Cat pee problem

[Texas Proud]

I know there are a few cat people here.... so I will see if anybody had this problem.


Two nights ago, our older cat peed during the night on the couch. This was the first time it had ever happened, so we just let it go.

Well, this morning when the cat came by I told my DW "She smells like pee again, I think she peed someplace"... Well, she did. My wife found it a few minutes later...

SOOO, two nights with two pee indicents... We are wondering if this is something that happens when they get older? Or can she be sick? Or is she finally taking action for us getting a young cat that bothers her? I do not think it is the last one as they seem to have found an agreement on what is OK and what is not..... but I am not sure....


Any comments/suggestions

 

[bssc]

My first suggestion would be to take the cat to the vet to see if there is a medical issue as diabetes or a urinary tract issue.

 

[Purron]

My first suggestion would be to take the cat to the vet to see if there is a medical issue as diabetes or a urinary tract issue.

+1. Rule out medical issues first.

Here's an article from the ASPCA with a lot of information and suggestions.

ASPCA - Virtual Pet Behaviorist - Litter Box Problems

I'll add one of my cats had this problem years ago and after trying many things, I solved it by keeping him in our master bedroom most of the time for several weeks. Since we have a multi cat household, I think it was a territorial issue. During the time he was "sequestered", I made sure areas he soiled were thoroughly cleaned and let him out only when supervised. Eventually, he stopped the inappropriate behavior and has been fine ever since.

 

[eytonxav]

See the vet as Purron and bssc suggest and I would do so ASAP. It could be something simple like the ash content in their food causing the urinary problem (probably more prevalent in males) or something more serious. Also, may be the litter box may need more frequent changing.

 

[FIREd]

+3 on the visit to the vet.

 

[ksr]

Any changes to the litter you are using? I had a friend years ago whose cat suddenly stopped using the litter box. Turned out my friend had changed litter brands, but didn't realize that was the problem for several days.

 

[NervousNellie]

I agree with the above posters about seeing the vet to make sure there is no physical problem causing the behavior.

When I had several cats I was told to have multiple litter boxes. This can avoid a territorial issue where one cat bullies the other and does not let them use the litter box. I usually had one litter box per cat although I read somewhere that you should have one more litter box than the number of cats.

 

[Texas Proud]

Thanks for the posts and links....

To answer a few questions, we changed the litter out about a week ago... we clean it at least twice a day and sometimes more... I sometime use a deoderant (but had not done so in the last week)...

We did not change anything in the routine... we have the same kind of litter, same kind of food etc.... the two cats seem to be getting along a lot better than when we brought in the young one.... the young one dose bully the older one, but that never caused her to do this before...

I will take her to the vet when my wife gets back... this cat will not allow you to put her in a cage or box (we have only been able to do it twice and now she knows and fights harder), so we have to actually have two people to take her to the vet...

We have been worried about her as she is spending more and more time outside, sometimes going for 2 full days before coming home...


I will separate them at night to see what happens... during the day she is outside most of the time...

 

[Sarah in SC]

I'd say yes on the vet visit to rule out the most likely cause, which is a bladder infection.

Be sure to pick up some Nature's Miracle from the pet store, it is one of the best for eliminating the scent of the pee from pretty much any surface.

Other suggestions are good, as well, but I'm betting on the infection being the cause. Do you feed any "wet food" to them? Might want to ask the vet about it, to bump up the moisture content in their diets, and also if it is an infection, there is special food you can get to reduce future flare-ups.

My cats will do what we call "retributional wetting", when they take offense to something we, the dogs, or the other cats have done. Always a dance to manage multi-cat households (I have 6).

Good luck--especially with getting that cat in a crate to get her TO the vet! We have home visits from the vet, and there are two of mine that will pretty much never leave the house unless they are unconscious. They came here in a wildlife trap 6 years ago and the vet has to throw a blanket over them to vaccinate!

 

[clifp]

The bad news is after you take her to the vet, you will likely find out that there isn't medical problem which means it is a behavioral problem. Spending more time outdoors sounds like an obvious sign that she hates the #&#&@ other cat which has invaded her home.

It is more than likely a territorial issue and is a function of the number of cats in the household as well as the existence of any neighborhood cats that come patrolling.

As I found the hard way it is almost certain that you'll have a marking issues when you have 5 or more cats especially when you introduce new cats into the household. Now that I am down to 2 cats the peeing is far less frequent.

My sister had 3 cats (now 2 cats) and had even worse troubles. She hired our vet who specialize in cats to assess the situation and after months of observing and making suggestion which my sister followed, eventually concluding there just was no changing behavior.

