My cat occasionally has really horrible smelling urine not sure if it's urinary tract infection or not?
I have a 5 month old tabby who already has been neutered when he was only 3 months.
About 10 days ago when I was cleaning his litter box I saw a "pee ball" I went to scoop it up and it fell apart and gave off this horrible stench. The smell was hideous it smelled like a really really powerful stench of ammonia. The peeball didn't stick together at all and it crumbled away into tiny pieces.
The next few times I cleaned out his litter we had no problems, fast forward to yesterday and we had the same hideous peeball + smell.
I phoned the vet and he thinks it's either a change in the diet or a urinary tract infection. I havn't noticed any blood at all and the cat hasn't done this each time it pees, only two times in total.
My girlfriend has given the cat human food lately (such as cheese, lunch meat) in small quantities but that would be the only change in it's diet.
Has anyone experienced this and do you think it's the diet or is this a tract infection.
I don't have an answer for you – I do urge you to take him to the vet so that if it is a UTI it can be treated before it becomes more painful.
I'm just really jumping in to suggest you consider changing his diet. You don't mention what you're feeding, but I'm going to guess it's dry food.
Dry food isn't good for any cats (in spite of the fact that it's very popular) but it can be especially bad for males who are much more prone to urinary issues.
At the very least, switch him to any brand of canned food. At the very best, switch him to a good canned food.
That won't cure a UTI but will help prevent future ones, will dilute the urine so it won't smell as bad, and will benefit your kitten in tons of other ways.
From my blog:
This is not my area of expertise, but this has been my experience: As a kitten, Poppy developed both a weight problem and a UTI. My vet told me to start feeding her special food which he happily sold me *gulp*. Poppy refused to eat it. Back then I was less aware of how to get cats to eat new foods, so I just said the hell with it and bought Purina's urinary health food, mixed with weight management. She ate that from then until she was 2 years old. She never had another UTI, so that tells me that the overpriced CRAP the vets sell you are typically unnecessary. The grocery store crap is just as good.
For various reasons, I soon thereafter began researching cat nutrition. I learned about the benefits of wet food, and found that in many cases, that's all that's required to prevent future UTI's. Even the crappy brands like Friskies would be better than dry food!
I don't claim to be a vet, vet tech, vet student or anything like that. But I know how to research and examine results. I've read a bit on this topic which is how I've reached the conclusions I have.
At the very least, were I to have another cat with urinary problems, I'd sooner try them on a GOOD QUALITY canned food before shelling out the dough for a "prescription" dry food (or even their canned varieties). That's because I believe that good nutrition and species appropriate food is much more likely to keep a cat healthy than something designed to change their chemical composition.
January 14th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
I don't have an answer for you – I do urge you to take him to the vet so that if it is a UTI it can be treated before it becomes more painful.
I'm just really jumping in to suggest you consider changing his diet. You don't mention what you're feeding, but I'm going to guess it's dry food.
Dry food isn't good for any cats (in spite of the fact that it's very popular) but it can be especially bad for males who are much more prone to urinary issues.
At the very least, switch him to any brand of canned food. At the very best, switch him to a good canned food.
That won't cure a UTI but will help prevent future ones, will dilute the urine so it won't smell as bad, and will benefit your kitten in tons of other ways.
From my blog:
This is not my area of expertise, but this has been my experience: As a kitten, Poppy developed both a weight problem and a UTI. My vet told me to start feeding her special food which he happily sold me *gulp*. Poppy refused to eat it. Back then I was less aware of how to get cats to eat new foods, so I just said the hell with it and bought Purina's urinary health food, mixed with weight management. She ate that from then until she was 2 years old. She never had another UTI, so that tells me that the overpriced CRAP the vets sell you are typically unnecessary. The grocery store crap is just as good.
For various reasons, I soon thereafter began researching cat nutrition. I learned about the benefits of wet food, and found that in many cases, that's all that's required to prevent future UTI's. Even the crappy brands like Friskies would be better than dry food!
I don't claim to be a vet, vet tech, vet student or anything like that. But I know how to research and examine results. I've read a bit on this topic which is how I've reached the conclusions I have.
At the very least, were I to have another cat with urinary problems, I'd sooner try them on a GOOD QUALITY canned food before shelling out the dough for a "prescription" dry food (or even their canned varieties). That's because I believe that good nutrition and species appropriate food is much more likely to keep a cat healthy than something designed to change their chemical composition.
References :
Urinary Tract Disorders in Cats: http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=017
Why cats need canned food: http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=whycatsnee...
January 14th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
Is it possible the texture of the litter clump is disguising any particular odor? If it holds together, you may not notice it as much as when it falls apart. And a 'powerful' ammonia odor is a very subjective observation. But I would not rule out a urinary tract infection. Try and encourage him to drink more water. Sometimes a fountain works well. A UTI may not show any blood, and unless you are using special litter you would have a difficult time knowing if there was blood present.
A diet change can cause it, and you really need to keep human food away from him. It causes two problems. Sometimes it simply is not good for him, and secondly, it makes him a beggar at the table. Overeating results in a fat cat. A little bit of cheese is not all that bad (mine like it), but skip the lunch meat. It is often bad enough for humans, let alone giving it to a cat. LOL
As far as dry versus wet food, that argument will go on forever. With plenty of water available, a dry food diet is no worse than a wet food diet, assuming equal quality.
References :