male cat peeing (rug, dogs, furniture, litter)

[brocco]

any advice? we recently adopted a 2 year old (neutered) male cat from our local spca. we already had a 6 year old (neutered) female cat. it has been a month and they are gradually getting along better or at least tolerating each other, however the male cat keeps peeing on my boyfriends clothes. he also peed in one of my boyfriend's bags twice and a small spot on my boyfriend's side of the bed. i can't tell if it means anything that he's only peed on my boyfriends stuff or if it is an issue with the female cat. we have two litter boxes- one upstairs and one downstairs- and the male cat has used both as has the female. the peeing is a sporadic thing- like a few times a week maybe.

[chiroptera]

I'd rule out a urinary tract infection first, just to get that out of the way. If that's the case it should be very easy to treat. It an be hard to tell the difference between marking/stress peeing/territorial behaviour and a UTI.

Also it won't hurt to use an enzyme-basedodor neutralizer such as odormute on areas he's peed on already so there's no "reminders" for him.

Some people claim to have luck with Feliway; I've never used it but maybe others can give you some feedback.

FELIWAY - Official Site

I had a lovely female cat for about 14 years who would only pee inappropriately when she got stressed. Changes bothered her - moving furniture, having house guests...that is when she would pee. She'd choose a: the bathroom rug or b: the bed (and once, an opened suitcase!) in the guest bedroom. She always checked out healthy so I used white vinegar or Odormute and washed bathroom rugs when needed. Maybe your new boy will stop doing this once he gets more relaxed.

[Sonic_Spork]

And I wonder if it's a territorial thing, because your boyfriend is (obviously) the male in the house, the cat is trying to establish territory for himself and feels like he has to do this?

Yeah, a trip to the vet just to make sure he's healthy...and odor neutralization, and perhaps a stress reliever like Feliway until he feels comfortable in his new home would be the way to go. I can tell you, after a few weeks in his new home, my cat's personality changed completely. You don't get to really know what kind of cat you've got until you've had 'em a little while I think.

On a similar if unrelated note, my friend Sam was posting on FB about how "gross" her cats are and how they are "jerks" because they pee on things. Come to find out she has two intact male cats. For Pete's sakes! I was like, how on earth can you judge these cats when you are in a tiny apartment with them, two intact small dogs, and three LOUD little kids, and they're not even fixed!! She said the cheapest neuter she could find was $50/cat and she couldn't afford that. So I'm probably going to pay for them to get fixed. While I was visiting, they were fighting too and one of them has a missing patch of fur where the other tore into him. I'd take the cat that's getting beat up off her hands if she'd let me, but she says she doesn't dare get rid of him because her 5 year old son loves him and he'd be upset. Spikes is an absolute lover of a cat, he was all snugged up on my lap purring much of the time. I really think if they'd get all the animals fixed, things might be a lot better in that apartment... She's been taping ladies' "pads" on the dogs, taped around the middle, to keep them from peeing all over. Not sure if that's even OK. Doesn't seem right to me. But she doesn't want to get one of them fixed because he's supposedly pedigreed and breedable. I don't like this situation much, I gotta say...for too many reasons.

[chiroptera]

Originally Posted by Sonic_Spork

She's been taping ladies' "pads" on the dogs, taped around the middle, to keep them from peeing all over. Not sure if that's even OK. Doesn't seem right to me. But she doesn't want to get one of them fixed because he's supposedly pedigreed and breedable. I don't like this situation much, I gotta say...for too many reasons.

That is all so not OK on so many levels.
Those poor cats, no wonder they are stressed.
Nice environment for her three small childen, too. Not.