My poor kitty :(

I don't have any useful medical information to offer, just sympathy. Your cat knows you love him/her. You were doing what you could with the information you had. The important thing is to get kitty the help.

I've lost a male kitty to this. The Ash in cat food crystalizes in their bladders, it's very common for this to happen in male kitties.

This is very painful for them.

Get him to a vet, it may not be too late. I hope it's not too late.

My vet told me that seafood flavored dry cat food has the highest amount of Ash in it. I avoid it like the plague, and am a label reader for my kitties as well as myself.

I hope he gets better soon.

wait a week and see how they are then take him to the vet if nothing has changed.

NO! Don't wait a week. Get to the vet as soon as possible. UTI's in cats can be deadly. I almost lost one of my cats 2 years ago. She had no symptoms at first---they are really good at hiding illness. Finally I noticed she was losing weight & then she started vomiting. It took about 2 weeks of care to get her better--medicine, force feeding, & subcutaneous fluids at home. We kept her in the bathroom because she was vomiting everything up all the time. It cost about $2,000 in the end, but she did recover. Do not mess around & go to the vet!

It would be great if they could talk, wouldn't it? At least you are taking him or her to the vet today. There isn't much you can do to alleviate it yourself.

Should you have any further issues with your animals urinating outside the litter box, I would suggest not rubbing their nose in the urine or pouring water on the cat. They don't learn from this, and, if they are not using their box, it is usually due to stress or a medical condition. The aforementioned actions will only serve to cause more stress.

I'm not trying to make you feel worse - it's just that if this should happen again, I want you to know.

Agree with the above, please don't do those things to a cat even if you think it is behavioral. Cats do not respond to that sort of discipline.

Take him to the vet - immediately. He will die if you do not.

I lost one cat that way because I had no idea - he went from fine to dead in 26 hrs.

My last kitty also suffered this and spent several trips to the vet. Once he's back home and healthy - ONLY WET FOOD. If the vet had told me this instead of selling me high-cost dry food, I'd still have my beloved Thor.

They get this because of crystals which block them. The crystals form because they are dehydrated and even if they have fresh water all the time, it's not enough. They need the moisture from their food as well.

I hope you are able to save your baby.

Ash in catfood? I'm not surprised but how can you avoid this? Thinking about making home made cat food... wow. Animals aren't trash!

Get him to the vet NOW. UTI in a male especially can cause death, really quickly. Females aren't so bad, but with males it is VERY SERIOUS!

Get him to the vet NOW. UTI in a male especially can cause death, really quickly. Females aren't so bad, but with males it is VERY SERIOUS!

This! You'll need to change his food too.

Get him to the vet NOW. My cat had this for about a month, I knew something was wrong but I was young and the time and had to have my mum take him but she never bothered. Day I finally convinced her to to take him, he died. He was only 18 months olds. A ragdoll too. Turned out he had kidney stones. The cause was too much protein in his dry food.

EDIT:
"and now I feel like the worst kitty mamma ever"
And so you should, it's awful the way you treated that cat, I'm a huge animal lover, I'd never do that to an animal. You wouldn't do that to a child if they wet the bed. Animals feel ashamed of themselves as it is when they have an accident.

Get him to the vet asap.

Give some thought to getting rid of big name brand commercial cat foods (full of corn and many biologically inappropriate ingredients) and instead provide natural raw food. If you aren't willing to make meals for your cat (from healthy raw meats, organs, bone) then at least get dehydrated raw that has all biologically appropriate ingredients (ie cats are carnivores, there should not be any grains and preferably not much vegetables and fruit, low in carbs and high in fat and protein). There are many high quality, non grain, cat foods now on the market. But nothing healthy is made by the big name brands such as Purina, Whiskas, Iams, Science Diet etc.

Unfortunately, the vets won't agree that there is anything wrong with industrial cat food but, just like our doctors, they do not know very much about nutrition.

