Strange behaviour in cat with previous nerve damage

[RagdollsMummy]

Hello all,

Not sure if any of you remember me, but before Christmas I posted about my cat Ragdoll, who had been hit by a car and had suffered various injuries along with nerve damage that affected her toileting habits. To cut a long story short, about a month ago she was given the "all-clear" so to speak - jaw, pelvis, etc was healed, including her toileting. She still will not empty her bladder completely but she empties it so that there's literally only a tiny bit left in there. She never lets it get to a dangerous size.

Anyway, this morning I was walking downstairs with her to take her outside. She had been scratching at my bedroom door so I presumed she needed the toilet. On the way there she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, would not budge at all. I thought it was strange but continued walking downstairs thinking she would follow me. A few moments after I walked away she started meowing loudly and I noticed she'd done a small wee (not enough to constitute a full wee but definitely more than if she had "leaked"). She was very vocal, also purring very loudly and wanting a lot of fuss off me. I don't understand this at all. Even while she was recovering she never had any accidents in corners or anything, let alone stopping dead in the middle of the floor to wee. She has never leaked and as I said just now, I don't think she leaked in this instance because A: the wee was too big and B: she stopped like she knew what she was doing/what was happening, though she did not try to scratch over it like she would normally do. There has been one incident before where she was desperate to go to the toilet, and when I carried her she weed down me. I presumed this was because my arms or something were putting too much pressure on her full bladder. Does anyone know what this means? The healing process won't have just reversed, would it? I understand that full nerve damage healing can take up to 6 months, could this be part of it healing further? Would really appreciate any advice or speculations. Thanks guys!

[critters]

Time will probably have to tell. It's possible that she has a bit of a UTI or crystals or something, changing her functioning.

[RagdollsMummy]

Yes, I did think it may be cystitis. She did it again a couple of hours afterwards, but so far after that she's been ok and been outside most of the time. I was going to get either cystaid or cystophan to see if that helps. Do you know have any experience with either of these? I found her behaviour afterwards very peculiar too - like she was in heat, very erratic and frisky. She has been spayed but I think has been in heat in the past. Is it common for females to spray? And do they tend to spray in strange places as opposed to a corner?

[critters]

Never used those 2. And yes, girls can spray; some even make a habit of it! I've never noticed them to spray in weird places.

[RagdollsMummy]

Would you recommend any home remedies or over the counter medication that can help UTIs?

[critters]

I don't. We use the Rx stuff.

[CarolC]

My cat was spayed, but they accidentally left part of an ovary. I panicked when she went into heat and "married" a tomcat, but the vet said not to worry, she couldn't get pregnant. Even if she couldn't get pregnant, unfortunately she got a bad infection the second time she was in season and had to be spayed again to remove the stump of the ovary.

Next time she acts like that, you might try petting her all the way along her back to the "tail" and see if she "assumes the position" going lower on her front legs with her hind end up, as if she was prepared to be romantic...

[RagdollsMummy]

I let her out this morning and watched her go to the toilet, so I was satisfied she wouldn't do it again. 3 hours later she came back in and did it in several spots, followed by the meowing and wanting to be stroked, etc. I can't help feeling it's a behavioural issue because if it was a UTI or anything like that, surely she wouldn't have held it in all night and gone in the right place this morning? It's really confusing me. The meowing only happens for about 5 mins afterwards, so I didn't have a chance to test the tail thing.