What to do with my cat (frustrated)?

[kingfisher]

We've had a cat for about a year now and we love him dearly. We found out about a month ago he was peeing on the carpet in the room we call the office. My wife attributed it to the fact that we ignored cleaning out his litterbox for too long and he didn't want to go pee in there because it smelled too bad.

so we pulled up the carpet, painted over the floor with this paint that gets rid of the smell, moved his litterbox to the bathroom, and kept a close eye on his litterbox. She also got him another litterbox for upstairs.

For awhile, we noticed he was peeing in his box again. However, lately it seems there hasn't been much pee in there.

today my wife calls me at work to tell me she's discovered that he's now peeing in the dining room. She suspects he's done it about 10 times.

Now what? I can't afford to re-carpet my entire house. I don't know why he's doing it, but I suspect he'll continue to do it no matter what we do. I don't want him to pee on the brand new carpet I'll be putting into the office. I know nobody wants a cat that pees on the carpet.

In all other respects he is a great cat and my kids, my wife, and I all love him. So you can understand my frustration. What should I do?

 

[SpyvSpy]

I have been in the same boat as you. My suggestions

1. Scoop the litterbox EVERY day.
2. Get him/her checked to make sure he/she doesn't have a urinary infection.
3. Outdoor cat? (last resort)
4. They sell a spray that cats don't like maybe buy that and spray around the rooms he/she is peeing in.

 

[BladeRunner001]

We've had a cat for about a year now and we love him dearly. We found out about a month ago he was peeing on the carpet in the room we call the office. My wife attributed it to the fact that we ignored cleaning out his litterbox for too long and he didn't want to go pee in there because it smelled too bad.

so we pulled up the carpet, painted over the floor with this paint that gets rid of the smell, moved his litterbox to the bathroom, and kept a close eye on his litterbox. She also got him another litterbox for upstairs.

For awhile, we noticed he was peeing in his box again. However, lately it seems there hasn't been much pee in there.

today my wife calls me at work to tell me she's discovered that he's now peeing in the dining room. She suspects he's done it about 10 times.

Now what? I can't afford to re-carpet my entire house. I don't know why he's doing it, but I suspect he'll continue to do it no matter what we do. I don't want him to pee on the brand new carpet I'll be putting into the office. I know nobody wants a cat that pees on the carpet.

In all other respects he is a great cat and my kids, my wife, and I all love him. So you can understand my frustration. What should I do?

Your cat's playing with you man...Do you have a DE or str8? Put it to good use...take him to the bathroom and shave a part of his hair when he pees where you don't like .

Cheers,
Robert

 

[Mysterion]

Your cat's issue may be behavioral, or it may be physical. First, you should take him to the vet to help rule out physical issues, such as urinary tract infection, or bladder stones. These can be quite serious, even life-threatening in male cats. Once these are ruled out, you can examine the cat's environment: Have you changed your brand of cat litter, for example? Cats despise scented litter, and frequently will avoid it. A change in food can also prompt issues, as it can change the ph-balance of the cat's urine. Even a change in the type of litter box can be troublesome--some cats refuse to use a covered box.

It can be extremely frustrating dealing with inappropriate elimination issues in cats. As my late vet noted regarding one of our brood's difficulties, "You're never going to get inside her little head." If your cat's issues are behavioral, you might try a product called Cat Attract Litter. It has herbal ingredients that draw cats toward the litter box. I've used it, and it works; it is also available as a powder that you can add to your preferred brand of litter.

Some cats are just prone to UTIs, and all you can do is try to keep an eye on them, and follow up with appropriate care. We have one such beast, but we stay alert to her welfare, get meds from the vet when appropriate, and she rarely causes any trouble.

Above all, I would urge you to get your cat to a vet ASAP. As noted, urinary issues in male cats can involve obstructions, and can become extremely serious, very quickly.

 

[elalan]

I had a cat that gave up on her litter box because a woman moved into the house. I loved her dearly (the cat) and went to no end to try to get her back on the litter box. She never did and she never lived in the house again. She couldn't be outside and I couldn't put her down so she lived in porch limbo the rest of her years. It can be an intractable problem based on my experience and research. Not to be too pessimistic, but it can be difficult to deal with and nothing is worse than cat pee in the house.

 

[TonyH]

Perhaps you can extract it from the carpet and sell it under contract as a Pinaud product.

Seriously though, you definitely need to get the cat to a vet for a checkup. Better safe than sorry.

 

[DizzyArnaz]

Seriously though, you definitely need to get the cat to a vet for a checkup. Better safe than sorry.

Came to post this. A good cat that normally pees in the box that is peeing elsewhere is a sign of a physical problem. DEFINITELY get him checked out. My sister had this problem with one of her cats a couple of years ago, and it turned out he had a urinary blockage that had to be removed. If you let it go for too long, their kidneys can get backed up with toxins and they can die.

An enzymatic cleanser like Nature's Miracle is the best for getting the cat-pee smell out of the carpet. Normal carpet cleansers don't get the entire smell out of the carpet, and if it even smells a little bit like pee, your cat will think that's a good place to go.

