Nervous Cat Urinating

[Dragunov]

Hi there,

I am in a fairly desperate situation, which I will aim to summarize as briefly as I can.

We have two cats, one who is 8 and one who is 3. The older cat is a treasure, she has never caused any issues whatsoever and didn't (and still doesn't) even like to use a litter box, preferring to go outside. Our younger cat (Jess) however is very, very nervous. She also urinates in two places which are not the litter box, she does this heavily and frequently. We took her to the vet to see if there was any underlying issues which may cause this, the vet suggested that she was a nervous cat and that this is likely the reason for her weeing outside the box, especially near the front door, as a warning to herself not to go that way. She doesn't ever go outside and every noise alerts her and makes her panic. We got an automatic air freshener, which we had to get rid of because every time it sprayed, she would become stressed.

The areas that she has been weeing outside of the box are now saturated and we have used industrial carpet cleaning machines with special pet odour cleaners three times to avail. The litter box is kept clean, she does use it, we have tried to eliminate the smell that she has caused so as to not confuse her as to where she is supposed to wee, we have applied deterrent sprays to the areas, we use a feliway diffuser and she has even had a calming paste that the vet gave us (which she loved but which didn't seem to help), she is spayed and we do everything we can think of to calm her. A majority of the time, she is a very happy and contented cat; she loves tummy tickles and playing fetch, but she gets set off by every noise or sudden movement and she persistently wees in these two areas.

Now, I love her dearly and I know that my fiancee loves her too, but she is at her wits end with Jess, to the extent that trying to rehome her has been raised. I really do not want to do this, but consistently waking up to a pool of urine as trying to leave for work, not to mention the smell and the fact that the carpet will have to be replaced when we move out of this (rented) accommodation, is really upsetting her and everything we try seems to have no effect.

If anyone has any similar experience and is able to offer some advice it would be greatly appreciated. I do not want to have to rehome Jess.

Many thanks in advice.

[Crewella]

Gosh, you've already tried pretty much everything I would have suggested. All I can do is post this link in case there's something there of use to you, and hopefully another Cat Chatter might be able to add the voice of experience.

http://www.catchat.org/urination.html

[Joe_Danger]

Sounds rough, dude
dang

One thing I could suggest is placing two additional litterboxes in the areas she pees at, it might not be convenient for you to have litter boxes scattered all around the house like that and in these particular spots but it's better than having to clean up cat wee every time, plus she might gradually take to them and when she does you could start moving them away to spots you feel they would fit better.
If you could get rid of the cat small and put a litter box over the exact spot she pees on it might solve your problem, it's not ideal but it could work in the long run.

[Jacks]

Oh what a shame for you and poor anxious little Jess. I've heard of cats weeing by front doors before when some other cat has been spraying on the other side of the door - I wonder whether this would be possible? How does Jess get on with the older cat in the home - is she anxious around her, or avoids her? How many litter boxes do you have, and what type are they? You haven't said anything about her pooping - does she do this in the litter box? One of her spots is by the front door - where is the other spot?

The litter box is kept clean, she does use it,

It's generally recommended that you have one tray per cat plus another. It sounds as if you may only have one. In addition, have you tried different types of litter? There is a possibility that she doesn't feel comfortable with what is on offer. So that's one avenue to try.

Another idea that I've heard of (related to Joe's suggestion of putting the trays where she pees at the moment, is to ween her into the tray, but in little steps. So the first thing would be to put some plastic lining down on the floor where she pees, then put something fabric on top - ideally puppy pads - which are very absorbent - but a towel or washable mat might do to start with. If she accepts the surface to pee on, move it to puppy pads, then the puppy pads into a flat tray, then start sprinkling some litter on the puppy pads... you can see where this is going. Because it's a habit as well as a nervous thing if you can adapt the habit to being into a tray - even a shallow tray with litter - then you've got a chance of slowly moving the accepted tray into an area where you are happy with it being. If she doesn't like a change, keep it a little longer at a stage.

Now I must add that I've no experience of cats weeing outside the box except when the preferred choice is not clean (doesn't happen very often but I have 6 cats) and they usually are very accommodating and do it in the bath or shower tray - easy to clean and very kind of them - but I've read quite a lot about inappropriate peeing. I just hope this is of some help.

[Dragunov]

Thanks for your relies.

In response to the questions raised, she loves the older cat very much and always wants to be near her. Her other wee spot is near the back window. We have two trays which are standard but large open trays, we did get one with a lid that she would need to go inside of, but she didn't like it so we got rid. She doesn't poop outside of the box at all.

I will try the idea of weening her away from the area.

Many thanks again

[Joe_Danger]

I know this might sound dumb, but could she be peeing where the cat who is both outdoor and indoor could sense it so she knows to always come back? If she is as attached to her as you say maybe she has separation anxiety when the other cat is not around.
Milla for example had separation anxiety until she had her kittens, even now if she finds herself alone without Kala, Casper or a human she meows sometimes.

Either way giving the stuff Jacks suggested a shot is a must imo

[Jacks]

Mmm, Front door and back window - this doesn't sound like random weeing to me. Do try weaning her into weeing into something appropriate in these spots, then moving them a little. I've not heard of weeing in these places because of separation anxiety, but that means I couldn't discount it either, but certainly weeing in response to a threat from outside - something that makes her feel nervous and insecure - even another cat visiting the front door and the window - yes. She would then be weeing to leave her smell and therefore feel less anxious.

Definitely keep an eye out for boundary intruders and spray some feliway near these spots too...