Causes
A healthy cat on a canned food diet should produce a generous amount of urine 2 - 4 times per day. Cats on dry food usually produce somewhat less, which can lead to urinary problems over time.
If your cat is producing a larger amount of urine in large clumps, the most common reasons include:
Kidney Disease: Often these cats have a picky appetite, may have lost some weight, and may even have some episodes of vomiting or diarrhea. The urine tends to be clear and odorless and is produced in large clumps.
If your cat is producing more frequent urination in a lot of small clumps, the most common reasons include:
• Urinary tract infections (UTI's).
• Kidney disease.
• Hyperthyroidism.
Symptoms
When urine clumps get to be larger and/or show up more frequently in the box, it’s called polyuria, or more than an average amount of urine. For most cats to be diagnosed with polyuria, they are producing more than 50 ml/kg/day (a calculation your veterinarian can do if needed). With polyuria, the clumps are almost always larger than they used to be, and sometimes more frequent as well.
But what about when there are a lot of little clumps? This means your cat is going to the box more often and only urinating a small amount each time. This is a totally different problem, called pollakiuria.
The most concerning situation, however, is when your kitty goes to the box and gets into the “peeing” position, but there are no urine clumps in the box after they step out. If your cat does this and is a male cat, this is an emergency that needs to be addressed immediately.
Treatment
For cats with chronic kidney disease (CKD), excessive urination usually resolves when the CKD is brought under control. This is discussed in more detail on my Kidney Disease page. Typically, this requires a change in diet, IV fluid therapy and Azodyl.
For cats with hyperthyroidism, excessive urination usually resolves when the disease is brought under control. This is discussed in more detail on my Hyperthyroidism page. The most common treatment is through medication.
For UTI's, treatments include:
• Antibiotics or medication to relieve symptoms.
• Modified diet.
• Expelling of small stones through the urethra.
• Urinary acidifiers.
• Fluid therapy.
• Urinary catheter or surgery for male cats to remove urethral blocks.