My rescue cat paces, sprays, and cries at night. What to do?

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!

It is always best to have your vet examine your pet if there is a drastic change in behavior. A medical condition should be ruled out before just assuming it is behavioral in origin. If there is no underlying medial problem found then you can assume this is a behavioral issue, in which case, I suggest you start using some Feliway diffusers in your house to help calm him and do some environmental enrichment. ( https://www.feliway.com/us/Why-Use-Feliway/Signs-of-unhappy-cats ) ( https://www.feliway.com/us/Products/FELIWAY-CLASSIC-Diffuser ) ( https://www.thedrakecenter.com/materials/environmental-enrichment-indoor-cats )

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I would encourage you to enrich his environment inside by adding toys, scratch pads and other things that he can find interesting. I also really like a product called Feliway which helps to make cats feel more at ease in their environment. This is something you can easily get from your pet store or online. Doing these things is likely going to help with this tremendously. Good luck and and have a great day!

What can I do for my cat that is eliminating inappropriately? The recommended treatment for such cats is multifold so work with your veterinarian to determine why your cat is doing this behavior. Here are some general guidelines. First, identify the offensive aspects of your current litterbox arrangement. Is the litterbox being scooped and completely cleaned frequently enough? Is the box large enough? What substrate does your cat(s) seem to prefer? Ensure that you have at least one litterbox per cat in the household (and potentially more), adequately spaced. Consider that covered litterboxes, automatic litterboxes, litterbox deoderizing additives, and plastic liners may be aversive to some cats, but acceptable to others. Choose litterbox locations that are quiet and free from harassment. Second, increase the litterboxes’ appeal and accessability by conducting a litterbox choice experiment. Offer your cat a variety of litterbox and litter choices (from coarse to fine, clay and non-clumping), boxes without liners, and different litter depths. Create a quiet area with all litterbox choices available to the cat. Allow the cat several days to make a selection. Animals may initially prefer the substrate they have been accustomed to but may select a different substrate later in the trial. Be patient during this litterbox trial period. Third, discourage use of inappropriate elimination areas by cleaning soiled regions with an enzymatic cleaner. Cats that are fed or receive attention in a commonly-soiled area may be discouraged from eliminating there further. If your cat targets only a few areas of the house, remote distracters (contact paper sticky-side up, aluminum, motion-or-light-triggered alarms, etc.) may be used, but only if the punishment is delivered immediately and consistently. Never physically or verbally punish your cat. What can I do for my cat that is displaying marking behavior? All cats should first be evaluated by a veterinarian to determine the correct diagnosis. Unaltered males should be neutered. Hostile intercat interactions, either to cats inside or outside the home, often trigger marking behavior. Reducing these interactions by blocking windows, making the yard antagonistic to outside cats, partioning living space for indoor cats, and ensuring separate feeding areas and litterboxes may subsequently reduce marking. Litterbox hygiene should be maintained to encourage appropriate elimination. The feline facial pheromone product Feliway® can be used to help decrease marking. Medications may be also be used in conjunction with environmental and behavioral changes. If you cat has been diagnosed with urine marking, please contact your veterinarian for more information,. For any inappropriate elimination problem, there is help. Please work with your veterinarian to devise a treatment plan specifically for you and your cat.

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!

How strange! I would consider trying some of the calming products such as a Feliway diffuser https://www.feliway.com/us/Products/FELIWAY-MultiCat-Diffuser and a calming supplement such as Zylkene or Composure https://www.vetoquinolusa.com/content/zylkene https://www.vetriscience.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=9008103030

Poor Master Shake! It sounds like he is really stressed about the change of people in the house, the other cat, and maybe even a new environment if y'all have recently moved in with your fiance'. I would start by ensuring your have multiple litterboxes. I would also putting some feliway diffusers throughout the house. This is a cat pheromone that will sometimes help to calm a cat down and help with inappropriate urination. You may also consider putting her on vetriscience's composure chews. If these don't work, I would talk to your vet about starting him on an anti-anxiety medicine like amitryptilline. I have had great success with this to help calm cats down and help them adjust to stressful situations. I hope this helps!