Female cat Peeing on bathroom rug but going #2 in litter box?

by Taisha
(United States)


We have 2 cats who have grown up together: a 16-year-old male and a female, Sasha, almost 15 years old. Sasha has suddenly started peeing on my husband's bathroom rug. What's weird though is that she still goes #2 in the litter box, strange.


We took her to the vet this week and she had labs. Besides being overweight and having an abscessed tooth that needs pulling, she's totally healthy. They said it must be behavioral.

Our male cat is very, very dominant, always has been. But this isn't new behavior, she's used to it. She doesn't act scared of him, she still walks around him, etc.

He has diabetes and kidney disease and originally I theorized that maybe the smell of his urine was bad to her, but she poops in there so that can't be it.

We can't figure out why she has suddenly started this. And we definitely don't know how to stop it if we can't find the cause. Any help is greatly appreciated.

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Jun 15, 2020
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starstarstarstarstar 		Re Mike
by: Taisha

I just feel bad for my husband who now has to clean two litter boxes instead of one (I have trouble bending over). Poor guy isn't happy about that but we both agreed it's better than Sasha peeing on his rug.
Jun 14, 2020
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starstarstarstarstar 		More boxes are always good
by: Mike

Glad to hear there is some progress there. There is a possibility that she's developed a preference for peeing in one box and pooping in another. This is not uncommon, and if you only have one box, it presents a problem for the cat.
Jun 14, 2020
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starstarstarstarstar 		Thanks Sally F.
by: Taisha

Hi Sally F.

I think that all of your ideas are definitely possible. We gave her a litter box of her own after her labs came back normal and we're being even more strict with our boy cat. We will of course get her tooth pulled so she doesn't have that to deal with.

The good news is that she started using the 2nd litter box and she is periodically peeing in the original litter box again too.
Jun 14, 2020
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starstarstarstarstar 		Stress or medical
by: Sally F.

Normally if there is no medical cause, we look at stress. Of course, there could be a medical cause that she has not been tested for, but assuming not, I have some possible theories of my own...

Stress has built up over time due to the dominance of your other cat, and this is how she's expressing it.

She senses your other cat is not well, and is stressed by that. Maybe his illness is getting worse and she senses it.

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