Cat Urinates Inside

Question
I adopted 10 yr old totally declawed spayed female cat from my vet. Since I got her home I realized her method of urinating was to raise her butt up high and spray walls, curtains, mirrors as well as inside her littler box which has very high sides because of her manner of spraying.  I have a mellow male cat who is intimitated by this female.  I have had her really examined at vets...blood work, x rays for bladder or kidney stones.  nothing wrong.  Vet now feels this spraying is stress related because there is another cat in the house and has ordered an antidepressant, Elavil, ointment to go inside her ear daily.   Cat can be so lovey at times but hates to be picked up and held.
I keep her favorite walls and mirrors covered with incontinent padding to make my life easier.  I let her go outside with supervision because of no claws.  I don't know the person who had this cat declawed but I wish they had to endure the same treatment.

Answer
Hi Karl,

It sounds like you are taking exceptionally good care of this poor kitty. I don't know how long you have had her for, but the stress of her previous life may have something to do with this. I'm glad you had her checked out at the vet first, since most urinating outside the box is due to medical problems - but now that that has been ruled out and because she is vertically spraying (unusual in females) territorial issues and stress are the probable causes.

Please read the following article I wrote on the subject - a common problem for cat owners - and follow some of the suggestions there!

http://catnet.stanford.edu/articles/litterbox.html

Good luck