(nearly) 2-year unsolvable urinating issue

WolfenLynx

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This is going to take alot of explaining, but my 1 and a half year old cat jasmine has been urinating outside of the litterbox since we got her.

I live in a small house with a ground floor and basement, so there is not enough room for litterboxes. We have always let our cats go outside, where they did the majority of the peeing and pooping, but after more of our indoor-outdoor cats died than lived, we decided our next cat would be indoors only. We currently have one indoor-outdoor (sophie) and one indoor only (jasmine)

It started in November of 2019 when we purchased this 3 month old kitten from PetSmart. (DONT do this, adopt from a humane shelter instead, she arrived home and began to poop blood... I noticed that their cats are often sick anyways)
We made the mistake of keeping her and the litterbox in my room, and eventually, when the kitten was free to go to the whole house, moving the litterbox downstairs. She retaliated by peeing in my bedroom for a while. Overall, she had loads of issues peeing downstairs, to which we got a second litterbox and had one in the laundry room and one in the guest room. (both were downstairs)

This worked out fine, except for the fact that she would track litter everywhere and the guestroom (which I use for my computer) smelled rancid. Then by spring/summer of 2020, she began marking upstairs. By this point, we were experimenting with leash training, we did a lot wrong so I can understand why she may have been stressed at this time. She did do pretty well just exploring the back-yard, and begged to go outside often. Her marking the living room carpet upstairs was completely unavoidable by all efforts. My mother did NOT want a litterbox upstairs/in kitchen, but we convinced her to put one in the living room.

This worked out... okay. Litter was tracking everywhere, and as soon as you walked in our house, it smelled HORRIBLE. Since our house is small, it's unavoidable. Winter 2020: 2 litterboxes, one downstairs and one in our living room.

Fast forward to now: We put out litter matsback then, to now find out that she has been peeing on them the entire time. We switch to a completely new litterbox and litter. I contimplated doing a gradual switch from litter to pellets, but she actually used the new pellet litterbox instantly. Everything was fine. We put down some pee-pads and moved the old traditional litterbox we had upstairs previously downstairs to replace the one there.
This is where things go crazy. Now that it was warm enough to go outside, we let her out on leash. She craves the extra attention, and I try my best to give it to her. Playing with her daily and taking her out daily, sometimes multiple times a day. She begins to pee outside the litterbox. Behind our TV, and on the litter pads. Its bad.

She is afraid of plastic bags, so I immediately stuff our TV area with plastic bags to avoid pee getting in electrical cords. My dad takes my cat sophie to the vet for an unrelated reason, and while he's there, he asks for advice on Jasmine. He gives us some options, and right now we are changing pee pads as soon as she urinates on them, and spraying feliway twice a day. We can't afford to spray it every 4-5 hours. And we cant risk taking away the pee pads to see if she only wants to pee on those.
However, because we sprayed feliway spray around the new litterbox upstairs, she is begining to stop pooping in it, and only pooping downstairs. You think she would stop peeing as well? No. She keeps peeing outside of it, exactly where we spray.

I am currently running an experiment right this moment. I am putting a pee pad downstairs to see if she urinates on it. I hope that it is just the pads.

One cat needs more than one litterbox, so it's not like we can block off that area. We are at a loss. Do we risk letting my baby outside, unleashed, to pee and releive stress? She is a huge wimp, afraid of everything that moves, but extremely energetic and adventurous. She is oddly bad at balancing on things too like fences. She's never been past our yard before. What if she gets hit? People speed on my road. I've had 2 cats disappear, one get hit. I dont want to let her out and loose her, but she's destroying the house. What if we let her out and she just keeps marking anyway? I worry for the future: If it's this bad now, what will she do when I move to collage and my parents are work all day? (i'm currently a Junior, so i have a little bit of time left)
 

rubysmama

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So sorry you're dealing with all this. Few questions.

1. Is she spayed?
2. Has she been to the vet to check for an UTI?
3. Does she get along with the Sophie?
4. Do you use an enzyme cleaner in the areas she's peed?
 
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WolfenLynx

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So sorry you're dealing with all this. Few questions.

1. Is she spayed?
2. Has she been to the vet to check for an UTI?
3. Does she get along with the Sophie?
4. Do you use an enzyme cleaner in the areas she's peed?
1. yes
2. no, we should check that
3. yes I think so, nature's miracle spray is what we use
 
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WolfenLynx

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whoops sorry, also she does get along with sophie. They play-fight but it never really gets nasty or anything. It is usually Jasmine instigating the play. They sleep on the same bed, although usually a little bit apart from each other.
 
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WolfenLynx

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IF you can afford it, this fencing for your yard will safely keep her inside the property. And there is an "add-on" for existing fences.
I would honestly love to do something like this, but it would be too expensive for us as well as a definitive NO from my mother.
Thank you for sharing, I'll keep this idea in the back of my mind.
 

rubysmama

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2. no, we should check that
Even though it's been going on a long time, a vet checkup to ensure she doesn't have an UTI is still a good idea. Once that's ruled out, then we'll know it's behavioural, not medical, and we can try to figure out why she doesn't want to use the litter box.

Litterbox Problems? Here’s Why You Should Call Your Vet – TheCatSite Articles

One thing you could try, right now, is Cat Attract litter. Dr. Elsey’s Cat Attract™ Cat Litter - the litter cats love™

Also, maybe put down a 3rd litter box. The "rule" is one litter box per cat, plus one, so 3 might be the answer in your case.
 

