Cat help

[Labyrinth]

I'm at my wits end with this cat. He's got 3 perfectly clean litter boxes, and he will use them... Just not all the time. He always poops in the boxes, and usually pees in them. But he's also peeing in my bathroom sink (not the end of the world, but annoying as he tracks it onto the counters sometimes), he'll pee on anything we accidentally leave on the floor in the laundry room, and he pees in the ferrets playroom in their litter boxes (an annoyance, but better than on the floor), and he sometimes pees on the ferret bedding on the floor in there as well.

I've smelled cat urine the last several days when I come downstairs, and I keep checking every place. Well I finally found it. Apparently he peed in the small corner between the entertainment center and the wall downstairs (there was nothing there, he just peed on the floor directly) and since I rarely go over there it went unnoticed for days. When he goes on things on the floor I clean it with a water/vinegar mixture, and it's always on laminate/tile so there aren't any issues with carpet holding on to the odor.

This all started about a month or two before I had to have my other cat Max put down. Max (RIP) was 16 years old and was having kidney failure. At the time I had no idea who was doing it (I still think they both were doing it). Ninja wasn't close with him, he would sometimes pounce on him but Max wasn't much interested in play. Now he pounces the dogs and seems to have adjusted to being an only cat just fine. He's given attention and played with whenever he wants, and he's the typical cat that only wants attention on his own terms. So if he doesn't come to you to be pet, don't bother or he'll just walk away.

I am absolutely sick of it. I've got a toddler to chase around, having another baby in a month and a half, and am having trouble keeping the house clean as it is. I do not want to re-home him if there is any way to avoid it, but I can't put up with this much longer (I'm honestly hoping it's the pregnancy hormones that have increased my frustration and I'll be able to better handle his quirks once the baby is here).

I know a lot of people say litter box issues can have an underlying medical cause so I want to take him in, but what would he be tested for? I can't spend a fortune on random screening tests, so if someone can at least give me an idea where to start I'd appreciate it.

 

[Doberluv]

This is why I won't have cats anymore. I had cats that peed in the house. My niece has cats that pee in her house. Some do and some don't. Yes, I would first rule out any medical cause like a bladder infection by taking him to the vet. 2nd, I wonder if more than one litter box is confusing to him. Otherwise, you probably will need to crate him like you do a puppy when you can't supervise. Take him outside if he goes outside sometimes too. And take him to the litter box frequently. Reward him immediately after he goes in the litter box with a super tasty treat. Also, what I found was that my first cat only started peeing in the house after we added another cat. I think it was a territorial thing. But barring that...if you don't have a new comer that might cause that, is there anything else that might be stressing him out? I'd definitely lose the other two litter boxes and just make one, clean place to go...the same place, same thing all the time. Good luck.

 

[SarahHound]

Could he have a UTI? When my cats started peeing in other places, it was because they had one. It usually means they associate the box with pain (from straining) and so they try to relieve themselves in other places. Have you noticed any blood at all?

 

[thehoundgirl]

Is he your only cat? Three litter boxes sounds like an awful lot for just one cat. Maybe minimize him to 2? Also if you can put them where there aren't high traffic areas.. cats like their privacy like us. My female Angel will pee on dirty clothes if they are lying around because she is a snot. But she uses the litter boxes well. I would say 3 litterboxes is your problem. I would only have 2litter boxes for him or just one.

 

[stardogs]

Have you changed the location of the boxes? Type of litter or box? Schedule?

Check for a UTI first, and if you get a clean bill of health then I'd try Feliway - it helps in about 70% of inappropriate elimination issues in cats.

You will want to clean all of the spots where he's had accidents with an enzymatic cleanser regardless of reason - just vinegar and water won't remove all of the scent markers from the urine. I like Simple Solution Extreme or Petastic. You can also try using a citrus cleanser in those areas after the enzymatic one - cats tend to avoid citrus scents.

 

[Labyrinth]

Thanks guys, I'm feeling a little calmer now. I wanted to make it nice and pleasant downstairs so I spent most of the day cleaning and I'm wiped out. As I was finishing up I just thought, what if he decides to pee on my daughter's xmas presents when I put them out tonight?

