Cat started urinating outside litter box - vet says not medical. I'm stumped.

[bev yap]

We adopted Pusheen 1.5 years ago - he was a former feral and had a lot of difficulty adjusting to sharing space with humans. But he was well-trained for the litter box. Pusheen will be 2 years old come November.

We adopted Stormy a few months after Pusheen. Stormy was born from a feral mother, but has always been in the care of loving humans - his foster was an amazing individual who really took good care of him. We thought Stormy - who was really gentle and great with human affection would be able to teach Pusheen a little bit about it. And it worked, over time, Pusheen finally allowed us to pick him up and kiss his forehead. 

Stormy has been doing really well with his brother Pusheen. They get along like good brothers who have their wrestling and allo-grooming throughout the day.

Until just recently, he seemed like a very content cat. And I just need your advice - because I feel like i'm stumped.

Stormy, out of nowhere started to urinate outside the box.

Our basement has been under renovation for more than a year - so I was almost positive that it could not have been the reason as he has been used to hearing renovation going on for his entire time in our house.

He urinated on my partner's shirt, after he had been out of town for a while - his t-shirt was placed on the guest bed in the guestroom.

On the same day, I booked an appointment with his vet.

They had his urine tested (I wanted to make sure it wasn't an underlying medical issue) - They couldn't test his urine directly and had to extract it from his bladder with a needle.

The results came back and he was negative for crystals or infection. However, his urine was high in pH, so the Vet Assistant recommended that we switched him to a high SO index diet - Veterinary Presciption Diet to entice his to drink more water - with the added sodium. The vet still assured us that his urinating out of the box wasn't medical - and was behavioural.

At the present, he has been eating a diet of 95% wet food - Organix canned food and a frozen raw food on occasion from Natures Instinct.

We re-plugged in the Feliway and emptied out all the litterboxes and gave them all new litter. (Their boxes are scooped daily and litter refreshed once a week)

I took more time off work to spend with him at home - because I was worried that he was acting out because I've been so busy with work.

Then we started to add more water and mix it into his canned food - (we were already mixing in water, which he gladly ate) - but since the Vet said he needed to drink more water, we added more to it. I really don't believe Prescription Diet is a good food for cats from the readings and online research. Especially since I've had cats develop UTD after eating that food for years.

Everything seemed fine and we would place him in the litterbox to go do his business, and he would.

Henry briefly unplugged the Feliway for a few hours yesterday.

After we finally cleaned the stains with baking soda and replaced the sheets.

Then I found that Stormy had urinated again in the same spot. 

I didn't get mad, I just cried because I thought maybe he was unhappy or stressed out.

I picked him up and put him next to soiled area, then I spoke with him softly and asked him if everything is okay.

He seemed pretty bashful and embarrassed.

We've been cleaning the stain with baking soda and vinegar to get it out, but we picked up a cat pheromone eliminator to spray things down.

When he's finished eating his breakfast, I usually take him to the litterbox and put him inside for a bit.

Pusheen has been really tolerant of everything - and still continues to groom and play with Stormy all day.

I can't figure it out, but it's actually starting to drive me a little nuts the cleaning and washing and re-washing all the bedding.

I'm writing to you because I'm at my wits end. Stormy is a major part of my family and I love him. I just need to figure out why he is stressed or unhappy. 

If you could shed some light on the situation - I'd appreciate it so much.

Thanks so much in advance.

 

[basschick]

do the guys share the same litter box?  if so, have you had the other cat tested for urine related issues?  if he has a UTI, perhaps the smell upsets the cat who's peeing outside the box.  is the other cat on any meds?  we have a cat who hates the smell of medicine in his urine. 

have you changed brands and types of cat litter, location of litter box or box itself recently?  has your regular litter changed formula?  are you cleaning and changing the box frequently enough and is the litter perfumed?  is there more noise or foot traffic, changes in lighting by the litter box?  smells nearby? 

could he be protesting or upset by a recent change in the home - new roommate or someone staying there, someone leaving, changes in furniture, workers coming in and out?

btw, our cat has feline kidney disease (which i assume your vet checked for?), and as such needs more water.  sometimes i bring him a small bowl while he's sitting around and he drinks some that he wouldn't have had otherwise.  maybe you could try that.

 

[joyceshouse]

i have been in your situation and know the sense of frustration. try removing or covering up with plastic the things or places he has been urinating on outside the litter box. Get a new littler box.make sure each cat has his own littler box.  One of cats for whatever reason started going on the carpet next to the littler box. clean the box 2x day. be careful what you use to deodorize cat box with. I covered up the carpet where he was going with plastic carpet runner. The cat starting using the new litterbox. If I fail to clean litter box 2x day he will act like he is going to urinate outside the littlerbox.  Good luck.

