Inappropriate peeing- behavioural issue?

Question
Hi Ali, Thanks for your time :)

I have 2 housecats - a 1.5yr old persian male (neutered) and a 1yr old Persian/Bengal cross male. My question is about the younger cat (Leo). I bought Leo as a companion for my older cat Xerx, as I felt that he was getting quite lonely and could do with a bit of exercise and someone to play with! After about a week of settling in, the two cats are now the best of friends. Leo has been fine the whole time that I have owned him, but about 3 months ago, he started to show signs of becoming territorial and after finding he'd pee'd on my bathroom rug one night, I had him neutered. He's been neutered for nearly 3 motnhs now, but since this first incident, he's started peeing wherever he finds piles of soft material. This started off as laundry, and the bathroom rug, but last night he pee'd on my pillows! I was in another room at the time, and his litter box was spotless!

I can't figure out what on earth is causing this behaviour. I had hoped his hormones would have settled by now, but this is making my life a nightmare. He's a really affectionate and playful cat (the first I've ever been able to play "fetch" with), and he has lots of company from the older one. But this behaviour cannot go on, and I can't seem to pinpoint what may be causing the trouble.

Any advice/suggestions you can make would be fantastic!

Thanks :)

Answer
Sally,

The first recommendation that I have in every case of inappropriate elimination is to have the vet take urine and blood samples to check for any issues with organ function and to see whether or not this little fellow has any type of bladder infection or even crystals in his urinary tract. It's extremely important to rule out the possibility that there is any medical cause for this behavior because if he's not feeling well no amount of behavioral correction is going to help. Unfortunately this little guy was neutered a bit later than is normally recommended so there may be a slight chance that he still has a bit of testosterone in his system, but barring illness I doubt that sex hormones are a big factor in the current behavior although the issue may have started as a result of not neutering this cat before he reached sexual maturity.

I am wondering if Leo is trying to get some sort of message across to you. Normally in a case where a cat urinates in someone's bed there is something that he's trying to communicate and he is leaving his message in a place that he considers to be your territory. Sometimes confining a cat who is urinating outside of the litter box in a room where there aren't surfaces like those he prefers to pee on (in Leo's case a bathroom would be perfect, but remove any soft stuff like mats or toilet covers) with food, water, a bed, two litter boxes and a few toys will help. I would recommend that you confine Leo for a period of 1-2 weeks in a bathroom or similar room, but be sure to take time and pay attention to him fairly frequently, isolation shouldn't equal being placed on ignore.

If you have recently renovated or had tradespeople in for any reason it's possible that Leo was upset by the noise and commotion. Depending on the type of litter box that you use it may be possible that the size of the box isn't right, a litter box must always be big enough for a cat to walk in, stand up, turn around, dig a hole and stand upright to defecate. If the litter box is too small that could be what Leo is trying to communicate. If you work long hours and your shifts change frequently Leo may be feeling lonely or upset, if you think that this might be the case it wouldn't hurt to have someone that you know Leo is fond of come in to spend some time with him at some point before you come home. Often times when cats urinate outside of the litter box there are a few main causes. If you have recently moved, changed your work schedule, added or subtracted a member of the household (doesn't matter whether they had four legs or two), changed the brand and type of kitty litter that you use, moved the litter box, sometimes cats can react badly to seeing other animals in "their" territory or there just may not be enough litter boxes for the number of cats in the home, especially if one of the cats is fairly territorial. It's also possible that Leo is feeling left out or jealous and he may well be feeling like he doesn't get enough attention.

If a change of schedule or scenery is the issue you could try a homeopathic remedy called Bach's Rescue Remedy which is a very safe blend of flower essences designed to calm and reassure. You can usually find Rescue Remedy in health food/natural health stores and it's usually fairly reasonably priced (about $15 CAN on average). You can put this remedy into Leo's water when you give him fresh water each morning. Rescue Remedy is used by some vets and pet guardians worldwide in a variety of situations to treat different issues. In Leo's case I would recommend that you try about 8 drops a day in his water. I am assuming that you have actually seen Leo urinate outside of the litter box - the position he's in when he does so is important. For instance, if Leo is backing up and urinating in a standing position that's referred to as spraying and is usually specifically used to advertise the fact that the territory belongs to him. If Leo is squatting when he urinates outside of the box it's quite possible that he's doing so as a result of feeling stressed out or apprehensive, this can be caused by any number of issues from the neighbors fighting or playing loud music to his human going away and leaving him alone for long periods of time. If anxiety is the root of the problem then you should see a difference in Leo's behavior fairly shortly.

