Only going to the bathroom once per day?

[Sophia_]

Asking all the new cat mom questions I can because I’m not sure what’s normal.

My big girl Sophia has only been going to the bathroom once every 24-30 hours or so since I got her one month ago. She doesn’t seem to have any difficulty going, no straining, meowing, or repeated visits. No accidents. She just....doesn’t go.

Because she waits so long, the urine clumps are fairly large. She is on a wet food diet with about 1 tsp of water added in per day. I have never seen her drink besides this.

She just had her annual exam and blood work and everything came back fine. Her glucose was elevated to around 180, but since we had to give her 200 ml of Gabapentin to even get the draw, my vet attributed it to stress.

Her appetite is great and she plays several times per day. I just started her on 2 capsules of Cosequin per day to help take the stress off her joints from the weight. Could she just be too lazy to go until she has 2x the reason to visit the box?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi! How old is Sophia? Feeby (16+ yo), for most of her life until recently, only went once every 24 hours to use the litterbox - both for pee and poop. It was almost like clockwork. Her pee clumps were HUGE. In the past year or so, her habits have changed, and I contribute that to her aging (kind of like senior humans who can't 'hold it' as well).

Wet food, for many cats, provides enough moisture that drinking water otherwise seems to be nearly unnecessary. Since Sophia's pee clumps are fairly large, it might that she is getting enough moisture through her food. If there were no issues with her urinalysis, I suspect this is just Sophia being Sophia. I am sure your vet will want to follow up on the glucose level in the near future, just as a 'check'.

It sounds like she is a bit overweight? Are you working on a plan to reduce her weight, and that this might have contributed to her need for Cosequin (arthritis)? That being the case, perhaps offer her a second, lower sided litter box to see if that entices her to visit more often. Holding urine in the bladder would typically end up in urinary issues, perhaps even bladder infections. If that is not her case, she might just be a cat like Feeby was in her 'younger days'.

Where was she before you got her? Is there someone you could ask about her litterbox behavior? Does she have a history of urinary issues?

 

[Sophia_]

Sophia’s the big little miss I talked about over in this thread! She’s 9.5 years old and approximately 18 pounds — and losing. I’ve kept in touch with her foster but I’m not overly pleased by the care she had living there. I get a lot of “I don’t know”s whenever I ask specific questions.

She currently has a low entry, high sided box that she took to immediately after I changed out the box her foster had given me (dear lord, I think it had never been cleaned.) She’s using World’s Best litter and despite being previously declawed, it doesn’t seem to bother her.

Her veterinary history isn’t very satisfying either. There are a lot of gaping holes and inconsistencies. No mentioned urinary issues. They were monitoring her for paw pain and she’s allegedly had 2 accidents next to the box over the course of 9 years, which isn’t terrible. She doesn’t express any paw pain with me, since she runs, jumps, and bats at toys, but I noticed joint clicking when she stretches sometimes. Maybe she just has a routine like your Feeby.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Feeby is front-paw declawed, never seems to make a difference for her either. She was also closing in on 18 pounds at that age too! I would just watch Sophia's pee habits before worrying that it is really an issue.

I'll go check out your other thread!

 

[MissClouseau]

I’ve kept in touch with her foster but I’m not overly pleased by the care she had living there. I get a lot of “I don’t know”s whenever I ask specific questions.

If you know, was she indoor-only at the foster house? What about before the foster house? My Hima used to be a street cat and is use to peeing/pooping on soil. Cats usually pee at different spots in the yard so there was also soil variety. She still goes outside to the yard and does her business couple times a day. BUT, when she can't because it's been raining all day, or she got spooked over something outside, she holds as long as she can which could be up to 26 hours, sometimes pees on the big plant containers on the porch but even when she does, she doesn't use one of them again for the next pee/poop.

If Sophia is use to using soil in the yard, there might be that. If she's been using a litterbox maybe she prefers a different material and/or a toally clean one. Is there only one litterbox? They say at least 2 boxes for one cat.

To me it sounds like there is more than one issue. One must be her weight challenges.

 

[Sophia_]

Yes, she’s been an indoor cat her entire life. She only had one box at the foster, but I don’t know prior to that. Since I’m working from home, I scoop her box immediately after she goes and keep it quite clean. I reached out to the foster and she said that Sophia “didn’t go often and didn’t cover.”

I was considering a second box but frankly don’t know where I would put it. I have a one bedroom, single floor 1200 sq ft condo and the box is in the room she spends most of her time in.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Feeby has only had one litter box as well. I don't think that stopped her from using it when she needed to, but I was able to clean out the box every time since she only went once a day. Even now that now she goes more frequently - if I didn't manage to clean the box out ahead of time - she still goes in it. She is funny, in that, she will move slightly to the left or right of her initial pee deposit!! She is also one who does not cover anything up. Sometimes, she will give a half-hearted effort (don't know why), but 98% of the time not.

Just keep an eye on it - as said before, it may just be Sophia.

 

[cataholic07]

How many times a day do you feed her?

 

[klunick]

Since first seeing this thread, I have been watching what Boone and Gracie are doing in the litter box. Most days, they are only going #2 once or twice. Hard to tell with pee. I figure as long as they have at least one bowel movement each, they are good.