Urinating in corner of room

[phatcat]

This is a combination of behavior and health, so I chose behavior. The cat in question is about 9 yrs old - she was a stray we took in. We've had her for 6-7 yrs. We had another, older cat at that time, but she passed not too long after. We have had a dog for 5 yrs now, have a 3 yr old son and a year ago a stray kitten showed up that we adopted.

When we got the dog, she was fine. Our son was born, she was fine. But with the addition of the kitten, she has been POed. I believe this is because the older cat is chill, but the kitten wants to chase and play. A month or so ago, we noticed her struggling to urinate. And we noticed she was attempting to urinate in the corner of the living room. When she struggled to urinate, there was blood in her urine. After numerous tests and hundreds of dollars, it was determined that she was stressed. She is now on kitty prozac to help her relax.

But the problem is, because she had previously attempted (and accomplished) to urinate in the corner, she has gone back there again. We started using Natures Miracle - No More Marking when she does it now. We've covered the corner with items to prevent her from going there (kids toys, dog bed, etc) and this has worked, but it's not really a permanent solution. I had to move the toys and dog bed in order to paint. Items were gone for maybe an hour and she urinated there.

What are my options???

 

[tulosai]

 Welcome to the forums!

I am sorry you are struggling with this.  Inappropriate elimination has to be the most frustrating issue to deal with in cats.  

I just want to make sure I understand that the behavior has now stopped as long as you have things in that corner?

Honestly, I know this is probably not what you want to hear, but if thoroughly cleaning the spot hasn't fixed the issue, and you have found something that has (by which I mean leaving things there) I do think the best 'permanent solution' is to leave something in that corner- ideally a litterbox. If that is not possible for some reason, I would just continue to leave something else there and if you need to move that thing (for example, to paint) keep kitty out of the room until the spot can be covered again.

I am sure there are other things you could do, but since you have found an easy, painless solution that is 100% effective so long as you leave the objects there, I think it would probably be easiest to just keep leaving objects there whenever kitty has access to the room.

Thanks for caring about your cat. 

 

[xenot]

This exact problem was addressed on the Animal Planet TV Show "My Cat from Hell."  The host did exactly what the last reply said, which was to place a litter box in vulnerable places where the cat tends to "mark."  That is what is actually happening.  If the kitten is the same sex as the guilty party, then it's almost a definite.  The cat on the show was a male who kept seeing a cat outside the very window where he kept urinating on the carpet.  Animals do this in the wild too.  The issue you have is that the "stranger" is now living in your house.  The thing I wonder about is if the kitten actually urinated in that corner BEFORE the offending cat without your prior knowledge.  That would explain why that particular corner was chosen.  There is usually a logical reason for why animals behave the way they do if you study their instincts.  Usually, an animal marks OVER the scent of another to say, "Hey!  This is MY territory!  I'm the alpha and you're beta!"  If the cat urinates in several corners, that's just aggressive boundary marking, which encircles the animals entire territory and says, "Stay out!"  That's what the male on "My Cat from Hell" was doing.  I'd bet good money the kitten peed in that corner and that unless the kitten leaves another discrete mark in another corner, you shouldn't have any more problems.  There is a product that Amazon sells for about $13 that is a urine detector black light.  You might want to use the "Urine Detector" light to check for other indiscretions so you can clean them BEFORE big kitty gets a whiff.  It sounds to me like you have a sneaky, leaky little kitten!

 

[phatcat]

It has been some time and here's what I can update on.
- A litter box in the corner of out living room isn't the best option. It's not that big of a room and the odor, etc, isn't that pleasant while we're there.
- After placing other objects in the corner, thus prohibiting her from that corner, she moved to a bedroom. The bedroom is literally right next door to the room where her box is.
- We have closed off that bedroom when no one is there and she moved to another corner.
- Boxes are cleaned at least every other day, and sometimes daily.
- I don't think she is "marking" as this started when she was sick. During her urination issue, she peed in the corner. We have tried cleaning it, but she went back.

