Inappropriate urination...but why?

[Black_Kat]

Hey guys. This is what I get for telling people that I have an absolute angelic cat that does no wrong...
So Sadie is an approx 7.5 y/o DSH. No history of medical issues, can be a little timid but has handled stress well in the past. Long story kind of short, we discovered she was peeing along the wall in our basement (placed camera and caught her in the act). I'm a vet tech so I took her to work with me and ran bloodwork and a urinalysis; no diabetes, kidney disease, hyperthyroidism, UTI. Nothing. Beautiful labs Uhg. Okay. So we chalk it up to stress. She never really liked the kitten I adopted back in September, so maybe he's causing the stress? I changed their litter from clay to pine slowly over the course of a month at the first of the year. Maybe that's uncomfortable for her now, or she's just stressed about the change, several months after the fact? Idk. So I bought two Feliway diffusers, one for upstairs and one for downstairs, and my vet wanted to start her on Fluoxetine. I bought a new litterbox and placed in the corner where she had been peeing, but she never went in it. The pills went okay for about a week, but she got freaked out to the point of running and hiding when she saw me or if she heard the pill bottle. So I aborted that plan.
She seems to be her usual self other than the urinating, which she's still doing nightly.
So. Opinion time. Should I switch back to clay litter (and if so, do I transition slowly back to it). Do I pursue more diagnostics with the assumption that it's pain related (no other symptoms to suggest that, but ). Obviously the last thing I want to do is rehome the kitten if he's the source of her stress. I've had him now since September, as I mentioned previously. They coexist fine but Sadie panics whenever he tries to play with her. I just don't know where to go from here...

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. If the basement walls are concrete, you stand a good chance that the urine smell has not been eradicated unless you used products specifically for removing urine odor from concrete. If she can smell it, it is like an invitation to go there again and again. The other thing to consider is you have mice or another form of 'critter' down there somewhere in the basement, even if she/you can't see them, she can smell them.

If she is using another litter box that has also been changed from clay to pine, then it wouldn't seem to be an issue with the litter. Is it possible for you to deny her access to the basement for a while and see if that stops her from inappropriately peeing?

Did her urinalysis show any sediment to suggest crystals? If not, I am not sure what could be causing pain - at least not from that aspect.

Can you make sure she has places to go to get away from the kitten when she wants to? Does she run from him when he wants to play, or does she stand her ground and try to 'dissuade' him with some swats/hisses? Do you distract the kitten when he is trying to get her to play?

 

[arr]

Does your basement have windows at ground level? Is it possible there is an outdoor cat roaming by and possibly spraying outside the perimeter and upsetting your cat? Can you tell if she is peeing or spraying? Since the inappropriate urination is occurring along the wall instead of near the litter box, it suggests to me something behavioral rather than medical. If it’s spraying, she is almost certainly upset about something she perceives as a threat.

 

[Black_Kat]

Hi. If the basement walls are concrete, you stand a good chance that the urine smell has not been eradicated unless you used products specifically for removing urine odor from concrete. If she can smell it, it is like an invitation to go there again and again. The other thing to consider is you have mice or another form of 'critter' down there somewhere in the basement, even if she/you can't see them, she can smell them.

If she is using another litter box that has also been changed from clay to pine, then it wouldn't seem to be an issue with the litter. Is it possible for you to deny her access to the basement for a while and see if that stops her from inappropriately peeing?

Did her urinalysis show any sediment to suggest crystals? If not, I am not sure what could be causing pain - at least not from that aspect.

Can you make sure she has places to go to get away from the kitten when she wants to? Does she run from him when he wants to play, or does she stand her ground and try to 'dissuade' him with some swats/hisses? Do you distract the kitten when he is trying to get her to play?

Thanks for your reply! So the basement is completely finished. The wall that she is peeing along is an exterior concrete wall, but it is drywalled. We don't have a door available to shut off access to the basement as a whole. She does like to hide down there when she needs a break, and there is a litterbox in the laundry room down there as well. Her urinalysis was completely normal; as far as pain goes I was implying more of an arthritis pain. We don't know her age for sure, but she's approx 7.5-8 yrs old. Osteoarthritis can show up in cats younger, so it's just been a thought. I did not xray her when I took her in for diagnostics. As far as the kitten goes (not really a kitten anymore, just turned a year old) she will start to growl when he directly approaches, and will tend to run off before he has a chance to engage. But sometimes if he catches her in a bad spot (ie a corner) she'll hiss and swat. If he doesn't listen to her warning and physically touches her, she'll scream like she's been skinned and take off. I try to intervene when I can bit redirecting his attention elsewhere

 

[Black_Kat]

Does your basement have windows at ground level? Is it possible there is an outdoor cat roaming by and possibly spraying outside the perimeter and upsetting your cat? Can you tell if she is peeing or spraying? Since the inappropriate urination is occurring along the wall instead of near the litter box, it suggests to me something behavioral rather than medical. If it’s spraying, she is almost certainly upset about something she perceives as a threat.

You know, it is possible that she's spraying, I never took that into consideration. The wall that she's peeing along is an exterior wall beneath the egress window. I have seen a stray cat wandering around the front of the house a time or two, but have never noticed him in our backyard where this window is. I may have to investigate this further

 

[IndyJones]

Concrete absorbs all kinds of stuff. Is it possable another cat lived there before you moved in? even years later the scent can still linger even though people can't smell it anymore. I learned that after dogsitting our friends dog who marked the carpet where our old dog had accedent once four years earlier.

Maybe try going over the area with a uv light and clean until there is no more "glow" .

 

[BluOnyx]

If possible, clean the area with vinegar and spray feliway spray there every other day for a few weeks. A friend of mine had a cat peeing in the pantry on a wood floor for a few months but once it was cleaned with vinegar and feliway was used, it stopped and he hasn't done it again.

 

[Alldara]

I changed their litter from clay to pine slowly over the course of a month at the first of the year.

I have literally no medical science behind this, but my cat had frequent flares when on pine and when on clay. Ive recommended switching to a number of people and a lot have good results.

I usually recommend using corn, paper or wheat as an alternative. Even the nutshell based one is fine, lots of people like the tofu one.

How I switch to not cause stress is take a spare litter (your new one she hasn't used yet will work excellently). Put 100% new litter in that box. Take a poo from her old box and place it there. Wait. Once she starts to use it, and favour it, change your second box. Once you're out of the old litter, change your third box. I never mix litters in the same box. (I assume with 2 cats you have 3 boxes.)