Our cat won't urinate ...

Hi all.

This is my first post and wish I had found this site years ago.

Well, our 5 year old himalayan will not urinate unless someone is home. If we leave in the morning, she will hold it in until one of us comes back.

I guess this is not normal behavior for any animal, but I'm actually concerned if this could cause long-term damage.

Any help would be apprecited.

Chances are she is urinating, just not in the box. Has she been to the vet? Do you have her confined in a room, or does she have the run of the house?

She does not pee at all, and passes a good amount of urine when one of us gets home.

And, she has access to everything. We can't close any of our doors because of her.

Just a couple questions, and please excuse me if you've already thought of these things, or done them.

-Have you checked with her vet about this? What does he/she say about it?

-Have you considered taking her with you places? I know it sounds insane, and excuse my asking if she's not the kind of cat that would like it, but ya never know, right? It's worth asking...

-Have you tried maybe putting the TV or radio (like talk radio) on for her while you're gone? Maybe the silence of no one talking makes her nervous.

Anyway, I hope those are some semi-useful ideas...

We haven't mentioned it to her vet and we do take her everywhere we go. In fact, her ability to retain urine makes it much easier for us to drive/fly with her.

But, we still worry if she is doing any physical damage to her bladder or kidneys.

The TV/radio idea actually sounds very good. We will try this to see if she uses the litterbox by herself.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Oh, your welcome...I hope it works!