Edit: they will likely recommend a new food... that they stock. Read the ingredients. If it has grain, canola, soy/legumes, and lots of vegetables and fruit ask them to explain why those are the best foods for a carnivore. Just because it's expensive doesn't mean it's healthier for your cat.

Why are you just now finding this out?!?! Cats pee outside litter box and I immediately take them to the vet!!!! If a uti goes on for a long time not only will they be in pain but it can lead to other complications as well!!!!!!!

One of my cats was getting frequent UTIs nd my other (bless his soul, he passed last year) got diabetes. I switched them to WET food, and my cats BOTH improved In their respective conditions.

Most cats get 70% of their water from food so it's important you are giving them wet SPECIES APPROPRIATE food. Secondly you need to be cleaning the litter box MINIMUM once a day with a clumping litter and completely change it once a month.

If you ever see your cat do something like this in the future DO NOT WAIT and please don't "punish it" by spraying it with a water bottle!

Hope u r listening to all the above except for a few uninformed
I would guess that since u have not posted again, u took ur cat to the vet....smart move if u did.....not one open? Find the nearest Bansfield...usually inside a Petsmart...open usually 7 days a week....they are knowledgeable and have awesome care packages...have saved me tons of money and saved not one but two of my cats lives...the latest was a urinary blockage...sounds like what ur kitty may have....it is an emergency..their bladder cant hold out and will actually "BUST".....DO NOT WAIT!!!
My cat needed surgery to remove the blockage and we have him on a prescription "dry" food specifically for urinary health
Yes I said dry food.....ash is a problem if u dont buy a premium cat food....if they dont list the ash content....most likely too high dont buy it. If I am not mistaken, I believe you want ur ash level at 6 or below....but that is not the only culptit.
Water...make sure u clean water didh out frequently and thoroughly......also offer fresh water often and toss a few ice cubes in...my cat loves the ice in his water.
Would love to hear how your cat is doing, hope tthings were caught in time.
Ps sorry about typos.....no time to fix them all.

yes I had a cat that did that a lot to and it was important to get him on a low ash diet. At the time I had him on Meow Mix. Worst one of all the foods to give a cat. Get kitty to the vet ASAP and onto a low ash diet and lots of TLC.

He has been peeing on everything for like a month and, obviously, I've been scolding him and spraying him with water, ect. He's just over a year old so I thought it was some kind of dominance thing as we have another male cat in the house. He went to pee on the floor last night and all that came out was three drops... of blood I did some research and I guess peeing out of the litterbox is the number one sign for a urinary tract infection in cats. I have had these before--they SUCK--and now I feel like the worst kitty mamma ever. Instead of getting him medicine, I was yelling at him. Instead of getting him to a doctor, I rubbed his face in it. Instead of comforting him, I grabbed him by the scruff and poured a glass of water on him.

anyone ever deal with UTI's in cats? I need to find something to make him feel better till I can get him to the vet later today.

there is no excuse for abusing animals, even if they're peeing inconveniently.

you shouldn't own pets.

He has been peeing on everything for like a month and, obviously, I've been scolding him and spraying him with water, ect. He's just over a year old so I thought it was some kind of dominance thing as we have another male cat in the house. He went to pee on the floor last night and all that came out was three drops... of blood I did some research and I guess peeing out of the litterbox is the number one sign for a urinary tract infection in cats. I have had these before--they SUCK--and now I feel like the worst kitty mamma ever. Instead of getting him medicine, I was yelling at him. Instead of getting him to a doctor, I rubbed his face in it. Instead of comforting him, I grabbed him by the scruff and poured a glass of water on him.

anyone ever deal with UTI's in cats? I need to find something to make him feel better till I can get him to the vet later today.

2 scenarios come to mind:
#1: You've had him for awhile. The peeing is a new behavior over the last month.

OR
#2: He's new to your home, and has been peeing all over the house for the last month.

In either situation, a visit to the vet was warranted. New or unusual behaviors in my cat have me on the phone ASAP. And any new addition to to our family gets a well kitty checkup.

Please, please, please treat your furbabies with loving care.