Cat peeing in the house?

My cat Owen has started peeing in the house and I'm not sure why. He only does it when I am home and always in the same spot. He is also using his liter box. Wtf??

He seems perfectly healthy. He roams around, he eats...tends to cry a little at night but otherwise good. We left our house abruptly due to Sandy, first to a hotel and then to our apartment but we have been here a month already. So I don't think it is stress? He didn't even do it when we first moved it, it's within the last week or so.

Any thoughts on what it could be?

Cat peeing in the house?

Is he neutered? Is he on canned or dry food? Is his litter box cleaned daily?

Re: Cat peeing in the house?

He is on canned food, is neutered. Liter box is changed every few days.

Re: Cat peeing in the house?

Anxiety? How about trying Feliway?

Re: Cat peeing in the house?

I don't know how common this is in male cats, but Penny has cystitis and she pees outside the box sometimes She's on medication to control it and when she takes it consistently, it really helps (in combination with food for urinary tract issues).

Re: Cat peeing in the house?

Posted by PennyCat

I don't know how common this is in male cats, but Penny has cystitis and she pees outside the box sometimes She's on medication to control it and when she takes it consistently, it really helps (in combination with food for urinary tract issues).

Re: Cat peeing in the house?

It can be a sign of diabetes.

I would take him to the vet to rule out any medical issues.

It could be behaviorial.

We went through a lot of pee/poo issues with our guy. I think ours was a combo of the two. Once we got his medical issue under control (constipation which requires medication), we had to retrain him to get his behavior corrected. We are going on several months with no accidents.

Re: Cat peeing in the house?

Did you recently bring in a Christmas tree? My friends cat always pee'd when she put up a real tree.

Cat peeing in the house?

I'd first rule out if he has bladder stones, crystals, UTI etc. Once he gets cleared for that then I would do this...

First he might not like to use his litter box after the second day so I would start by cleaning his box more often. I would scoop every day especially right after a poop. I would dump out the entire box at least a day earlier. You can also add a second box somewhere else especially if he is making far away from the box.

They suggest one extra box for each cat you have. So 1 cat should in theory have 2 boxes, 2 cats 3 boxes etc. You should have one box per floor of your house (so one upstairs one down stairs etc.)

Also, Some cats do not like covered boxes, especially if they are not perfectly clean. Some cats do not like certain types of litter (if you have recently litter types or formulas). Some cats react badly if they have been declawed. Just throwing some ideas out there if any of those things fit your situation.

So in addition to cleaning his box more and/or adding a second box...

First deep clean the place where he pees. I would use Anti icky poo unscented (amazon has it for 18) This is the best cleaner for cat pee ever. You need to make sure that the enzyme cleans every molecule of pee so really soak the area. If there is liquid left over give it a few minutes and then wipe/blot up the excess. There are many enzyme cleaners on the market but cat breeders rave about AIP as the most effective.

Then you have two choices...

After the spot is deep down clean... You can make the area unattractive to him by putting down tinfoil or putting sticky mats down (put double stick tape on plastic place mats), use scat matts or carpet runner upsidedown with pointy grip bumps facing up) which will physically deter him from that area.

OR

After the spot is clean, you can take a teaspoon of wet food and feed him right on or near the spot he is peeing. He won't want to pee where he eats. Do it a couple of times a day before you feed him his meal. Do it for a few days and see if that helps. Then you can do it once or twice a week, if he responds well to it.

If the first way doesn't work you can try the second way. If neither way works AND you have upped the amount of times you scoop/empty his box and added a second box... then I would confine him with his clean litter box in one room to reestablish good habits. Praise anytime you see him using the box.

Another option would be to put extra boxes everywhere in the house so he always has a clean box. I personally think that method is costly and impractical. When I had problems with my female cat peeing on my bed and in my daughters crib I did the feed method and it worked within a few days. She also prefers a very clean box.

If you have the means you can also look into one of the robot cleaners that clean right after the cat makes so it's clean every time. They are pricey but it will save you some work.

Re: Cat peeing in the house?

Cat peeing in the house?

That's awesome.

Cats are really smart, its just a matter of figuring out what the problem is. So many people give up great cats because of peeing and there are so many ways to work on it.

I'd also suggest for the stress that you try engaging him in extra play time daily. 15-30 minutes with one of the string stick toys. You want to play until he is laying on his side and panting. It will burn off that extra nervous energy. Also it's important if you are going to play with him that you not use a laser toy. Cats are predators and can get frustrated when they can't catch their prey. Even when you play with him with toy's make sure he gets to catch and kill it once in a while. They take satisfaction in it :O)

A good rule of thumb is to exercise about an hour before dinner. Then feed dinner about 1/2 hour later, and then he should sleep. If you do it on the later side hopefully that will be enough to stop late night crying.

Cat people also think two cats are better than one. Maybe consider getting him a playmate. He might need some hard core cat playing. And cats love to snuggle and groom each other. I would suggest getting a young female kitten if you were thinking about going that route and also read up on how to do proper introductions because if you do it right you end up with less problems. If you rush it and he goes after her, it is harder to fix it when it goes wrong.

Re: Cat peeing in the house?

Cat peeing in the house?

Let me know how it works out :o)