4 month old kitten pees on the kitchen counter

by Sandi
(S.C.)

Two male kittens showed up at our house about 5 weeks ago. They are about 4 months old. They used the litter boxes we provided from day one.

A couple of weeks later, one began pooping in the bathroom sinks. Not ideal, but it's not too bad to clean up.

A couple of days ago, he started peeing on the kitchen counter. Same spot every time. I've cleaned the area thoroughly, and wiped it down with white vinegar.

Nothing traumatic has happened. We have other cats, but they were already here when the kittens showed up.

We plan to have them neutered very soon. His choice of places to sleep is the work island. He even slept on the crock pot until I washed it and covered it. What is he trying to tell us?

My thoughts: He may be trying to tell you one of the following:

He's not feeling good.
Something is wrong with the litter box.
He's having a disagreement with other cats in the house.

Not feeling good

In adult cats, my experience tells me that when a cat pees on the kitchen counter (or poops in the sink or bathtub), this is often related to a medical condition. It's often some sort of urinary tract problem (cystitis, bladder infection, etc.) but not always restricted to that.

Your kitten is young, but I wouldn't rule out some sort of medical problem. If it's medical, you'll need to fix that first.

If it's not medical, it may be stress related. And that brings me to...

Something is wrong with the litter box

It's possible something about the litter box or litter doesn't please him. If you changed litters or the arrangement of the boxes at some point, this may have triggered it.

Although he's a bit too old for accidents, kittens sometimes have accidents if a litter box isn't nearby. Once they find an alternative place to go, they often keep returning to that spot.

I don't know how many litter boxes you have, but he might do better if you added more. It never hurts to add more boxes.

Disagreements

Another cat may be box guarding, preventing him from comfortably using the box. Additional boxes can help with this problem.

If you didn't isolate the kittens at first and then do slow introductions, it's possible that some tensions have developed.

I hope that helps and please let us know how it goes.
-Kurt