My real suggestion is to get a urine removal product and a black light to help find the urine locations, I also replaced the carpet with laminate... After trying all of the
cat urine products on the market, my sister and I concluded that Nature Miracle is the best product, but the other do work. Finding and cleaning the urine locations as soon as possible prevents them cat from coming back and remaking the area. In the future I'm only going to get litter mate no more getting a new cat to keep the old one company.

 

[Sarah in SC]

The OP only has 2 cats--it is me with 6, Clif!
And I knew all I was getting into, I promise!
But you'd be surprised at how many sudden pee incidents are caused by infections. That's not my problem, but I've seen it plenty of times in my time as a crazy cat lady counselor.

 

[Texas Proud]

Yes, Clifp, I only have two cats...

Sarah, we can take her to the vet as long as she is on someones lap and can look out the window... but getting her into a crate is not going to happen... it is funny as our new one LOVES to jump into her box we got to bring her home.... she will stick her leg out of the holes and play with you...

We feed both of them wet food twice a day and have a bowl of dry they can come by and eat whenever they are hungry...

I am not sure about the issue of territory.... as mentioned, they both have seemed to accept the other... and the old one now allows the young one to sniff her....

I think that the reason that the one wants to stay outside is because she was staying at my moms house for 4 days.... we were on vacation... she can not get outside with my mom.... usually when we get her back, she wants to stay out more for awhile and then returns to normal....

I am thinking it is an infection or other medical problem.... so, to the vet we will go...


Since I have you, how often do you take your cats to the vet for checkups? My wife, who has had a number of cats, does not think you have to take them unless something is wrong... I do not know because these are our first two cats...

 

[ksr]

Since I have you, how often do you take your cats to the vet for checkups?

I take them once a year for a routine checkup and any shots; other times are on an as-needed basis.

Please let us know what you find out after taking kitty to the vet!

 

[Sue J]

My trick to get the cat in the crate for transport....

Tip the crate up so that it's on it's back end, balancing it against something or having another person holding it steady. Open the door. Gently pick up the cat, holding around the chest allowing the back legs to hang. Carefully load the cat, tail end first into the crate. Don't let them get their back legs on the outside of the crate before they are loaded in, this may require some extra hands. Close the door and then gently tip the crate back to horizontal while the cat adjusts.

This works best when you've closed all the doors 2 hours before and acted like no one is going anywhere, we're all going to nap and act natural.

 

[Texas Proud]

My trick to get the cat in the crate for transport....

Tip the crate up so that it's on it's back end, balancing it against something or having another person holding it steady. Open the door. Gently pick up the cat, holding around the chest allowing the back legs to hang. Carefully load the cat, tail end first into the crate. Don't let them get their back legs on the outside of the crate before they are loaded in, this may require some extra hands. Close the door and then gently tip the crate back to horizontal while the cat adjusts.

This works best when you've closed all the doors 2 hours before and acted like no one is going anywhere, we're all going to nap and act natural.

That is how we got her in the second time.... she wised up and now will go hide when she sees the crate...

We have tried it with a towel around her, but she fought so hard and when we got her inside she was twisting and twirling and biting the cage door for 5 minutes we just gave up and let her out.... she is just fine holding her in your lap when you drive... a bit nervous, but not fighting...

 

[Bluemoon]

I fully agree about taking the cat to the vet. When you let a cat out it is liable to pick up many different sicknesses.

We have 6 cats 1 of whom is 9 and has been finding different spots in the basement to pee since she was a kitten. There are 3 litter boxes in the basement, 2 on the first floor and 2 on the second floor, - sometimes there just isn't an answer to it.

 

[clifp]

I take them once a year for a routine checkup and any shots; other times are on an as-needed basis.

Please let us know what you find out after taking kitty to the vet!

Once a year is recommended, although I can sympathize with the trouble of putting a cat in carrier. I've never tried it but some people recommend putting the cat in blanket and then in the carrier. It reduces blood loss .
My vet pointed out that if you are lucky the cat will live to 18 or 20 so roughly this is the equivalent of going to a doctor every five years.

I hope I am wrong and it is as simple as a urinary track infection. My two cats get along ok, but it does now stop the urininator, from find new an imaginative places to spray. Top of the fridge, top of the tv, stove (the aroma of burning cat pee is one of life's sublime experiences), guest clothes... I should mention that there seems to be a much stronger order for urine use to mark territory than when they simply use the litter.

