Strong cat urine

Hi there I am new to this site. I was wondering if someone could offer some advice on my 9 year old male cat. He is long haired and overweight. He also is a on a prescription diet for the rest of his life due to have recurrent crystals in his bladder. He is physically well other than overweight. When he goes to the litter box he gets urine on his fur and because he is overweight I don't think he can get it all clean. I know he has to lose weight and that is a whole other topic in which I don't know where to start because I have 3 other cats, but the large issue is his urine smell is disgusting to say the least. When you walk around him strong urine is all you smell. I feel bad for him because he is just not allowed on a lot of things right now including my lap. What can I do for him? What is causing his urine to be so strong? Thanks

Hi, and welcome to the site! :)

I'm not sure why the scent of urine is strong - but if he's getting urine on his fur and you think that's the culprit, there are "pet wipes" you can get from the pet store that you can use to clean him up down there without having to give him a bath every five minutes.

Getting his weight down probably won't be as tough as you think - check out this link for details: http://www.catinfo.org/feline_obesity.htm . My formally chubby guy is well on his way to being slim and trim, and he hasn't been this healthy in a long time! :thumbs up

I see that you're feeding C/D, is that dry or canned? You honestly don't have to use crappy prescription food to treat crystals. The best thing you can do for both the crystals and for losing weight is to feed wet food. All your cats would benefit. Phoozles gave you a good link to check out, and I'd recommend reading this one as well: http://www.catinfo.org/#Common_Feline_Health_Problems_and_Their_Ties_to_D iet_

With regard to overall kidney and bladder health, I cannot stress strongly enough how important WATER, WATER, WATER is in both the prevention and treatment of diseases involving this organ system.

When a cat is on a diet of water-depleted dry food, they produce a more highly concentrated urine (higher urine specific gravity - USG) and they produce a lower volume of urine which means that a higher concentration of crystals will be present in the urine. This increases the chance of these crystals forming life-threatening stones. The concentrated urine and the lack of volume production can also be very irritating to the lining of the bladder wall predisposing them to painful cystitis.

Please keep in mind that a cat has a very low thirst drive and is designed to get water with their food. A diet of canned food will keep a proper amount of water flowing through the urinary tract system and help maintain its health.

Is he neutered? An intact Tom can have a very strong smelling urine, though none of mine did. Can you trim his coat so it doesn't catch as much urine?