24/09/2025
We get our fair share of calls about surrendering cats because they're peeing outside the litter box.
Our first two questions are:
1. Have you been to the vet for a THOROUGH exam;
2. Are they declawed.
Let's focus on the first one for a minute.
This is Wilhelmina. The brown stains on her fur are because she has been leaking urine, for months. She also has painful, open sores on her skin from urine scald. She cries out in pain when she pees.
Her owners brought her to a vet to euthanize her for peeing outside the box. :(
FORTUNATELY, Wilhelmina came our way. And *here's* the part you need to know.
If your pet is suddenly peeing outside the box, A URINALYSIS IS NOT ENOUGH TO DETERMINE IF THERE IS A MEDICAL CAUSE.
If your vet *only* does a urinalysis, ask them to follow up with an x-ray or ultrasound; and repeat that imaging again when symptoms pop up. A urinalysis may, but *does not always* show that your cat has painful bladder stones that can cause litterbox issues (among other symptoms, all of which are indications that your cat is IN PAIN).
And a round of antibiotics or even a prescription diet *doesn't always* get rid of the problem - the stones may require further testing (to determine the cause of the stones by their composite), or may need to be removed through surgery.
This is the third cat THIS YEAR we have gotten from a vet's office, minutes away from euthanasia, whose bladder stones went undetected by a urinalysis alone. This is not at all uncommon, people!
We're waiting on lab results to tell us why Wilhelmina's stones are so persistent to give us a better treatment course for her. In the meantime, she developed an Upper Respiratory Infection from the stress of shelter life :(
But at least now, she has a shot at a pain-free life