I don't know if it could be an aversion, since he will still use the boxes. There has never been any blood in any of the urine I've cleaned up. The three boxes are all in our oversized laundry room, which is between our garage and our kitchen. We do have to walk through there when we take trash to the garage, get food out of the pantry, or do laundry. He's very rarely in there when we are downstairs though, and I think he's peeing in inappropriate places while we are still asleep. The only reason I have 3 currently is because I spoke to my vet when the problem first started and I still had two cats (and only 2 boxes), and he recommended having one more box than cat and I just never picked the third one up after Max died. The litter has not changed, and I have not brought any new animals into the house.

Will add more in a bit, got to put my little one to bed.

 

[Renee750il]

You know, it really sounds like he's a good candidate to train to use the toilet!

 

[Kat09Tails]

This I must admit was my first thought until you get this figured out.

my secondary thought is this if this cat is causing you so much stress.

 

[Labyrinth]

Dober, I'm leaning that way at this point too. I've had cats that have had issues before, but they were senior cats and medical screening usually found issues but nothing that ever actually solved the problem, but since they were elderly I just dealt with it. This cat is 3 years old. There is no way I can tolerate it for another 15 years. I've already reached this point with my ferrets, I love them to death but once they are gone I'm done with ferrets for quite a while. I always pictured myself having 1-2 cats, but he's got me seriously rethinking that. I will exhaust all options before attempting to re-home though, so I'm really hoping something turns up at the vet's.

Kat, that's actually not a bad idea. I know he's doing it at night/early morning so maybe I will just start locking him in the laundry room at night (it's about 8' x 25'). I'd feel bad about it, but he doesn't sleep with us anyways and it may help maintain my sanity.

Renee, if I can figure out how to convince my daughter to toilet train I'll give the cat a try

As for cleaning the floor, I do have Nature's Miracle that I use to clean the ferret cage and I used to use for spot cleaning the floor but for some reason I thought the vinegar/water did get the smell out so I stopped using it on the floor (that stuff isn't cheap!). I think one of the reasons I haven't picked up the extra litter box is because I'm afraid he'll keep using that spot even without a box there, as he does use all 3 now. As for the Feliway, is that one of those plug in things, or is there a spray? I'm a little hesitant to use plug ins because I've heard stories of those plug in scents causing fires. Plus even though it's "Feli"way I would wonder if this would effect the ferrets too, as one of the places I'd like him to stop peeing is in the ferrets litter boxes, but obviously I don't want to deter them from using them.

I think that was all the questions. Thanks so much for all the suggestions so far, I'm starting to feel like there can be a happy resolution to this

 

[Renee750il]

The cat will be easier, lol . . .

And it might help convince your daughter!

 

[stardogs]

The Feliway also comes in a handheld spray and that's what I've used most myself. It's not a repellant, it's a cat-specific pheromone, so I doubt it'll help with the ferrets, though. You apply it on corners near where they've been peeing to mark it as "home turf" so that they don't feel the need to eliminate there. It's basically a stress reliever from what I understand.

Our cat has hideous inappropriate elimination issues (starting at 10 months, due to substrate preference) so he is restricted to my husband's home office where there are no soft surfaces. It works well for us, but yes, after Pi we are NEVER having another indoor cat.

Keep in mind that rehoming your cat is going to be incredibly difficult - cats are hard enough to find homes for even when they have good litterbox manners.

 

[Labyrinth]

Keep in mind that rehoming your cat is going to be incredibly difficult - cats are hard enough to find homes for even when they have good litterbox manners.

Oh no kidding. Not to mention he's a black cat too, and we all know that a lot of people find black animals less desirable for some reason. Plus it doesn't help that I feel like nobody can care for my pets as well as I do, even though I know that's not really true... It's just that despite any problems they are still my babies.

Overall he's a good cat, and there have been some good suggestions here. I think I will get some of that Feliway spray, and take up at least one of the litter boxes (**** thing is in the way in front of the dryer anyways). If he keeps doing it (after ruling out medical issues), then we'll give the laundry room at night a try. It's certainly big enough for me to have food/water on the opposite end of the room from the boxes and a nice cat bed. And since he only does it when we're sleeping, he'd still have free roam of the entire house during the day

 

[Southpaw]

I'd definitely have a urine sample checked just to make sure there's no UTI or crystals.

Locking him in the laundry room isn't a bad thing. We used to do that with our cat just because he was annoying as hell and would decide to sit at the top of the stairs at 4am and howl.

 

[Barb04]

They do make Nature's Miracle for Cats which smells different than the regular kind.

To clean up strong smells I used the instructions on the below link:

http://www.catsofaustralia.com/urinestainremoval.htm

 

[elegy]

The urinalysis is definitely a good first step, as is the Feliway. I don't know if you're opposed to the use of psych meds in pets, but a lot of behavior-based peeing cats seem to respond well to Elavil (amitriptyline is the generic).