 

[tg16]

Been there. Get a good food formulated for UTI's and feed one can of wet food / day. According to our vet, the cats can't live on a dry food diet all the time. All the other posts about seeing a vet are good advice.

 

[Uncle Erik]

You might want to try Feliway. It removes the spray scent because cats continue to spray areas that they've sprayed before.

It can be a behavioral issue. My two black and white girls started spraying a few years ago in response to briefly taking in a pregnant stray someone had dumped in the neighborhood. The good news is that the stray now has a very happy life with my cousins, but the other two continued to spray.

Getting rid of a pet (especially ones as loved as these two) was out of the question. So they became outside cats. It was agonizing at first, but they've adapted and everything is OK. They have a nice basket with clean towels to sleep in, in a covered, warm area. They still get plenty of love and attention, too.

They've gone to several vets who all said that this is a learned behavior and that there's little that can be done. Further, the next door neighbors are married vets. The cats get handled by the vets almost every day (the cats love attention and are very sociable), so I'm confident they're healthy.

It was unfortunate, and I miss taking a nap on the sofa with a cat stretched over me, but it worked out OK.

At any rate, have your cat checked out by a vet or two. If not, the kitty can adapt to being outside. It's tough, but it's better than living with cat spray or giving up a pet.

Also, you might want to buy a handheld UV lamp. Turn out the lights and the cat urine will fluoresce. A word of warning - you might be horrified at how much you'll find.

 

[Barbarian]

I feel for you. My cat just started randomly peeing on laundry.

 

[tblech]

I grew up on a farm and well, maybe I should just end this story right here...

 

[bradyarz]

my wife's parents had an indoor cat. he started doing what the op described -- not merely marking his territory or anything, but completely unloading on the couches -- so much so that it would drip from the cushions all the way through to the floor. in desperation they put him outside for a few days. it took him about a week to get used to it, but now he's completely acclimatized. they let him in every now and then to feed him, but he's outside a good 80% of the time. he'll still use his indoor litter box occasionally, but he doesn't pee on furniture anymore.

i realize as others have said this may be a last resort, but it might be worth a shot.

 

[Sparafucile]

The behavior that you describe is almost always attributed to a urinary tract infection and/or crystals. They are peeing in a different place to get your attention focused on their urination - it actually hurts them to pee. Bring your cat to the vet to have him/her draw urine and test it.

If the tests are clear - then it's a rare behavioral problem....

 

[Dennis]

Aye - former vet tech here. Get to the vet to rule out crystals in the urine. That is a likely cause, along with any other bladder issues like stones. You can switch food to a prescription diet if needed that will lessen crystal formation. Make sure the litter box is cleaned daily. You need n+1 litter boxes for the number of cats you have also. You can try keeping litter boxes near where the cat is spraying, although that is not an appetizing thought in the dining room. Your call.

 

[Dude123]

pet industry guy here too. Get him checked, but if that turns out negative it could be other things. First get some good specific cat urine cleaner to get rid of the smell. Nature's Miracle works well if you can find it. If it is in carpet, keep in mind that urine will soak in a pyramid shape from the top of the carpet down to the hard floor underneath, thus if the stain is a 5 inch circle, soak something like 10 inches to make sure you get it all.

This could be an environmental problem. Some cats will take to avoiding their litter box if you've made recent changes, like moving to a new house, or buy new furniture or changing the way the room is laid out, or changing their litter, even just the scent of it can make them go off. Try to figure out if anything like this has changed, and like above add an extra litter box too.

 

[kingfisher]

Thanks for all the help.

We can't really convert him to being an outdoor cat because he doesn't have his front claws anymore.

 

[Swampfox]

+1 on all the advice to get your car checked out for health issues. There are a variety of different problems this could be. We had a Siamese when I was growing up that started doing this. We found out after taking him to the vet (unfortunately we thought it was behavioral since we had recently moved) that he had diabetes. Please get the cat to a vet, as an untreated health issue could create a permanent or even life threatening problem.

 

[danparker77]

My wife and I had a cat who was peeing everywhere but where he was supposed to. Ended up he had diabetes and his body was trying to get rid of the excess sugar and stuff in his system. The vet said he had no real control of it. After we started giving him daily shots and checking his urine for keytones he was fine. I know how frustrating it is, good luck!

 

[Barbarian]

Thanks for all the help.

We can't really convert him to being an outdoor cat because he doesn't have his front claws anymore.

As a kid our cats were declawed in the front. They were still often outdoors. I watched them climb trees and do everything any other cat would do.

Once I even saw the female swat a tomcat across the face with her back claws!

 

[DavyRay]

As a kid our cats were declawed in the front. They were still often outdoors. I watched them climb trees and do everything any other cat would do.

Once I even saw the female swat a tomcat across the face with her back claws!

The back legs do the real fighting. As long as a cat has the claws on the rear legs, it can defend itself. If you want proof, just grab a tomcat's belly and try to hang on.