How to stop a cat from peeing where it shouldn't??

[HappyLady]

Ugh, I just don't know what to do.  I have 4 cats (3 males, ages 8, and the two youngest are 2, and the female is 3).  All of them are fixed and appear to be in good health.  They have 4 litter boxes, which are always kept clean.  Back in February, I discovered one of the cats had peed in a new canvas storage bin in my daughter's room.  After that it was on the bottom shelf of her bookcase.  After that it was in a plastic storage bin she kept her dolls in.  Needless to say, I wasn't happy, especially since everything is brand new in her room.  Everything got tossed, but some pee did get on the carpet and no matter what I do I just can't get the smell out.  We went on vacation in March and I kept her door closed figuring a good 2 weeks of being kept out of her room would make whoever it is stop doing it.  Nope.  When we got back it happened again.  I've tried keeping her door shut, but my DD always forgets.  I thought I had removed anything that would tempt the cat to pee in, but tonight the culprit peed in the plastic cover to the bin that holds her Legos.   :cursing:

 

I know cats generally don't like change, but all that really happened was a new carpet was put in a month prior to the first incident, so I don't think that could be it.  Besides always keeping the door shut, any suggestions?  Are there any sprays that will keep a cat from doing this?  

[Ellie]

Can't be done. Sorry.

 

I say this as someone who has had a multi-cat family for many, many years who has tried it all. :glare:

[HappyLady]

Can't be done. Sorry.

 

I say this as someone who has had a multi-cat family for many, many years who has tried it all. :glare:

 

 

:svengo:

[MiMi 4under3]

My sister who has 3 cats experienced something similar... 

 

All of a sudden one cat started to pee everywhere BUT the litter box.  It turned out that there were crystals forming in his bladder and causing a painful blockage due to too much canned food (or something like that - I know it involved a built-up of "crystals.")  

 

He started a special diet and the problem went away.  Anytime he eats "regular" food, the problem reoccurs. 

[cbollin]

If I could only rememer the name of the episode of My Cat From Hell on animal planet....   I might have to check the DVR.   Jackson Galaxy seems to solve this stuff all the time.  The episode I watched a few days ago.. the solution involved motion sensor sprayers near the sofa, and figuring out that the cat was territorial because of cats outside, so they had motion sensor sprinklers.  hmmm...  maybe something is on animal planet's site or Jackson's site... he might sell some "miracle" smell remover or something?

 

(edit to add: but it was after they knew it was not UTI or pain related.. it was other stress factors and the solution was solving the stress)

[Paige]

My cat did that when he had a UTI. He associated pain with his box so he went elsewhere. His are recurrent and the vet thinks they are stress related. Prozac helped some until he quit liking the pill pockets. At that point, the stress of giving him a pill was worse than the other stress. 

 

You can buy Cat Attract litter. He responded well to that in getting him to use the boxes again. Whenever he gets sick, he will go outside the box. I'll take him to the vet, get some meds, and then we have to use the Cat Attract again. We also have to give him separate boxes for pee and poop. I know...he's a diva. My other cat and he have to be separated so he doesn't have anyone else using his boxes. I'm sure it makes it harder if multiple cats are using the same box. I've also tried to set up new sleeping arrangements for any houseguests so he is not displaced from his usual sleeping area or locked away at night. He always got sick after guests, and I know it sounds ridiculous to go to so much trouble for him, but after some really $$ vet bills and surgery for his UTIs, we'll try anything.

[SadieMarie]

I can't help with the behavior but we had a cat get stuck in the bathroom when we went out of town for the weekend. Vinegar, not diluted, sponged into the carpet got rid of the smell.  I had to use a lot of it and do it a few days in a row but it did get the pee smell out.  

[BrookValley.]

A very common reason for a cat to start going outside the box is pain. If it hurts to pee or use the box, they learn to associate the pain with the box, and mistakenly think new places might hurt less. So, even though they appear healthy, you may have a kitty with a UTI or other health issue. A trip to the vet for the offender would be my first course of action.

 

Any of the kitties declawed? That can cause lifelong pain and causes litter box aversion in some cats because it hurts to scratch in the litter.

