Urinary Tract Infection Recovery?

Question

My three-month-old kitten was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection last week and I have been giving her antibiotics as advised and will continue giving them to her for one more week. Prior to the diagnosis, she had been urinating on the floor frequently. I was skeptical that she would discontinue this behavior after getting her through the whole treatment; she still has her accidents, but not quite as much as before. I wanted to hear others' stories to find out if in the end she really will stop urinating on the carpet! I have hopes that she will stop, but as I said, I am skeptical and can't imagine that this little bottle of antibiotics will also cure her behavioral habit of using the carpet as a litter box!

Answer 1

Sounds very familiar to a situation we had with our kitty, but Nesbitt chose the bed instead of the floor... I SO would have preferred the floor!

You'll want to get an enzyme cleaner, like Nature's Miracle (Pet Co, Pet Smart) to really get the potty smell out of the carpet, floor, etc. Even if you can't smell anything, kitty can and she'll keep going back to it thinking it's okay to go there. She might also be trying to tell you she's still not feeling well by going on the same spots as before. They're smart like that :) If infection is truly gone, and you've used the enzyme cleaner, put kitty's food bowl / water where she's been voiding- they won't pee where they eat (but again only if you're sure the infection is gone).

I've found kitty UTIs can be difficult to treat. Nesbitt's had a few but not one for a few years (knock on wood!) One lasted a couple of months and took many antibiotic trials to cure. She ended up being on a steroid, too, to help strengthen her system (made her fur pants a bit tight, though!) The vet did many tests to rule out stones, cancer, etc, but was just a stubborn infection.

One preventative method you can try is a urinary health cat food- Purina makes a good one. Our vet also recommended a low-dust litter, thinking the dust may irritate kitty's system.

Good luck with things! Trust me, I know how frustrating it can be when kitty has a UTI...cleaning up messes is not fun at all. But remember its not behavioral, but medical and soon kitty will be back to her healthy self.

Answer 2

She will stop using your floor as her litter box. As someone said earlier, she is probably associating the box with the pain of urination. My cat also chose the bed as a good place...and a sweater on the floor, and the bathtub, and the bathroom rug...but after she was on the antibiotics, she went back to using the litter box. She changed her habits for a week or so - using it more often, but going just a little bit each time - but now she's back to her normal self. Make sure you get the odor out, or she may use the same place again. Just give her all your loving :) Good luck!

Answer 3

My last cat suffered from this all her life and she lived to be 15 she had it about two to three times per year so i know full well how frustrating it feels just waiting for it to improve,my cat was also given an antibiotic jab along with a course of antibiotic tablets(Betamox)to be given one tablet twice a day for 10 days and was told i wouldn't see an improvement for at least 3-4 days which was what it was like, once the blood stopped after a few days it never returned as it is for your cat now,she simply seemed better but needed to finish the course of 10 days, then that was the end of it until the next attack of urinary infection(Cystitis)sometimes she would get a few months gap before she got it again, urinating small amounts of blood and frequent visits to her litter shows its very inflamed again so really hasn't improved as it should this happened with my cat only the once and she was put on a different kind of antibiotic,then it was discovered which was right for her, after that it always cleared up normally with no problems,my vet recommended that i give my cat bottled water as he said chlorine in tap water irritated her bladder lining,if im honest i noticed the change in her rather quickly,she had fewer attacks and when she did it cleared up sooner than usual though i still needed to give her the full course of tablets, my vet never said anything about the blood being the infection coming out at all,just to cut dry food from her diet as i did,i know what its like having a cat have this its frustrating that we cant make the infection dissapear for good,but maybe she needs her doage altered but dont without a vets instructions, like i said my cat tried different tablets but we found Betamox to be just right in fighting it off,hope she gets better soon for you,as its horrible seeing a cat suffer it makes us feel helpless,she will pull through as my cat survived 15 years of it,it all started for mine after being spayed.

Answer 4

They urinate outside the box because they often associate it with the pain of urinating when they have an infection. Try a different litter pan and a different type of litter. Confine her to a small carpetless room until she is using it well.

http://pet-diseases.suite101.com/article.cfm/cat_urinary_problems

http://ezinearticles.com/?Cat-Behavior---Cat-Urine-Issues&id=624432

Answer 5

ive had cats that had uti..when they have to pee they will pee anywhere.. it hurts a cat who has this so if she was using litter box an felt pain when she peed she may associate litter box with pain. when the infection clears up she will probably go back to her usual potty place