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I was watching Jackson Galaxy recently on his show about cats. You might be able to find his show on YouTube or OnDemand on your TV. Even though you think all your other cats went outside... they may not have. He went around someone’s house with a black light and there were pee stains everywhere. He talked a lot about how multiple cats in a house mark their territory by peeing outside the box. Cat’s noses are very sensitive and they can detect even old dried up urine. I have always been hyper vigilant about keeping boxes scooped and cleaned. I think that helps... multiple boxes in different areas of the house is a good idea. The worst type of box is a covered box. Even if cats seem to be ok with that type at first, they suddenly are not. They’re a pain for you to try to keep clean, keeps the smell in and the cat won’t want to go in there. Cats need room to move around in the litter box. Get large boxes with high sides, makes it easier for you to see a cat has been in there and it’s time to scoop.... when you keep a clean box the house doesn’t smell. I agree with the others that it is important to make sure she isn’t suffering physically with a UTI... a vet visit is in order to be sure.
 
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WolfenLynx

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Even though it's been going on a long time, a vet checkup to ensure she doesn't have an UTI is still a good idea. Once that's ruled out, then we'll know it's behavioural, not medical, and we can try to figure out why she doesn't want to use the litter box.

Litterbox Problems? Here’s Why You Should Call Your Vet – TheCatSite Articles

One thing you could try, right now, is Cat Attract litter. Dr. Elsey’s Cat Attract™ Cat Litter - the litter cats love™

Also, maybe put down a 3rd litter box. The "rule" is one litter box per cat, plus one, so 3 might be the answer in your case.
Thank you. I'll update when I have tried all these options.
 
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WolfenLynx

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I was watching Jackson Galaxy recently on his show about cats. You might be able to find his show on YouTube or OnDemand on your TV. Even though you think all your other cats went outside... they may not have. He went around someone’s house with a black light and there were pee stains everywhere. He talked a lot about how multiple cats in a house mark their territory by peeing outside the box. Cat’s noses are very sensitive and they can detect even old dried up urine. I have always been hyper vigilant about keeping boxes scooped and cleaned. I think that helps... multiple boxes in different areas of the house is a good idea. The worst type of box is a covered box. Even if cats seem to be ok with that type at first, they suddenly are not. They’re a pain for you to try to keep clean, keeps the smell in and the cat won’t want to go in there. Cats need room to move around in the litter box. Get large boxes with high sides, makes it easier for you to see a cat has been in there and it’s time to scoop.... when you keep a clean box the house doesn’t smell. I agree with the others that it is important to make sure she isn’t suffering physically with a UTI... a vet visit is in order to be sure.
Thank you for this advice. I currently only have covered ones, so I might consider taking the hood off.
 
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WolfenLynx

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Update: It's not getting any better....

Since she absolutely refuses to use the pellet litterbox now, we moved it downstairs (2 are downstairs now) into an old place she liked to pee. She refuses to use it still, and continues to pee upstairs despite the entire area being fortified by plastic bags and feliway.

She has not gone in for a UTI just yet but it is scheduled. I showed her the litterbox downstairs, and she freaked out, refused to go near. which I would consider normal, but this time Sophie was hiding in a dresser right next to it. I open the dresser and reveal Sophie, and Jasmine begins to hiss. She never hisses. She does so several times before darting off.

I seriously just need this animal to stop pissing on the carpet. SHE WONT STOP its driving me insane. We may get another litterbox for the bathroom, but will it even help!? It doesnt matter what kind of box it is, or what kind of litter. Doesnt matter what kind of smells or items we put around the area, Or where the litterbox even is. SHE WILL PEE UPSTAIRS NO MATTER WHAT.
 

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If you don't have a black light, consider it. They are not awfully expensive, and you'll know for sure if you are missing cleaning spots that might trigger her.
 
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WolfenLynx

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If you don't have a black light, consider it. They are not awfully expensive, and you'll know for sure if you are missing cleaning spots that might trigger her.
i'll look into that, thank you
 
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WolfenLynx

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WolfenLynx

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General update:
We took her to the vet today, and got more cleaning supplies and did a deep clean of the area. The vets said it is a behavioral issue. I got new feliway spray and moved the litterbox from the "fear of sophie" area to a new room upstairs.

Her hissing at sophie continued, but we beleive it's because of Sophie's sickness. She has a cold.

Good news:
We have received a medication for jasmine to calm her stress and anxiety. The vet put it like this "she's in a chain/cycle of getting anxious and peeing in that spot, we need to break the chain" Hopefully after 2 weeks we will see some progress. (Sophie has antibiotics for herself as well :) )

For now I will explore more cleaning options, use the feliway, and work with her with this medication.
 
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WolfenLynx

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Update: Has not peed in the pellet box, however, she hasn't peed on the carpet!

Bad News: she just started wailing, looking all around the house for a place to pee, until we walked her to the litterbox, she cried aloud, and peed in the litterbox (i had to put her inside so she did not run away) she stood there for a good 2 minutes after the pee came out, still squatting. then ran away, walked around anxiously, and laid down in a place she sleeps, her ears were red hot and her breathing was quick

Although the vet said it was behavioral, we're gonna take her in again for an actual UTI test.
 

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