cat urinating in various places indoors, never did before

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kbs24
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cat urinating in various places indoors, never did before

Post by kbs24 »

One of my neutered male cats has suddenly begun to urinate at least once a day in various places outside the litter box. Note, he still uses the litterbox also. The vet checked him out, no uti etc, very healthy 3-year-old kitty. No new animals in house, nothing different in the environment in general, but he is doing it randomly, can't predict where, like this morning he jumped up onto the center island in the kitchen and peed right there, in full view, as if it were perfectly fine to do that. All of my google searches suggest that the most important thing is to try to find out why it is happening, but I am completely at a loss in that regard. I thought of hiring a cleaning service to thoroughly clean the house but something tells me that would have no effect since that places he chooses are not generally all that dirty. Any help, please, i don't want to kick him outside. He is a friendly cuddly sweet kitty, I have no idea what is wrong!
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SarahT1 [PLLE]
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Re: cat urinating in various places indoors, never did befor

Post by SarahT1 [PLLE] »

I'm sure you don't want to kick him outside, poor little mite. Start off by introducing more litter boxes in various places around the house. Also make sure that they are cleaned as soon as he uses them (when possible). The little lad has no idea that it's not 'perfectly alright' to have a wee on the kitchen counter - see it from his perspective and give him lots of praise when he goes in the litter tray. If he have any signs that indicate a lead up to going to the loo, encourage him over to one of the trays. Speak to the vet nurse for more advice. It may not seem to you that there have been any changes in the house or in his life, but there may be something subtle that you can't pick up on and he does.

Give your boy lots of fusses from me and be very understanding with him as you work this out. X
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bobbys girl
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Re: cat urinating in various places indoors, never did befor

Post by bobbys girl »

Sorry to hear you are having problems. I know how frustrating this problem can be - no one wants to live in a house ponging of kitty pee!
I think Sarah is right, all may seem well to you, but perhaps he has picked up on something. Has his relationship with your other cat changed? Is he an in-door cat or has he access to the garden? Is there a 'new kid on the block'?
We get the occasional ferral passing through. But even if we don't see it, Purdy out 'Top Cat' knows it's been through her territory and pees on the microwave! (why the microwave gets it I really don't know). I am getting a new kitchen next month (oh happy day) and the microwave is getting a new home, on a higher shelf! But something tells me that Purdy will just find another target to vent her spleen on - or should that be empty her bladder.
There is a cleaner - the name of which escapes me for the moment - which has, to us humans, a pleasant, soapy smell. It seems to work on areas that are occasional targets (but not the microwave). I will let you know when I remember the name. Also I have tried, with some success, an orange oil and clove spray as a deterrent. It is just enough to deter without upsetting them. I know it doesn't solve the underlying problem but maybe it will help.
Please let us know how you go on.
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Re: cat urinating in various places indoors, never did befor

Post by Jacks »

When you say kick him outdoors, I'm thinking he has regular outdoor access, but generally still uses a litter tray - is this correct? Just like mine, in that case!

Here is a very useful page from a vet about inappropriate weeing:
http://voices.yahoo.com/inappropriate-u ... tml?cat=53" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In addition to lots of other really useful points one bit I thought was very interesting was this:
New boxes- Throw out your litter boxes once, if not twice a year and replace them with new ones. Some of those odors will just embed in the plastic and cats can smell them and be grossed out.
I've read before that cats really hate the smell of plastic, so stinky wee plastic must be dreadful. I'd not thought of changing the actual box, but if you've had it a while it's worth a try. If your cat is looking straight at you and peeing they are definitely trying to tell you something. As he doesn't speak English (more's the pity) it's going to need detective work and some trial and error but I'm sure you'll get to the bottom of it (no pun intended).

Please keep us updated, it helps other people too.
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Re: cat urinating in various places indoors, never did befor

Post by Gillian »

I have an elderly cat that does that, wees and poos just outside the litter tray. He even made the effort to get onto the sofa the other day and pee directly on it. thankfully I caught him and there was a blanket on there so no damage to the sofa.

A few weeks back, he was asleep on the sofa, woke up, got up onto my lap and peed on me!!
He was taken straight out to the little tray...evidently too late.

He is now only allowed in there (sitting room) when i am there and on his blanket which is now on the floor. I close off the sitting room and hallway, when I am out now. (the hallway was a favourite poo spot)

I can only think that as an elderly cat, mine has 'lost it' a bit.

I dont have a solution for you I'm afraid, but a few adjustments your end will need to be made.

Plenty of newspaper (great for soaking up wee), do you have an enclosed littler box as my naughty cat does'nt like his. I've changed him to an open one and he is much better.

Good luck
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Re: cat urinating in various places indoors, never did befor

Post by Podsy »

We had this with one of our cats; she started weeing in the house when before she had been going outside. (Assuming your cat has access outside?). I set up a new litter tray in a quiet part of the house (utility room) and touch wood that seemed to do the trick. I think in my cat's case she was feeling uneasy outside, worried about other cats that are around and so didn't feel comfortable weeing outside. Now it is summer and nearly a year later and she has started going outside again, but still thankfully uses her litter tray sometimes. I also made sure I thoroughly cleaned and disinfected the areas she did wee on in the house, so she didn't recognise the smell and go there again.
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