How Long Can Cats Hold Their Pee? [ Here’s The Answer ]

A cat comes with a plethora of responsibilities. When you introduce another animal to your household, you are taking complete responsibility for the well-being of that innocent being.

One of the most tedious pieces of work for you would be associated with the litter box when it comes to the cat.

It is the place where a cat would “let it all out” every day. So, you have to keep an eye out on when the cat is discharging, and you can clean it afterward.

If you have not seen your cat pee all day, you might be wondering how long they can hold their pee in general. If the question has prompted you to open this article and worry about your cat, you have come to the right place.

While the short answer to this question would be 24-48 hours, there is much more to it than just the numbers. So, let’s dive in and analyze what it means when your cat is not peeing for a long time.

How Long Can Cats Hold Their Pee?

Most of the cats can hold their pee for as long as 24 hours. While it is on the higher end of the spectrum, some cats can even hold their pee for almost 48 hours if you are comparing yourself.

However, it is not recommended at all to force your cat to hold it for so long. In those scenarios, the bladder starts to store toxic chemicals inside, and the chances of bladder stone increase. So, if you are on a day trip with your cat, it would be best if you let it have its peace of mind once or twice.

Can Cats Go All Night Without Peeing?

If your cat is not peeing all night, it is perfectly fine to do that as long as it is peeing 2-4 times every day during the daytime. As you probably know already, there are two types of cats when it comes to nighttime activities.

Some cats are heavy night sleepers.

These cats wouldn’t mind sleeping it off every night, and you will not see any pee in the litter box when you wake up. As the cat is not doing any activity, it is less likely to go to pee either.

The other type of cat is the nocturnal beast. They will jump around, play with their toys, and have a blast while you are sleeping the night away.

These cats, however, are more likely to pee when they have to during the night.

As most cats fall in this category, don’t be surprised if they use the litter box twice or thrice when you are dozing.

However, both of these two types of cats need access to the litter box. Every time the cat is not peeing, they store some part of the toxins in their bladder.

Although cats have no problem passing the night without using it, you should not forcefully do that by denying access to their litter boxes. It can lead to various complications in later stages.

So, it would help if you kept the litter box in such a place where the cat can use it even when you are not there to supervise.

How Often Should Your Cat Pee In A Day?

A healthy cat can pee two to four times every day. It might not seem like a large number, but cats hardly drink water as much as we do.

Apart from that, your cat is most likely to spend a large section of the day sleeping. So, it is another reason why cats only pee 2-4 times every day.

However, there is no hard stop at four.

Your cat might drink more water, and it can prompt the cat to visit the litter box more often. In other words, you need to make sure that the cat is peeing as much as it is drinking.

If there is a disproportionate amount of intake and discharge, there could be a health problem.

However, less peeing is not ever a good sign. We will come to that in more detail later in the article.

If you are not sure how much your cat is peeing, there is an easy trick to it.

Cats do not pee at the same spot every time.

So, it is quite apparent from the number of clumps that your cat has peed many times since you last cleaned the litter box. It should give you an estimate of their daily peeing instances.

How To Know If Your Cat’s Bladder Is Blocked?

Urinary Bladder Blockage of Feline Urological Syndrome (FUS) is one of the most common and life-threatening diseases in male cats.

Female cats are not completely safe from this disease, but male cats are more susceptible to this situation.

Due to its life-endangering nature, it is extremely crucial to detect the symptoms from the early stages. While there are some ways to treat a cat suffering from blockage, late detection can lead to death.

So, we will look at some of the most common syndromes of FUS in male cats.

Before we go into it, remember that male cats, ages between one to eight years, are most likely to develop this disease. The common symptoms are:

• Blood in Urine
• Painful Urination
• A frequent and small amount of urination
• Loss of appetite
• Vomiting
• Urination outside the litter box
• Crying, meowing, or hiding because of pain

These are the most common signs of urinary blockage.

If your cat is having problems with urination, you should take the cat to your vet as soon as possible.

Even if you are not sure whether the cat is suffering from FUS, it is best to go for a visit anyway. Ruling it out would be the best-case scenario for your cat.

People often consider urination outside the litter box as bad behavior, but the actual scenario might be more sinister than you might imagine.

So, it is best if you look at the behavior and take the cat to a vet whenever you feel something is wrong.

Reasons A Cat Is Not Urinating:

There can be several reasons for which the cat may not pee as much as it should. So, if you are wondering what makes a cat not urinate, then we will discuss just that in this section.

Feline Urological Syndrome (FUS):

We have just discussed the concerning condition of Feline Urological Syndrome and how it makes urinating painful.

While the cat urinates more frequently in some cases, others might stop urinating because it becomes painful.

No matter what, it is a serious situation, and you should visit a vet if the symptoms are apparent.

Stress:

Stress has quite a lot of effects on a cat.

One of those effects is peeing outside their litter box or not peeing at all.

These are equally concerning, as the cat should be relaxed enough to use the litter box.

You can easily understand if your cat is stressed or scared when they spend most of the time hiding from you.

While doing so, the cat also does not use litter boxes. Hence, they discharge way less than they should.

Drinking Less Water:

Cats do not drink water as much as humans do.

While it is normal for them not to drink water to such an amount, you should also make sure they are at least hydrated.

Drinking less water affects their urination frequency, and it can lead to urinary blockage.

You can ensure that the cat is drinking water by investing in a water fountain.

In this way, the cat will know that the water is fresh and will not refrain from drinking water.

Moreover, you can also feed wet cat food to your cat to have the fluids from their food directly.

What Can You Do To Help Your Cat Urinate?

Apart from the three reasons we have given in the previous section, there could be another culprit which is quite obvious.

It revolves around the litter box. The following points should give you the reason and how you can mitigate it:

• Cats have their choices when it comes to litter. While some like clumping litter, some cats like non-clumping litter. If you have changed the litter and observed the sudden change in the frequency, you know what caused it. A slow change would be the best way to introduce new things to cats.
• Sometimes, cats do not like the location of the litter box.
• It is also possible that the cat is not finding the litter box clean.
• Less amount of litter in the litter box can also be responsible.

In these ways, you can ensure that the litter box is in perfect condition for the cat.

Conclusion:

Cats’ ability to hold their pee for as much as 48 hours does not mean that they should. It is best if they pee at least 2 to 4 times every day. So, it is your duty that they are doing so and act fast if you see any of the symptoms of FUS.