cat behavior problem

Question
I am writing on behalf of a friend of mine, who has a 2 year old male tonkinese. He is not neutered,she adopted him from an elderly couple who had another tonkinese that he did not get along with. She has had him for approximately 6 months now, he shares the household with a male siberian husky, her two kids (one sixteen and one eleven) and her husband. Everything was fine at first, but recently, within the last two months or so, he has begun urinating on clothes/blankets that are left on the floor. He is not spraying, just squatting and peeing on fabrics that are left on the floor. He is an excellent cat otherwise, he is very well behaved, and very affectionate, excellent personality. Because of this problem, she has recently begun considering to give him away, the last straw being that he had peed on her bed. I don't know what the issue is, he gets equal attention and affection from everyone as does the dog. The dog does chase him though, he is only 2 years old himself, and is very playful,and wants to play with the cat. I don't know if he is not taking well to the noise from the kids and the harassment of the dog, or if this is maybe an issue of him not being neutered, or having a urinary tract problem. He is a sweet cat, and I would take him in a minute if it weren't for this problem.I have no kids, it is just my boyfriend and I and we live by ourselves. Did you ever hear of this issue before? Any suggestions on what this may be would be appreciated.

Answer
Melissa,

Actually it could be any or all of the reasons you mentioned.

Having him neutered would be the first item of business. That would help solve many things.

He should be checked for a urinary tract infection or urinary crystals. They are painful and cats associate that pain when they use the litterbox so they go elsewhere. Urinary crystals if not caught in time are always fatal to male cats.

A cat will quit using the litterbox also when they are upset at a person, animal, or stressed over something in or around the home. Being chased by a dog, even playfully, when a cat is not used to dogs can be very upsetting and stressful. Plus the older couple who had him were probably quiet people, and he is not used to noise and people which would also stress him.

I am including a couple of links that have informational articles on improper elimination that you may find helpful. Copy and paste or type the whole links into your address bar:

http://www.geocities.com/heartland/pointe/9352/litterboxhelp.html

http://cats.about.com/cs/behavioralissues/a/outsidebox_two.htm

I hope this helps. He would be a lucky cat if you were to take him him in (but neutered).

Tabbi