HELP! Cat peeing outside liter box!

DH and & I have two cats (13 year old male and 6 year old female). Both are good cats. Our male is very social, and our female isnt (but to DH & I she is). Our daughter (first child) was born back in April, and last month one of our cats started peeing not only outside the liter box, but across the room.

It first happened around the holidays. We hosted both xmas eve and xmas day, so we thought the influx of people may have had something to do with it, but...unfortunatley it continues. We set up a liter box in the spot where it happened and havent moved it. It only happens about once a week.

Nothing has recently changed, same liter, same schedule, etc...i have NO idea what's going on.

DH is ready to give away our cats, but the thought devastates me. Right now it's contained in the basement, but I'm really concerned that it'll make its way to the main floor where we and the baby spend all out time!

I've called the vet, and I'm waiting for a call back...

Does anyoe have any suggestions, advice, thoughts??? I'm kinda getting desperate.

TIA

Re: HELP! Cat peeing outside liter box!

I don't mean for this to sound negative, but how often do you clean the box? I'm sure you clean it very often - but for example, my Mom's cats at some point got so picky that if it wasn't clean when they had to go again, they would go outside the box. She cleaned it like everyday, but ended up having to invest in one of the self cleaning boxes. She didn't have accidents after that.

Also, sometimes with more than one cat, you might need more than one litterbox. . .

I also found this website, which might help!

Good luck!!

Why cats pee outside the litter box

Re: HELP! Cat peeing outside liter box!

I feel your pain...a couple of months ago out of the blue, our cat started peeing on things...first the bathmat...then the kitchen mat....then the enterance mat....then the scratch pad...then my laundry. My first assumption was UTI and took her to the vet...nope....not UTI...behavioral. We added a new cat in March and Sushi does not like her new brother. She has always been a skittish cat but Miso has made things worse. She has now resorted to pooping in our bathtub I have been trying everything. The vet just prescribed Buspar and honestly, I can see a difference. She is not so "jumpy." Perhaps this could be a solution?

here's another article that I found that might help you too.

Kitty Link

Re: HELP! Cat peeing outside liter box!

I agree with PP that it could be a dirty box. It could also be that the cat is trying to tell you something (like he's sick).

Re: HELP! Cat peeing outside liter box!

Is it the female, male or both cats?

I have a male who had his urinary tract twisted. The prior owner gave their rights to the vet, who fixed his issue, and I adopted him.

He's been on special food.

However, he did urinate a few times on our carpet, and even in my bowling bag!

I had him checked out just in case his urine had crystals in it (he's on special meds) and he was fine.

I wound up adding another litter box to our apartment so he now had two. And that has ceased the problem since we it had started.

It could be behaviorial; it could be a sign of a problem.

Keep us posted and good luck!

Re: HELP! Cat peeing outside liter box!

I had a similar problem with my cat but instead of peeing it was pooping on the kitchen floor. The vet suggested putting down tin foil in the area where he poops because cats don't like the feel and sound of tin foil. Good luck!

Re: HELP! Cat peeing outside liter box!

Re: HELP! Cat peeing outside liter box!

We used to have only 1 box, and clean it about every-other day. We added a second one in the spot where they keep going, and yesterday we added one more. And we dont know which one is doing it.

I spoke to our vet late last night - she said that it MUST be scooped every night. She believes that's the issue even though its never been an issue in the past.

I hope it solves the problem because I'm done with this already!

Re: HELP! Cat peeing outside liter box!

I had the same problem with my cat. If his litter box isn't cleaned on the regular he will pee outside of his litter box. One night he actually peed on DH while he was sleeping

Our vet recommended cleaning the litter box everyday versus every other day and it seemed to be the trick.