Why is my cat peeing outside the litter box in our new multi-cat home?

Causes of urination outside the box can be urinary tract infection, crystals in the urine, stones in the urinary tract, trauma to the area, or difficulty getting into the litterbox due to pain, or other reasons. It is important that you make an appointment to have Moon seen by your veterinarian as soon as you can to help determine the cause of his behaviour and to start treatment. If you notice his straining to urinate/unable to produce urine, this is a medical emergency and she should be seen by a vet immediately. I highly recommend speaking to your vet about having Moon neutered, as this kind of behaviour can happen in male cats as a form of marking behaviour, and sometimes having them neutered can help reduce or eliminate the marking. It is also possible that Moon is exhibiting signs of stress in his home environment. You can do the following to help make sure Moon’s environmental needs are being met. Cats need at least one litterbox per cat plus one extra to help reduce stress associated with the litterbox. They should be placed in separate rooms, away from the food and water bowls, must be scooped at least daily (preferably multiple times a day)and washed out at least weekly with a mild soap, followed by thorough rinsing. Cats need a lot of space to explore, but keeping them indoors is much safer than letting them outside, due to the risk of injury from cars, wildlife, other animals, etc. The key is providing space (particularly vertical space for climbing, such as cat trees, ledges, and the like) inside the home. Visit http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=T&C=33&S=2 , healthcareforpets.com and https://indoorpet.osu.edu// for tips on stress reduction. Also look into Feliway, a synthetic pheromone that is available in a diffuser and spray form that promotes calm feelings in cats http://www.feliway.com.

I am sorry to hear about Retchi. This is certainly a frustrating problem to deal with. If your cat has not been to the vet to test the urine and ensure we don't have an issue such as bacteria, crystals or inflammation of the bladder, or any concern with kidney disease, then that is your first step. You also want to be sure your litter box situation is ideal. You should have one more litterbox than the number of cats in the house. Ideally we would have litterboxes with covers and without in case your cat prefers one over another, and some cats prefer one substrate over another, so trying a different litter can sometimes help. Keeping the litterbox very clean with daily scooping and then thorough weekly cleaning is also needed. If you are still having issues then an underlying anxiety issue may be the cause. You can try a Feliway Multicat diffuser (plugs into the wall and you may need more than one depending on the size of your house) and a calming supplement such as Zylkene or Composure. If you still have accidents then a prescription medication may be needed from your vet. You can read more about this issue at https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4951508

This sounds like a complicated situation that may benefit from a consult or multiple questions. I will address the urination. Inappropriate urination is most common in multiple cat households. I would recommend that the cats be tested for urinary infections first. If normal then start addressing behavior. Add 1 more litter box than the number of cats. Start watching closely for “bossy” cats or stressful type of situations. Are they seeing outside cats and peeing after they see them? Is anyone scared of being attacked at the litter box? Add feliway diffusers into the rooms they tend to urinate in. This can get you started. Then look into feline environmental enrichment ideas. These include super tall cat trees, bird feeders at the windows, toys, etc. Best of luck and thank you for using Pet Coach.

Hello, thank you for your question. Inappropriate elimination can be a sign of few possible underlying conditions. One possibility is that your car has a UTI, this is more common in female cats but does occur in males. Another possibility is that your cat could have bladder stones. Stones are very irritating and cause discomfort especially when trying to urinate. A third possibility is that your cat has a stress condition called FLUTD (feline lower urinary tract disease). This condition is common in young male cats who live indoors. A stressful event in their environment leads to inflammation and the symptoms you are seeing. I would recommend having your cat seen by your veterinarian so that they can check for a UTI. They will likely collect a urine sample and look for signs of infection. If there are no signs of a UTI they can discuss FLUTD more with you and go through management options. Hope this helps, good luck!

That must be so frustrating for you! I recommend taking her into your vet if you haven't already to rule out a medical cause behind this behavior. Cats with a UTI will urinate everywhere, and she will need antibiotics to treat it if she does have one. Once a medical cause is ruled out, I would recommend spaying her. Female cats will mark to attract a male, and spaying her will help decrease this behavior. Even if it is a UTI causing this, I would still recommend spaying her. She may continue to mark to attract a male, and spaying will have many health benefits for her, including prevention of a pyometra ( a life threatening infection of the uterus) in addition to decreasing the marking behavior.

Inappropriate urination is unfortunately very common in cats. A few things you can try at home are adding more litter boxes (the recommendation is 1.5 litter boxes per cat - so 4-5 boxes in your house). You may also consider some pheromone diffusers like Feliway. These can help decrease cats stress level. I would also recommend a vet visit to rule out a urinary tract infection and speak to your vet about some behavior modification drug, like Prozac, which can help with going outside the box. I'm sorry you are going through this. Hopefully one of these suggestions will work for you and Stormy.

This twitching and peeing behavior sounds like your cat is spraying. This can be a behavioral thing. I would recommend a different type of litterbox with a front door so that she doesn't miss and potentially get urine on the floor. As long as she is trying to go in the litterbox you can try to see if a change in litterbox will suffice. However, there are medications to help with spraying behavior, I like Clomicalm and Fluoxetine for medical therapy. For more natural products you can try Feliway plug-ins placed near the litterbox. Try this litterbox, this works great for my female cat who sometimes goes a little too high- http://www.amazon.com/Catit-Jumbo-Hooded-Cat-Litter/dp/B003RQVGKC