My cat sprays the bed from stress. Gabapentin isn't working. What now?

Hi, thabks for using PetCoach! What medicine are you using? I would recommend prozac and Feliway diffusers. I would also use the environmental enrichment ideas in the link below. Good luck! https://indoorpet.osu.edu/sites/indoorpet/files/assets/documents/Herron10_EE_for_Indoor_Cats.pdf

These types of behaviors can be very frustrating and can be difficult to resolve. The easiest thing to do is to add an additional litter box in that area to see if this helps. A good rule for cats is one litter box per cat plus an additional one. Another option would be trying feliway which is available as a spray or a diffuser to see if this helps with some stress your pet may be experiencing when you leave. Other types of medications for behavior modification would be prescription based so I would recommend reaching out to your family veterinarian regarding those options if necessary. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hello, thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. A cat can be "healthy" and still have urination issues as you have described because the problem is behavioral and not medical. If it has been ruled out that she does not have any underlying medical conditions (kidney issues, bladder problems, UTI, etc) then you should try the behavioral modification medication. The medications work well and cats rarely have any side effects with their use. Please talk to your vet about this. This problem is not only stressful for you but also for Prune. And typically what happens is, if you rehome her, she will do the same behavior at the new person's house. Inevitably they get frustrated and they will rehome her and the cycle continues as she is passed from home to home. She may even end up at a shelter as unadaptable which in some shelters means euthanasia. Please don't do that to her and speak to your vet about medication. I can tell you love her very much and someone else may not feel the same about her. The medication is not expensive and typically is easy to administer. The medication does not usually change their attitude towards you or change their personality in any drastic way. It is an easy solution. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Hi there. Cases like this can be very challenging, because of the need to sort out how much of a role continued medical issues might be playing vs. behavioral issues like stress and anxiety. In general, urinary marking issues in cats are very treatable, but it's hard to give much more than basic advice (keep litter boxes clean, make sure they're in convenient locations, reduce stress in the household, etc.) without a more in-depth behavioral history and in-person evaluation. Because of this, I would recommend getting in touch with a veterinary behaviorist who can evaluate your kitty in person and help you put together a detailed plan to work on this issue. There's a good chance this can be dramatically improved with professional help. You can search for a board-certified veterinary behaviorist in your area here: www.dacvb.org , or ask for a referral from your regular veterinarian.

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Loui. That must be so stressful for you! If he's living with other cats who do not like him, that will stress him out. Most urinary tract "infections" in non-geriatric cats are not caused by bacteria (antibiotics kill bacteria) but inflammation caused by stress. This is called feline idiopathic cystitis. Male cats also seldom have a bacterial cystitis as the urethra is much longer than a female's urethra and therefore bacteria would have to travel much farther to get into the bladder. It could be he has feline idiopathic cystitis, so I would take him into the vet. If he does have it, the vet can prescribe prednisone. It takes the inflammation which in turn takes the pain, and it is also a diuretic which helps flush the bladder. I hope this helps!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Alfie. I recommend that he sees a veterinarian since you have tried a lot of at home remedies without success. He may benefit from an antidepressant medication as this can help spraying in cats. It is important for the veterinarian to rule out a medical problem first though. Urine testing is usually necessary to look for evidence of inflammation, infection or bladder stones. I hope this information helps!

If you have not tried Feliway, I would do that for sure. This stuff is amazing! http://www.feliway.com/uk/Cat-Behavior/How-to-stop-cat-spraying With behavioral spraying many times it is due to stress. The Feliway can help calm and relieve stress. You may also have to make some environmental changes - one thing that happens when people have multiple cats is that they don't have enough litter boxes. Technically the rule of thumb is that you should have one box per cat PLUS one. So with 4 cats you should have 5 litter boxes and some with different litter and in different locations. Here is an article that may help: https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A