Is this a sudden thing, or has she always done this?

You really need to take your cat to the vet, could be a UTI and can be
helped, I had a cat that did that, and she needed antibotic's and then
was fine, sure hope things work out for you and her.

Best of luck,

Aimee

You should really take your cat in to see the vet and have a urinaysis
done, and probably an xray to check for bladderstones. If there are no
stones and no bacteria in the urine, it's possible your cat may have a
condition called Interstitial Cystitis. This is a chronic inflammation
of the bladder that happens because there are flaws in the protective
lining of the bladder and the urine irritates the bladder wall causing
inflammation, blood and symptoms of a urinary tract infection. When a
cat has a UTI it will often urinate innapropriately as it associates the
pain with the litterbox. This could explain why your cat does this on
and off as the incidents may coincide with flare-ups of the condition. I
have two cats with this condition and have been able to control it, and
if otherb issues are ruled out I suggest you try my approach for a few
months and see if you see improvement.

1) The first thing you'll need to do is eliminate dry food.
Dry food diets have been shown to exacerbate or cause urinary tract
issues. Cats have evolved to derive most of their moisture intake from
what they eat. As a result the cat does not get enough water from dry
food and usually doesn't drink enough to make up for the losses, thereby
not allowing the bladder to be properly flushed and keeping the cat in a
constant state of dehydration, which puts a lot of stress on other
organs as well. The fact is dry food is not a species appropriate diet
and is now suspected to cause diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease,
kidney problems, etc.
A good website that has a lot of articles that addresses a lot of this
is
http://www.catnutrition.org
When choosing a canned food, it is also important to only feed *high
quality* foods, which generally use a fixed formula and are more
digestable as they contain quality ingredients (no by-products), where
grocery store foods generally are made with whatever is cheapest.

2) The next thing you'll need to do is put your cat on a 12 hour feeding
schedule. Free feeding is not a good idea, and can't be done with canned
food anyway. I also recommend that you give your cat a variety of
flavors (something different each day), so you don't risk the cat
getting fixated on one particular food to the exclusion of all others,
and also to alleviate boredom with a food where the cat gets sick of it
and stops eating it altogether.

3) Supplement your cat with Glucosamine(Cosequin). While it is generally
used for joints and arthritis, it also works to rebuild the protective
layer of the bladder, which in turns stops the pain and irritation that
causes the cat to exhibit symptoms of a UTI. For this purpose your best
bet is to buy Cosequin for Cats, which can be given by capsule or mixed
in with the canned food. It is available through your vet, or can be
purchased online without a prescription. The dose is 1 capsule for every
10 pounds. If your cat is larger, say 12-13 pounds. I would suggest you
use a capsule and a half rather than try to get away with using one
capsule as it would be better to do a little extra than not enough. If
your cat is smaller than 10 pounds, just use one whole capsule.

4) Try to determine, then eliminate, what any stressors might be in
household. Stress can exacerbate or cause flare-ups in cats with IC. You
can also buy Feliway plugins and use those as they have a calming effect
on cats and can help reduce stress. The refills last longer than the
packaging says, and the ones I have last close to two months, so the
long term expense is minimal.

5) Keep the litterbox immaculately clean. Generally, as a rule, using a
clumping litter (natural litters such as World's Best Cat Litter or an
*unscented* clay litter such as Everclean are good) and scooping a
minimum of twice a day will keep the litterbox clean and to the cat's
liking. It is also important to regularly disinfect the box (every 2-3
weeks) and completely change the litter *at least* once a month. Having
a dirty litterbox can be really stressful for cats, and the routine I
have described to keep the litterbox clean takes no more than a few
minutes a day for scooping and maybe 10 minutes every few weeks for the
disinfecting and litter change. HTH.

Megan