Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had two cats and one of my cats recently died, so now I'm noticing my single cat's habits. One of them is that he tends to urinate three times a day. Is this normal? He had bloodwork and a urinalysis done 4 months ago and everything was normal. But my cat that died was also "normal" and then dropped dead of a heart attack a month after getting a clean bill of health! So I tend to worry more than I need to now...

Thanks in advance for the advice.

Lisa

Hi Lisa,

I am so sorry about your loss. Heart problems are sometimes difficult to diagnose in cats and they can pass away suddenly. It's so hard to lose any pet but losing one so quickly is such a shock. It has happened to me as well.

Most cats urinate about three times daily. When kidney problems are present, you will usually notice a cat starting to drink more water and urinate more. Unless your cat seems to be doing this, kidney function is most likely normal.

I understand well your paranoia. We love our babies so much and when we lose one we tend to become very concerned about the health of the others. Some heart problems are hereditary so if the cats were related that might be a concern. I once lost a cat to heart failure and I have her daughter who has a heart murmur. Her grand daughter cat died of heart problems at a fairly young age.

Please take care and if you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask.

Regards,
PHKitkat

thank you so much for your reply and your sympathy.

As soon as we found out that Luna died of an enlarged heart (and essentially a clot that went to her brain) we immediately had her bilogical brother tested. He had an EKG, ultrasound and echocardiogram. They found that he has a slight defect, but one that will not (or should not) cause any problems. It's called atrial septal defect. Have you heard anything about that condition? I'm taking him in to the same vet in a few month to see if the condition has changed and he's getting the same tests run. They seem to think that if nothing has changed, then this is something he's lived with his entire life and should live a normal, healthy life. He seems normal and acts normal (though he vomits hairballs frequently about - every 4 days - even though I brush him daily and give hairball remedy once a week!) but he's a Norweigan Forest cat mix, so he's a big cat with alot of hair!

Thanks for your response and i will worry less about the urination!

If you have time to write, I'm interested in how your kitties were diagnosed with cardiomyopathy and how you handled it afterwards. It is so traumatizing and even though it's been 19 weeks, I'm still dealing with the guilt of maybe missing signs of the illness, or even though i did cpr in the car on the way to the ER (she stopped breathing once at the vet but her heart was going the entire time), i just discovered a new route to the ER that would have gotten me there faster and I know that seconds count in those cases. And she lost her bowels in the car just as we were pulling up to the vet and then started kicking her head with her back paws. What that the blot clot going to her brain? Was she in any pain? She didn't even make a noise the entire time. Not even a meow.

And I still can't get the image of her lying under my bed in that seizure state. I was just not ready to let her go.

My husband and I have since moved with out other cat because in a month's time I found my neighbor and dear friend dead in her apartment, then both my husband's grandparent died (within a week of each other) and then Luna died. So we are trying to make a "fresh" start, though I seem to still not be able to let go of the loss of Luna. (and i'm on LOTS of medication by the way!)

Sorry to ramble, thanks for any help you can give!

There was probably nothing that could have been done even if it happened right at the Vets. I lost a dearly loved 19 month old cat to Cardiomyopathy. We played with an interactive toy, he went out on the porch to sleep and died in his sleep. It has been several years now and I still wonder "what if" although my Vet has told me over and over that there was nothing that I could have done and I have many other kitties who are healthy and fine. Sorry that you have been through so much in such a short time. Sounds like moving was a good idea.
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Tessa Onyx, Foudini, Charlee, Spottie, ShyRaven, Buddy, Tuxie, Widdle Attila Sipowitz, Lizzie, Minnie, ET, Mylo, Penny (We be house cats at last), and Salem, Wicca and Marmalade (We iz also house cats, we guess)and the 5 porch kits also Riley da goggie and Buddha da baby hamster too
Tabitha and Samantha..always in our hearts
A house without cats is like a garden without flowers