Cat Peeing Everywhere

[MMacallister]

I have had this cat for about a year and a half and about 2 months ago she started peeing on clothes on the floor. I thought “ok weird but we will just have to make sure clothes are in the hamper” that worked for a little bit, then she started peeing in the tub. “WTF” was my only thought. I found this even stranger because she loves it if I turn the faucet on a little and she drinks out of the tub. This week she peed in our bed, twice. DH is not happy and neither am I, we are sleeping in the guest room until we get a new mattress. Again I find this strange because she usually sleeps in our bed. She has also peed in 2 different travel bags.

Here are a few other odd facts about this kitty.
She is inbred (got her from my ex-dh who never gets kitties fixed)
She will not eat wet food or tuna
She pukes,a lot, almost daily. Vet said it is somewhat normal for a long haired cat.
She is fixed and has been since about 7 months old.
There have not been any significant changes in the house, no new animals, no changes of schedule etc.
I have 2 litter boxes and 2 cats, my house is small (1600 Sq ft) and the bags she peed in were about 5’ from the litter boxes.
Boxes are kept clean
She doesn’t do a great job of self cleaning, she has 2 small mats on her back.

She has a vet appointment next Friday to check for any health issues that cause this but I am at a loss. The peeing in the bed was the last straw for my husband. She could become an outdoor kitty and if she stays around the house she will likely be safe, but I am not convinced she is that smart.

Ideas, suggestions?

[Simkie]

Good chance she has a UTI, kidney infection, sterile cystitis, stones, or perhaps even kidney disease. I’m glad she’s going to the vet, and it will be good to check her urine and pull some blood. The fact she’s not good about cleaning could also indicate some sort of long standing medical problem. Vomiting regularly really isn’t normal, either, and can indicate IBD or perhaps even lymphoma.

If the vet clears her medically, cosequin for kitties can be useful, as can feliway or another pheromone sort of deal.

But vet first. And I would insist on checking the urine and the bloodwork. Hopefully it is something simple

[Kachina]

What Simkie said. Big time. When my cats have peed outside the litter box, it’s a UTI. I can sometimes catch it before then by noticing that they’re in and out of the box often and there’s no urine or just small amounts. Good place to start and so glad you have a vet appt. I’m surprised to hear that daily vomiting is normal under any circumstances? Pls keep us posted. I learn how to help my pets from hearing outcomes re similar symptoms. Thanks and good luck.

[Kachina]

A suggestion would be to get her into the vet ASAP. Like way sooner than Friday if possible?

[Bluey]

Also, try putting at least one more litter box out there, preferably even more, so she has a chance at a clean one handy if and when the urge hits and she is not quite close by one.

Try keeping bedroom doors and other rooms you are not in and out regularly closed until this is resolved, or her confined somewhere where she is not going to annoy with house soiling problems.

[Laurierace]

Peeing somewhere cool like a sink or bathtub is the hallmark of a uti.

[jetsmom]

Yup…uti. eating only dry food increas the likely hood of kidney and bladder issues.

[BuddyRoo]

I am afraid that my comments will come off as rude. But I don’t mean to be. It’s just that I have 20 some years in vet med and this seems so simple.

1. why are you letting your cat get matted? Get ahead of it. It is no fun to pick maggots out of the backside of a cat who can’t clean themselves because they’re to fat or too matted to do it.

2. Your cat likely has a UTI or a behavioral issue. 2 mos of it? Wow.

3. You’ll just turn her outside? Wow. That’s a solution. Here ya go cat, you can’t take care of yourself now, so we’ll just shut you outside and you can get eaten by a coyote or hit by a car. Show me the love!

This cat needs to be seen ASAP. If you really care about her, get her seen. Tomorrow. Not Friday. She could be better by Friday.

[Onetrickpuppy]

This happened to us and yes, it was a UTI. She is now on a prescribed dry food and is doing fine.

[rockymouse]

Like the others said, a UTI for the peeing. The vomiting and matted hair makes me think of chronic renal failure - saying that because these were two things that our cat demonstrated before we discovered the issue.

