Calling local cat experts lol

[blue_moon992]

Okay so here's the deal. I have a 9 year old cat, Alice, that is really the best cat, never gets into stuff, never makes a mess, always uses her box etc. I've had her since she was 6 weeks old. Well, in December I got another kitten that was about 6 weeks old and they have had an on/off again relationship lol. But for the most part they know where they fit and everything is fine. Lately, Alice has been messing in my bathroom. Usually on a pile of clothes or my rug. I have NO idea why she has started to do this. I did move the litter box to the garage, which she loves to play in, and she uses it just fine. I'm just not sure why she has taken to peeing in the house now. :wub: The only time she has ever done that is during a thunderstorm (which scare her poor thing lol) and she has before when i've moved and everything is in a huge dissaray. But nothing like that is going on now, and her box has been moved for over 2 months now so I'm just not sure what the deal is.

The only thing that I thought might be the reason is because the kitten just had her 1st heat (alice is fixed, chloe is not) do you think it could be connected? :whistle:

Anyone have any ideas what I can do to make her stop going in the bathroom? (that sounded strange lol)

Any ideas welcome! thanks!!!

[sweetpeas]

You could try spraying the area with citronella oil diluted in water (cats really hate the smell of it). Also check the cleaning stuff you use doesn't have ammonia in it because that only encourages them!

[uppitycats]

First thing I always do whenever one of my four furkids does something out of the ordinary is to take her/him to the vet to make sure there isn't something health-wise going wrong. Girl cats (like girls!) can get bladder infections pretty easily, and often peeing outside and/or away from the litter box is a first sign.

Then: We did have a cat who trained my husband to pick up his clothes. He'd leave them on a heap on the floor...and come back later to put them in the hamper...to find them "unusually damp". She'd peed on them. She did this regularly -- and only on his clothes on the floor, never in the hamper (although that is nothing more than an open plastic bin). We don't know why. But as soon as he stopped leaving them in heaps on the floor, she stopped doing this. Maybe there's an ammonia smell to the dirty clothes? (Perspiration sometimes smells like that..) As sweetpea suggested, ammonia can encourage them (pee of course has an ammonia smell too).

Finally: Yes, having another cat in heat (or an unneutered male cat who "sprays") can trigger the peeing -- a territorial marker. You might get the "new kid" spayed while you're checking out your older cat. Might solve that problem right away!

[New Day]

Great advice Ann. Those were all the things that popped into my mind. The only other thing I can think of is that the kitten may be "guarding" the box. When we got our kittens, there were of course some power struggles with the older cat Kiki. We have an upstairs box, and a downstairs, but we realized after a while that the kittens wouldn't let Kiki use the downstairs one. Then the power started shifting, and Kiki wouldn't let Gracie use the upstairs one! Now there is peace for the most part, and we don't worry about box usage. But, it took us a while (a few months) to realize what was going on with them. And we are home with them most of the time, and very in tune to what they are up to, how they get along, etc. We were lucky that we didn't have any "out of the box" events. Haven't in years, since Kiki had her last bladder infection and we switched her to Rx food. That was always our first sign that she was sick. So, yeah, the vet would be my first stop, too.

Good luck!

[SallyG]

As a lifelong cat person, my first guess would be anxiety over the other female being in heat. Cats like their routine, and anything out of the ordinary makes them anxious. When my husband and I went to Florida for over a week last fall, our cat seemed fine. Then he began loosing weight..getting skinny as a rail. The vet said it was his anxiety over us leaving him for so long! So, any future trips will have to entail getting one of the kids to be a live-in cat sitter while we are gone.

I'm betting if she doesn't have some sort of infection, once you get the new female neutered, the problem will clear up.

[Intrinsicat]

All of the above is pretty accurate. It could be a urinary tract infection, although cats with tract infections will often select plasticy items like vinyl to pee on, things like sleeping bags...

One of my four cats does the same thing with dirty clothes left on the floor... It's like he knows they're dirty so he has no problem making them dirtier. He'll also do that if the litter box is not clean enough for him.

