We've had this cat for about 6 years now and we've always had trouble with her peeing on everything - first it was our bed, then the spare bed, then the bathroom rugs, the babies changing pad, and now our Christmas tree skirt. Every time we catch her, we punish her and try to make it less desirable for her to pee on it - ie: put a plastic sheet on the bed stopped her from that or now we just don't leave rugs on the bathroom floors. We are at a loss as to why she does this, she's never had any health issues and she gets tons of attention and there are 5 litter boxes in the house for 2 cats. The other cat is anti-social, but this one loves to cuddle and puts up with all the "attention" the kids give her and I really don't want to get rid of her; my son loves her - she's "his angel-kitty" and I'm not ready to explain her leaving to him. I guess my question is this - is there something you can spray on things (non-toxic of course and preferably nothing harsh as my son has super sensitive skin) that would repel her and keep her away from her "trouble spots"? I just wish I knew why she did it!
**she is spayed and the vet has never found any problems the other times she's done this.
Please help - my husband is very close to just taking her to a shelter and I know what will happen to her there and I just can't bear the thought of it!
Thank you for all of the advice! We've decided it is related to her anxiety, although we can't afford any medication for her, we are trying to limit the big changes for her. We did leave town for a weekend and came home smelling of other animals... she didn't react well... so now we are sure that it's anxiety related. We are not going to get rid of her, she seems to fit well in our defunct family (our dog has seperation anxiety and allergies) and we all do love her. I will be using some of the tips for cleaning the smell and preventing her from going again in the same area! Thank you for your help!
HI L.,
My cat used to do this too. I started using puppy potty pads around the house and now she only goes on those. We don't have a litter box anymore. Try putting a few around the house and see if it works. You can buy them at Target, grocery store, pet store, etc.
Hope that works for you like it did for me.
S.
This is easy for me to say because I do not like cats. Get rid of it. You cannot get cat pee out of anything. My ex used to bring in strays and one time a stray peed on my brand new banana republic pants and that was it for me!!
Please try a product called Feliway. You can get it at Petco or PetSmart: http://catfaeries.com/feliway.html
I used Feliway in the past when I've added a cat to the family, or moved, and we never had a problem with spraying.
Also, is she spayed? If not, that could be your problem.
Lastly, what does your vet have to say? Has a bladder infection been ruled out?
First you need to get your kitty to the vet and make sure your kitty does not have a bladder infection. Second I have found that my kitty does not like to have a dirty litterbox, so try to keep your litterboxes super clean. Also cats will "pee" on things to leave their scent on things to express their feelings about something. This might be for attention issue but I would check out the medical issues and rule that out and then go from there as you can get sprays for use to avoid cats "peeing" on your things. You can get them at pet supply stores and thru mail order places.
Good Luck and I do hope that your kitty is fine.
Meows to you.
Our older cat was peeing in certain spots and it stunk like a male cat spray. She had a bladder infection and it happened another two times after we treated her and again, bladder infection. I took some pet cleaner that I bought at Petco or Petsmart and it took the smell out of the carpet. I'd check to see if there's something medical causing the issue so it stops.
A friend of mine had a cat that started doing this and her vet told her that what she needed to do was to lock the cat and his/her food and water and litter box in a confinded area for several days even a week. My friend had a small bathroom in her basement and that is where they put their cat. After several days (of course you go in to feed and water and change the litter box) if the cat is going in the litter box you then let them out to a little bigger area if you can but not the whole house. But make sure that the cat has used the litter box several times before you let her out. If they start again lock them back in the confineded room again for several days until they get the message. But if your cat has been doing this for 6 years you may have no choice but to get rid of it. Cats have very strong personalities and they are not easily swayed. This worked for my friend and they still have there cat to this day and have no other problems. Good luck.
S.
Have you recently changed litter brands? When we first got our cats, my vet told me whatever type (scoopable, crystals, the pine stuff or other) you stick to that type and Brand the cats whole life. The other thing is food, have you changed brands? That was the other thing the vet said, never change. Cats will tell you they don't like the new food or litter by peeing in other places. My two cats have been on Science Diet since we got them. It's a bit more spendy, but I refuse to buy something cheaper for this same reason. My older cat did have one peeing outside his box last year, but I took him in and found out he had a urinary track infection. He was put on meds for one week and has been fine ever since.
This sounds a lot like the cat we just had. I had a male for 9.5 years. The vet didn't have any reasons for him to be peeing on items...he usually went on my daughter's items. This was totally behavioral. We have a 2nd cat that they've grown up their entire life together. In the end, he was too old to give away and we couldn't find anyone to give him to, so we had to put him down...very painful and I still cry about it at times...it's been nearly 2 months. They do have air freshener style behavior sprays, etc. However, they didn't fit into our budget long term, etc...
