Badly-behaved/peeing cat

Question
Hi Melissa,
Thank-you for taking my question!
We have a four-year-old cat- mixed breed, short hair, male and neutered. He's an indoor cat and seems to be very active and very healthy. He is really naughty, though, and we don't know what to do! He scratches furniture/carpets, and chases our ankles and bites them, much like kittens do. He jumps up on the countertops, no matter how many time we tell him no and take him down.

The main problem we have with him is this- he sometimes pees (sprays? Not sure) on our things. Not just anywhere, but only in places where he can hide away and do it, like in the backs of closets or in boxes stored in our basement. Tonight, I had to throw away a pair of shoes because he got into the back of the closet and peed in them. He has ruined a lot of our favourite things this way!

I don't think this is a health problem, since he has no trouble using his litter box, and, like I said, is only peeing in hidden, dark places. Do you have any ideas how we can get him to stop this? We'd love to move his litter box to the basement but we know once he has access, we can kiss the things we has stored down there goodbye!

Also the scratching/biting- any advice?

Thanks very much,
Ginger

Answer
Wow, sounds like you guys have your hands full. From what I'm hearing, you have a bored cat on your hands! I also want to touch base with the inappropriate elimination as it can be a combined issue.

You mentioned that he still uses the litter box- does he actually urinate in the litter box or just defecate? The fact that he's urinating on personal articles is his way of saying he's not happy!! Either with something about the litter box itself or with the family members, themselves. Now the only way to know and make sure that there is no infection involved is by doing a urinalysis, which I always recommend because you just don't know and don't want to it last and get worse, only to find out that's what the problem was to begin with. This is my first recommendation.

My second recommendation is trial-and-error with different styles, sizes, kinds of litter and different places around the house. And remember that cats like privacy, so if he's sticking with the hiding places, that's the first place you should stick one.

As far as the attitude problem- he is bored. What I always recommend with cats like that is a combo of timed playtime (meaning with toys, not with your hands) and timed quiet time where all that happens is calm petting. And if all he does is try to bite/play with your hands, simply ignore best you can and continue with gentle petting. Was he played with rough as a kitten? Because that is commonly how this behavior gets started and continued. And I mention if the urinating and behavior are related as if he's bored and wants to act out...that is a good way of doing it!!

Keep me posted on this and we'll see how things go. But I would recommend a vet visit first to get things started.