Maybe the cat in heat is creating an odor in the litter box that is stressing out your other cat. If it is a litter box issue, consider getting a second litter box. I've read more than once that you should have one litter box per cat (I have four).

The biggest problem is that once she starts, getting the odor out completely is really difficiult... Try and half water half vinegar mix in the general area.

[Hallowell]

A few years ago my cat started peeing on the bathroom rug. We could not understand this behavior because she had never done this before. With a little research I found that the bathroom rug had a rubber none slip coating under it that smelled like cat urine, causing the cat to think it was ok to pee there. We changed out the rug with another without the rubber coating and the peeing stopped. Hope this helps.

[Margaret]

If you have a small cage,you could temporarily place her in there with her bed and litterbox-that may break her out of this habit-cats don't like to soil their bed

[lynnae]

I had this same problem I had a cat for nine years, she never once went out of the litter box. Then I brought home a female kitten and when she went in her first cycle my older cat stopped using the litter box. What I did was get another litter box and then got the other female fixed. The problem stopped. I m not sure which one helped, but I would start with another litter box.

[Missymew]

You've received lots of good advice.

I'd definitely get the kitten spayed - that 's a real stresser for a spayed/neutered cat. I also agree with the one litter box per cat rule. I've found that to work out great. A lot of cats won't use a used box.

Hope everything works out for you.

-Susanne

[Meleah]

I have two cats also, and I had to put their litter boxes in seperate rooms. Unfortunately, after two years, my older cat still hates the younger cat. If anyone can fix that problem, I'd love them forever

Meleah

[Shaci]

we have 6 cats and 3 litter boxes! 5 of the cats are over 15 years old and our baby is almost 2. the baby pees in the tub no matter what we do! 2 of the older male cats started peeing on the floor last year. one of them even peed on a brand new pair of shoes! it turned out that they both had urinary tract problems. after a huge vet bill for operations on grouchy old cats they no longer go out side of the box.

one other cat has her own box because she refuses to share a box with any of the other cats. she has a huge cage with a nice bed and her own box and if nobody can keep an eye on her she has to stay in there. she likes to pee right next to the fridge but we didn't know it because the house is a bit crooked and the puddles went right under the fridge! by the time we figured out what was going on it was a total disaster! it took forever to get the stain and smell out! she makes me nuts!

[heidiiiii]

How far away is the litter box now from it`s former location? Could it be too far away for the cat to get to in time?

Just a thought..I mean...9yrs old is not old for a cat but maybe she cant cross her legs long enough to get to it...or she doesnt like sharing her box with another animal.

[chesterfieldzoo]

Excellent advice here. I had a female cat that I never had a problem with until my husband moved in with his dog. She would leave a pile right in front of him wherever he was. I was hers and she didn't like sharing. She was 8.

I had another female and when she was 4 we got dogs. She began to spray all over the house as soon as the female dog went into heat. I never could get her to stop. I never had any problems with my male cats.

[blue_moon992]

Dang, you all have really helped LOL. She only goes in the bathroom, which it might be on the rubber based mat, or, if there is a pile of clothes or towels she will go there. I was in the bathroom just a few minutes ago and left the door open and she comes waltzing in there and starts to take the "stance" I shooed her out and now she is looking at me with this mean eye lol.

I am going out to get another box today, Had thought about doing that anyway just because the baby seems to go a lot more than the older one does and seems to get crowded in there even after just 1 day so maybe that will help.

And of course, the kitten has her Dr appt...no babies for her! ha!

lol thanks a MILLION everyone!!

[Wolfie]

Get a second litter box if you can. That helps keep "accidents" down. Sometimes one cat will use the box, and when the next cat comes along - they find the odor from the first cat offensive (like theirs isn't?) and will do their business elsewhere. We have 2 cats and 3 boxes....no waiting. No problems either. Both of my boys have been so good. Tigger is 8 and Poe is 11.....and never have had this problem.