Sick Kity

So Coda stopped using the litter box and was peeing on the floor.  He also hadn't been eating or drinking as enthusiastically as usual.  No environmental changes had been made so we didn't think it was behavioral, so off to the vet we went.

After spending the day at the vet, he wouldn't give them a urine sample and he was stuck in a room with noisy dogs, so I couldn't bear to leave him over night, scared as he was.  Home he came and spent the next night in the bathroom, with a make shift litterbox made of cling wrap and NoSorb, provided by the vet what I thought was for free...later to discover it was $15 worth of cut up plastic tubing.  Finally got a sample for the vet, but by the time they got to it, it was 12 hours old and not the best, but it would do.

The verdict, Coda has crystals in his urine, due to an unknown cause.  They can cause blockage, leading to straining and kidney damage or even failure.  I was devastated!  What did I do wrong, how did this happen, will he get better?  The vet assured me that some cats just develop the problem, so I did not cause the problem, but some cats get better and some cats live with the condition all their lives.  "So my cat might always pee on the floor?"  Very well possible.  Well, now what the hell am I supposed to do?  Keep him in the bathroom for the rest of his life and monitor his pee output?  

Coda has spent the past 4 days when we aren't home and nights in the bathroom with very little progress in passing urine any more frequently, still eating minimally and drinking rarely.  He has urinated on the floor again, even when we were home, watching him.  We decided to let him run free last night, as he went potty in the litter box just before we went to bed and felt that it wasn't fair to leave him locked up and it was probably stressing him enough to not want to use the box or eat.  

So this is day 5 in a prescribed diet, lower in phosphorus and magnesium and taking anti-biotics.  He had free run of the house last night and did not have an accident to our knowledge and has use the box another two times this morning.  Coda has also eaten an entire serving of food today and has been drinking water!  Strange to get excited about pee and eating, but I was worried that this was not going to work and we were doomed to taking care of 'special needs' pet, which wasn't what we had bargained for, but were willing to do.  

Things are getting better, still not wonderful but we are on the road to recovery.  I'll post another update as things progress.  Lucky you, you get litter box updates!