Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently took my cat to the vet for retaining urine for over a day. They hospitalized her and tested for for anything that could be causing this. The tests showed that she is perfectly healthy and could not find a reason that she is not peeing. She had previously been on Prozac for peeing outside the litter box. When she came home from the vet, she was able to urinate on her own very well until about 10 hours later. So now she hasn't urinated for almost 24 hours. She is on prednisolone, Bethanechol and Prazosin to help stimulate the nerves that help her urinate. The vet thinks it is a problem with her nerves. She is only 6 years old. She has not deficated either. She is also taking Clindacure to prevent infection. She has not had Prozac for 6 days. I have her on a heating pad right now..hoping to relax her bladder muscles. She does not strain to urinate. She simply does not go. She looks very uncomfortable. The vet suggests that she be put to sleep if she doesn't urinate on her own. She did urinate for a day, and stopped again. They are at a loss and so am I. I don't want to loose her. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

You say she has not been urinating or defecating regularly. Is she trying to go but is unable to pass anything? Is she walking OK, moving her tail? Does she have sensation in her hind end? How much does the cat weigh, and what do you feed her? There is a lot more information I need before I can determine what is going on.

She doesn't try to go until her bladder is over full. Then she pees a large amount. Today she has gone 26 hours without urinating and I am still waiting for her to go. When she does urinate, she doesn't strain. She is walking and jumping on furniture ok and moving her tail fine. She does have sensation in her hind end. She weighs 10.5 pounds. She eats Fancy Feast wet food, a half a can 3 to 4 times a day. And she also nibbles on Science Diet KD dry that is for one of my other cats. It is almost like she holds her urine on purpose until it is too much to bear...or she just doesn't feel the urge to go until her bladder is over full. Thanks for trying to figure this out for me.

Something I forgot to tell you. I smooth out the litter in her box to see if she steps in it. I will see her footprints in the box, but no fresh urine. So I think she feels the need to go..but she doesn't. I haven't seen her do this, so I don't know if she strains. I just notice the footprints. She has done this twice and I haven't been able to catch her in the act. But when I do finally see her release herself, there is no straining at all. She just relaxes and looks so relieved as it all comes out.

You say she appears uncomfortable, but isn't straining, There doesn't seem to be any nerve damage. While it is unusual for a cat to hold its urine so long, it is not pathological. I suggest you stop all the meds and see what happens. It is also not a good idea to feed dry food to any cat. I certainly wouldn't put the cat down because she refuses to pee more often.

Thanks for the advice. I am starting to wonder if this is some kind of behavior problem. She doesn't like the two new cats we have recently rescued and it seems like retaining her urine has started since then. When I took her to the vet for it, she was very ill from this. Her bladder was dangerously large. I certainly won't put her to sleep,and I will take your advice.
Thanks again.