Help! The Queen of Pee is Driving Me Nuts

[Tracysherm]

I can relate to feeling like you're constantly living in pee! I feel like we can't even have people over sometimes! We have several cats, at least two of which are peeing outside the boxes. All have been cleared medically, so it's now behavioral. The one guy had a blockage (crystals) in the past and has been physically fine since going on an Rx diet, but I think the trauma of the whole incident triggered the "PTSD-Peeing." The other one (female, rescue) who pees is definitely doing it for some emotional/anxiety reasons.

Our many-pronged attack on the pee problem included:

Bought "Scat Mat" and "Sofa Scram Mat" for each of our couches. One of our kitties (don't know which) decided to start peeing on furniture. After replacing one sofa and throroughly cleaning the other, I put these mats on the couch every day when I leave for work and when I go to bed at night. One of them emits a loud beep when a cat steps on it (really fun at 3am, but better than pee) and the other emits a mild electric shock. Now, don't decide I'm cruel (I can hear it now). I tested it on myself, and it's no worse than touching a metal doorknob after shuffling across the carpet in rubber-soled shoes. The mats come in different sizes and can easily be set up on the kitchen counter.
Cat Training Aids: Cat House Training to Keep Cats Off Furniture

The emotional/anxious cat was prescribed "Shen Calmer" by our vet. It's some herbal/homeopathic stuff that supposedly calms a nervous cat. It helped about 80%, but she'll still surprise us occasionally. It's a powder that we either stir into soft food, or make a paste with some water and rub it on her front paw (she licks it off). I don't know if you can get this retail, or only from a vet.

Since they seemed to like peeing in the bathrooms on the little bathroom rugs, we got rid of the rugs and just have the hard tile (easier to clean too).

We've tried a number of other things (cleaners, repellants, bribery, feng shui, human sacrifice...) but the two products above yielded the most success.

[wyoquilter]

Are any of your three remaining cats male? I had a male that was neutered and never "sprayed" in the home in which he was first raised as he knew it was his domain. But he started to "spray" once we moved to a new location. Thankfully it didn't last for long and he soon stopped, but he had to mark his new territory and make it his.

I ask because you said you weren't 100% sure that Kasha is doing all the peeing. It may be that the male is also doing some marking in his new territory and he is re-marking the spots that Kasha peed on. A dominate female will also do a little marking of their own, but it's not as common.

The fact that Kasha is peeing on the counters, suggests she is trying to get to high places, (just as the behavorist suggested) to get away from being ambushed. While she is up there she pees because of the UTI. If you haven't already, make or purchase a cat tree house that goes as high up as possible with several levels/landing spots. This will help Kasha get up high enough to watch for ambushes, plus it may help with the clawing of furniture as the cats will use the tree house as a scratching post. If you use catnip on it it will encourage them more to claw and scratch on that. Just make sure that Kasha gets down enough to get food, water and to a catbox. You may have to put the other cats in another room every so often so she feels safe to move about. The other cats may soon figure out that they have her trapped.

A spray bottle full of water set on jet stream will also discourage cats from scratching and clawing the furniture. Just have it set at the ready and when you hear them clawing the furniture give them a few good sprays. Try to be as stealthy as possible when doing it. Cats don't respond to sound (in this case your screaming at them) as well as dogs do. It may scare them for a little while, but not enough to discourage inproper behavior. Water is something they hate (generally) and because they feel it, rather than hear it, it will hopefully do a much better job of discouraging them. I know it's help us.

[arel]

There is a cat tree that Kasha uses.

I have found a decrease in the peeing on the counter, stove and microwave since she has been on the antibiotic and since I have begun cleaning the surfaces with Clorox cleaner with bleach. So now my counter smells like a swimming pool and not like cat pee. I don't know the extent to which the decrease is due to the antibiotics and that to which it is due to the smell of the bleach. But right now I'm less interested in experimental rigor than I am in smelling less pee.

Of my other two cats besides Kasha, one is male. I don't think he has been peeing outside the litterbox, or spraying, but you never know. I have seen him do pee when he gets a little wild sometimes.

Molly is generally good with the litter box. But I have noticed that she has licked off a lot of the fur on her belly. Kasha did that several months ago. But she stopped when she was put on Clomicalm and she didn't relapse when she was weaned off of it. I'm actually surprised that Molly has done this, as she has always seemed very calm, stable and resilient.

[arel]

Well, it's about 2 1/2 years later.

I came upon this and decided that an update would be nice.

Kasha, if I remember correctly, was suspected to have "sterile cystitis". That means she had some inflammation but without an infection.

The vet put her on Cosequin for Cats. It's a nutriceutical, normally used to support joint health. But the vet said it also supports the cells in the bladder.

It worked really well. The peeing largely stopped.

Kasha still occasionally pees on the counter. I have had to take baskets, etc. off the counter because the pee got to them and transferred the odor. The baskets are airing outside on the porch. Some have been treated with an enzyme solution. Some may have to be thrown out altogether.

But when she pees, I treat it as a flare up of bladder irritation and I give her an extra Cosequin. But I do think she occasionally pees on the counter in anger, when, for instance, she wants to eat in the middle of the night and there is no more food left in her dish from dinner.

So things have largely resolved, although I make efforts to keep pee-vulnerable stuff covered or in a closet.

I don't want to say anything bad about Kasha. Right now she is sleeping in a basket right here on my desk.

[arel]

I made a spelling error in my last post. The correct spelling is nutraceutical, not nutriceutical.

[goyguy]

Originally Posted by arel

...I do think she occasionally pees on the counter in anger...

The term "pi$sed off" wasn't created in a vacuum. Kasha & I thank you for hanging in there all this time.

[Bass101]

We are having a problem with our 8 year old female cat urinating outside the litter box too. She has been tested for UTIs in the past, and always found to be negative. However we're going to take her in again just to be sure after this recent episode of peeing. At first she only peed on plastic bags left on the floor. Then she started peeing on any clothing left on the floor. Now she is peeing directly on the carpet. This has been going on off and on for about 3 years though the peeing directly on the carpet is just in the last two weeks. We really don't know how to handle this or what to do. She doesn't have a UTI, we have plenty of litter boxes, and nothing has changed in her environment.

[Lightning0706]

Smokey is an indoor/outdoor neutered male but he only goes outside on a leash. He is now 15 months old. At about 11 months old he started peeing on the couch only when we were home and it was once a day. He was making us crazy too since nothing had changed in his environment either. I took him to the vet to rule out UTI and he took a sample and said it was positive. I read how when the vet forces a sample (not sure of the proper name), it can sometimes show blood in the urine. After the sounds I heard Smokey making when he was getting the sample I wasn’t surprised.
He was on Clavamox but he was still peeing on the couch, so the vet wanted another sample which I got myself by waiting for him to get into the litter box and I held a small cup and caught it (after a 2nd attempt LOL). He said that sample was fine.
We were at our wits ends with him peeing on the new couch that I have never sat in. What I found was that he likes to pee outside and he seems to have a routine, pees outside at a certain time and he’s fine. Not sure what will happen in the winter if it snows again like it did this year but for now, he is only using his box or the lawn.

[Giesela]

New environment all at once? I'd go back to a room if you can and open her up to the rest of the house slowly.
Better yet - do you have a screened in porch? Its nice outside now.