ask her about what it could be and whether she wants to see him about it, and am waiting for her to return my call.