If Leo's troubles are resulting from issues with his litter box I have a few recommendations that I normally make. Firstly, I recommend that you not have any air fresheners or anything with a strong perfume or dye in the area of the litter box. This means that scented kitty litter should be avoided at all costs. The best way to minimize litter box odor and the odds that your cat will look for other places to relieve himself is to clean the litter boxes in your home at least once a day. In my experience it's best to use an unscented, clumping kitty litter that is free of dyes and other harsh chemicals. There are a number of different materials that are used to make kitty litter these days and to my knowledge there really isn't one that's better than the others. The litter box should be kept in a quiet, low traffic area because like us cats prefer to relieve themselves in private. Moving the litter box too close to the food and water dishes can also result in a cat looking for other places to relieve himself, after all, nobody wants to eat their dinner beside the toilet.

If Leo routinely sits on a window sill to watch the world go by then it may be worth your while to invest in removable privacy film for the windows that he can look outside from. Territorial cats will often house soil as a result of their territory being invaded so if Leo sees neighborhood cats or wildlife in the yard when he looks outside that may be upsetting him. The removable privacy films come in a variety of price ranges and designs so it's a good idea to shop around. I usually recommend that there be one litter box per cat plus one, in the case of a household where one or more cats is having an issue with inappropriate elimination I usually expand that number to one litter box per cat, plus one, per level of your home that the cats have access to. You can certainly use disposable litter boxes which are sold in most pet supply stores because litter boxes can be quite expensive and you will likely be able to reduce the number of litter boxes one at a time over time.

Other humane ways of fixing the inappropriate elimination issue include purchasing plug in synthetic pheromone units. The reason that the synthetic pheromones work is because normally when a cat marks his territory by using the scent glands in his paws (commonly referred to as sharpening) or rubbing his cheek against a surface he doesn't feel the need to urinate or defecate there to mark his territory. These warmers can be plugged in anywhere that this kitty has felt the need to urinate outside of the litter box. Since you've noticed that Leo has a habit of urinating on soft surfaces it's a good idea to ensure that things like dirty laundry, blankets, towels, etc are kept off of the floor and out of reach by placing them into a cupboard or hamper. Other soft surfaces can be temporary homes for food dishes since cats don't normally eliminate where they eat.

There are many "old wives' tales" about how to deal with a cat who eliminates outside of the litter box. Most of these recommendations are incorrect and some are downright awful. NEVER hit a cat who is going outside of the box, it's cruel and the cat won't understand why he's being hit even if you catch him in the act, he may possibly even try to avoid urinating at all. NEVER rub a cat's nose or face in urine or feces that you find outside of the litter box, it's absolutely disgusting and inhumane, furthermore it serves no purpose and it will only teach your cat to be afraid of you.

It's very important to permanently remove the smell of urine from any place that Leo has urinated. Unfortunately normal household cleaners aren't very useful for this purpose because although they may remove the scent that human noses can detect they can't remove the entire scent. The best type of cleaning product to use in a case like this is an enzymatic cleaner. An enzymatic cleaner uses beneficial bacteria to digest the components of organic substances like urine, feces, vomit, etc that cause an odor or stain. The best enzymatic cleaner that I have found so far is called Petzyme, it's reasonably priced, very effective, has instructions for using with laundry detergent and has so far proven to be safe on my carpet and upholstery, at least when it comes to vomit and the odd piece of feces that ends up outside of the box due to over enthusiastic litter flinging. If you are concerned that you may not be able to find all of the spots that Leo has urinated on you may want to consider purchasing a black light bulb at your local hardware store and going throughout the house with it when it's dark outside. Urine and other organic matter will glow a fluorescent green when you shine a black light on it in the dark. Litter box issues are fairly common so please feel free to check out my past answers on the subject.