Cat Urinating In Certain Spots Outside Of Litter Box

[TN4224]

I adopted a cat about a week ago. She's almost 5 and when I got her, she had a mild bladder stone. They sent her home with antibiotics, pain meds, and prescription food. She's now finished with all her medication, but she's still on the prescription food. The adoption center suggested I take her to the vet in about a month to see how she's doing.

I live in an apartment, and she is indoors only. I have two litter boxes (she is the only cat here), which I've been cleaning regularly and she does use those, but she has also been urinating in a few other specific spots. First, there was a box with towels in it that I set out thinking it would make a nice nap spot for her. Apparently, she thought it was a litter box, because I caught her peeing in it. After that, even once I removed the box, she kept going back to the same spot to pee. I tried putting furniture on it, and she just peed near it. So, I ended up moving one of the litter boxes to that spot in the hopes that if she's going to pee there anyway, at least she will pee in an appropriate spot. I was hoping that had fixed the issue, but then this morning, I noticed a puddle of pee in her cat cube. I guess maybe that looked like a litter box too? I took the cube out of course and am cleaning with Nature's Miracle to get the smell off, but I'm worried that she'll return to where the cube was now or will just find another spot to pee. I know her urinary issues may be contributing to this, but I also definitely don't want her to get into the habit of peeing outside the box. And I don't want to worry about cleaning it up all the time, of course. She's on a wet food only diet, eating prescription food, and I have a water fountain to encourage her to drink. I'm not sure what else to do because she is litter box trained but seems to also find other areas interesting. I don't want her peeing in anything that looks remotely like a litter box! Any advice anyone can share?

 

[Timmer]

You have only had her a week and she was sick when you got her. I don't know much about stones but I think they have to pass, right? Like in humans? Maybe she's not better. It sounds like you are doing all you can and she's been through a lot. What about a Feliway diffuser plugged in near those pee areas. I've never had luck with them but some people have. They are expensive.
I think I would talk to the vet about her to see if she is better or not.

 

[Furballsmom]

A couple thoughts, if you can, put a couple disposable boxes, temporarily in those locations and gradually move them closer to the main one.
Also maybe try a change of litter.
Good luck!

 

[ArtNJ]

Box of towels means nothing, many cats will pee on towels left on ground level because they are soft and kneedable, and perhaps retain some smells. Bladder infections (any medical issue really) or stress (new home) can cause a cat to have accidents. In general, you need to both treat the causes and then starve the habit by removing the targets. With an older cat that you don't know the history of, you could have other complicating issues including the fact that you might be using a different kind of litter and litter box. Those things might not have been an issue if the cat hadn't come to you with a bladder infection. Treating the habit ordinarily means removing or denying access to targets and likely alternative targets. Lets try this:

(1) get everything soft or kneedable off the floor including bath mats and small area rugs (if reasonably possible). Put the cat cube away for now;
(2) keep the laundry basket inaccessible and put away your dirty clothes as you take them off;
(3) make your bed military style (tight sheets, nothing loose) and keep any comforter in the closet when not in use. Keeping the cat off the bed would be best for now, but it might be hard to get him back on the bed (if you want that) after the litter problem is solved;
(4) If your litter boxes have a lid, remove it for now. If your litter boxes are on the small side, get bigger ones, especially if its a sizeable cat.
(5) we might need to experiment with different kinds of litter - what are you using?
(6) once there are no accidents for a week or two you can relax these restrictions.

Since you live in apartment, a complicating factor could be prior cats that have lived in the apartment with previous renters. (i.e. spots might still smell if prior owner didn't clean properly). However, thus far sounds like we haven't seen accidents in spots likely frequented by prior cats.

 

[TN4224]

Yes, it's likely she isn't all the way better and that is probably contributing to these issues. The prescription food is supposed to dissolve the stone, but in the meantime, urinating might be a bit uncomfortable. So it's possible these problems might resolve once she's all better, but since I have to wait for the food to dissolve the stone, I don't want her making a habit of peeing all over the place in the meantime.
A ArtNJ Thanks for all the great ideas! I'm using Feline Pine pellet litter right now. The adoption center did not give me a brand, but they said she was used to pellet litter, so that's why I chose that one. She seems okay with it since most of the time she does use one of the two litter boxes I provided. But sometimes she picks a different spot.