"Social Urinating" or "Excited Peeing" - ever heard of it?

[aprilprey]

I have had my second cat Dexter for nearly a month now - added him to my household when my older kitty had to be euthanized.  My other cat is Boo, 12 yr. old female.  My question is about Dexter, 1 yr old male.

The Humane Society volunteer assisting me called him a "social eater" - when I showed him any interest, he would immediately start eating his kibble*.  When I said I had never heard of this, I was told that it was because the attention/petting would get him all excited/stimulated - which prompted him to eat.  When I brought him home, sure enough, he really preferred eating when I was in the room.  At times, when I stop to pet him, he'll then go right over to his dish and chow down if he has any food left.  This is why we have his dish in the living room where we spend most of our time - he's always eating in the middle of everything and seems to like it.

He seems to carry this behavior over a little when urinating.  I'll be playing with him, and all of a sudden he'll RUN for his litterbox, chirping and meowing the whole time - pee really quick - then DASH back and play some more.  We have two litterboxes, one is in the master bathroom off the master bedroom.  Whenever I am in bed and he's on the way to THAT litterbox, he chirps and meows as if to say "I'm off to the loo", is silent when he's actually doing it, then starts chirping and meowing once done.

Dexter has been to the vet for an exam - he is the picture of health.  I have had male cats develop urinary tract infections, so I know the signs.  There are NONE here...no other reason to suspect a problem.  He doesn't show any discomfort, fussing, ect.   He just reminds me of those little high strung dogs that pee themselves when excited, its just that being a cat, he'll make the effort to use the litter box.

So - has anyone else ever had a cat that did this?

* No worries - kibble soon banished from his diet; now he's getting high quality canned and semi-raw home made.

 

[mani]

No, I've never heard of it, but it's fascinating!

I'm sure a behaviourist would give some insight, but since it doesn't create problems, you're probably just interested in other people's experiences.

I guess the only problem would be if he wouldn't eat or use the litterbox unless there was someone around.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

A friend of mine has a cat that, when she was single and in a one bedroom apartment, would wait till she was in her bedroom to use the litter box.  Or she'd wait for her to come home on her lunch break and then go run and go.  I guess that is sort of the same thing!  I've never heard or another cat that does that!

I'm not sure if she is still doing it now that my friend is married and not keeping the litter box in the master bedroom.  But that is interesting to know other cats do it!  

 

[aprilprey]

Its kind of hilarious - far from a problem.  My being asleep doesn't seem to stop him - he just seems to be so HAPPY he's always chirping away...even on the way to the litterbox.  Imagine some little kids running around playing, one realizes he needs to pee, but he can barely break himself away from the excitement.  He RUNS to the bathroom yelling "I'LL BE BACK WAIT DON'T DO ANYTHING TIL I GET BACK..." pees as fast as he can, and then runs back to the group and resumes playing.  That's what its like.

He was in "the system" as a stray w/out ID, so he came off of nearly a month of dry kibble onto canned/semi-raw.  I wonder if the extra water makes a cat pee more in the beginning.

 

[katluver4life]

Being now on a wet/raw diet will certainly have him peeing more then he probably did on dry.

A good thing.

He is probably just SOOO happy right now, as he has a home with people loving and playing with him, and he just doesn't want to miss out on ANY of it. LOL..very cute!

 

[denice]

That is unusual behavior for a cat but he's healthy so it's just one strange thing that a cat does and who knows why.  I've only heard of excitable pee with a dog and they get so excited they have accidents wherever there at at the time.

 

[bente]

I know it's a long time ago that you posted about your cat, but I wanted you to know you are not the only cat owner with that experience,

A feral cat had her 2 kittens in a bush in my backyard last spring.  For some reason she disappeared when the kittens were just a few weeks old, so I started feeding the kittens outside.  A couple of weeks later the female kitten disappeared as well so I started spending time with the little boy in hopes he wouldn't "disappear" as well.  I decided to have the remaining kitten neutered and bring him in to live with my two 15 year old female kitties.  Integrating Pelle, as he is now called, has gone surprisingly well.  While the girls may not be overly thrilled with their new brother they tolerate him and only hiss at him occasionally when he is too eager to play,

Here's the thing about him though:  He jumps in my lap and starts kneading and purring - and then he piddles a drop or two.  Poor Pelle;  he seems to get embarrassed by it so he will try to clean it up.  I can't get upset about it though that my cat is that happy.