[saje]

And I think I might try a new vet, one who doesn’t suggest that puking almost daily is normal, especially if she’s NOT a thorough groomer. Though lack of grooming is often a sign of a cat who doesn’t feel well. (If it turns out that she just can’t/won’t groom thoroughly, either you need to brush her or get her clipped short.)

Your cat is definitely physically Not Right, and needs a thorough going over pronto. Among other things, the longer she pees in other places the more of a habit it gets to be. After two months she’ll probably need some box retraining once you get the underlying issues figured out.

Cats are very, VERY good at hiding illness. Too often by the time something is noticed it’s too late, or nearly so.

Please don’t just put her outside, the chances of her staying around the house are very very slim. And if there are health problems, that would be a death sentence and a very unhappy death at that.

There are many ways of containing/managing the pee-er, once the initial cause is addressed. Scat mats, Ssscat sprays, Feliway, kitty-prozac, judiciously placed pee pads, closed doors, large pens for when you can’t watch her, outdoor cat-safe pens and a kitty door so she can come and go at will (and pee outside)… yes it’s a nuisance but what family member isn’t at some point in their lives?

[MMacallister]

Just an update.

Took her to the vet today did a CBC and urinalysis and vet checked her over. We didn’t find anything. Also got her matts shaved out. The vet was a little stumped but said that all could be caused by stress or anxiety. Suggested adding a litter box and gave me some probiotics to try and settle her stomach. Also sold me a calming spray to spray around her litter box. Suggested we try this for about 3 or 4 days and see if we see an improvement, if not we could try a different food or some kitty valium as a last resort.

[Simkie]

Kidney values aren’t shown on a CBC. Was a kidney panel run?

Peeing with nothing showing on the UA or the bloodwork is TOUGH. More boxes, feliway (I actually prefer the pheromone collars and order them on Amazon), and Cosequin is where I’d start. If that doesn’t do it, then Prozac.

Good luck!!

[Jhein12]

[QUOTE=BuddyRoo;8334770]
I am afraid that my comments will come off as rude. But I don’t mean to be. It’s just that I have 20 some years in vet med and this seems so simple.

1. why are you letting your cat get matted? Get ahead of it. It is no fun to pick maggots out of the backside of a cat who can’t clean themselves because they’re to fat or too matted to do it.

2. Your cat likely has a UTI or a behavioral issue. 2 mos of it? Wow.

3. You’ll just turn her outside? Wow. That’s a solution. Here ya go cat, you can’t take care of yourself now, so we’ll just shut you outside and you can get eaten by a coyote or hit by a car. Show me the love!

This cat needs to be seen ASAP. If you really care about her, get her seen. Tomorrow. Not Friday. She could be better by Friday.[/QUOTE]

This!! And I suggest taking her to a different vet. Not the one that said puking is normal for longhair cats… there are solutions to that.

[Alice]

I’d suggest a different vet.

[Lazy_Palomino_Hunter]

[QUOTE=MMacallister;8342015]
Just an update.

Took her to the vet today did a CBC and urinalysis and vet checked her over. We didn’t find anything. Also got her matts shaved out. The vet was a little stumped but said that all could be caused by stress or anxiety. Suggested adding a litter box and gave me some probiotics to try and settle her stomach. Also sold me a calming spray to spray around her litter box. Suggested we try this for about 3 or 4 days and see if we see an improvement, if not we could try a different food or some kitty valium as a last resort.[/QUOTE]

I have a cat who eliminates inappropriately in almost the exact same ways as your cat- in rumpled up clothes, in boxes/bags, and more recently on pillows on beds. I totally agree that the bed thing is AWFUL.

He has had UTIs in the past, but not in a few years. After taking him in 6 or 7 times for urinalyses that came back negative, I only take him in now if I actually see him straining in the litterbox (this is 100% indicative of a UTI for my guy). Peeing in weird places by itself doesn’t seem to indicate a UTI for my particular cat.

