In this post:
- Cat Urine Color Chart
- What Color Is Normal For Cat Pee?
- What Does Unhealthy Cat Urine Look Like?
- What Causes A Cat's Pee To Turn Green?
- Why Does My Cat Have Blood In Her Urine?
- How Many Times A Day Does A Cat Urinate?
- Observation Of The Volume Of Your Cat’s Pee
- How To Clean Cat Urine?
- Other Abnormalities You Need To Pay Attention To
- What Does Cat Urine Smell Like?
- What Is The Best Way To Get Rid Of Cat Pee Smell?
- How Do You Tell If A Cat Has UTI?
- Closing Thoughts
With a cat urine color chart, you’ll have a better insight into your cat’s health, so make sure to continue reading!
We are already familiar with the fact that cats are skilled hiders of illness, and they would rather hide that they’re in pain than seek help from a cat owner. On top of that, it is hard to know from the outside that they suffer from some health issues.
Luckily, there is a way to understand your cat’s health, and that is to observe a cat’s pee! How often does it happen, how much, and if the cat’s urine is a strange color? It is easy to learn about a cat’s possible health issues through the odor, volume, and color of the urine.
Now, straight to the point!
Cat Urine Color Chart
Let’s first discuss urine. Urine is a fluid, a mix of waste products that accumulate in the kidneys and water. Like any other urine, it consists of creatinine, urea, uric acid, and ammonia which are natural waste products that are formed after the breakdown of proteins.
However, the color changes may show us our cat's potential health issues. Cat urine color chart will help us tremendously:
| Urine Color | What Does It Mean? |
|---|---|
| Light yellow | The urine is normal, and your cat is well-hydrated. |
| Red | If the urine is red, it probably contains fresh blood, which may indicate crystals, UTI, cancer, autoimmune disease, kidney disease, or blood parasite. It is a must to seek medical help. |
| Brown | If the urine is brown, it indicates cystitis, UTI, autoimmune or kidney disease, blood parasite, or cancer; just like with red urine, you need to seek a doctor! |
| Dark yellow | If your cat’s urine is dark yellow, it may indicate that your cat is dehydrated, and you can try feeding her a moist diet and slowly increasing water intake so your cat can have proper hydration you can try with water fountains and any other ways of making your cat drink more water, whatever comes into your mind. |
What Color Is Normal For Cat Pee?
Normal healthy urine ranges from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline PH levels. It is essential that you pay attention to your cat’s litter box since, from the feces and urine, you can spot potential health issues.
You surely won’t miss if you see pink or red urine; that is a clear sign of hematuria which stands for blood in the urine. Blood in the urine is caused by ulcers and tumors that develop when cancer reaches the urinary system.
Keep in mind that a cat’s urine should be pale yellow, similar to the urine of a healthy human individual.
But cats’ urine may be a bit more concentrated and, therefore, a bit darker in color than our urine. That’s why the cat urine color chart will help you easily distinguish what may be troubling your cat.
What Does Unhealthy Cat Urine Look Like?
While normal cat urine will have a characteristic acidic and pungent scent, some of the components mentioned above affect urine odor.
However, since the color of the urine, like cloudy, pink, red, and brown, may indicate problems, abnormal urine odor is also an indicator of cystitis, bladder infections, dehydration, and other health issues.
If your cat’s pee is a pale yellow and clear, there is absolutely no need to worry. That means that your cat is well-hydrated and healthy!
But, we will now discuss some of the urine colors that may indicate problems:
Cloudy
If you spot cloudiness in a cat’s pee, your cat’s urine is contaminated with pus. However, it is not a clear indication of a disease or an illness, but it may indicate some infection in the upper or lower urinary tract of your dear feline.
Before you decide to take your cat to the vet, you may try a Checkup At Home Wellness Test Kit. It is a non-invasive and quick test that will show the most common problems that domestic cats have.
Red Or Pink
If you see pinkish tones in your cat’s urine, there is no doubt that it is blood. The blood in the urine may indicate that your cat suffers from feline lower urinary tract disease and cystitis.
• Cystitis is the swelling of a cat’s bladder, which is usual with domestic cats. Mostly it is not a reason to panic; however, it can cause significant discomfort to your feline friend.
• Feline lower urinary tract disease causes problems in the bladder and lower urinary system. Other than that are polycythemia ( excessive production of red blood cells) and kidney stones.
There is always a possibility of some bacterial issues in urine samples, usually called a voided sample or a free catch.
A cat with urinary problems like urinary tract infection or lower urinary tract disease will have pain and discomfort when urinating. You can notice that she’s often urinating outside the litter box.
It is advised that you take your cat to the veterinarian as soon as possible.
RELATED: Why Do Cats Pee On Bathroom Rugs?
What Causes A Cat's Pee To Turn Green?
A dark yellow shading to the green color of the urine is the result of a bilirubin effusion into the kidneys, which cause can be from red blood cells in the circulatory system, often called Immune-Mediated Hemolytic Anemia, and gall bladder or liver disease.
Why Does My Cat Have Blood In Her Urine?
If you see blood in the urine of your cat, it may indicate that your cat is under stress, or phase urinary tract infection, bladder infection, dehydration, crystals, or bladder stones. All of that leads to hematuria.
