6 yo indoor cat urinating outside of litter trays - pls help

[TCalUK]

I know this may be an impossible question but we are at the end of our tethers with our gorgeous 6 year old indoor British Shorthair named Pippa.

Just over a year ago she suffered with bladder stones that resulted in her urinating outside of her litter trays.

The stones have cleared up but occasionally (increasingly as of late) she has started urinating in different spots around the house but without the other effects of the stones (blood in the urine and lethargy etc). The hallway, kitchen, and on a brand new rug in the living room. I clean the spots thoroughly and I've tried different pet friendly products designed to discourage similar behaviour.

We have 5 open litter trays that are emptied regularly throughout the day. These are away from their food and water.

We have another cat who we've had for 5 years who Pippa doesn't get on with all that well but never had any toilet issues prior to the bidder stones problem last year.

It's becoming more and more of an issue to the point where we're discussing (reluctantly) rehoming her so I thought I'd ask if anyone has any tips (out of desperation)?

[Ruth B]

First thing I would suggest is a vet check, there may be no noticeable signs of the stones returning, but it could be she can feel it coming back before you can see anything. Urinary infections are also possible which might mean she is in pain when using the litter trays which would also bring back memories for her.

Two cats and five litter trays should mean that there is no possibility of the other cat blocking the trays, assuming they are spread out around the house. Trying different types of litter in some of the trays might help if she has started to associate the normal litter with pain. It sounds like there isn't just one place she has started to go, but if there was then a new litter tray there might help her, or even to put some puppy training pads down for her to go on would at least make it easier for you to clean up.

Finally you might want to consider asking your vet for a referral to a cat behaviourist, a professional that visits in person may see something that you miss as you are with them all the time and that people on a forum can't see as they arent' there.

[Kay]

once you are at the stage of considering rehoming - and that could be difficult given her problem - it might be worth considering alternative drastic measures to see if you can get this sorted

I think I would try confining her to one smallish room with a single litter tray, to see if she uses it - if she won't then it would be easier to experiment with different trays and different litters, to see if that helps

if she does use it consistently then you could leave that tray there and hope she goes back to it - if she's microchipped you could even fit a cat flap in the door and programme it only with her chip, so she has exclusive use

[TCalUK]

Thanks again for all of your suggestions, we tried changing the litter and adding an additional tray in another location in the house and all seems to be well (touch wood).