Hi everyone, I'm new here and would love some thoughts. My 4-year-old cat Jack had his first stubborn case of FLUTD (no UTI, no crystals or stones, just idiopathic cystitis) in late February and it took a good 5-6 weeks (using prazosin and buprenorphine for him, and a lot of deep breaths and vet bills for me) to finally resolve. In that time we've switched to 80% wet food with water added (dry to hold him over while we're at work and a bit overnight) and he's been great. Last night, however, I woke up at 4 a.m. to the familiar sounds of repeated semi-frantic litter box digging and of course I freaked out. It looked like he was trying to urinate and nothing was happening. He kept at it off and on for another couple of hours and I of course lay awake hoping that this can't be happening again. He made one or two semi-sad meows but nothing soul-crushing, and he is generally pretty verbal anyway. When I got up for work, there were some small-to-medium urine clumps, nothing bloody-looking...he seemed a little bit anxious/antsy but nothing truly out of the ordinary considering he was up and about when he would normally have gotten some rest overnight. He didn't visit his box again before my husband and I left for work, and he hasn't tried to urinate anywhere outside of the box. I won't be home from work for several more hours, so the mind begins to race....
Should I be concerned that he is potentially on the way to another episode of cystitis, or is it possible that he just had an isolated bad night for some reason? I should add that 1) last night he chowed down on more dry food than normal in between feeding times, possibly because we had an extra vigorous play session, and 2) he did have a food regurgitation episode a few days ago, which possibly dehydrated him a bit. He is not much of a drinker, but since we switched him to his mostly wet diet plus added water, his urine output has been healthy and good. I know there's nothing I can do until I get home, but just wanted to see if anyone has experience with a normally easygoing cat having litter box woes that are just a blip rather than a serious condition. Thanks!
Should I be concerned that he is potentially on the way to another episode of cystitis, or is it possible that he just had an isolated bad night for some reason? I should add that 1) last night he chowed down on more dry food than normal in between feeding times, possibly because we had an extra vigorous play session, and 2) he did have a food regurgitation episode a few days ago, which possibly dehydrated him a bit. He is not much of a drinker, but since we switched him to his mostly wet diet plus added water, his urine output has been healthy and good. I know there's nothing I can do until I get home, but just wanted to see if anyone has experience with a normally easygoing cat having litter box woes that are just a blip rather than a serious condition. Thanks!
