Cat has suddenly start peeing on furniture

[erica22]

I've been researching this problem, but so far haven't found an answer that fits our situation here. My husband and I "inherited" Van, who is probably about 12 or 13, from his aunt last year. She is a barn cat his aunt adopted and (somewhat) tamed. At this point, Van has seemed to settle down fairly well. She doesn't like the other cats, but she's learned to tolerate them. They mainly leave her alone: our old tom cat stays upstairs with me, and the two younger ones are focused on teasing each other. 

Within the last week, Van has suddenly started peeing on furniture. It started with a kitchen chair (where she hangs out), but she has also been peeing on the couch. It's covered in plastic, but that doesn't stop her. I've been systematically eliminating the common problems: she can get to the litter boxes, since the couch is in the same room; she isn't declawed and has never showed any sign of disliking the litter; I've seen her walk past the other cats to get to the litter box if she needs to; it doesn't appear to be UTI, since she's peeing plenty (as evidenced by the soaked chair and puddles on the couch); and I don't think it's stress since we haven't changed anything, and the cats are leaving her alone even more now than before.

Is there any other health problem that might cause this sudden behavior change? I'm hesitant to take her to the vet, because our old cat has hyperthyroidism and he needs to get his thyroid rechecked fairly soon, and we can't really afford two vet visits close together; but if we need to, we can try to budget it out.

 

[erica22]

Sorry, I should have added that I do clean the litter boxes every day. (I wasn't sure if I could edit the original post, so I'll just put the reply here.)

 

[catlover73]

Is this peeing on the furniture a sudden behavior change?

The reason I am asking this is because if this is something that is all of the sudden happening and was never an issue before than this could be a medical issue called a urinary tract infection (UTI).

My cat Sonny has been with us since 2010. He has always had great litter box habits. He suddenly peed on the recliner in the den right in front of my hubby. I took him to the vet and he was treated for a UTI and the issue resolved itself. This was not an expensive issue to treat and he went back to using the litter box quickly.

I feel bad because I also think he had done this before but having 4 cats it took longer than I liked to figure out it was him.

Also what are you using to clean-up the furniture?

 

[dorimon]

I do think that you should take her to the vet if this is a sudden behavior change.  It could very well be a UTI or some other health issue.  Also, I assume she is spayed?

 

[erica22]

It is a sudden change; she's been good about using the litter box up until now. I'm considering UTI but from what I understand cats with a UTI have the same problem that humans do, in that they pee very little but do so often. It doesn't appear that she is having this problem. I've been soaking up the bulk of it with paper towels then spraying the furniture with Dumb Cat, which has worked in the past, but it seems like she doesn't mind it anymore. Also, she is spayed. I might have to price out a vet visit and get her in there, since it seems like UTI is the most likely suspect right now.

 

[catlover73]

I am glad you are looking into getting your baby to the vet.  A UTI can cause pain and cats are really good about hiding it.  When I took Sonny to the vet they told me that sometimes the pain from a UTI gets associated with the litter box and that is why they go somewhere else.  In Sonny's case once the infection was treated I just added a new litter box on the upper level of my house in case there was a pain association that needed to be broken.  He started using the new litter box immediately and I left it there for a few weeks.  After that I noticed he had gone back to using the litter box in the basement so I removed the one I had upstairs.