My cat is peeing around the house and has now pooped outside her litter box

Question
My cat is approx. 6 months old. We have her over 4 months now. Last week she urinated on the rug in bathroom. I thought she possibly did this because my husband was in the garage making lots of noise that day and I thought maybe she was scared to go out to the garage which is where her little box it located. 2 days ago she went into my bedroom and was making this horrible crying noise. I went in to see what she was crying about and she started peeing on another rug in my bathroom. I picked her up and took her out the garage and she flipped out. She was jumping and running into things. Her tail was poofed out and the hair standing straight up on her back. She acted like she was scared to death. Well this morning I go into my childrens bathroom and she has pooped in their bathroom on the rug. I went to find her and what do I find but her urinating on teh floor in my dining room. I dont know what would be causing this new behavior. We have had no changes in my household. What in the world could be wrong with my cat?

Answer
Candice,

She may have urinary crystals/urinary tract infection. Crystals are VERY painful and the cats associate that pain with the litterbox so they avoid it and urinate everywhere else. That is the first thing I would check by taking her to the vet.

Another possibility is that the noise in the garage permenantly frightened her because she thinks it may happen again when she uses the litterbox. I would put 2 little litterboxes in the bathrooms or somewhere else away from the garage and see if that helps.

Carol