My male cat is three. He was neutered at six months, but his urine has not lost the potent ammonia smell. I keep several watering stations around the house for him, which he uses. (He even plays in them! I have stepped bare-footed on numerous “land-mines” throughout the house! YUCK!)
When he urinates, the odor does not go away after he covers it the way all my other cats’ ammonia smells do. The smell is so strong that it takes your breath away, just like sniffing a bottle of ammonia.
I have tried different types of litter, but none seem to completely remove the odor from the room. I have tried multi-cat litter which seems to work better than the others.
Does anyonw know what I can do to help him lose the toxic ammonia smell from his urine? Thank you in advance!
Thanks for visiting and asking this interesting and useful question. It is a difficult question to answer. Bacterial action breaks down urea in the urine producing ammonia.
My initial response is that the concentration of the urine might be higher than normal. This would result in the chemicals, in the urine, being more concentrated. This in turn would mean that the chemicals are not dispersed as much in the urine. A more dilute urine is absorbed by more litter because there is more of it. This would result in a better odor suppressing action. You might notice if his urine is more concentrated and you have not mentioned this so I am not sure I am on the right track. However…
If the urine is more concentrated it would probably be caused by not drinking enough water. This may be the case even though you have sensibly placed several water bowls around your home. Cats are not great drinkers because of their African wild cat ancestry.
Do you feed your cat dry cat food, dry and wet or just wet? The answer may give a clue. Dry cat food means cats take in less water and lose more water in their stools. This leads to a more concentrated urine and a greater amount of sediment in the urine. Bacteria and sediment is not as effectively flushed out. This can increase the risk for urinary tract disease.
If I am correct, you could try changing the diet slightly or gradually. If no wet is provided, provide wet food. Cooked fish with added water is good way of getting liquid into a cat who is a poor drinker (if he likes fish). Adding water to food he likes might help.
It is said by some vets that dry cat food places the cat in a constant state of mild dehydration. Not good.
As bacterial action breaks down urea to ammonia, if there is a higher than normal amount of bacteria it might cause more ammonia (although a bacterial infection is not the same I presume as the bacteria that is naturally in the urinary tract). This is a long shot but I would check out a bacterial infection. Some sort of initial stages of feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD) might be present. This is a very common condition in the domestic cat. It can occur in the younger cat although more likely to affect older cats. There are prescription diets so a check with your vet might produce a result. Probably the best and simplest preventatives are proper weight and proper intake of water.
Hope this helps and please leave a comment if you have time as a follow up.
Associated post: Blood in urine.
Cats are very tolerant to pain and will eat, purr, and sngugle up to your attention, even while in pain. This pattern of behavior is all the more difficult that they could be manifestations of out-of-cat litter experiments signaling fe9lin.C UTI is up to you to determine if your cat has UTI or not . For this a correct understanding of urinary symptoms in cats is necessaire.Pour determine if your cat has a urinary tract infection or not, check the following symptoms: Pain in urinant Mictions fre9quentesD’urine little or no excess in toutToilettage ge9nitauxPleurer bodies while the faisantSang in urine is a symptom of the almost certain urinary tract infection in chats.Si your cat has stopped using the litter box and urinates outside of it, you can suspect the presence of infection urinaire.Comme d to urinate becomes a painful exercise that your cat will begin to associate with the litter and try to avoid it and urinate out of it. If it does, over an area of light color, you can search for traces of blood and ask for help to treat trouble.Ne let go untreated . take your cat to the vet as soon as possible. feedng cats Avoid food products with fish. Microsopic bones can cause blockages in the pathways urinaires.La most common cause of urinary tract disorders is a feline urolithiasis, a condition where the stones are formed by the accumulation of crystals in the urinary tract. This condition can break and cause a complete blockage of the urinary tract and avoid urinating completely.
Thanks Eduardo for your comment. It is in English with some French! Nice and I understood it. And it is useful.