Cat peeing and spraying inappropriately

[Purplegerbil]

Hi,

Can anyone help me please? I have an-almost-two-year-old Ragdoll male neutered cat. We have two cats in the house, him and his half-sister, who is 4 months older. Got them the same time, they have always been together with no problems whatsoever.

Unfortunately my male was diagnosed with kidney failure a few months ago, which we have been managing well so far with diet and medication. The last month or so however, he has been both spraying and peeing 'normally' in other areas of the house, despite having access to two clean litter trays at all times. He does use the trays but at times just decides he fancies peeing elsewhere in the house, including on the furniture! It's usually just peeing but sometimes he sprays as well. Each time he does it we clean it with cider vinegar and dust a bit of bicarb over it so to help with eliminating the smells. But he seems to be doing this more and more just lately. My partner is so fed up with it as he has just laid new wooden floors etc., and is basically saying he needs to stop this behaviour or he (the cat!) will 'have to go'!

Nothing has changed in the household, no new cats, nothing stressful as far as we are aware, nothing has been moved... and he doesn't seem stressed or upset, just getting a bit of a pain now and is getting out of control as we don't always catch him doing it and so find ourselves going around the house sniffing for urine smells! It's not very nice but I obviously would like to find out if I can help stop him from doing this.

I've also spent a fortune on feliway spray and the feliway plug-ins, to no avail.

If anyone has any ideas what I could do please I would be so grateful.

Thanks so much.

Debbie.

[Willowgill]

Hi Debbie

Has this just started since you've had the new floors laid? I'm wondering if it's because he's trying to reestablish his scent on unfamiliar surfaces. You could try putting another couple of trays in the areas he's doing it in and restrict his access to places like beds. He may have a urinary infection too which is causing him pain so the trays are a no go area for him. I'm not sure it's the kidney disease per se as I've had 2 cats with it and they didn't do that but I have one now who is perfectly healthy and likes nothing better than to find a nice corner of the room with carpet to pee on - I have pieces of tin foil in several places lol

[lilynmitz]

First off a I would suggest a vet visit. 2 years old is unusually young for kidney problems, and he may also have a urinary infection, which would be very painful and uncomfortable, which can result in this behaviour. The sooner this is treated the better to prevent this causing further damage to his kidneys.

As Willowgill says, did this start happening after you laid the wooden floors? And have you had new furniture to match? If so, this has radically and suddenly changed your boy's environment, and would have been some upheaval, so this may be whats stressing him. Get a feliway diffuser going, and consider using zylkene as well, to help him calm down. Restrict him from the areas where the spraying is worst unless you're in the room. It might also help to put some old rugs down for a while to help him get used to the new floor texture, and then gradually remove them again once he's settled down.

Tempting as it is, try not to get cross with him - he's more distressed about this than you are - the spraying is a cry for help. Please ask you partner to be patient with him too. Getting cross with him will only stress him more, which could result in even more spraying etc. Give him plenty of reassurance and spend some quality time with him as often as you can. He's a very unhappy/unwell puss at the moment, and needs your help.

Have a look at this link and see if this offers any more tips that will be useful to you.

http://www.catchat.org/urination.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

However, vet visit, first, then see how you go afterwards.