is this spraying? I'm so confused

[berties_mama]

Hi everyone,

I have a tiny tabby called Bertie who's committed to making my bathroom stinky, and I'm at my wits end.

She's 8 years old and spayed. I've had her for about two years and there's been no trouble and very little change in her environment.

Her litter box is in my bathroom and is big and emptied daily, she uses it fine. The problem is that at least weekly she's doing something to my bathroom mat (spraying it??) because there's no visible urine there but it smells horrific and I can't get the smell out. Often after the smell happens, she'll leave the mat all scrunched up.

My questions are:
1. Is this spraying? Even though she's a spayed female?
2. If I take the bathroom mat away so that she can't mark it, will she move to other surfaces? I'd rather sacrifice mats than the carpet.
3. Is there anything I should try to get her to stop?

Thank you in advance

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi
I would remove that mat. Whether or not it has a rubber backing which some cats find irresistible there's definitely something about it. This isn't spraying in the typical sense, and hopefully with it gone she'll use her box normally and that'll be that .

To be certain about other areas you could obtain a black light, that will show urine (old and new, and vomit).

 

[cejhome]

If its a rubber backed rug, some cats can't resist that and will pee on it. We had one cat that did it - a girl (Nilla). Once we got rid of the rubber backed rug it stopped. A friend of mine has a girl kitty - Lilly that is about 10 years old that just started peeing on her rubber backed bathroom rug. Never has done it before. There are some non-slip little bath mat rugs that do not have rubber that work pretty well. They are microfiber. That is what I have in the bathroom now. You can wash them in cold water but you can't dry them in the dryer. They have to hang to dry - the heat will ruin the non-skid backing. They aren't as non-skid as rubber backed rugs but they work fine.

 

[FeebysOwner]

If it turns out that the bathmat is the culprit, you can always get new one - with or without a rubber backing - and hang it over the shower curtain rod or a towel rack when you aren't using it. There are even command strips that will hold a bathmat which can be added to any wall in your bathroom with easy removal when appropriate.

If removing the bathmat doesn't help, you can try puppy pee pads to help with clean up while you continue to search for a more permanent solution.