Cat Dripping Urine! HELP!

[Miss Z]

This certainly is a tricky one! Firstly I want to say well done you for being such a saint of an owner and doing whatever it takes to care for a cat with such a condition - you are a minority amongst pet owners and a breath of fresh air for most vets!!

Has she been spayed, and if so, when? There is a link between incontinence and spaying, however as you have said that the incontinence meds make her so lethargic then this would be a difficult avenue to pursue.

You don't appear to have been winning with the steroids so I would advise against going with prednisolone or similar steroids again. Prolonged use is likely to induce other hormonal problems and since she's so young it would be awful to cause another problem for her. See what your vet says regarding this, of course.

I'd also be really careful of what you can order from Amazon - again this is something to speak to your vet about. The homeopathic products in particular, whist they certainly do provide relief in some cases, have no evidence base behind them, plus the dilution values have probably not been calculated and confirmed by vets. I spoke to a homeopath (not a vet or remotely medical person) recently who claimed her 'veterinary' product was effective in all species, including reptiles, birds, etc - unfortunately this is the kind of twaddle that well-intentioned but ultimately ignorant people will use to sell an untested product. I don't know much about the 'Leaks no more' product, but if you do go ahead with it I think it would be best to take a bottle in to your vet and ask him/her to check the ingredients, just to ensure that nothing is going to work in conflict with anything prescribed for your cat.

The thoughts I had whilst reading your post with regards to the problem were interstitial cystitis (your vet may also call it idiopathic cystitis) or potentially a bladder polyp or tumour. Has she had an ultrasound on her bladder? A tumour is relatively unlikely in a cat of her age and as she seems to have been suffering from these symptoms for a long time it makes me doubt myself, but it would be worth checking out if it hasn't already. Interstitial cystitis is more of a problem as the cause is very difficult to identify in both veterinary and human medicine so unfortunately trial and error is often the only way of stumbling across something that works. A congenital defect is possible, but I would have thought that this may have become apparent when her catheter was placed last time.

I wish you the best of luck with her, she is lucky to have someone so caring. Do let us all know how she gets on.

[Catty1]

Feliway may be the least expensive thing to try. I have used a stretchy collar, and sprayed a small amount directly into the collar twice a day (or whatever your vet prescribes). I press the sprayer slowly, so that it goes right into the collar and not on the fur.

I wish more pet owners were like you - you are willing to help your kitty in any way possible. HUGS!

[Cataholic]

I have a cat with urinary incontinence. She is leaky.

I did the proin for about 6 months. I applied it to her ear flap. It is fairly expensive to compound, and I didn't notice enough relief, so I stopped it.

The easiest thing for me was to buy the true mattress protectors (where you can pour a glass of water on it and nothing leaks through) and cut them up into throws. I put them where she likes to lay, and wash frequently. Totally eases my mind.

But, my girl never had any other symptoms, just urinary incontinence.

[emily_the_spoiled]

One of my guys was hit by a car when he was a kitten so he doesn't have any control over his back end (and sometimes he has seizures). I took Frankie to a veterinary neurologist to see if there was anything that might be able done to help him. The neurologist prescribed a product called Bethanechol (http://www.drugs.com/pro/bethanechol.html). Basically it helps provide him with a more control over his bladder. Now he doesn't "drip" per se (he still doesn't know when he is peeing but at least it is a puddle now ). If you have any specialists in your area it might be worthwhile to have a talk with them about this.