Peeing inside the house

Question
Hello Ali,

my name is Ana, I'm from Brazil, and I have a young female black cat, Catarina, she's about 15 months old. I found her in March/2007, when she was about 3 or 4 months-old. It's very likely she lived on the streets until then.

She's been neutered (about 1 and a half month ago), right after we found home for all her kittens (that were about 10 weeks old). This visit to the vet made me sure that she's healthy.

We have another female cat in the house, a siamese, she's a senior: 13 years-old. Very reserved and temperamental around other cats, like every siamese, she stays always on the 2nd floor of the house. They don't get along, but don't fight too, just some hisses, and then they carry on with their own business.

Also, we have a female dog, 5 months old, they get along quite well.

The problem is that Catarina has been peeing all over the house.
She's still doing it even after she was neutered.
3 days ago she peed on the cook.
She's meawing a lot for no reason. Every time she starts meawing I offer her food, water and finally stroke her, but nothing works. If I stroke her, or try to snuggle her, she's just dismissive: goes away or looks away.

I'm very worried, because my mom wants me to find Catarina a new home, and I'm sad too, because she has to stay outdoors all the time. I can see that Catarina is very confused...she does not understand why she cannot enter the house.

Even though I have cats since I was little, this behaviour I cannot understand...I don't know if she is just stressed or what. And specially, I do not know what to do to make her stop peeing on cooks, rooms, sofas and so on.

Other details that may help:

- Being "from the streets" her behaviour was always very very independent and she'd rather be resting on the floor that on any couch, blanket etc.
- She likes being stroked, but doesn't like if we pick her up.
- She doesn't look us in the eye if we pick her up, or whenever we ar on the same level as her.
- We live in a house with a big garden. When she started this, we even put a litter box indoors, but it didn't help. she uses the box as well as the sofa!

I hope you can help me!
Thank you very much!  

Answer
Ana,

I am wondering if Catarina might have a bladder infection. This would account for her being more vocal than most cats and peeing in places she isn't supposed to. Cats will also opt out of using the litter box if the litter is not cleaned at least once a day. Sometimes it is a question of too few litter boxes, my general rule of thumb in a multi cat household is one litter box per cat plus one, so that if one cat is overly territorial or excessively timid they will be able to find a litter box that is away from the action. Cats can also take a strong dislike to certain textures of kitty litter, or new brands of kitty litter. I generally find that the unscented clumping kitty litter works best. Try to avoid air freshners located near the litter because there are some cats who are sensitive to perfumes in their washroom and they can be irritated just like a person who is sensitive to perfume. If you have recently moved to a new home or done some renovations to your current home she may be trying to tell you that she is anxious. If you have recently added a new person, dog or cat or taken one of those away she may be having a tough time adjusting to the change. If your family's schedule has changed in any way some cats find that incredibly anxiety provoking. Your cat may also be responding to a territorial cat outside your home that is making her nervous. If your cat has a urinary tract infection, stones or crystals in her bladder or urinary tract or even problems with her bowels including parasites and discomfort she may be trying to tell you that she doesn't feel well. If the litter box is too small or in an awkward or noisy location it could be that she is uncomfortable with the amount of activity or it is not comfortable to get in and out of. My guess is that since medical or physical conditions are often the culprit of cats stopping good litter box habits that the problem lies somewhere with Catarina's medical condition. Your cat may have pain while urinating or defecating which would cause her to associate the litter box with pain and because cats are smart they will try to go somewhere else and see if that makes a difference. Please make sure that you do not hit or yell at Catarina, she will not understand that form of punishment and it may actually make things worse by causing more anxiety. You could try a product called Feliway which is a pheromone based product that should discourare her from eliminating outside the litter box. This works because cats are less likely to go to the washroom where they have left their own scent markings, Feliway comes in a spray or a diffuser and will not stain. It isn't something that we can smell and it doesn't stain furniture or upholstery. If Catarina is urinating outside of the litter box because she is anxious the vet may be able to offer some anti anxiety medications to help her calm down. You should be aware that these drugs have side effects and they are not always well tolerated. I would try a Bach Flower Essence called Rescue Remedy. This is a homeopathic remedy that should calm any fear or anxiety that Catarina is experiencing. Rescue Remedy can usually be purchased at health food/natural health stores and I have found that a dose of 8-10 drops in a fresh bowl of water each morning works well for many cats. You will want to clean any areas that Catarina has urinated on with an enzymatic cleaner to remove all traces of the smell, even for her sensitive nose. Sometimes all that it takes for a cat to return to an area to pee is that they can smell it from their previous mistakes. You could also try changing litter box types, if you are currently using a hooded litter box you could try an open one to see if maybe she was just uncomfortable being closed in. You should remember that cats are prey animals to bigger animals than them and it may be that she would like to be able to observe what is going on around her while she uses the toilet so that she feels more safe. Do make sure that when you are filling the litter box there is enough litter for Catarina to dig in, I usually make sure that there is between 3 and 5 inches of kitty litter in each of my litter boxes. If you find that Catarina usually chooses on particular spot to urinate in you could try using a simple and cheap method of deterring her, try placing double sided tape in those areas so that she has a sticky surface to walk on, in my experience most cats hate sticky stuff on their feet and will not usually go back to the area to urinate. I hope that I was able to offer some useful tips. If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me again.