:D Keep the bedroom/bathroom doors closed, and check at a pet-co or pet store for a recommendation on a spray to use to keep her away from other problem areas. Something that we do (as my husband stupidly hates cats and makes the cat nervous=peeing whenever he enters the room)is keep a doghouse with warm bedding in the garage. We let the cat come in to be loved, or watch us play, but he's only allowed in certain areas and we put him back out often. That's where our litter box is, too. we put a cat door in the walkout garage door, and taught him how to use it, so he's now an outside cat, who gets to come in here and there. Is your cat street smart? It's working really well. Good luck!
Try something called Feliway (not sure if that's spelled quite right). It is a cat pheremone that helps the cats "feel better" so they don't do the problem behaviors. It comes as a spray or a plug-in.
Also, make sure the boxes are really clean. One of my cats will let me know if the box is too dirty by peeing somewhere else.
We have this same problem. I hate it and we love the cat. I have tried lots of different things we finally figured out that one of the cleaning/ deotorizers/disinfectent cleaner we use works and she doesn't go back to that spot usually. It's called SoluMel and is made by Melaleuca, it is non toxic. We LOVE this stuff, it helps with the dog odor too, we have one of those also and dogs just stink. You have to order directly from Melaleuca though, it isn't sold in stores. Email me and I can tell you how to do that.
It could be a sign of a bladder infection or a dominance issue. Is she seeing other cats outside? Make sure you have plenty of clean litter boxes (# cats +1). Clean them daily at least. Also to make those spots unattractive to peeing you need to completely remove the scent of urine. This could be tough if it's in the carpet pad. And spray feliway everwhere. You can get the room plug in or spray version. Feliway works because it 's made from the mother cat pheremones. So it reminds them of their mother. It's very calming and cats don't like to pee in near their mother's litter (ie baby cats not sand in a box).
You can also try sprinkling pepper on those areas. I feel for you as we had a cat that peed and pooped everywhere. She had medical issues. It caused a lot of friction with my husband. We finally had to put her down due to the medical issues, but it was very stressful.
K.
I have heard that urinary tract infections can cause peeing in other spots besides the litter box. Something about them associating pain with the litter box. Good luck
Unfortunately there is very little you can do. According to my vet, some cats just pee and if they have done it pretty much always they will continue to do it. My cousin had a cat for 19 years and she always used to pee. She would pick a new place every few months and that would be her new pee spot. They do make many different kinds of sprays that you can use to deter pets but I haven't found any that actually work (we tried them with our dog and no luck).
We have an 11 year old cat who always peed on everything. This is going to sound crazy, but our vet recommended trying an anti-anxiety medication for him. No pills, just an ointment that gets rubbed into the inside of the cat's ear and absorbs into the skin. We thought it was worth a try and it worked for our cat. It is a little bit of work having to remember to do this every single day but we do it and no longer have cat pee everywhere.
We had a cat before our daughter was born who was getting old and he started peeing on everything even though he knew to use the litter box. We tried a couple of different litter boxes but nothing helped. After talking to our vet who is a good friend of ours, we decided to put him down. The vet said that it is the number one reason why cats are put down - they kind of undomesticate and start peeing everywhere. I know this can be a hard decision. It has been two years since we did this and we still hope to get another cat one day. Good luck with this tough one!!
Why not find a foster home for her rather than using the shelter? Just an idea.
I lost a lot of love for my cat when she started urinating places other than the litterbox. When I realized that I loved a clean home more than my cat, I put her up for adoption and she is with someone without children who happily tolerates the problems with this otherwise very pleasant cat. I just think crapping in unacceptable places is proof that a cat is unhappy in their current situation and it is the most common communication of unhappiness utilized by cats and dogs.
I totally agree - re-check the medical. I had a precious cat that began peeing on everything out of the blue. It became an issue when she peed on my school bag (I taught) - and ruined the homework of three classrooms' worth of student reports. Furious, frustrated, and embarrassed, I took her to her vet, again, and asked what to do. Turned out I needed to try another vet. The 'new' vet determined she seriously had health issues and recommended putting her down. (blood draw, etc) - Although it broke my heart - she was suffering and trying to let me know, and that was heartbreaking as well. (I can't recall the details - it's been some years - feline leukemia...??). Anyway, I second the need to revisit the vet. Could be a minor infection needing meds - and she's communicating to you.
Good luck!
My first two cats were a disaster for peeing (and pooping) everywhere too. Eventually we just had them live mostly outside for a year, and when we started letting them stay inside again after a year, they were miraculously cured. NO IDEA why that worked but it did.
Other things to try is to switch brands of food to either a higher quality food or to a wet food if you use dry, dry food if you use wet, or to try the prescription C/D food if your vet will do it. This has helped some of the chronic offenders in our local animal shelter even when they never had any medical reason for their "bad" behavior.
