My cat pees everywhere! At my wit's end

by Kellie
(Crowley, Texas)

My male cat is 10 months old. We have two, his mom and him. I've found his pee spots all over... pillows I had in a corner, the kids logos and dolls, my kitchen floor... no where is safe!

He poops in the box! I don't understand why he can't pee there too? I've used a spray bottle, rubbing his nose in it, making him stay a night outside... it doesn't seem to matter!

The vet said he was fine but it may be a UTI. He finished his antibiotics a few days ago and today I found my computer power cords saturated in urine so it obviously did not work.

The vet wants him on Prozac but I do not want him on a daily med, and we love him sooo much we don't want to see him go... but he's got three feet out the door an the fourth on a banana peel!

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I'm sorry to hear that Elvis is having problems, Kellie. It sounds like you love him enough to find a solution, and I'm glad to hear that he's been to the vet to get checked out.

I'm assuming he's neutered? If not, that's the first step. That will calm him down a bit.

I'm also assuming there are no cats or other animals outside the house. If they're out there, and especially if they're marking your outside walls or doors, that may be the issue.

But... is he spraying or urinating? Were the computer power cords hanging or laying flat? If you found pee on the vertical part of the cord, that sounds suspiciously like spraying/marking behavior, not urination. Not all spraying is done on vertical surfaces, but it's something to consider.

Moving beyond that and going point-by-point...

1) Never rub a cat's nose in anything. At best it will just add to his stress level or make him fearful of you, or give him attention (which he may be lacking and that may be part of the problem).

2) Spray bottles are usually not effective on cat behavior problems. I used to use them years ago but had very limited success. But... spray bottles NEVER work on urination problems and all they do is add to the stress level.

3) Putting him outside (and I'm guessing you mean on an enclosed porch) doesn't help.

Think of a human baby who doesn't understand what's going on. If they pee on the floor, rubbing their nose in it won't help. Putting them outside for the night doesn't do anything either. He doesn't know why he's outside.

4) What are you cleaning the urine with? If he smells the urine, he may pee again. He can't help himself.

You have to clean everything thoroughly to cat perfection standards. Use a black light to see residual urine stains that you missed.

You can use an enzyme based cleanser, although I mentioned on another page that Jackson Galaxy recommends a CO2 based cleanser (Fizzion).

Either way, you have to get rid of it all or he'll revert back to his old behavior.

5) About the UTI... sometimes one series of antibiotics does not cure a UTI (your vet may have mentioned this). He may need another round if that's his problem. If that IS the problem, I'm sorry to say that you won't get any relief until it's gone.

6) When did this first start? What was going on during that time in his life? Did anything change? Think about that and see if you can remove the source of the stress.

Is he getting along with his mother? I've heard reports of mother and son cats having issues when the son gets to a certain age. Maybe he's stressed about it.

7) Prozac does work in some cases, but there are things you can try first. Try (and here I go with my broken record again) Feliway or Rescue Remedy first. Many people have reported great success (some not so much) with Feliway.

8) Instead of putting him outside as punishment (which won't work), put him in a room and retrain him. Clean up all traces of the urine in that room or he'll just pee right on top of it.

Then, he goes in that room with toys, a litter box, food and water bowls placed far away from the box, and a bed. Add a Feliway diffuser to the room.

Visit him and play with him often. It's not punishment, it's retraining. If needed, he may be small enough/young enough to do this in a large cage with a litter box in it.

If you use the cage method, you take him out for supervised play sessions.

During his retraining, clean up the urine in the rest of the house and check it with a black light to be sure. When he's regular, you can let him explore more of the house. If he goes back to his old ways, back in the room he goes as many times as needed until he gets it right.

9) Increase his exercise level. Kittens have enormous energy which they tend to burn off by driving you crazy (it's their life's purpose). Twice a day, for 10-15 minutes, play with him with a fishing pole toy like Da Bird. It has delicious feathers and cats love it.

10) Add more litter boxes. It can't hurt. Some cats like to pee in one box and poop in another. Some cats won't go in a recently used box, whether or not that box was used by them or a housemate.

You should have at least one box for each cat plus one more. And, if your house is multilevel, there should be at least one box on each level. Yes, it's a lot, but it's much better than having problems.

11) Is he a climber? Does he have a cat tree? Every cat needs a sanctuary area in their own home.

Some cats are climbers and some like to hide down low, some do both. Your house should be set up so that your cats have these hiding spots and high climbing places. Allowing cats who need it the use of vertical space is one of the most important aspects of cat care, but many people seem to be unaware of this.

I hope that helps. Please update us on how it goes.
-Kurt