Cat urinating in water bowl

Antvas1963

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I have a 1.5 yr spayed female named Desna. I adopted her and her brother at the same time. She shares the house with Her brother, our older cat and our old toy poodle. She always liked splashing her paws in the water bowl which she has done since she was a kitten. However in the last month she has started urinating in the water bowl. This behavior has us stumped. I have a large water feeder like the kind you would put on the inside of a kennel coming from Amazon. Having to clean up that little mess in the evenings starting to be a real headache. Any suggestions or info on this would be greatly appreciated.
 

daftcat75

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Please take her to a vet to rule out any physical illness. Often changes in bathroom habits are related to illness. I spent months trying to figure out behavioral reasons for why my Krista was peeing the walls after being a perfect kitty for a dozen years. Turns out her teeth were going bad and that was a cry for help. We addressed the teeth and her inappropriate urination stopped. For peace of mind alone, take her to the vet first. Then you can try all the behavioral suggestions you are bound to get here after you've ruled out illness.
 

FeebysOwner

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Aside from the health check up - which I totally agree with - something you said makes me wonder if there is more information that you could provide:
I have a large water feeder like the kind you would put on the inside of a kennel coming from Amazon.
Any particular reason why you are getting this kind of water feeder? How many water bowls do you currently have and are all your animals drinking from all of them? If so, it is possible that she is claiming territory over the water by doing this. So, maybe many different bowls set up in many locations, rather than some kind of large water feeder would be a better solution. Perhaps, even a water fountain or two. No water should really be close to the litter box(es).

Is she peeing in the litter box(es) as well? Any other weird locations? Anything else about the other pets that has changed that might be impacting her behavior?
 

fionasmom

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I agree with both previous responses. As for the immediate solution, get more water bowls or fountains. She won't pee in all of them, at least for a start, and if she did that you would know absolutely that something else was wrong.
 
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Antvas1963

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There’s one water bowl for three cats and one small poodle. I will go ahead and set up some additional bowls. It looks like her and her brother are both using the two litter boxes that I have in the garage. The water bowls are set up in the kitchen away from the litter boxes.
 

fionasmom

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That should hopefully solve the problem. I had a cat years ago, Zoe, who used the toilet. We had not trained her to do that but apparently the "big" water bowl was hers to pee in.
 

daftcat75

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That should hopefully solve the problem. I had a cat years ago, Zoe, who used the toilet. We had not trained her to do that but apparently the "big" water bowl was hers to pee in.
Krista had other designs for the big water bowl.
E17201DF-1D4A-46E1-A643-EA67B4EFF8F6.jpeg
I assure you this was a very rare occurrence when she found I forgot to put the lid back down.
 
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Antvas1963

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I have set up several water bowls in the kitchen. This morning I caught Desna with 3 feet in her water bowl. I remove the water bowl and she went ahead and urinated on the towel that I had the water bowl on. I have two litter boxes in the garage outside they have to go through the cat door from the kitchen to the garage to get to the litter boxes. I’m noticing that there are very few year and balls in the litter boxes. For some reason I think that the male is using the litter boxes I don’t think she’s upronating in them at all. I won’t really have any money to take her to the vet until next month.
 

riley1

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I have set up several water bowls in the kitchen. This morning I caught Desna with 3 feet in her water bowl. I remove the water bowl and she went ahead and urinated on the towel that I had the water bowl on. I have two litter boxes in the garage outside they have to go through the cat door from the kitchen to the garage to get to the litter boxes. I’m noticing that there are very few year and balls in the litter boxes. For some reason I think that the male is using the litter boxes I don’t think she’s upronating in them at all. I won’t really have any money to take her to the vet until next month.
Just curious! Why are the litter boxes in the garage? She may be afraid to go out there! Try moving the boxes into the house and see if this solves the problem.
 
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Antvas1963

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The boxes were in the garage because we have wood floors and the wife didn’t like litter all over them. I moved one box inside and Desna used it three times that day. so far we have had two days of clean water bowl. I hope today goes just as well.
 

riley1

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The boxes were in the garage because we have wood floors and the wife didn’t like litter all over them. I moved one box inside and Desna used it three times that day. so far we have had two days of clean water bowl. I hope today goes just as well.
Great news! Sadly, sometimes we have to compromise with our cats!
 

felinelover2

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Yes maybe the litter box inside will solve it, you can get a mat to put in front to help a bit with the scattered litter but mostly scooping/cleaning the area one or two times a day keeps everything neat enough.

I hope that solves the issue for you and for Desna!
 
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Antvas1963

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Well it would appear that moving the litter box into the kitchen has taken care of the urinating problem. So far she hasn’t urinated in the water bowl in a few days. She used to go through the cat door and use the litter box in the garage and it was never an issue I don’t know what changed. I’d like to thank everyone who replied for your help. I’m off to clean the litter box again.
 

FeebysOwner

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:yess: Eventually, you can consider gradually moving that box (6 inches or so at a time) to a different location in the kitchen if there is another place you would prefer it to be in as opposed to where it is now.
 
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