 

I'd add another litter box for good measure, too, and make sure some are open/not covered, if they aren't already. Lots of cats don't like to do their business in tight spaces. Many like to stand with their front half on the edge of the box.

[Paige]

My sister who has 3 cats experienced something similar... 

 

All of a sudden one cat started to pee everywhere BUT the litter box.  It turned out that there were crystals forming in his bladder and causing a painful blockage due to too much canned food (or something like that - I know it involved a built-up of "crystals.")  

 

He started a special diet and the problem went away.  Anytime he eats "regular" food, the problem reoccurs. 

 

That's the same problem with our cat. The problem is often related to too little water intake. Our cat does better with canned food which gives him more water than dry. He gets sick on regular dry food. We combine the canned food with special dry food, but I think he'd be fine with just the canned food and keeping his life low stress.

[HappyLady]

A very common reason for a cat to start going outside the box is pain. If it hurts to pee or use the box, they learn to associate the pain with the box, and mistakenly think new places might hurt less. So, even though they appear healthy, you may have a kitty with a UTI or other health issue. A trip to the vet for the offender would be my first course of action.

 

Any of the kitties declawed? That can cause lifelong pain and causes litter box aversion in some cats because it hurts to scratch in the litter.

 

I'd add another litter box for good measure, too, and make sure some are open/not covered, if they aren't already. Lots of cats don't like to do their business in tight spaces. Many like to stand with their front half on the edge of the box.

  

 

If I could catch the culprit I'd most definitely take them to the vet, but I've yet to figure out which of the 4 is doing this.   :glare:   Wouldn't the culprit be showing other signs of illness by this point if it's been going on since February? I know cats are good at hiding an illness, but would it go on for this long without me noticing anything wrong?

 

None of them are declawed and I do have 4 litter boxes, 2 covered and 2 not covered.  

[BrookValley.]

If I could catch the culprit I'd most definitely take them to the vet, but I've yet to figure out which of the 4 is doing this.   :glare:   Wouldn't the culprit be showing other signs of illness by this point if it's been going on since February? I know cats are good at hiding an illness, but would it go on for this long without me noticing anything wrong?

 

None of them are declawed and I do have 4 litter boxes, 2 covered and 2 not covered.  

 

Oh, that stinks. I could be wrong, but I think it is possible to have some ongoing urinary tract or other issues for quite awhile without being noticeably "sick."

 

My cat has periods of litter box aversion, but in our case we only have one cat (and he poops outside the box...not sure which is worse. Ack.) so I know who it is! He has inflammatory bowel disease, but other than his litter box issues, you would never know it. He's totally healthy and happy.

 

I might still try adding more box(es), because it's a relatively cheap and easy thing to try. Maybe you've got one who really likes the open boxes but there's too much competition for the two you have? I don't know. May be a long shot. But I have always heard that the rule of thumb is one box for each cat plus one more box.

 

Good luck! I hope you figure out who it is--and why he/she is doing it!

[Shellydon]

Once health problems were ruled out, my peeing inside cat became a permanent outside cat.  That was 13 years ago.  I heated bed and a covered box and she does just fine.  I would suspect the female.

[jenn-]

You won't like this answer, but I would start with my oldest and work my way down with trips to the vet to rule out UTI or crystals.  If it is crystals as they are starting and still able to pass the cat will experience UTI like pain.  If it completely blocks it is a medical crisis.  Think about what it would be like to pass a kidney stone every single time you went to pee.  I have 1 cat and he became completely blocked.  The first vet had done a urinalysis and missed the crystals and just treated him for a UTI.  That fixed it for about 6 weeks (honestly I think having a tube shoved into his boy parts just happened to break enough crystals free that it bought some time).  When the emergency went down all the regular vets were closed and we ended up at Banefields in Petsmart where they gave the poor guy another urinalysis and once he was cleared a bit he just peed and peed and peed some more (kinda gross because he is a long hair kitty and he kept lying down in it all over the vets floor while we were waiting results).  I spotted the hunk of crystals in one of the puddles.  Now he is on some expensive urinary SO kitty food that encourages him to drink more and he hasn't had any more issues.

[Farrar]

Seconding the litter attract.  Keep the litter crazy clean.  And there's also a thing you can buy to spray in the places that they don't want to do there.  They sort of work.  Sort of.

