Problem with cat peeing around the flat

milner

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Hey im new on the site, im having an issue with my 4 year old cat Scampi, she has never had a problem with peeing around the flat until the last 6 months or so but its proving tough to stamp out, she will use her box when she wants too, but other times she will choose to pee at our front door, or at the cupboard door in my room, and recently she has pee'd against my bed when ive been sleeping.

I've had her to the vet for blood works but nothing came up and she has been dressed, i see her peeing in her box and she never looks or sounds in pain so im pretty sure its not a medical thing. I have caught her before and its definately spraying as she pee's with her tail up and when i do find out she has done it again its all over the door where she has sprayed. I've caught her in the act and stopped her, i have a spray can of air that i use when she is bad, she just hates the sound of it i dont actually spray her with the air, i have done this when ive caught her but it doesnt seem to put her off.

I have bought special cleaners but its very hard to clean as we have hardwood flooring but there are no edges around the skirtings so the pee can drip down, im hoping i dont need to lift all the flooring to sort this out and i have just ordered some feliway after reading some threads on here. I have resorted to sticking air fresheners to the front door but they only put her off for a little bit.

We live in a bottom floor flat so she gets out, and we try and leave the window open as much as we can, as you will know a cat does not take no for an answer when she wants out! I think this may be related to the fact that she wants out but cant do when we are not in, or when we are asleep, she will actually come back into the flat when she is out to use her box and then go happily back out! Its just very frustrating as the cat is like my baby, she sleeps under my arm every night but if she keeps peeing against my bed ill have to lock her out the room, i cant imagine this will help much, it wont help me sleep either!

Any suggestions at all that could help me out?

David
 

white cat lover

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Hi David & Welcome to TCS! :wavey:

First off - can I ask, is Scampi spayed?

You mentioned living on a main floor flat. Sometimes when cats see another cat out the window they will urinate indoors to mark their territory. Is this a possibility in Scampi's case?

I see you said you ordered Feliway, that can definitely help. I've even gone as far as to have diffusers plugged in & use the spray directly on an area where I've had kitties pee.

I know you said she was to the vet & blood work was done, do you know if they specifically tested her urine to rule out an infection or crystals?

I know you said she likes to go outdoors, is it possible to build some sort of enclosure so she can have 24/7 access to the outdoors if she wants?

Sorry for so many questions, but with more information we can hopefully help you come up with a solution. :)
 
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milner

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Hi David & Welcome to TCS!

First off - can I ask, is Scampi spayed?
You mentioned living on a main floor flat. Sometimes when cats see another cat out the window they will urinate indoors to mark their territory. Is this a possibility in Scampi's case?
I see you said you ordered Feliway, that can definitely help. I've even gone as far as to have diffusers plugged in & use the spray directly on an area where I've had kitties pee.
I know you said she was to the vet & blood work was done, do you know if they specifically tested her urine to rule out an infection or crystals?
I know you said she likes to go outdoors, is it possible to build some sort of enclosure so she can have 24/7 access to the outdoors if she wants?
Sorry for so many questions, but with more information we can hopefully help you come up with a solution.
Thanks for the reply :)

Yes sorry i should have said in the OP, she has been speyed, was a few years ago as she was always going to be a cat that gets outside, we used to have a house when we got her that had a cat flap so she had constant access to getting outside, however we had to downsize but made sure we chose a bottom floor flat so we could still let her out easily, we've been here for coming up to 3 years now and this has only began really in the last 6/8 months, the peeing on my bed just started a few weeks ago. She is given access to outside as much as possible, however i dont like the idea of locking her out when im not in the flat, i might be funny with that, my partner always says i should just leave her, but she has always had access to get back in when she wants and im not sure how she would react to being locked out for an afternoon when we're at work. Building an outdoor access for her would be quite difficult, but we do have an out door bit she takes shelter in if she is out in the rain, i might have to try her outside for a day and see how she gets on. I have also considered confining her in the flat when we're not in, ie locking her in the kitchen only, but again with her having had access to the whole flat will this cause stress for her at all?