Thinking of getting floor runners and turning upside down so the knobbies discourage her. But, we can't shut off every room to the house and have every other area covered in upsdie down floor runner. Running out of ideas here.

 

[mservant]

Sounds like you have worked through a whole load of things already and not feeling and closer to finding a solution for your home.  Fingers crossed you manage to work out what's happening and some way to settle your older girl down.  It sounds like territorial behaviour and maybe stress about having the younger cat in her space rather than a health issue but always keep an eye out for anything that might indicate health changes, esp as if she is stressed this can trigger cats being more prone to health problems like UTIs.

I am sure you have had a good trawl through the site but putting this link here in case you haven't found it.  It is a long thread and also has a few interesting links in it.

Good luck in finding something that works for you all.  You must love this cat loads. 

 

  

 

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/9563/inappropriate-peeing-problems-answered

 

[phatcat]

Yep, saw that link. That's where we got the idea for floor runners. And just tonight she went under our Christmas tree and urinated. She is now delegated to a bathroom. I think, for my wife, the next step is finding her another home, unfortunately. We're leaving for a vacation in a week and we cannot leave her out to roam the house if she is going to be urinating everywhere while we're gone.

 

[molldee]

Have you tried Cat Attract litter? Worked for my parents cat who was peeing everywhere.

 

[mservant]

So sorry that you have tried all these things and not managing to resolve the issue.  Have you tried seperating the older cat from the younger cat that you adopted, and maybe going through reintroductions?  Would alos possibly involve keeping your older cat in a mosr confined area in terms or her inappropriate urinating?

 

[phatcat]

We have not tried Cat Attract. She's had the same litter since we've had her. We did, however, order Good Behavior Calming Collar. We'll see if that does anything.

Well, reintroduction might be necessary. Suggestions on how to actually do that? Meaning, when should be let them interact (after how long of a separation), how long should they interact, etc.

This morning, we took her out of the bathroom and into the kitchen to eat. She ate for 5 mins or so and then left the kitchen and went straight under the Christmas tree. I grabbed her and put her in the bathroom. She only goes under the tree for one thing - to urinate. She didn't attempt a litter box, nor was anyone bothering her. Then, this afternoon, I get her back out of the bathroom and sit her on the couch with me. She hung around for 15-20 mins, then I got up for something to drink. She disappeared. I found her in the bedroom (next to her bathroom) urinating in the corner that she has previously. All spots have been cleaned with Nature's Miracle. And I'm guessing that she didn't even attempt a litter box, just straight for the room.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

OK couple of questions.  First, you mentioned she was urinating blood, but you never said she was treated for a UTI.  Was she?  This sounds like a clasic UTI to me.

2nd, how many litter boxes do you have, and are they covered or uncovered?  All of this is in that thread, BTW, but I am asking anyway.  You need to have one more box than cat, and honestly, you need to clean them twice a day, not every other day, sometimes once a day.  (if using scooping litter, scoop twice a day, not completely change out the litter twice a day, but even scoopable litter does need to be changed once in awhile and the boxes cleaned out.)  You said you can smell the box if it's in the corner of the main room.  That should not be, seriously.  What kind of litter are you using?  Maybe she just doesn't like it.  Is it perfumy, or what are you smelling?

Do you have some Feliway plug-ins?  They are really supposed to help with urination problems, ONCE A UTI has been ruled out.

Natures Miracle isn't necessarily the best thing out there to clean with.  When you use an enzymatic cleaner, you have to really soak the area in order for it to work.  Even the carpet pad underneath has to get wet in order for the smell to go away.  My guess is the smell is still there and that's why draws her back.  YOU may not be able to smell it, but I'm guessing SHE can.  I use Nok Out. Some people use Fizzion.  Natures Miracle doesn't work for me.  Some people love it, some don't. 

I would try all the things in that article before giving her away.  Cats do not do things like this because they are upset.  The do them because they are trying to tell you something is wrong.  They can associate the litter box with pain from a currently or previous UTI, or with a bad smell, or smell previous urine and think that's an "ok" new spot because it smells of urine.  Or any number of other things.  The Feliway helps if it is stress related.