I have had 3 female cats for over 4 years. Within the past month I have been finding cat urine on rugs, their cat bed beds, only my husbands clothes that are on the floor and not mine, inside their cat condos, etc. I bleach everything they pee on and they never touch it again. I don't know which one is doing it and we have never had them do this before. Why the sudden change in behavior? How can we make them stop?
Answers:
First, take them to the vet - take all of them if you aren't sure which cat has been urinating out of the box. Tell the vet what's going on, and ask for a urinalysis. If you had them to the vet recently, did he or she test their urine? If not, then they'll need to have that done. Urinary issues won't show up in an ordinary annual heath exam - a urinalysis is required to find infection or cyrstals. Urinary infections %26/or urinary crystals are the most common cause for cats to start going outside of their boxes. If one (or more) of them is ill, she's in pain and can't help going out of the box occasionally - behavioral remedies will be useless until she's treated for the urinary health problems. Cats are good at hiding illness and pain (it's a survival tactic), so often the only clue you'll get that your cat may have urinary health problems is out-of-the-box urination.
If they check out OK at the vet, it's possible that something about the litterbox itself, the litter, the box location, etc. is bothering them. See these links for suggestions:
http://www.catinfo.org/litterbox.htm...
http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures...
Those links don't mention it, but I highly recommend trying Cat Attract litter for litterbox issues - it's available at most pet supply stores. Also, if their litterboxes have been in use for some time, the plastic may have absorbed odors over time and be repelling the cats - try replacing them with new boxes.
Stress can cause inappropriate urination - cats can be stressed sometimes by things that we don't even notice, until we know what to look for. This article explains stress in cats %26 how to address it:
http://cats.about.com/cs/healthissues/a/...
A Feliway Comfort Zone diffuser can help a great deal with stress %26 litterbox issues: http://www.petcomfortzone.com/czcats.htm...
This link has extensive "out-of-the-box" resources: http://www.geocities.com/heartland/point...
This link has excellent urine spot locating and cleanup info: http://www.thecatsite.com/care/48/combat...
It's a 2-page article (the link to the second page at the bottom may be a little difficult to spot).
Hope this helps!
Keep them incertain areas of the house, reinforce litter box training. Perhaps, even a box per cat. It is a territory thing, they may be coming into heat/just feeling comprimised. Try and show them they are all equaly important and loved and work with litter box training. Bleaching isnt the best option go to the pet store and you can buy solutions which will prevent them from spraying somewhere - but you wont notice it.
ARE THEY IN HEAT? HAVING MULTIPLE CATS OFTEN CAUSES TERRITORY MARKINGS TO BE MORE FREQUENTLY! ALSO ARE THEY SPAYED? SPAYED CATS ARE LESS LIKELY TO SPRAY OUTSIDE THE LITTER BOX. ALSO, HOW CLEAN IS THEIR LITTER BOX? IF IT'S TOO NASTY, CATS WILL CHOOSE TO POTTY SOMEWHERE ELSE AND THEY DONT DISCRIMINTATE EVEN IF IT'S YOUR NEW LEATHER COUCH. SO JUST CHECK THOSE THINGS OUT...MAKE SURE THE LITTER IS CLEAN, MAKE SURE THAT YOU GET YOUR ANIMALS FIXED BECAUSE EVERY CAT AND DOG SHOULD BE! AND IF IT CONTINUES, THEN YOU MIGHT HAVE TOO MANY CATS FOR ONE AREA.
Fill up 2 litre bottles of water and close them than put it around where it is urinating
Cats are really picky when it comes to routine. Have you changed anything lately, like food, litter, moving things around? Also, they could have a medical problem like urinary infection or bladder problems. I would take them to the vet to have the girls looked at. Maybe the are just throwing a tantrum wanting some attention! Cats are so funny like that.
Good Luck
My mother had that problem she got the pets spayed?nuetered? and it went away. If I remeber correctly it is more or less hormonal thing.
Are you sure it's all 3 cats? Are the spayed? Normally female cats don't urinate all over the place like that. Unneutered males are a different story. It could be a territorial issue, could be that they dont' like their litter or it's dirty and it could be something more serious (but typically this would be if it's only one cat as it's unlikely all three are ill at once). I would highly recommend keeping them apart for a day or two to see which are the ones doing it. It's very possible one is ill and the others are just peeing in the spots the sick one already has. See if you can figure out which one might be ill or maybe even bring all three in for a vet check. It certainly can't hurt and he may be able to give you pointers on how to handle the situation. I know my neutered male will urinate in my clothes if his litter box is too dirty for his high standards. One of my others flat out refuses to use a litter box if another of my cats has used it so I am forced to keep 2 (one for each cat..this was no fun when I had 4..but it was effective). No matter what I think a vet visit is in order.
Once you're sure they're healthy, start by getting an extra litter box and being meticulous about scooping it out every time they use it. I would also consider isolating them until they get the point.
The hardest part is getting rid of the smell where they have already done it. Once it smells they will keep going back. Natures Miracle is a great product for removing pet odor but it has to be able to soak the entire area completely and be allowed to sit there wet for a period of time. I typically soak the area and then cover it with a damp towel for an hour before blotting it up.
I hope all your kitties are healthy and it's just an attitude problem..although the latter is probably a bit harder to fix!
Best of luck..let us know how it goes!
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