Investingating Discolored Kitten Urine

by Brenda with Vet Recommendations
(Guam)

Reader Question: Cause of Discolored Kitten Urine

I was driving to work and I honestly found fugly on the side of the road. She was probably about a foot away from being a flat kitten. I don't know how old she was but knew she was little and would not have made it if I didn't get her off the road. I turned around and went back to scare her off the road and instead she scared me by running to me crying her little heart out.

I took her to my moms and put her in the bathtub til I got off work. I have now had fugly for a couple of weeks and she seems fine but I do have one worry. I noticed tonight that her urine is not the color of normal kittens/cats and was wondering could this be because I am feeding her adult cat food or could it be something more?

The urine was kind of redish brown. I don't have a lot of money and my autistic son is very attached to her (the first pet he has ever been attached to). I don't want to get rid of her but I don't want my other cat to get sick if she is.

Vet Suggestion Regarding Discolored Kitten Urine

Dear Brenda,

Fugly sounds like one lucky little kitten to have found you!

Her discolored kitten urine is certainly not normal. It could very well be a sign that there is blood in her urine. She may have a urinary tract infection or another condition that could jeopardize her health.

There is no way for me to narrow down the potential causes without an exam and a urinalysis. I strongly recommend that you get her into a veterinarian ASAP. It sounds like she has had a rough start to life and so may not be able to shake this off without some help. I’m sure the last thing that you want to happen is for her to get very sick or even die now that your son has bonded with her.

I do not think the fact that she is eating adult cat food is playing a role here, but it is best if she eats primarily kitten food. Kittens do have different nutritional needs than do adult cats. Isolating her from your other cat is a good idea until she gets a clean bill of health from a veterinarian (e.g., no internal parasites, fleas, feline leukemia or immunodeficiency virus, etc.).

Best of luck,

Jennifer Coates, DVM