19 year old cat peeing on carpet

[2007mommy]

Hi hopefully someone has a solution. I have a wonderful cat Angel that I have had in my life for 19 1/2 years. She is still playful and loving, but as you can guess she is getting old, about the last 6 months she has been peeing on my carpet in my bedroom and I just caught her going in my formal living room!! She has been diagonesed with beginning stages of kidney failure about 2 years ago. But what puzzles me is that she does use her litter box. Does anyone have an explanation for this behavior and besides putting plastic on the floor at night and scrubbing the heck out of my carpet....what can I do!!!!

[kmhilfiger]

Hi there. I just joined this site today. Hopefully you have brought your cat to the vet, im sure you have. And BTW its wonderful you have had your cat for such a long time, your a great cat mommy! My cat is only 7 and the love of my life. Sadly he has been diagnosed with renal disease. (yep, the wonderful kidney problem with no cure, it really is not fair) the first sign i came home to find emmit had peed blood in the tub. It was horrific. And i immediatly brought him to emergency. He was diagnosed with renal disease. Its a very hard thing to deal with and most of the time when the kitty pees outside the litter box its a UTI. As a matter of fact he has one now. What the vet will probably do is give you a prescription. And i pray your cat just has a UTI bc of its age. Hopefully just a UTI and nothing else. Good luck. I hope kitty is ok.

[Tannipoo]

Hello, grats on taking care of kitty that long, that is amazing! My mother's cat started doing this right about that same age and she would use her litter box as well. I think it might have been confusion as well as decreased sense of smell. The only thing Mom could do was be proactive in keeping up after her. She passed shortly after that.... she will be missed.

Good luck with your beautiful furbaby :D

[Piparskeggr]

Our Cat Cammie (11/82 - 03/04) had a change of box habits like this and she did get a diagnosis of weakened kidney function.  The vet showed us how to give her sub-q fluids, which we did every 2 - 3 days for almost 2 years before a pair of strokes finally laid her low.

If the problem is in the early stages, kitty can be helped and live a good life for awhile yet.

[AlonePercAddict]

Cats, especially a 19 year old with no previous behavior issues, do not start peeing outside there box unless there is something wrong with them.  It is like their way of telling you there is a problem.  I would also say it is a UTI or if she is in kidney failure it is progressing and she probably cannot make it to the box or is in pain.  I would take her to the vet soon

[opus88]

hi and welcome. you've done a wonderful job to keep kitty to a grand age of 19...but with age come many health problems just like with us seniors..
Do you have her on a wet can diet? that is important esp. now. she is likely peeing to tell you "it hurts" thats generally when this starts. I would have her checked out for a UTI (urinary tract infection) or crystals in her urine...both can be very painful.
as far as scrubbing the carpet...what are you using to kill the smell?
you may not smell it now but kitty still does b/c their noses are so much more sensitive than ours...and when they smell urine in an area they think of it as an OK spot to return and pee again.
there are many enzyme cleaners at good pet stores(petsmart etc) not the ones you buy at other stores..there no good.
some names that come to mind are. Anti Iky Poo. Urine Erase, Natures Miracle....they have to contain the right enzymes.
and if the urine has soaked thru to the underlay you will need to do a deep soak of these products....and perhaps use more than once...some people even buy a black light to find spots that you maynot even see or smell but kitty sure can.
good luck♥