My cat is urinating on backpacks & bags

Question
QUESTION: My cat is about 8 years old.  He has a check up about 6 months ago at the vet and was given a clean bill of health.  I have another cat which is about 5 years old.  Both of the cats are male.  They are the best of friends.  You see them play together, lay together, groom each other, etc.  They have never fought and I've had the two of them for 1 year together.  

Many years ago (4-5) I noticed cat urine on my second bedroom futon.  This went on randomly until I moved.  At my next location the one cat would urinate on my duffle bags.  Most recently he has urinated on 3 different backpacks and a duffel bag.

When I asked this before, people asked me questions like: possible urinary tract infection, have you moved recently, introduced a new cat, moved the litter box, new litter box, anything NEW?  NOTHING.  Otherwise he is perfectly happy, loves where he is, etc.  Could this just be his thing?  his brain is so small, I don't think he understands like a human what he is doing.  Maybe he just does this from time to time?  I need to be in the habit of never leaving a bag/backpack on the ground.  they should be put away or up higher out of the way.  

Do you have any suggestions or basically if its just once in a while and isolated to bags, dont keep bags out :)

ANSWER: Aaron,

It seems as though you've gotten the basic answers when you've asked for help with this issue before. Here are a few tips that you may not have received prior to now...I do still recommend that your kitty's urine be checked for crystals or possible bacterial infection although you don't seem to think that this is the issue, it's always better to be safe than sorry and in the event that this kitty has even a low grade UTI or crystals in his urine that may be causing it to burn when he urinates this must be treated first. I'm not sure if you've had blood work done on this guy recently, but it might be worth doing to see if there's any abnormalities on this kitty's organ functions. Now that we're done with the medical part of this I have a few other recommendations. Obviously if guests come to your home make sure that backpacks, purses, duffel bags or any other bag that your kitty may opt to mark with urine are kept well out of reach or even behind a closed closet door to avoid potentially awkward or embarrassing moments. It's a good idea to clean anything that this cat has urinated on with an enzymatic cleaner to permanently remove any traces of urine so that you know for sure that your cat isn't just marking because he smells urine from another time. Enzymatic cleaners use beneficial bacteria to digest the components of organic substances like urine, feces, blood or vomit that would cause odor or leave a stain. I have found a well priced, very effective enzymatic cleaner called Petzyme and so far I haven't had any issues with this cleaner damaging my upholstery or carpeting although it's always best to test any cleaner out on an inconspicuous area prior to using it. Another common reason for cats to urinate outside of the box has to do with what you use to fill their litter box.
If you use air fresheners around the litter box or you use a scented kitty litter your kitty may well be trying to tell you that he is sensitive to the harsh perfumes and dyes that are in these products. In my experience it's best to use an unscented, dye free clumping kitty litter in the litter box as this ends any sensitivity to dyes or perfumes. The best way to end litter box odor is to scoop the litter pan at least once daily. The other common reason for litter box issues is that the food is located too close to the litter tray. If you feed your cat in the same room as the litter box that could potentially be causing the ongoing issue of your kitty urinating outside of the litter box. After all, cats are very fastidious and understandably they don't like to eat where they use the toilet.
Other questions I have for you in relation to the cat urinating outside of the box are as follows:

Does your cat make any attempt to bury the urine after he marks an item?

How often on average does this kitty urinate outside of the box?

What do you do when you've found an accident?

Is there some sort of routine that usually precedes or follows an accident?

Do you have company when these accidents happen?

Does this kitty squat or stand to urinate on the bags in question?

When was this kitty neutered?

Has this cat made a habit of urinating on your bags or those of your guests?

Have you tried changing brands of litter and types of litter box?

Hopefully I will be able to provide you with a little more insight into this behavior once I have the above details...


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I can't remember everything that he had done when he was at the vet like 6-8 months ago, but he had the shots, the FIV test, some other blood test, etc.  And he is rock solid.  But yeah having it checked again probably isn't a bad idea.

The litter box is upstairs and and food is downstairs in the kitchen.  The cats are upstairs usually and this is the first time this has occurred in quite a while.

In the last year I would say 4-5 times that I know of.  I would think though that if he did it elsewhere I would smell it and know.  A couple of those times were repeats on items that he had previously urinated on.  I didn't wash them well enough.

I haven't done anything in a long long time.  I never catch him in the act and I know his brain is tiny, so I move on.  I threw away the other bags and backpacks he urinated on.  And the one from this morning we threw away too.

None.  He was hanging out last night on the floor watching me on my computer, this morning i fed them both and then left.  If there is something going on, I just don't know about it.

No company, we never have anyone over it seems.

I saw him a long long time ago and he sort of squatted over it, but didn't sit down.

He was neutered when he was just a little baby kitten.  I did it at whatever the place said he had to be (honestly i forget, but I did it right, as well as his sets of kitty shots, etc.)

We've had lots of different litter boxes, there doesn't seem to be any correlation.  Litter, yeah we switched from time to time, but I don't know about any relation.  I need to pay more attention to what we buy.

I guess I am probably at a loss.  I'll try that cleaner you recommended, make sure the litter box is always clean and plenty of litter in it (I empty once a day SOMETIMES miss a day, but it never overfills).  I may take him to the vet too.  Thanks so much!

Answer
Aaron,

Hopefully with the combination of using an enzymatic cleaner to permanently remove odors and using an unscented, clumping kitty litter rather than the coarse clay litter things will resolve. The whole idea of there not really being a pattern in terms of something that you can put a finger on is a bit odd. Having this little guy's blood tested will let your vet know if he's got any issues with his thyroid, kidneys, and other internal organs. A urine test will generally show signs of crystals or a chronic low grade infection if there are any to be found. If you only have one litter box it may be an issue related to that. I usually recommend one litter box per cat plus one and in households where one or more cats have an issue with inappropriate elimination I generally extend that recommendation to one box per cat plus one per level of your home that your cat has access to. Another common cause of urinating outside of the litter box could be that your kitty is seeing neighborhood cats and other small animals in his territory. If your kitty looks out the window a lot you may want to try using a temporary privacy film, they can be found in most major hardware stores and they range in price and design so shop around...