The things that have made the BIGGEST difference for him:

• Adding more litterboxes, particularly near places he likes to pee
• Cleaning the litterboxes RELIGIOUSLY - twice a day, every single day. If the boxes are dirty, I can guarantee he will pee on something
• Pheromone collar - a diffuser would probably work as well, but that gets pricey if you put one in every room of the house. I switch out my guy's collar every month and it seems to help a lot
• Rx urinary tract health food - this makes a huge difference. You can get it from your vet; I have mine on monthly auto-order from chewy.com

And the absolute, #1 biggest thing is: COSEQUIN. I’m not totally sure why (apparently something to do with the cells that line cats’ bladders being calmed by glucosamine?), but my cat’s inappropriate peeing is reduced 95% by daily kitty Cosequin. Literally, if he misses a single dose he’ll start peeing everywhere.

The other stuff is prevention:

• Waterproof mattress pads on all the beds
• My SO and I made our bedroom a kitty-free zone... for our guest room we make the bed like it would be made up for guests, then lay a big plastic sheet over the entire thing and then put an old blanket over that... every once in awhile he'll pee on it but we can just clean/toss the blanket and change the plastic without having to worry about the actual part of the bed people use being affected at all)
• Don't leave open boxes or bags open, ever. Put all shoes away in closets.
• Never leaving rumpled clothes out- I have a laundry chute, but a laundry basket with a lid will solve this issue as well.
• Building on the above, never leaving rumpled fabric out - fold blankets, make your bed daily (who would've thought my cat peeing would make me a better housekeeper?)

It’s hard to eliminate the habit by 100% because cats are weird, but with the above measures we reduced our cat’s random peeing from a 1-3x/day occurrence to 1-2x/month (and those occurrences are usually related to me forgetting to clean the litterbox, or someone leaving a bunched up hoodie or towel on the ground).

[regalace]

@Lazy Palomino Hunter;8355493

And the absolute, #1 biggest thing is: COSEQUIN. I’m not totally sure why (apparently something to do with the cells that line cats’ bladders being calmed by glucosamine?), but my cat’s inappropriate peeing is reduced 95% by daily kitty Cosequin. Literally, if he misses a single dose he’ll start peeing everywhere.

LPH, or anyone else–do you know if the horse Cosequin, in an appropriately scaled-down dose, is appropriate to substitute for the capsules?

FWIW, I have found the pheromone collar helpful also. Seems to take the edge off. I wish we had a run for our boy so he could go outside; I think he would enjoy it and pee more out there. He’s a very “instinctive” cat and is sensitive to others’ pee markings–and with 6 other cats in the house he gets a lot of “pee mail”–I frequently see him sniffing the litter boxes as if to check who’s been there.

Edited to add–those prescription diets–I’m sure they have the right nutrients for the urinary issues, but I’m not crazy about the corn and other grain ingredients. Are any of them grain-free? (Other problem with this is how to keep the pee cat getting only the pee-cat food, in a multi-cat household.)

Also–anyone know if these Urinary Health Risk Indicator crystals (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3261+1926+28738&pcatid=28738) work to monitor whether a cat has a poor pH balance/potential problems with crystals?

Also, also–kitty water fountain, if he needs to drink more. Ours LOVE their fountain!

[erroneous]

After struggling with sterile cystitis in my cat for months, even resulting in him having surgery to clean the sludge out of his bladder, he now eats canned urinary food with water mixed in to make a chunky soup AND gets 5 mg of fluoxetine (Prozac) daily.

He hasn’t peed outside the litter box in over a year. (Cosequin did not work for him.)

Good luck with yours!

[dog_amp_horsemom]

I agree with all who said to check your cat out asap. Our cat peed outside the litterbox a couple of times and I thought it was unusual enough that I should take him in for a check up and it turns out he had a bad infection - if I had waited he might not have made it.
Good Luck with your kitty.

[DevilsAdvocate]

I had a cat who was very finicky about his litter box. Once it was a UTI, the other times he was just sassy I had great success using Dr. Elseys Cat Attract litter. Its a little pricey but seriously, it works. I 2nd the suggestion of adding an additional litter box. There are a lot of great suggestions in the booklet that come in Dr. Elsey’s stuff. You can buy it at Petco, PetSmart, on Amazon, I’ve even see it at my local grocery store. Good luck!