Inappropriate Urination In Dogs and Cats

Inappropriate urination problems can be very frustrating and concerning to pet owners.  Before coming to the conclusion that your pet is acting out or mad at you, let’s discuss some other reasons why this may be occurring.
If your dog or cat suddenly starts urinating around the house instead of in its normal area (outside, on a potty pad or in a litter box), we first should rule out medical issues that could be causing such a change.  Both dogs and cats may show inappropriate urination when they have a urinary tract infection, cystitis, or urinary stones.  Metabolic diseases such as kidney disease and diabetes can sometimes result in similar clinical signs.  The first step would be to bring your pet into a veterinarian to have a full exam and lab work performed.  The lab work should include a blood panel to evaluate for organ function and also a urinalysis to rule out urinary tract infection, crystalluria (crystals in the urine), cystitis (sterile inflammation of the bladder) or urinary stones.
Most broad-spectrum antibiotics should be able to clear up an uncomplicated urinary tract infection in two weeks. Sometimes we need to run a urine culture and sensitivity test to see what type of bacteria and what type of antibiotics are needed to resolve the infection if it seems to be resistant to the typical antibiotics used.  If urinary stones are a problem, in some cases we can resolve this with a simple diet change to help decrease the urinary pH and dissolve the stones.  Other types of stones cannot be dissolved and surgical intervention is needed to physically remove the stones from the bladder.  If the blood work and urinalysis are all normal, then we should consider behavioral reasons for inappropriate urination.
Some dogs will urinate when too excited or when being submissive.  Other dogs may be urinating to be dominant and mark their territory.  There are some good pheromone products available to help with behavioral issues, including DAP (Dog appeasing pheromone) spray or diffusers.  Cats may be urinating in inappropriate places if their litter boxes are too dirty, or they don’t like the litter substrate.  A good rule of thumb is to have one more box than you have cats and to keep the box very clean. Feliway is a feline pheromone product similar to DAP that may help with inappropriate urination issues as well.
Cinema Veterinary Centre is located at 23460 Cinema Drive, Suite L in Valencia.  For more information, please call 661-253-9300.