A question about, well, urination

[lenistar]

Hi everyone,

This afternoon I saw Moritz in the litter box (I didn't see him get in the litter box, I saw him when he was already in it). A few seconds later, he stepped out. I didn't hear him urinating, and so I'm a bit concerned since I know that trying to urinate and not being able to constitutes a medical emergency for a cat. I wasn't sure if perhaps I had just caught him when he was already finishing up or if perhaps I startled/disturbed him, causing him to hop out. I checked the litter box to see if there was a wet spot, but that was a bit difficult since there were already some wet spots from earlier, so I couldn't be sure if he had just urinated or not. When I leaned down over the litter box, I did hear a sort of crackling noise, which I guess could have been caused by urine mixing with the litter.

I know he urinated this evening, and so my question is this: if he wasn't able to urinated earlier, is it possible that he would have been able to urinate this evening? Or does the fact that he urinated this evening mean that there's no problem?

Thank you!
Elena

 

[rhiannon and shadow (GA)]

It sounds likely he did but ....
how about being proactive so you won't have to wonder?

either scoop it all out and know there aren't any more wet spots .

start over (you can at least dump all that box in a trash bag if it's barely used and put it back in after you confirm he's going)

or put a bag over the cat box and make it sit at best you can on top of the litter so he feels the litter under his feet but you are able to go look
and actually find a puddle and even have a sample to test .

And then if you don't have anything at all by morning.... you have confirmed that he hasn't gone.

 

[lenistar]

Hi,

I know that he's urinated since yesterday afternoon, but I'm still unsure about whether or not he urinated when I saw him in the litter box yesterday afternoon. I guess my question is if I can rest assured that there's no problem, given that he has urinated since yesterday afternoon, or if it's possible that a serious problem could appear only periodically? Like, might it be possible that he wasn't able to urinate when I saw him yesterday, but is able to now?

Hope my question is clear! Thanks so much!

 

[BJM]

Some odds and ends to consider:

As dry corn litter absorbs urine, I've heard it make a "crackling" noise as the litter swells up.

On a dry food diet, the urine output may be about 1 cup of wet litter per day; on a completely wet food, it is considerably more than that. If you add in unregulated diabetes, it swamps many litterboxes.

Measuring the daily water consumption is one way of assessing diabetic status. Drinking large volumes of water is often associated with poor diabetes control, as well as being associated with othe medical conditions such as renal failure and hyperthyroidism. See my signature link for secondary monitoring tools to see ways to monitor water intake and some other indirect measures of diabetes control.

A cat that has a bladder infection may try to urinate even after expressing the entire bladder.

To check for gross dehydration, gently tug up the fur at the scruff of the neck and let go. If it remains pulled up, the cat may be moderately to severly dehydrated and a vet visit may be in order. To check for minor dehydration, lift the cat's lip and press your finger against the gums for a minute, then release. If the gum remains blanched white after removing your finger, the cat is dehydrated. Again, a vet visit may be in order.