Cat Has A Naughty Habit Of Peeing/spraying.

[_catmania]

Hello,

I have a few cats, but there is just one that has a habit of peeing everywhere. She is female and 7 years old, and she sprays up furniture/walls/doors. She has only started doing this in the past 3 years and sometimes it feels like it's only getting worse.

We have had to throw out furniture due to this habit of hers, and we've had to re-line our floor because the urine has just destroyed the silicon and glue that holds the floor down. We have installed a night camera recently and have caught her red-handed multiple times in our laundry area; she completely bypasses the litter tray and just sprays up the washing machine or anything in her path, really. She has even pee'd right in front of us when we've been sitting in the lounge, and she'll just lift her tail and spray up a cupboard or wall.

After every time she pees/sprays, she wipes her butt all across the floor which is just bizarre and disgusting. We try to keep her outside during the day, and she does do her business outside, but she seems to still spray inside and a lot of the time it's either because we are not awake to let her outside, or when we are not home to let her out or feed her. She's honestly incredibly naughty, and I need help!

I know this could be a territorial thing, but how can I stop her from doing this? She is destroying our house and everything in it; we have to keep most of our bedroom doors shut so she can't pee in them, but she always finds a spot in the house regardless. The stench is horrific and we have used every cleaning product/enzyme killer you can think of; we manage to rid the smell after a good clean, but it doesn't stop her from peeing/spraying.

We were told by a vet that this is a behavioural issue and not a medical issue, but I think if there's no solution to solve her behaviour, I will seek out another vet to have tests done to see if there's something just not right under the surface...

I love her greatly and she's too cute for me to be mad at her, but I'm at my breaking point. Does anyone have any suggestions/advice?

 

[Jem]

The vet that told you that this was behavior, did s/he do a urine analysis or culture? Although your description does sound behavioral, without that you can't know for sure. I had a cat who we thought was spraying, but it turns out he had crystals and that was just how he strained to pee. He never squatted and always hit the walls.
Is your girl spayed? Territorial behaviors are more prone to happen in intact cats, especially since you say it smells horrible. Spray does smell worse than just pee. If she's not spayed, I would get it done asap.
If the tests come back that she is fine medically and she has been spayed and this still continues, you might want to look at what is causing her to be territorial. Outside cats or other animals, does she get along with all the cats in the house, do you have enough litter boxes (rule is one per cat plus one extra), are all the other cats in your household spayed/neutered...there are so many things that can stress a kitty out, and conversely, help de-stress a cat, but you do need to start with the medical side of things before wasting time and money on things that wont work IF there is an underlying illness.

 

[_catmania]

The vet that told you that this was behavior, did s/he do a urine analysis or culture? Although your description does sound behavioral, without that you can't know for sure. I had a cat who we thought was spraying, but it turns out he had crystals and that was just how he strained to pee. He never squatted and always hit the walls.
Is your girl spayed? Territorial behaviors are more prone to happen in intact cats, especially since you say it smells horrible. Spray does smell worse than just pee. If she's not spayed, I would get it done asap.
If the tests come back that she is fine medically and she has been spayed and this still continues, you might want to look at what is causing her to be territorial. Outside cats or other animals, does she get along with all the cats in the house, do you have enough litter boxes (rule is one per cat plus one extra), are all the other cats in your household spayed/neutered...there are so many things that can stress a kitty out, and conversely, help de-stress a cat, but you do need to start with the medical side of things before wasting time and money on things that wont work IF there is an underlying illness.

Thank you for your reply.

Yes, tests were done when we first took her to the vets. At one point she did have crystals and we were given the appropriate treatment, but my cat still pee'd/sprayed everywhere. She currently does not have crystals, or any other medical problems, but I will definitely look into taking her for further tests if there's a chance it's not behavioural.

My girl is spayed, yes, and has been for over 5 years now. Her pee has always been very foul smelling, and I did read that it might be caused by diabetes but the vet never did mention if this was possible.

She absolutely hates all my other cats, and even my dog. She growls and hisses and attacks any other animal in sight, so I understand that having these other animals around her may be causing this spraying/peeing problem, but I cannot figure out a solution for this. She never used to be this way, not until she was neutered and suddenly she had a dramatic personality change.

We have bought many things to try to calm her down, give her a safe and comfortable environment, but none of it has worked. I think as you have said, I need to seek medical advice before I keep spending more money on things that just aren't working.

 

[Jem]

Yes, tests were done when we first took her to the vets. At one point she did have crystals and we were given the appropriate treatment, but my cat still pee'd/sprayed everywhere

May I ask what the treatment was? Not trying to question your care for her, it's just I know first hand how frustrating it is dealing with chronic crystals and behavioral issues in the same cat.

She currently does not have crystals

How do you know she does not have crystals at the moment? Again, not questioning your care, but if the initial treatment was not continued long term, the crystals will come back.

The scooting of the bum after peeing makes me think that something is still bothering her physically.

Her pee has always been very foul smelling,

It could be that she is dehydrated. Does she eat wet or dry food? Does she drink enough water?

Cystitis is something else to consider, in most cases stress plays a big factor in kitties who have cystitis.

One of the reasons that my boy had such chronic issues with crystals is because his bladder was too small and as such, he produced crystals quickly.(he would also hold in his pee as long as he could - litter avoidance). When other issues developed, we found out that he had a few issues with multiple different organs, he unfortunately passed last year.

If she is miserable being with other cats, have you thought about building her an outdoor enclosure to keep her in?

 

[_catmania]

May I ask what the treatment was? Not trying to question your care for her, it's just I know first hand how frustrating it is dealing with chronic crystals and behavioral issues in the same cat.



How do you know she does not have crystals at the moment? Again, not questioning your care, but if the initial treatment was not continued long term, the crystals will come back.

The scooting of the bum after peeing makes me think that something is still bothering her physically.



It could be that she is dehydrated. Does she eat wet or dry food? Does she drink enough water?

Cystitis is something else to consider, in most cases stress plays a big factor in kitties who have cystitis.

One of the reasons that my boy had such chronic issues with crystals is because his bladder was too small and as such, he produced crystals quickly.(he would also hold in his pee as long as he could - litter avoidance). When other issues developed, we found out that he had a few issues with multiple different organs, he unfortunately passed last year.

If she is miserable being with other cats, have you thought about building her an outdoor enclosure to keep her in?

We were given a urinary care diet; it was food designed for cats who had crystals. I was informed that she had to be on this food until the crystals eased up, and we kept to this. Eventually we were told she was fine, and to be honest it was in good time because the food was incredibly expensive. When you have multiple other animals to look after, it's hard to afford special items. When I take her to the vets I will ask if she may have crystals again.

She eats wet and dry food and I see her drinking often. She prefers dry food to wet, but still eats both. In fact, she eats more than she should and I believe she is a little overweight.

I will bring up Cystitis to my vet. I am also sorry for the loss of your boy.

We have considered this, but currently do not have the means of building an enclosure. This is why we try to let her roam outside when all the others are inside or otherwise occupied, to give her her own space in the best way we can.

 

[Willowy]

Try giving her canned food only. This honestly works for my mom's cat who has cystitis. Try it for a month or so, and if nothing improves you can go back to a mixed diet. But do give it a try .

 

[_catmania]

Try giving her canned food only. This honestly works for my mom's cat who has cystitis. Try it for a month or so, and if nothing improves you can go back to a mixed diet. But do give it a try .

Okay, thank you for the advice! It'll be a bit hard with having other cats around, but I'll definitely give it a shot.