Peeing Everywhere, Every Day, I Am Desperate!

[alibali]

I have a nearly 10-year-old male neutered cat, Inky. He does not have crystals, vet thinks it is behavioral.

He is peeing EVERYWHERE. I have had to clean up urine every single morning and it's driving me crazy. Full bladder pee, not spraying/marking. He has always been accident-prone but it is getting EXCESSIVE!

If I leave a cardboard box out, 100% chance he will pee in it. He pees in laundry baskets. He peed on my hubby's expensive art paper pads. He peed in all the cat beds. He peed on our upholstered bench, ottoman, and armchair (ruined, had to throw them away). He even peed in my gym bag and on my daughter's backpack. Basically, if it's roughly rectangular, he will pee on it. He has ruined SO MUCH STUFF.

I keep his litter boxes clean (we have 2 cats and 3 litter boxes). I have tried different litters. He still poops in the litter boxes. (although he seems to not like getting in the litter, like he stands on the very edge, and won't dig or bury his poop. Could that be a sign of something???)

We have Feliway plug-ins and he wears Sentry "calming collars"

He isn't going in 1 regular place, it's all over the house, but more in the basement than anywhere else (and 2 of the 3 litter boxes are down there!)

I feel like it has gotten progressively worse over the last several years, but in the last few weeks it has been literally every day.

HELP??????? I will try ANYTHING

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
Do you have cats roaming around outside? If so can you make them stay away? Motion detector sprinklers, citrus sprays, citrus peels, even lemon scented furniture polish spray.

Were there animals living in the house before you moved in? He may be detecting old odors and probably especially in the basement. A black light if you don't have one to show urine, (you'll want to read reviews, i understand some are better than others) and enzymatic cleaners should help.

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Try containing him in his own room for at least a couple weeks probably longer, with multiple litterboxes, and puppy pee pads on the floor and anything you can't move out.
There's an enzymatic cleaner called the Equalizer that doesn't require soaking, try that.

If you haven't already, try pellet litter, littermaid's Walnut litter, there's I think a crushed coconut litter, there is a Cat Attract litter, Dr elseys respiratory relief crystals...also try different style boxes.

Also give him some music, try low volume classical harp music, George Handel compositions there's an app called Relax My Cat, and MusicForCats.com

 

[alibali]

Thank you!! we DO have a neighbor cat who my boy HATES! they have screaming contests through the glass door. I can definitely try some of that stuff to keep him away. thanks!!!

I have no idea if animals lived here before we moved in! I hadn't even thought of it! I do know that all the flooring in the whole house was brand-new though... idk if the under-boards or whatever they are called could have retained some smell? if that were the case tho, wouldn't he only be peeing in those spots? it's more like he just really wants to pee in anything other than his litter box

I'll try the Equalizer cleaner, thanks! so far I had been using nature's miracle but I feel like it does nothing! I just got one called OdorX Un-Duz-It but I haven't tried it yet. He doesn't have any issue with peeing in reoccurring places - he'll pee in something once and never again, so I don't really think it is smell.

I usually use pine pellet litter mixed with the Dr Elseys crystals. I have also tried the regular clumping stuff, yesterdays news, arm & hammer which is corncob based I think, and the "worlds best cat litter." Litter type hasn't seemed to help, but I will try walnut and coconut! Can't hurt!! attractant litter is a GREAT idea! I'm going to go buy some right now!!

And music is a good idea too! maybe something calming would help.

I'm not sure about containing him... our house is really open and so he would have to be locked in a bedroom but I really don't want him to pee on a bed (again!) the only other place would be our laundry room, but that also has a lot of stuff I'd have to move out. I guess I just feel bad locking him up in a small room. Is the idea to lock him up until he gets used to using the litter boxes, and then he'll hopefully keep using them??

 

[Hellenww]

Our 12 yr old also never liked the stand in litter and perched on the edge. T

 

[Furballsmom]

You're correct, it's to hopefully get him used to peeing in the boxes, to sort of gently force the issue. Maybe put a big plastic tarp over things like the bed, just until he's back to normal.

Put some plastic window glass covering on the lower part of the glass door too, so he can't see the neighbor cat in the meantime while you're working on getting that cat to go away. There are non sticky types of these privacy window coverings that would work.

Also just to be sure, I'd get a black light and double check the basement walls in case he or any others have sprayed.
Hang in there! Let us know how things are going

 

[Hellenww]

Accidentally posted

Yoshi's issue is pooping on the floor since developing arthritis that made perching more difficult. This summer we tried every type of litter, pine pellets, and torn paper. We finally had success with putting a pee pad in an empty litter box and putting a poo in it.

Since it's mostly the basement, does it have windows you can cover? If it's territorial deterrents outside the windows might help.