We do have a lot of cats around this area, some of which she gets along with and others she doesnt, but this doesnt seem to tie in with her seeing other cats, its usually when she doesnt have access to outside, although one thing i may not have thought of is her seeing another cat when she cannot get out to say hello or chase it away, and then decides to spray to mark her territory, it would be tough to keep her away from windows at night tho, but its something ill try as well.

She was given a complete clean bill of health, they checked her blood, her urine and i got extra worming stuff as i had been using supermarket bought stuff, i was told this might not always be strong enough to deal with any problem. Hopefully the Felixway can help, and ill look into a defuser as well for my room to hopefully stop her peeing against the bed.

I've also decided to move her food bowl, we have a cupboard in the kitchen with an old unused washing machine inside, i had been keeping her food bowl on top of that with her litter box on the floor, so i've moved her food bowl to the other side of the kitchen, and i pulled up the tiles in the cupboard and noticed there was quite a lot of pee under them where she has missed the box, perhaps this was putting her off at times because it was so close to her food. She has always been bad for missing her box, but if i put newspaper under and around her box she seems to just pee on that instead of in her box.

I just really want to sort it as there is no chance of me giving her away, even if i cant stop it, but obviously id rather not spend the next few years cleaning up cat pee from the front door, and obviously after a while it is going to smell.
 

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Thanks for the information - that helps!

Let's talk about the cat box. Did you change litter around the time she began having issues?
How many cat boxes do you have?
What shape/size/style are they?

You can try Cat Attract litter.
For cats who pee over the edges of litterboxes, I've had success w/ using an 18 Gallon Rubbermaid tub. For me, what works is to cut a hole in the lid to make it be like a "top entry" cat box. Others have cut down on one side and leave the lid off. (See Post #9 in this thread for a picture example)

The general rule of thumb is to have one more litterbox than you have cats, as some cats do not like to pee/poop in the same box.

Make sure to clean the areas where she's peed over the edge of the box thoroughly with an enzymatic cleaner. I'm not sure what's available where you are, but there are definitely cleaners that are better than others. You can use a blacklight in the dark to determine if there's still pee spots there, because while we cannot smell it cats have stronger noses than we do.

I'm also giving you the links below to some articles that you may find helpful on litterboxes. :)

Litter Box Maintenance

How to Remove Cat Urine

Combat Cat Urine

Litterbox Location Secrets
 
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milner

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Ive got two boxes in the flat, but she will only use one, i have a shallow but large base one with an edge around it, and i bought one with a cover and flap on it a few months ago when this began as i thought her old box was maybe smelling too much for her. She wont go into the box with the lid at all, even with the lid off of it, but ill definitely get one like from your thread that should hopefully help with her peeing over the side of her current one! In regards to the litter i had been using a kind of litter that absorbs smell but doesnt clump, i changed to the clumping litter instead and whilst she does use it slightly more and it makes it easier to clean, it hasnt stopped her completely. Ill have a look here in the UK for the litter you recommend, or something similar.

I've bought this stuff for cleaning the cat pee, http://www.petwhiffoff.com/buy-now-offers?gclid=CIrq9JWeyLMCFSnJtAod-ncAtw this is my first time buying this kinda thing so im hoping it does the trick. Ill try this along with the Felixway, and a new box, hopefully with that and with me moving her food ill see an improvement.

Thanks for the links ill have a good read through them and follow any advice.

Ive also decided to clear a space in our hallway and ill make an area for her to sleep, with toys and a cat tree, usually she sleeps on the sofa or in my bed but maybe giving her, her own area will help out, ill maybe put one of her boxes near this area as well and that way if she does pee in the hallway, she will maybe use the box that is there.

Thanks for all your help so far, ill post back with any updates i have on it all. :)
 
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white cat lover

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When I've had to deal with 'out of the box' moments I've made my house into one giant catbox, I swear! If I have any incidents I always add in extra boxes, sometimes with a new litter (sometimes using the same litter, or Cat Attract litter) - in case we have an issue with a litterbox location, suddenly not liking a litter, etc.
 
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