Cat Drinking Too Much Water and Urine is Discolored

by Cecile Roosa
(Lenoxdale, MA)

Reader Question: My cat's urine is brown, what should we do?

Hello, I rescued a Persian cat who had been found hanging around a local restaurant, she was emaciated. She is such a love , a real snuggler.

I have had her about a month and is eating well, putting on weight nicely and is settling in nicely. She has always drank large amount of water.

In the last day I have noticed that her urine is brown. She is acting fine. any suggestions

Thanks Ceil

Suggestions from our Veterinarian When Cat Urine is Brown or Discolored

Dear Ceil

Alarm bells should go off anytime a cat drinks a lot of water and has discolored urine. These can be symptoms of potentially serious problems like kidney disease, urinary tract infection/inflammation, diabetes mellitus, hyperthyroidism, exposure to toxins, red blood cell disorders, muscle damage, and more.

Make an appointment with your veterinarian. He or she will perform a complete physical examination and then will probably want to run a panel of blood work, a urinalysis, a fecal examination, and test your cat for feline leukemia virus and feline immunodeficiency virus (two infections that are relatively common, particularly in stray cats). I suspect that the results of this work-up should give you a pretty good idea as to what might be going on with your cat.

Best of luck,

Jennifer Coates, DVM