How Many Times A Day Does A Cat Urinate?
Well, this is a tough one since cats do that often without our notice. The factors that significantly affect how much your cat urinates are the type of food she eats and how much water she drinks. A well-hydrated cat should urinate 2 to 4 times a day.
Since wet food has more water content than dry food, it may lead to higher urine output. But, this is actually a good thing since cats are advised to consume moisture.
However, if you notice some changes in your cat’s urination, more or less frequent, you need to take her to the vet. If you have a male cat, pay attention more since the urethral blockages are more common in males and can be easily life-threatening.
Observation Of The Volume Of Your Cat’s Pee
As we’ve learned by now, a healthy cat is expected to be 2 to 4 times a day. However, that is totally affected by heat, diet, water intake, and humidity. Keep track of the frequency of urination. If there is an unusual increase in urination, it can indicate kidney issues, hyperthyroidism, and diabetes.
You can take your cat to the vet to explain all of the observations you made. If you have a male cat and you notice that the output of urine is smaller, then that can indicate that some crystals are blocking the pee in the urethra. That usually happens if cats consume too much dry cat food.
So as a responsible cat owner, you need to get high-quality wet food like canned cat food or freeze-dried cat food that will reduce crystals and prevent blockages in the urethra. You can also get urinary cat food to help your feline friend with urinary problems.
How To Clean Cat Urine?
What to do if your cat has peed outside the litter box? Don’t worry; we got your back!
If you want to remove the urine in a proper way, you need an enzymatic cleaner to break the urine down. Detergents and household products will mask the odor for a while, but they won’t altogether remove it.
So you should do this:
1. Pick up as much urine as you can, and use paper towels so you can throw them away.
2. Over the stain, put warm water in order to attenuate it as much as possible
3. Now proceed with removing the moisture with paper towels.
4. Finally, take an enzymatic cleaner and use it according to the product's instructions.
RELATED: How To Get Cat Pee Out Of A Beanbag Chair
Other Abnormalities You Need To Pay Attention To
What other changes can you notice if your cat suffers from bladder or kidney problems? Why does your cat pee outside the litter box:
1. Your household has many cats, and you are the owner of one that is mean and don’t want to share the same litter box.
2. The litter box is dirty, and this is their protest; they’re signaling to you that they need a clean litter box.
3. Your cat is so stressed that she’s peeing where she can sense her urine to feel safer.
4. Your cat doesn’t prefer the cat litter you purchased, and she wants you to change it.
5. The litter box is out of your cat’s reach.
RELATED: Can You Put Two Litter Boxes Next To Each Other?
However, if you are sure that
1. Your cat’s litter box is in the perfect place in your household
2. The litter box is clean and tidy
3. You have only one cat
4. There is not a single thing that can cause stress and anxiety to your cat
5. You are using the same cat litter, and your cat was perfectly okay with it before
then; it could indicate some health issues. Since she can associate the litter box with her pain if she suffers from UTI, kidney infection, or bladder infection and she avoids using the litter box. She can also pee outside to inform you that she has problems.
The odor, color, and volume of a cat’s urine are not a total indicator of the cat’s health; however, they can help you since they don’t usually manifest some signs of illnesses. A cat urine color chart can help you determine possible issues so you can behave accordingly, helping your cat with problems, preventing issues, etc.
What Does Cat Urine Smell Like?
Cat urine smells like ammonia, but it can smell even worse if there are some urinary issues. If your cat happens to have some unusual accidents around your house, it is essential to check her health.
Cat urine may smell unpleasant for various reasons. Since cats' evolution goes back to animals that needed to live on small amounts of water, that resulted in urine much more concentrated than the urine of humans. That means that the odor will only be strongest due to high concentration.
The urine of the adult cat consists of the feminine, which stands for a sulfur amino acid. However, both females and males discharge this chemical, but males a bit more. Felinine is without smell until bacteria break it down, which causes a pungent smell. Felinine smell is essential for pheromones that attract cats of the opposite sex, and of course, it serves as marking territory.
Fun fact: cat urine is totally repelling to mice and rats; however, those rats that are infected with toxoplasmosis become attracted to the scent. This makes them easier to prey on.
Other factors that may affect the urine smell are medication and food.
What Is The Best Way To Get Rid Of Cat Pee Smell?
If you want to get rid of the unpleasant cat pee smell, you can try cleaning the area with vinegar and treating it with an enzyme product that will eliminate the uric acid, and there won’t be any cat odors to smell. It is good to know those enzyme products and vinegar work on mattresses, hardwood floors, and carpets.
How Do You Tell If A Cat Has UTI?
If you spot reduced amounts of urine, discomfort, or pain while urinating, straining to urinate or not urinating at all, urine mixed with blood, or urinating outside the litter box and around the house, know that those are the signs of urinary tract infections.
Closing Thoughts
With a cat urine color chart, you won’t have to think much about your cat’s health since it will help you right away. It is interesting what urine could reveal about your cat’s health, isn’t it?
Pay attention to your cat’s urine color, and urine, volume in order to know when it is time to intervene and go to the vet for a urinalysis.
As a pet parent, it is highly recommended that if you notice bloody urine, you intervene as soon as possible. Other than that, it is no reason to panic and worries!
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