Incontinent 17 year old cat

[welshgirl21]

Smudge went to the vet last week and needed a prescription flea treatment and an anti inflammatory injection. This week she has become incontinent - she is weeing and pooing wherever she is, she gets down off the sofa in a panic as if she knows she needs to go but then just goes where she is as she can't seem to hold it. She has also developed 3 small sores on her shoulders and the fur around her bum and back legs looks constantly wet and damp. I'm obviously going to phone my vet tomorrow but does anyone on here have any advice as I have 2 small children and don't want them finding the wee/poo and touching it.

[Ruth B]

Poor Smudge, hopefully it is just a bit of a reaction to the treatment and she is soon feeling better.

The first thing to try and do is to have at least one litter tray in every room if possible so at least she doesn't have far to go, if she can see the tray is close she might be able to make it, also make sure there is plenty of newspaper in front of the tray to catch any accidents.

Secondly you might want to try something like puppy training pads. I haven't used them so I don't know if this is feasible, but if you could keep them close at hand and if you see her needing to go try and get one under her and then praise her if she goes on it so she knows she is allowed to.

The last option is cat nappies. I have seen pictures of cats wearing these and they do look rather daft but they do contain anything produced, the same way a baby's nappy does.

I would also suggest getting a proper cat urine cleaning solution as soon as possible. Normal bleach can smell similar to cat urine as it breaks down and therefore encourage the cat to keep going on the area that has been cleaned leading to further problems.

Finally while it won't help her problem, you can by special cat wet wipes which you could use to help her clean up her back end and legs. Not the most pleasant of jobs but it would certainly help her feel better, i have always been taught that an cat that can't keep itself clean is a very unhappy cat. Something as small as helping her keep her back end clean could reduce her stress level and would help her heal quicker from whatever is wrong.

Hopefully the vet can help tomorrow and provide an answer as to why it is happening.

[welshgirl21]

I might move her tray near to the sofa and windowsill she sits on so she can see it right there when she gets down to go. I'll pick up some wipes tomorrow and the pads are a good idea too, thank you.

I really feel for her. She's laying on the floor next to me now looking at me with her big eyes love her

[Antonio]

The training pads are a good idea. Ihad to use them for months when my cat Lola started peeing in her bed every single night and later on even during the day.
I would use up to 5 pads a day!

I would not recommend the wipes, though, they scare me!!!
I pretty sure that those wipes were the cause of my cat's oral carcinoma and I'm keeping telling people around me not to use them!

Just like Ruth said, I think that the flea treatment triggered the issue. Sometimes, at a certain age, cats get easily annoyed and altered by any unusual event in their life. I witnessed this too many times to be just a coincidence.

[Ruth B]

I used the wipes on our elderly Ragdoll for quite a few months as he was having problems grooming himself with no indication that they caused any trouble. I did try and make sure that I pick ones that had a little artificial ingredients in as possible to help minimise the chance of any reaction. It may have been a couple of years ago but I have managed to find the ones i used still available on Amazon, so i have added a link in case it is of any use.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Earthbath-Hypo ... =cat+wipes