 

[Willowy]

Puppy pads. If he likes peeing on soft things they usually do the trick. You can get a great big box of them at Sam's Club or Amazon. Absorbent underpads made for humans are larger and sometimes cheaper than those sold for puppies. This is what I buy; at the current price the pads are 21 cents each: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NNEPJQ/?tag=&tag=thecatsite

 

[FeebysOwner]

If this is a 'newer' behavior, I tend to think there is a medical reason behind it, perhaps even something age related - which might be harder for a vet to pick up on initially. Or, it could be due to some change in the environment that you haven't yet picked up on - especially if the cat outside that he hates has been around for a long time. I suppose it could also be a combination - aging changes that are causing him to be more affected by the outdoor cat or have altered his litterbox preferences.

If you hate confining him, perhaps the attractant litter, and/or puppy pads, might work and you won't have to. If not, you may be forced to restrict his area for a while. Good luck!!

 

[MargoLane]

This sounds really awful to deal with! Since he doesn't seem to like going in to the box - perching on the edge - I would try every type of litter you can think of in different types of boxes. Maybe something about the texture or type of litter is throwing him off? Is he declawed? I hear that can cause some texture issues with litter.

Are he and your other cat getting along? Is your other cat 'bullying' him out of the boxes? If it's truly no medical than something is stressing him out, and maybe their relationship isn't as good as it has been. Best of luck - keep us posted!

 

[Jem]

If it is the cat outside that is upsetting yours. One thing we did that helped keep a cat that was upsetting ours away....was WE peed (yes, my husband and I ) around certain areas about the property, but mostly near the basement windows and the ground around our doors. We essentially marked our property to keep the cat away, and our cat smelled "us" outside, so he did not feel threatened. Not sure if it will work for you, but it did for us and it was my co-worker who told me to do this as they had a neighborhood cat spraying their widows, and it worked for them too.
Just be sure you do it at night so you don't scare the neighbors!! LOL!

(you did say you'd try anything right?)

 

[Furballsmom]

Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about human urine...

 

[alibali]

Puppy pads are totally brilliant!! that sounds perfect for him and I never would have thought of it so thank you everyone!!!

and great idea about blocking the door - the neighbor cat comes right up to our back porch door - I suspect the people who lived here before us used to feed him. Maybe I'll start peeing the yard LOL!!! but I think I'll try lemon peels and stuff first or maybe I'll just crack the door and squirt him with a squirt bottle?

Inky does kind of hate his brother, Cooper. I wouldn't call Cooper a bully, more like, he still acts like an energetic kitten and wants to play, while Inky is a lazy old man! A couple years ago, cooper was very, very sick and spent a couple weeks in critical care. I have never seen Inky so happy! he was playing and running around and so full of energy. I feel bad though, I can't really separate them. And Cooper is truly harmless - in fact, Inky nips at him, and has even scratched him up a few times, and cooper never has hurt inky. Inky is also more than twice the size of cooper (18lbs vs 8 lbs!) Inky's pee issues started long after we got Cooper, but maybe Inky is just less tolerant now that he is getting older? They got along so great when they were kittens!

So here's my plan:
attractant litter in the regular boxes, buy 2 new boxes to put pee pads in, soft music in the basement, block off view to the glass door, new black light (the one I have is useless), and stuff to chase away the neighbor cat! Sound good?

This has been SO SO SO helpful thank you everyone!

 

[Furballsmom]

Let us know how things go, we're rooting for you

 

[alibali]

NO PEE TODAY!

Seriously I’m so relived!! He seemed to like the attractant litter. My other boy tried to dig it all out of the box tho glad I bought 80lbs of it LOL

 

[alibali]

Oh I was wondering! Is there any chance that using the puppy pads will encourage peeing on blankets/fabric and stuff? I didn’t try that yet because my hubby was worried it would lead to bad behavior. Any thoughts?

 

[MargoLane]

NO PEE TODAY!

Seriously I’m so relived!! He seemed to like the attractant litter. My other boy tried to dig it all out of the box tho glad I bought 80lbs of it LOL

This is such great news! So happy for you! Maybe your cat loves fresh litter + litter attractant? I think you could keep the puppy pads as a back up; see how long this streak lasts?

 

[alibali]

Yes I can just try to see how long he will keep up the good behavior! Hopefully this wasn’t a fluke!

 

[Furballsmom]

He seemed to like the attractant litter. My other boy tried to dig it all out of the box tho glad I bought 80lbs of it LOL

I haven't read about it causing issues of more peeing on soft material, but didn't you have that issue already?

If you continue to have problems, I'm wondering if you could spray the pads with a calming product and draw him from other soft materials to the pee pads. But, actually the most I've seen is that some people end up putting the pads in a litterbox because that's the cat's preferred choice LOL

 

[susanm9006]

Just wondering whether the vet ran a full bloodwork panel to check his kidney function and glucose?

 

[Kflowers]

Keep an eye on your back and front door for spray spots from the neighbor's cat, or other passing cats. Wash them off with the cleaner that worked inside as soon as you see them. Your boy will know you're fighting the good fight with him and that makes all the difference to kitties.