Desperate--cat peeing not in box!

[sarmcl]

Hi everyone

My brother adopted two kittens(about 5 months old). They are brothers. Both neutered and NOT declawed. Recently the one has been peeing outside of the box. The weird thing is he will use his box at times..which is in their finished basement. However, recently he will walk up to blankets and pee on them. He has done this both upstairs AND downstairs.

I have cats so I am very familiar with their habits but this has me completely at a loss. If he was doing soley upstairs I would say maybe he needs to put another box up there but hes also doing downstairs with his box 10 feet away(not to mention he uses the box as well!!)

ANy help? I have asked him to take him to a vet to rule out a UTI but any other ideas

[Karen]

Has anything changed recently in the household he could be protesting?

[sarmcl]

Has anything changed recently in the household he could be protesting?

We have gone over everything. I did think of some feral cats that come around. I have seen that happen before on that show My Cat From Hell. But are they too young to be that territorial? Also we thought maybe issue when he was neutered? My brother is going to be calling the vet today to get him in but in the meantime I thought I would see if anybody had some idea.

[Karen]

Okay - ask your brother if he changed the litter or anything - and do the kitties have one litterbox, or two?

[sarmcl]

Okay - ask your brother if he changed the litter or anything - and do the kitties have one litterbox, or two?

he has 2. He has appt with vet on Monday(earliest he could get in). In the meantime he moved one of the boxes to the first floor(both were in finished basement). Soon as he moved it, Smudge jumped right in and went. I am wondering if Smudge is too nervous to use the litterboxes downstairs if nobody is down there with him? I am trying to think of everything

[moosmom]

I think you did the right thing by bringing the litter box upstairs. Looks like you've solved the problem. Hopefully the vet visit will go smoothly.

[Karen]

Yes, I agree - the litterbox move may be just what he was trying to request!

[sarmcl]

Yes, I agree - the litterbox move may be just what he was trying to request!

Well bad news. It worked for 2 days. And he did it again. And my sister in law said hes not spraying. hes flat out peeing. I am hoping my brother can at least give him until Monday to get to the vet but its very hard when you have 2 kids and hes worried about sanitation not to mention his house.

[Karen]

Well bad news. It worked for 2 days. And he did it again. And my sister in law said hes not spraying. hes flat out peeing. I am hoping my brother can at least give him until Monday to get to the vet but its very hard when you have 2 kids and hes worried about sanitation not to mention his house.

Yikes - dp hope he gets to the vet, maybe you can find one with Saturday hours. Are they cleaning every spot he marks with a good enzymatic cleaner?

[sarmcl]

Yikes - dp hope he gets to the vet, maybe you can find one with Saturday hours. Are they cleaning every spot he marks with a good enzymatic cleaner?

They got him in Saturday. Turns out he has some sort of infection. Not sure what yet. They will know today or tomorrow. I am glad to hear that its something that medication can hopefully stop and its not a behavioral issue. I was over there yesterday and he is just the sweetest cat. They havr been using the cleaner. I did not smell any cat pee when I went inside the house so thats good

[Karen]

Yay, glad they got him to the vet, and hopefully this will help the whole situation, once he's comfortable again!

[Jessika]

So glad to hear they went to the vet and hopefully the meds work and starts using the litterbox again!

Cats often associate the litterbox with their source of pain/uncomfortableness... so they stop using it.

The general rule of thumb is one litter box per cat plus one extra... and always have at least one box on every level of the house, especially in situations of inappropriate urination (just to cover all bases).

Good luck!

[sarmcl]

So glad to hear they went to the vet and hopefully the meds work and starts using the litterbox again!

Cats often associate the litterbox with their source of pain/uncomfortableness... so they stop using it.

The general rule of thumb is one litter box per cat plus one extra... and always have at least one box on every level of the house, especially in situations of inappropriate urination (just to cover all bases).

Good luck!

Well the vet called. No infection so they have deemed it behavioral. After a week of not doing it he did it again this weekend upstairs(which seems to be the hot zone). My brother is going to try some anti anxiety medication and a spray you can get at Pet Smart(Felliway) as a last resort.

Wish I had better news.......if this doesnt work he will have to be returned to foster home

[Karen]

Well the vet called. No infection so they have deemed it behavioral. After a week of not doing it he did it again this weekend upstairs(which seems to be the hot zone). My brother is going to try some anti anxiety medication and a spray you can get at Pet Smart(Felliway) as a last resort.

Wish I had better news.......if this doesnt work he will have to be returned to foster home

I am glad he didn't have an infection, but behavioral issues can be hard to figure out! Enzymatic cleaners and persistence!

[becbo]

Hi I had the same problem with my female cat where she would pee and such in front of the litter tray in the hallway downstairs. We kept trying to figure out what was the problem was.
Was the litter, was it the litter tray because was hooded or was because it was beside the French doors? We had no idea. At this I might point out that we have 4 cats,3 boys,1 girl.
So we move that litter tray upstairs, then we went away on holiday to a holiday let where we had 2 litter tray one main hallway under the stairs and one in room I was stay in and we had no problems.

Interestingly when we got the problem started again so we remove one of the litter in the hall in to the bathroom and put litter tray my room and at night she sleeps with me and lost the litter tray in the hall she stop doing it so far so good touch wood so I hope this helps