 

 

[bev yap]

Thanks Basschick

Pusheen does not urinate out of the box nor does he struggle to urinate. We brought in both to the vet and the vet only wanted to test Stormy.
They have 3 litter boxes between the two of them. So they have plenty to share.
The litter has been a pine pellet litter for at least a year.
No the box has not been moved.
Neither Pusheen nor Stormy are on meds.
We clean the box everyday and change the litter every week.
The people in the home have been consistently the same.
We live in a townhouse in the city so there has always been the same amount of noise.
My partner went away for a while the first time he urinated out of the box. But he has been around the entire time and since then Stormy has urinated once on the bed.
No new furniture has been added.
He has a filtered water fountain.
And the vet checked for kidney problems already.
Vet said it behavioural in his opinion - but we don't know what else has changed for him.

 

[Lyzzie]

Hi,

Welcome to TCS!

Since nothing was found medically, it's very possible your vet is right. And you actually do know what changed :

 He urinated on my partner's shirt, after he had been out of town for a while - his t-shirt was placed on the guest bed in the guestroom.

Your partner went away for a while. And when he got back, Stormy peed on his shirt. He peed again on the same spot because it still smells.

You're gonna need an enzyme cleaner to get rid of it for good.

Here's an article about it :
[article="29728"]How To Remove Cat Urine  [/article]
I think that maybe Stormy is very attached to your partner, and him being gone just made him stressed out and anxious.

What I would try is having your partner interact with Stormy has much as possible.

Petting him, giving him his food, playing with interactive toys with him.

Here is one more article with some tips to reduce stress in cats :
[article="30316"]Six Surefire Strategies To Reduce Stress In Cats  [/article]

 

[clairebear8]

I heard from the vets is that you need 1 litter box per cat

 

[bev yap]

quote name="Lyzzie" url="/t/325198/cat-started-urinating-outside-litter-box-vet-says-not-medical-im-stumped#post_4086752"]Hi,
Welcome to TCS!

Since nothing was found medically, it's very possible your vet is right. And you actually do know what changed :

Your partner went away for a while. And when he got back, Stormy peed on his shirt. He peed again on the same spot because it still smells.
You're gonna need an enzyme cleaner to get rid of it for good.
Here's an article about it :
[article="29728"] [/article]

I think that maybe Stormy is very attached to your partner, and him being gone just made him stressed out and anxious.
What I would try is having your partner interact with Stormy has much as possible.
Petting him, giving him his food, playing with interactive toys with him.


Here is one more article with some tips to reduce stress in cats :
[article="30316"] [/article]
[/quote]

My partner has a job where he is always out of town.
He's always been like this.
But my partner will continue to interact with him more- as per your advice.
Sometimes we will FaceTime and Stormy will watch the screen and try to touch my partner on the otherside.
But this is the nature of his work, he has always been away off and on the entire time we've had Stormy.

 

[bev yap]

I heard from the vets is that you need 1 litter box per cat

Thanks. Our vet said one per cat plus one.
So with 3 boxes between 2 cats, we should have our bases covered

 

[Lyzzie]

My partner has a job where he is always out of town.

He's always been like this.
But my partner will continue to interact with him more- as per your advice.
Sometimes we will FaceTime and Stormy will watch the screen and try to touch my partner on the otherside.
But this is the nature of his work, he has always been away off and on the entire time we've had Stormy.

Was he gone longer than usual?

I was pretty sure that was the trigger.

Has Stormy peed anywhere else, or just the two times on the same spot?

 

[bev yap]

Was he gone longer than usual?
I was pretty sure that was the trigger.

Has Stormy peed anywhere else, or just the two times on the same spot?

No. He hasn't pee'd anywhere else. Just twice.
But the first time My partners shirt was there.
The second time, all the sheets had just been washed and put on the bed.
It's the guest bedroom. But we don't have guests in the house and haven't for at least 10 months

 

[Lyzzie]

No new people that would have been in the guest bedroom, even for less than a day?

If not, then maybe it's the shirt. Any chance your partner picked up an animal in his arms when he was away?

I didn't asked you how old is Stormy? He is neutered?

And I would keep the Feliway plugged in for now.

 

[bev yap]

false

No new people that would have been in the guest bedroom, even for less than a day?

If not, then maybe it's the shirt. Any chance your partner picked up an animal in his arms when he was away?

I didn't asked you how old is Stormy? He is neutered?

And I would keep the Feliway plugged in for now.

No one has been in the guest room for months.
He didn't pick up any animals.
Stormy is 1.5 years old.
Neutered when he was 4 months old.

I have both the spray and plug in. I'll keep it plugged in, but should I spray the bed with feliway after its already cleaned?

