Our Cat Urinates on the Kitchen Floor in the Same Place

by Christine
(OH)

Hello,

Patches, one of our four cats, consistently urinates on our kitchen floor in the same area. She is a beautiful long-haired Calico cat.

She was a two-month year old stray when we found her and brought her into our home and has been with us for twelve years.

Patches has no physical problems and we clean the litter boxes 3-4 times a day, plus we do a thorough clearing every two months.

She is a very sweet cat and we do not believe she urinated on our kitchen floor because she is angry or seeks vengeance of any kind.

The problem began five years ago when I had to leave her to go the hospital. I was there for a long time. Shortly after returning home I had to return to the hospital a few more times for several weeks.

My husband and I reprimand Patches every time she urinates on the floor by placing her in our garage for several days. The garage is where we keep five litter boxes to be used by all our cats.

We bring several boxes inside the house so we can lock the swinging cat door which leads back into the house.

The funny part of this whole things is that Patches has never urinated on the garage floor. She will use the litter box when she is locked inside the garage!?

I wonder why she will use the box to poop but not urinate? Well it does appear she wants her own special place to urinate. I would give Patches her own litter box, but that is not possible when you have other cats.

Please help!

Thank you,
A True Cat Lover!

---

My Thoughts:

This has been going on a long time, which can make retraining extremely difficult. These things often start when a life change or change in the household routine is disrupted, and there may be other factors that develop along the way.

Litter box retraining requires consistency, patience, and a minimal amount of change and outside influence. Cats don't urinate on the floor out of vengeance, so I'm sure you're correct there.

I'm not sure, however, that the garage is the best place to retrain. The ideal confinement retraining location is a room that has everything a cat needs... lots of sun, toys, food and water far from the litter box, comfortable bedding, and a nice clean box to use.

The suggested method is to put your cat in that room when you can't supervise her, and let her out for supervised periods.

During the supervised time, you can scoop her up and put her in the box if she tries to go on the floor instead. Then praise her after she goes in the box.

If this retraining is successful, you can revert to the old box location. If she relapses, start the process over again, and then once she's retrained, inch by inch, day by day, move the box back to the desired location.

Some of the literature says that cats with chronic or recurring urinary tract infections will often urinate on smooth, cool surfaces (most kitchen floors qualify). It's possible that this is an underlying cause even though it has not been diagnosed.

Also, if she's returning to the exact same spot, then three things come to mind...

One, that spot possibly has some residual smell associated with it and needs to be thoroughly cleaned with an enzymatic cleaner. She will be drawn back to that spot as long as that smell exists.

Two, what happens if you block access to that area? Will she urinate on some other part of the floor?

Three, what happens if you clean that area, and then temporarily put a litter box right at that spot? Does she use it? If so, you could then try inching the box back to the location you want it in.

You might want to consider getting a consultation from a pet psychologist since this has been going on so long. Another thing you might consider is Feliway, which some people have said works wonders for litter box problems.

I hope that helps a bit and I wish you the best of luck with her.
-Kurt