 

[JustaLilBitaLuck]

I deal with these types of questions quite a bit at work...so here goes.

1. Medical problems. I would have a urine sample analyzed to rule out crystals/stones/UTI/bladder infection/etc. Sometimes they'll have inappropriate elimination because...well, it hurts.

2. Other cats. I can't recall if you have other cats or not, but sometimes tension with the other cats (even tension that you don't notice) can cause litterbox issues. Some cats will "guard" the litterbox as well - a good rule of thumb for the number of litteboxes is to take the number of cats you have plus one. Sometimes, especially with male cats, if you have stray cats hanging around the house, that can majorly stress them out as well. Feliway/Comfort Zone (either the diffuser or the spray) can help with that - it's a cat-specific pheremone that alleviates anxiety and stress.

3. Lifestyle changes. If things change in the household (addition/leaving of people or dogs, change in schedule, etc), that can stress them out as well, causing the inappropriate elimination. Feliway/Comfort Zone can help with that as well.

4. Litterboxes. Make sure they're out of the way of high traffic areas. You could try changing the type of box (covered, uncovered) as well as the type of litter (scented, unscented, clay, non-clay, etc). Some cats are particular.

 

[Maxy24]

If medical conditions are rules out you may just need to retrain him. Contain him in a bathroom or other room where he has nothing to use but the box so that he gets his good habits back.

 

[Doberluv]

I deal with these types of questions quite a bit at work...so here goes.

1. Medical problems. I would have a urine sample analyzed to rule out crystals/stones/UTI/bladder infection/etc. Sometimes they'll have inappropriate elimination because...well, it hurts.

2. Other cats. I can't recall if you have other cats or not, but sometimes tension with the other cats (even tension that you don't notice) can cause litterbox issues. Some cats will "guard" the litterbox as well - a good rule of thumb for the number of litteboxes is to take the number of cats you have plus one. Sometimes, especially with male cats, if you have stray cats hanging around the house, that can majorly stress them out as well. Feliway/Comfort Zone (either the diffuser or the spray) can help with that - it's a cat-specific pheremone that alleviates anxiety and stress.

3. Lifestyle changes. If things change in the household (addition/leaving of people or dogs, change in schedule, etc), that can stress them out as well, causing the inappropriate elimination. Feliway/Comfort Zone can help with that as well.

4. Litterboxes. Make sure they're out of the way of high traffic areas. You could try changing the type of box (covered, uncovered) as well as the type of litter (scented, unscented, clay, non-clay, etc). Some cats are particular.

I didn't know that. So, it IS better to have multiple boxes for multiple cats? Would it be prudent to have them all in the same area or different places? I somehow had it in my mind that with too many places to choose from to pee, it could be confusing. But maybe not.

 

[DogKisses]

It is better to always have one extra box.

Cats can be really picky about litter boxes, some only use one for pee and one for poo, some cats rather use a particular box in a particular room, sometimes they will only use one type of litter. Having one box for multiple, when one cat is in the box and another has to use it... they may just walk off and find somewhere else to go. If the cat is super picky about not wanting to use a box that has poo in it, it can go find the "cleanest" box.

That said my cats have never ever been so picky. They always use the litterboxes. I keep them clean and they are happy, but many people have cats that will just use the bathroom outside of the box if it's not to their liking. It is also standard in the cat community to scoop the boxes twice a day and dump the whole thing every week. That right there will avoid MANY of the litterbox issues. Imagine using the bathroom and not flushing it for days, you would find elsewhere to go lol.

 

[faustus]

Two out of the three batches of foster kittens I've had have done this. What I've found works for them is keeping them in a large dog crate until they are using it reliably, and making sure to keep the litterbox as clean as possible. I also recommend using an enzymatic cleaner. What might have happened is your old cat started going outside the litterbox due to his kidney issues and your younger cat learned that this was a perfectly acceptable thing to do since areas outside the litterbox now smelled like a potty area. The enzymatic cleaner will eliminate those hidden odors.

Also, a note on rehoming cats with litterbox issues. I know the shelter I work with won't take in cats that don't use the litterbox (unless it's a medical reason that can be cured or at least managed), they euthanize all cats who won't use the litterbox surrendered to them. I'm sure there are shelters out there that will take cats who go outside the litterbox, but for most they're considered unadoptable :/