 

[darkhorse321]

Oh, do I feel your pain!!!

Went through this with my first kitty of 18 and a half years, and she always, always peed outside of the litterbox. It was just her and our siamese, and she was a runt and pretty laid back. We had a very big house growing up and my kitty always peed on the carpets--in certain spots. We later checked her for UTI and it's possible she had discomfort peeing and it became behavioral.

My vet said kitties who stress easily will be more prone to peeing around the house. There are a few things I did that helped:

1. Keep kitty localized to an area where the box is close by. This means shutting bedroom doors etc.

2. Cover carpets that you don't want to get peed on---my mom had a persian rug she covered with plastic and she still peed on that---in fact, that's how I found out she had a bladder infection because I saw the blood.

3. Litter: Some kitties don't like the feel of certain cat litters. Try alternate types--I didn't have many to choose from in the 80s/90s and when she was older and had CKD, I had to do a blend of scoop and regular litter because she hated the scoop stuff--stuck to her sweaty tootsies and she hated that  

4. Place litter boxes where she pees: This helped my girl immensely. While time consuming, it does get the point across that 'this is where you go'

5. Patience. Once her stress level reduces, she will start to use the box again.

Good luck!!!

 

[catmom marcia]

Admittedly, I did not read all the comments to this thread so not sure if it has been suggested or not, but I would ditch the vinegar and get some Nature's Miracle for Cat Urine and thorough saturate the site where he urinated.  Baking soda and/or vinegar will not rid the spot of the enzyme that is in cat urine and if it is not neutralized the cat will go back to the spot time and time again because it smells like urine.  Even if you can't smell it, he can.  You can get NM at the pet stores or at Amazon.  Pour it right from the bottle, don't spray it.  REALLY saturate that spot.

 

[Lyzzie]

@Bev Yap Did the mattress get hit by urine? If yes, you really need an enzyme cleaner. Like @Catmom Marcia said, cat urine smell really "sticks" and can be picked up by cats even if you don't smell it.

I don't think you need to spray some feliway, just cut off access to the guest room until everything is cleaned.

Since it's been only two times, I'm not really worried. I understand that it's hard to keep cleaning the same things over and over, but I think you just need to take a deep breath, and try and relax.

Make a plan :

Close the room to the cats, get an enzyme cleaner, and go from there.

I don't think you need to keep putting him in his litter box since he's still using it by himself.

 

[newcndcatmomma]

I have known a few cats that went pee outside the box.. it was always behaviour or pain from being declawed. Check your cats paws.. see if there are any breaks in the skin, broken nails etc... if it isnt medical.. and your cat never reached its sexual maturity before neutering..i would say behaviour. Sometimes stress happens to cats too.. something that once wasnt a problem suddenly pisses them off... try feliway spray. Good luck

 

[newcndcatmomma]

Just read you have tried feliway.. i know its hard to hear but just keep trying... i also believe when the stress goes down ur kitty will be back to the letterbox..

 

[joyceshouse]

you are going to need enzyme cleaner to get out the urine. a cats sense of smell is something like 300x better than a humans. you may think it is fine but to a kitty it is not. 

 

 

[bev yap]

 
@Bev Yap Did the mattress get hit by urine? If yes, you really need an enzyme cleaner. Like @Catmom Marcia said, cat urine smell really "sticks" and can be picked up by cats even if you don't smell it.

I don't think you need to spray some feliway, just cut off access to the guest room until everything is cleaned.

Since it's been only two times, I'm not really worried. I understand that it's hard to keep cleaning the same things over and over, but I think you just need to take a deep breath, and try and relax.

Make a plan :

Close the room to the cats, get an enzyme cleaner, and go from there.

I don't think you need to keep putting him in his litter box since he's still using it by himself.

Yeah. I closed the door. And put out two more litter boxes.

I bought the Enzyme cleaner "Out" - and sprayed the mattress. My guess is it will take a few weeks to clean it all.

Are all Enzyme cleaners created equal? Some people say getting Nature's Miracle is the best - but I haven't been able to get it that quickly.

My partner is gone for another two weeks again, so hopefully we can try to eliminate different factors. Cleaning is my most detested task! But thank you for encouraging persistence. I love Stormy a ton, so I have to be determined to help him. I think part of my frustration is feeling like I'm a bad furmom for allowing him to be less than a happy little kitty. He's the guy in my profile pic - so I've always known him as the happy-go-lucky type of cat. Thanks again for all your support!

 

[bev yap]

 
you are going to need enzyme cleaner to get out the urine. a cats sense of smell is something like 300x better than a humans. you may think it is fine but to a kitty it is not. 

 

Thanks @joyceshouse  - I will keep this mind! Are all enzyme cleaners created equal?