Question:
I am an 18 year old girl and I have had my cat since I was 3 years old...usually he always wants to be inside and it is hard to get him to go out to go potty and he meows his head off at my mom and I until he gets food and sometimes wants to be fed twice a night. Recently, he has been peeing in the house, sometimes in front of us, and he doesn't eat hardly anything and he meows sometimes, but when he does, it is quiet. He just seems like he is getting older...but this change has come on within the past few days.

I am really worried and don't want to lose him...does anyone have any idea what may be going on with him?

Answer:
Do you have a litterbox in the house for him? If not please get one. Also he could have a bladder infection. In any event I would take him to the vet asap to have him looked at and to rule out anything medical such as a bladder infection. A bladder infection in male cats can become serious rather quickly as alot of them develop crystals which can cause them to become blocked and unable to urinate. So please don't wait too long to have him looked at. If he checks out fine at the vet then it could be that there has been a change in his surroundings that he doesn't like or that he would rather be inside and in which case you would need a litterbox as he could be holding his pee until he can't anymore which could lead to an infection. Please update us on how he does. Oh and peeing right infront of you usually means they are trying to tell you something, ohh if we could only understand cat talk.

Answer:
Thank you...my mom said that we will take him in on Saturday. He usually doesn't want to leave the house, but this morning he ran out as soon as my mom opened the door. We moved the litter box inside today too.
His brother who died last winter of hypothermia because he got his foot caught in our fence had crystals, so we switched them to canned cat food. So I am hoping that it is something that we can take care of...because I don't think I can stand to have lost both of my cats.

I will definitely keep you posted on what is going on.

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Glad to hear that you are taking him to the vet. In the meantime please keep a close eye on how much he pee's of if he stops peeing. If he stops you will need to take him in sooner. I am sorry to hear about your other kitty.

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Thank you. It is comforting being able to talk to someone about what's going on. I was really scared and sad, but now I am doing better.

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I'm sure the vet will be able to sort it out. If she gives you medication, he must be given it regularly for it to work.
Please keep him inside from now on. Get a litter box (or two, if you have a big house) and give him some attention. I realize that your other cat died due to a horrible accident but something similar could happen to this guy. All this in and out, people yelling at him for peeing in the wrong places, must have him pretty stressed. He's an old kitty and shouldn't be having 'adventures' at his age or expected to go outside to pee.
Let us know what happens on Saturday, OK? And have the vet give him a good checkup, to make sure there aren't any chronic problems, not uncommon in old cats. Check his mouth for infections, for instance.
The miowing could be stress-related or he might be getting a little deaf.
Oh, and don't forget to tell the vet that he is off his food, there is a reason for this and it needs to be dealt with. Cats, particularly old cats, must eat, otherwise they can develop very serious problems. I suggest leaving some food out overnight, sometimes they prefer to eat then.
Good luck.

Answer:
I couldn't wait till Saturday to bring him in, so I brought him in this morning. The vet looked at him and I left him there to get a blood test. It came back with normal results, his kidneys were functioning a little less than optimal, but it was still good. So they wanted to keep him until Friday, give him an IV and try different antibiotics. They said that if nothing works that we will have to make some other decisions...

Answer:
I'm sorry you had to leave him but the I.V will/should help to flush his system and his kidney's. I hope the meds work, did they check his urine? Since his kidney levels are still ok there are some kidney diets(low/reduced protein) available from the vet that may help to support the kidney's. It is also good to feed only canned food if he eat's it. The water content in the canned will help to continue to flush the kidney's and bladder from toxins. Cat's generally don't drink enough water and canned food can help make up for it. I hope he pulls through and comes home soon. Keep us posted on how he does. Kidney disease is not that uncommon in older cat's. Hopefully someone with more experience than I can help. for the little guy and you.

Answer:
We've been feeding him canned food for about a year now...his brother had bad teeth, so we switched and haven't gone back to dry. The vet said that if the IV and antibiotics don't help, that he could have an internal tumor and he or anyone else wouldn't be able to do anything about it and we would have to decide if we wanted to euthanize him...they're going to let us know on Friday morning if anything has imroved...

Answer:
Did you get any answers today about your cat's situation? I have an older cat as well, and have been going through health issues with her too. It's always difficult when they get older, and cat's can be very bad patients, indeed. I hope that everything turns out ok, or at least something that's manageable for you.

Answer:
I went and picked Sebastian up on Friday and the vet said that his behavior had gotten back to normal and that he was talking to them all the time while he was there. They gave him an IV drip, as I mentioned before, and it seemed to help. I think that maybe he was just dehydrated. They had to force feed him while he was there though, but the vet said that he was hoping that he would eat willingly at home. He was so excited to go home that he climbed right into his pet carrier. Usually it is a huge struggle.

When we got in the car, I let him out so he could walk around and look out the window. And he came and sat on my lap. Once we got home, he seemed really happy and walked around everywhere and rubbed against everything. Then he acted like he wanted to be fed, so I fed him and he ate willingly, not as much as he usually ate before, but he was eating. He has been eating a little each day, which is much better than nothing. And he has been pottying normally. My mom and I are giving him an oral liquid antibiotic nightly.

Thank you to everyone who replied to my post. You helped me a lot during this scare. It is really nice to know that there are other people who love their pets as much as I love my kitty.

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I am glad to hear that he came home and is doing better. that he continues on his road to recovery

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