Is your cat going to the litter box every few minutes? If your cat keeps going to the litter box but nothing happens, or you notice your cat peeing frequently in small amounts, it's time for a trip to the veterinarian. Why? Considering your true cat going in and out of the litter box or having frequent unproductive trips to the litter box likely means in that location'south a medical issue.

Why is my cat going to the litter box every few minutes?

Commencement off, if yous use a traditional litter box and don't scoop every day, your cat may exist making frequent "unsatisfactory" trips to the litter box considering the box isn't every bit clean equally your cat would prefer.

Dr. Justine Lee, DVM, DACVECC, DABT, explains that a make clean litter box is essential to good cat wellness. At that place are two rules of owning traditional litter boxes: Scoop daily, and have n+1 traditional litter boxes per cat (so if you lot have 2 cats, you need 2+one litter boxes, or a total of three).

Yet, say you continue a tidy litter box or own a self-cleaning litter box—if your true cat keeps going to the litter box but naught happens, at that place are a few medical issues that may be occuring.

Feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD)

The majority of the time, your cat's urinary symptoms are the result of feline lower urinary tract disease (sometimes called feline interstitial cystitis or feline urologic syndrome), or a sterile inflammation of the bladder. Signs of FLUTD include, just are not limited to:

  • More than 3-four trips to the litter box a solar day
  • Excessive grooming of the genital area
  • Squatting to urinate in front of you
  • Urinating in weird places, like on plastic bags, on your laundry, in the bathtub or sink
  • Discolored urine (eastward.k., claret-tinged)
  • Absence of big clumps in the litter box
  • Straining to urinate
  • Acting painful (e.k., meowing or crying out when using the litter box)
  • Abnormal-smelling urine

Urinary tract infection (UTI)

More rarely, your cat may exist experiencing a UTI. UTIs are more oft seen in older cats (greater than x years of historic period). With a UTI, you're more likely to detect small amounts of foul-smelling, blood-tinged urine on the fur or in the true cat carrier.

The symptoms of a cat UTI are very similar to FLUTD. Veterinarians tin discern which infection your cat has past performing a medical work-upwards that includes a physical exam, a urine sample, and a urine culture.

Feline urethral obstruction (FUO)

The symptoms of feline urethral obstruction are also similar to FLUTD and UTIs—but an FUO can exist a life-threatening emergency. With an FUO, the poisons from your cat's kidneys build up in the bloodstream from the inability to urinate, resulting in temporary kidney failure, salt residuum abnormalities, and, rarely, death.

Your vet will annotation that with an FUO, a big, distended, non-expressible bladder is present (as compared to a small, painful bladder with a UTI).

Constipation

If your true cat keeps going to the litter box but nothing happens, you could exist dealing with something other than a urinary issue. Instead, your cat could have chronic constipation. Constipation is more often seen in middle-aged to geriatric cats (around 8+ years of historic period). Untreated, cat constipation tin can result in abnormal enlargement of the colon (called megacolon), which can be chronically difficult—and costly—to manage.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

On the other manus, your cat going to the litter box every few minutes with diarrhea could be a sign of inflammatory bowel affliction. IBD in cats is like to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or Crohn'due south disease in humans. Another prominent sign of IBD in cats is vomiting.

Learn more about what's normal and what isn't when it comes to true cat poop.

Cat going in and out of the litter box? There'due south an app for that.

Orange tabby cat lying on a litter mat in front of a beige Litter-Robot 3 Connect next to a bench with an orange tabby kitten and basket of flowers

If y'all're reading this and y'all're unsure virtually your cat'southward litter box habits, so it's fourth dimension to change that! With a WiFi-enabled litter box like the Litter-Robot 3 Connect, the app will notify yous every time your kitty uses the litter box. If you notice a major fasten in action—like the case below—you can act fast past taking your true cat to the vet or the emergency clinic.

AutoPets Connect app screen showing a cat going to the litter box every few minutes

In add-on to app notifications that provide contempo insights into your true cat's health, the Litter-Robot is cocky-cleaning—meaning you never have to scoop again. All the same, it's a good thought to continue an eye on your cat's litter box habits, regardless of whether you're the ane cleaning the box.

Is your cat going to the litter box every few minutes? Now you know that if the answer is yes, you had better become to your veterinarian every bit soon every bit possible

orange tabby cat lying in front of a beige Litter-Robot - why is my cat going to the litter box every few minutes?