 

[travelover]

.............
My real suggestion is to get a urine removal product and a black light to help find the urine locations .........

+1 - the black light will show you that you have only seen the tip of the iceberg..........

 

[web_diva]

I have a boy and a girl close to the same age. One of them, suspect the boy, will pee in my bed once every couple of years. No clue what has caused it... I get all wound up about having to get rid of him each time and then it just stops after 1 occurance. I close my bedroom doors now. I second that Nature's Miracle! Good stuff.

 

[TrvlBug]

Since I have you, how often do you take your cats to the vet for checkups? My wife, who has had a number of cats, does not think you have to take them unless something is wrong... I do not know because these are our first two cats...

Once a year for checkup and shots until they reach 10, then 2x/yr adding blood work. I'm so glad we did that on our vet's recommendation as one of our girls was diagnosed with kidney disease at 12. She lived to be 19.5 with special diet. The blood pressure cuff is soooooo cute . They always brought the machine out so I could continue to calm her while they checked her pressure. If they took her back, she would get too stressed out.

 

[Texas Proud]

Forgot about this until I got home....

This morning when I got up and the cat wanted to be petted.... she smelled like urine... I told my wife she had peed again... I think she is doing it while asleep and getting it all over her... this tends to point to a health problem instead of a personality problem....


I agree that she can get a lot of things by letting her go outside... but she was an old cat when we got her.... she had been living on my driveway for probably 5 or so years with a family somewhere else... we adopted her when I got married and our little girl was able to befriend her and we heard the other family had moved over a year earlier... so the independent streak is very strong in her so we let her live her life like she wishes....

I have proposed to my DW to let my mom take her... she is also old and the cat seems to like her and since she lives in a high rise the cat can not get out.... but she loves the outdoors and I do not want to take that away from her...

 

[Calico]

I agree with the previous posters about taking the cat to the vet asap.

There can be any number of reasons for a cat to suddenly change their elimination behavior, most of which have already been alluded to in earlier posts. If a medical issue causes a cat to experience pain when urinating, they can begin to associate the litter box with the pain, and so avoid the litter box.

I have a friend whose 10-year-old cat suddenly began peeing outside his litter box - usually on the rug. One trip to the vet and he was diagnosed with diabetes. Perfectly treatable, and he lived for years after that. As soon as the diabetes treatment began, he went back to peeing in his box.

However, with luck it is a urinary tract infection which can be cleared up quickly.

I also agree with the posters who recommend using Nature's Miracle in the areas where the cat peed. That stuff is great (speaking from experience here with a 3-cat household).

Best of luck to your cat and hope she is on the mend soon.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I feel like all of our endorsements of Natures Miracle need to wind up on the stock picking thread if it is owned by a public company!

As for how often to the vet: this is controversial, I admit. But here is my and my vet's belief:

Once the cats are a few years old, have had regular vaccinations, and are "fixed"', then the only imperative is rabies vaccination. This can be given in a long-acting dose, like once every three years. That is all my older cats get. Several, as I mentioned earlier, have never even been to the vet office, because they come here for shot day. There are people who give HW preventative to outdoor cats, but I do not.

Of course, if an animal is sick, off to the vet we go. But ours are surprisingly healthy out here in the country. Cats range in age from 15 down to 5, and dogs are 15, 7, 5, and 4, plus foster puppy 5 months and new as of yesterday foster dog is 6.

If your cats are older than 3 or 4, I think just the rabies is fine.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Forgot about this until I got home....

This morning when I got up and the cat wanted to be petted.... she smelled like urine... I told my wife she had peed again... I think she is doing it while asleep and getting it all over her... this tends to point to a health problem instead of a personality problem....

I agree that she can get a lot of things by letting her go outside... but she was an old cat when we got her.... she had been living on my driveway for probably 5 or so years with a family somewhere else... we adopted her when I got married and our little girl was able to befriend her and we heard the other family had moved over a year earlier... so the independent streak is very strong in her so we let her live her life like she wishes....

I have proposed to my DW to let my mom take her... she is also old and the cat seems to like her and since she lives in a high rise the cat can not get out.... but she loves the outdoors and I do not want to take that away from her...

Some of this is sounding like kidney disease. A few of us have been there with our old cats for sure. It might be time for kitty to be inside cat w your mom on a more permanent basis if that's the case. You've done good by her, from your story. Gold star for that!

 

[eytonxav]

I would say that as to turning the cat into an indoors only cat, I would do that gradually, otherwise it may lead to other problems if this transition is done cold turkey.