 

But the only thing I've been able to do is to completely close off the space so the cat can't get to it.  :(

[J-rap]

The only thing that worked for us was to make sure the litter box was absolutely as clean as possible, and to put something permanent over the area where the cat used to pee.  We had to put a piece of furniture and a toy box on top of the areas.  As long as we did that, the accidents stopped.  However, even if it had been six months, the very day the furniture was moved from that spot or the litter box was not cleaned, the accidents would begin.

[Vida Winter]

Even though I like cats, this is why we will never own one. Sorry you are dealing with this.

[Pawz4me]

As others have said --

 

First you need to figure out which cat is doing it.  That's imperative.

 

If you can't, they all need to have a urinalysis done.  For the older ones I'd want blood work done, too.  To check for things like kidney disease, hyperthyroid and diabetes.

 

You need at least one more box, and preferably they'd be spread throughout the house, not all in one location.  Ideally all of them need to be uncovered.  Or at least all but one.  Humans like covered boxes; the general belief among experts is that cats hate them.  Get new boxes if the ones you have are more than a couple of years old.

 

Try Cat Attract litter.

 

Thoroughly clean the areas where the cat is going inappropriately.  Use an enzyme-based cleaner like Nature's Miracle.  Thoroughly wet the carpet and let it air dry as slowly as possible (i.e., no sunlight on it or fans blowing on it).  You may need to repeat a couple of times.

 

If all else fails, there are medications that are pretty effective for inappropriate elimination.  But this requires figuring out who the culprit is.

[VaKim]

Multi cat house here (10 that come inside). What you said about everything in your dd's room being new makes me think that is probably what happened. Anytime we get something new, some cat will pee on it if given the chance. The bad thing is, once they do, they will keep on doing it there, or the general area. If you can get some of the enzyme stuff and thoroughly clean anywhere they have gone, then keep them away as well as you can, it "might" help. But don't hold your breath. I have yet to stop mine from peeing on the unopened toilet paper beside the sink in the bathroom. I resorted to putting the tp in a trash bag so I can just replace the bag when they do it. 

 

Oh, and I found the only way to keep them from going on our bottom shelves was to put stuff there that they can't get on, in or around. Aggravating, but it worked. 

[Mergath]

My male cat was doing this at one point.  He didn't have any symptoms aside from the peeing, but it ended up being related to water intake.  We switched to the pricey pet store food with no grain and supplemented regularly with special diet canned food, then cleaned the pee spots extremely well with a rug cleaner, and the peeing stopped.

[Supertechmom]

I had some outside stray cats that were using my front flower bed.   Someone on here told me to shred lemon peel and sprinkle everywhere I didn't want them.  It worked. Only had to redo it every time it rained. Don't know how that would work inside but I would try it just to see.  Maybe there is a lemon smell carpet deodorizer?

[Reefgazer]

I know of no sprays or tricks to discourage a determined cat.  Once you are certain of the culprit, scoop him up and get him a vet check to rule out physical disease.  If he checks out OK, he just needs a bad habit broken; cats are creatures of habit and once they get into one of peeing in inappropriate places, they just continue there.  You'll need to isolate him in a smallish room (like laundry-room sized) for about a month, with a regularly cleaned litter box, no other animals.  He'll get in the habit of using the box and forget about his other urinals.

[boscopup]

I feel your pain. I have one that likes to pee on any clothing or blankets left on the floor upstairs. We have to keep kids' rooms closed. I had to throw out the rug by the bathtub (and the litterbox was IN the bathroom!). I plan to put a second litter box in that bathroom, plus we have one downstairs that my older cat uses. The My Cat from H*ll guy had one episode I saw where he suggested having x+1 litterboxes for x cats. So that would mean 5 litter boxes for you. He said if the cat is peeing in a certain area of the house, try putting a litter box close to that area. I haven't, however, put a litter box in my kids' room. :lol:

 

In my case, I know which cat it is. She's actually the younger cat. The older cat hasn't had pee problems yet. One of them pooped under my computer desk the other night though, and their litter boxes were VERY clean - I'd just cleaned them a few hours beforehand. So I don't know who did that or why. I hate cat bathroom problems. :tongue_smilie: