Urinating everywhere!

Question
Hi

I have owned cats for years and the only time I have ever had a problem with my cats not using their litter box was when they had a urinary tract infection or crystals etc...

This is different. Buzzard, our 8 year old neutered tabby, has a clean bill of health. The vet checked him out and cant find a thing wrong with him. He suggested changing litter brands, which we have used fresh step for years. We keep the litter clean from feces and it is changed fresh every other day since we have several other cats. The house has two large litter pans since we have four other cats including Buzzard. All neutered males and a spayed female and they are all indoor cats.
For the past year we have been finding urine spots here and there but never were able to figure out the guilty party  since we have numerous cats. I would find urine in a pile of dirty clothes, the bath mat, in the shower, next to the toilet, behind the toilet, and now I am even finding piles of feces with the kitchen throw rug rolled up over it like he tried to bury it. He was caught in the act about three weeks ago when the dog refused to go in her large cage that she sleeps in. I smelled urine and sure enough, the dog bed had about 7 wet spots of cat urine. I had just chased Buzzard from the dogs cage an hour before because the dog was barking when she saw the cat in her beloved cage. We crated trained our 70 pound lab mix 5 years ago and she refused to give up the cage. Its her house and she doesnt appreciate the cats in it. After all, the poor dog takes a daily beating from at least one of the cats, be it a slap to the face or nose or else endless rubbing against her when she is trying to sleep. I wouldnt share my cage with those  crazy  cats either!  LOL
So Buzzard, what is UP!?  The vet tested his urine, kidneys and all other tests too but was pretty nonchalent about the whole thing.  He was just ruling out anything medical, but what about MENTAL?  
I asked about kitty prozac but the vet just hissed about it and said he doesnt use it.

Any thoughts on this would be wonderful.  I am scared he is going to urinate on our bed and that would just be a real mess since we would have to buy a new mattress if he resorts to this.
My husband said he is going to make him live in the garage. He cant go outside, I dont believe in that anyhow, but I also dont believe in banishing him to live in the garage, either.  Clearly he has some big problem and is taking it out on us. That other cats have been living with us for 5 and 6 years, we have had no new animals in the house other than my pet rats which the cats have no contact with at all....I think he is just simply whacked for some reason. he is stubborn, demanding and can be pretty vocal, hitting at us and hissing back at us too. He was declawed as a kitten (not my doing, he was rescued and came to us declawed) I wonder if this doesnt have something to to do with his odd behavior later in life?

thanks for your time

Sandra

Answer
Sandra,

I have thought long and hard about this, and I am not sure Buzzard is the culprit.  Although Buzzard was found in the dog's crate, it does not mean he urinated in there.  What you might do with Buzzard is to crate him with a litter pan and see if the untoward urination stops.  If it does he is probably the culprit. If you are not sure your vet was sufficiently thorough with Buzzard or did not want to give him anything to calm him down, you might consider another vet.

It may also be that you do need another litter pan.  Our rule of thumb is one litter pan for every two cats and, if we have an odd number of cats we use an extra litter pan.

You can try to use a Feliway diffuser (available at most pet supermarkets) around the dog crate and see if that stops the urination in the dog crate.

What I can give you is a link to a series of articles on feline litter box problems. There may be something in there which may have some further suggestions:

http://www.geocities.com/heartland/pointe/9352/litterboxhelp.html


Please let me know what happens.

Best regards... Norm.