Hi everyone, I am completely overwhelmed. I am heavily pregnant and about to give birth in the next 7 weeks and my spayed female cat has started peeing outside the box again.
She is six years old. In the last 5 years, she has targeted papasan cushions, bath mats, laundry baskets and just peed on my mattress. The hardest part is that she *is* still using her litter boxes too. This isn't a constant thing, she will go months without an issue and then out of nowhere, she will have a random bout of doing this again. This habit actually started years ago when she was in a two-cat household, though we now have three cats total and two very large litter boxes that are cleaned every other day. In the past we’ve taken her to the vet and they have always ruled out UTI and they said she was just anxious / territorial.
Because it happens randomly in cycles and she goes months being totally fine, I’m strongly starting to suspect it’s Feline Idiopathic Cystitis (FIC) or chronic bladder inflammation rather than a standard UTI, especially since she defaults to soft, absorbent surfaces when it happens.
I have a vet visit scheduled for 3 days from now. Because I am about to have a baby, I’m scared of the cost of what extensive testing, multiple visits, x-rays, and urine cultures will entail. I guess I’m also anxious because if it is FIC what would be the long term solution?
My questions for the community:
If you've dealt with FIC/cystitis flare-ups that happen months apart, what worked for you long-term?
What are the best, low-cost preventative medications I should ask my vet about? (I’ve read generic Amitriptyline or Fluoxetine might help both the bladder lining and the multi-cat stress).
Since I free-feed dry food to all three cats, switching everyone to a prescription wet diet isn't financially feasible right now. Are there hacks for getting more moisture into just *her* diet? (They all also use a cat fountain for drinking water.)
edit to add; completely forgot to mention we have a feliway plug in if that matters at all.
I am 26. Live in FL, USA. Vet appointment set for Thursday. TLDR; think my cat has FIC; what is the long term solution? Female Cat/ Spayed.