Only looking for things that *actually worked* in stopping cat wee

[Coffeetree]

I've turned the Internet upside down and have found loads of suggestions but no actual stories of "I did X and it stopped my cat from stress-weeing outside her box" .

My indoor cat had been absolutely fine with using her box, and then after lockdown I went from being home all day to working outside the house for 12 hours a day. I had her before lockdown but she was fine with my long hours then.

I've got a new remote-only job beginning in Jan, but she now has the bad habits. She pees on my bed and bathmat and when discouraged from that she started on the couch. She's now confined to spare room with litter box and I sleep in there with her (with foil on bed to keep her off).

Checked at vet, no med issues. I'm not even going to list all the things I've tried because I've tried everything possible that can be found on the Internet. So please don't ask have I tried x, the answer is yes.

I'm beginning to suspect that nothing really works and that people just end up living in urine-soaked homes or giving away their cats, and that's why in the hundreds of blogs and threads all over the Internet you never have the OP returning to say, "Thanks for the advice, problem solved!"

Anyone actually resolve the issue?

Stain remover

@Whattochoosenow

The thing is OP that until you try some of these things you’re not going to know what works. Cats are individuals and quite fickle. What works for some definitely won’t work for others. So, the multiple litter trays with different substrates, the Feliway, the Zylkene, the Pet Remedy spray etc are all good options. Also, do you have a cat flap? Are other cats scaring her? I know of one case where the cat was peeing in the house. It turns out the neighbours cat was watching her through the cat flap while she was eating her food. And that caused enough stress for her to pee all around the house. They only found this out by setting up a camera in the utility room and realised there was something going on outside. I’m afraid you’re going to have to be a bit of a detective and really observe her body language/ behaviour on this one, because something is upsetting her.

Wow, cats are fickle and wee when they're upset. Feliway! Great.

Food where they pee cats don't like to eat and drink where they pee and poop

Yes tried and tested personally

A friend managed it. Get an extra litter tray, clear them out regularly. Put trays on a mat which catches any of the litter if they scratch it out, as apparently it’s like walking on Lego for them.

If you read it you realise what I actually said was that there isn’t a one size fits all solution, that some of the things which upset a cat are really subtle and it can be hard to figure out what that is. Sadly there is no quick fix.
It’s not nice to be sarcastic to those who are trying to help. 🙁

That was to OPs comment on my last post. Not sure why it didn’t quote

I think anyone would be stressed if they was locked in 4 walls 24/7 is it really that surprising?

Well thanks for being rude. Clearly my cats are fake cats and my actual experience of solving this problem is imaginary.

You have to do all the things simultaneously and consistently.

I have a cat with long term peeing issues. What works:

• clean hotspots much more thoroughly than you think. Sofas and mattresses are particularly bad because you can't clean them as well as you need to. Use urine off or simple solution, both work. Drench it. Repeatedly. Mine has destroyed three sofas - it gets into the frame and you cannot clean it well enough but an upholstery cleaner works okay on mattresses. To protect chairs / sofas leave throws on them and wash regularly. Prewash/rinse then 60 degree wash with bio detergent.
• try different litters, mine just doesn't like some. Cat's best is the gold standard but it tracks like crazy. We're having some success with corn litter.
• try different boxes. Mine is fussy and only likes certain trays. Clean them with enzyme cleaner regularly and replace if they stop seeming effective (I think the plastic gets scratched in use and they never come up clean enough for him after a while)
• keep their general anxiety levels down. Feliway diffusers do work, unsure about cystease and zylkene but it's worth a try. Make sure she's getting enough hugs and play time when you're around.
• reward for good behaviour, give a treat when she pees in the box. When she pees outside the box calmly put her in the tray. Be as consistent as possible. If you catch her attempting to pee outside the box, a firm, low 'no' may help deter her then help her into the box. It's all in the tone.
• in times of desperation I will leave decoys that can be binned. Cardboard boxes on a puppy pad or old rags in a laundry basket. It's not ideal but better than the sofa.
• it won't resolve until all spots are clean and habits are broken. You may have relapses but try to remember it's because she's stressed and tackle that.

OP I hear and understand your frustration! I have lived this and I did get it to improve.

1. This was something that reoccurred throughout my cats life, at random, and we struggled to know why. But things that definitely made it worse were not catching and dealing with new pee spots quickly. Bringing anything second hand into the house that had been around other animals. Our old dog was a little incontinent and if she had any little accidents anywhere they needed to be cleaned thoroughly (as in invisible to animals not just humans.)

2. I swear by this cleaning solution, "Simple Solution Extreme Cat Stain and Odour Remover Enzymatic Cleaner, 500ml" and you need to completely soak any areas impacted. So for example with a mattress I'd basically pour a load of it on it, so it could soak all the way through and get any bits inside the mattress that we missed from just cleaning the surface. And then I'd leave it to dry, probably for a couple of days. Also soak any quilts/duvets in this before putting them in the wash. You need something that breaks down the urine so the cats can't smell it anymore. We had a sofa that was affected, we took it apart, removed all the fabric underneath and then soaked the wooden frame with this solution. If you can't do this the only solution is to throw away what they have peed on, as they will do it again unless you can rid of the smell.

3. make sure they like the litter tray and litter. We went through MANY different ones and eventually settled on this combination.

VehiGo Extra Large Metal Cat Litter Box, Stainless Steel Durable Litter Pan for Large or Multiple Cats, Kitty Litter Box with Smooth Surface and Easy to Clean https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07Q5V4TTK/ref=cmswwrcppapiglttfabcNQ956KDMDQ3VT84R9R45

And

Okoplus Cats Best Original Clumping Cat Litter, 5 Litre (2.1 kg) https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DACZ0BO/ref=cmswwrcppapiglttfabcFEMPWJGKGHK29R5ESH3M

And to be fair once we had this combination and had done step 4 we had no accidents around the house from that point forward.

4. Limit access to anywhere they have peed. So we basically went to about a month of her living in one room, with the litter tray/litter combination above. Whilst we did this we treated everywhere there had ever been accidents and also moved the location of things if possible. So rearranged rooms so routines were broken. If she came out of this location she was supervised constantly. In this one room she only used that litter tray and litter, no accidents anywhere else. After we had had a month of that she slowly came back into the house more. We always restricted access to bedrooms and she was never in there unsupervised as I didn't trust but she did go back everywhere else with no problems.

Our old boy started weeing in our bedroom. We could smell it but not see where he was doing it. I then found it one morning. There was a flannel on the floor which dried out but must have still smelt musty and he was weeing on that.
Another time I brought in a bookcase to store our shoes on and then discovered he was weeing in front of that. I think that was due to all the smells on the shoes.
I had to clean the areas with a biological washing powder solution and covered the area with puppy training pads and litter trays.
I find putting a litter tray where they were and shutting off rooms where you don't want them to are the best courses of action.

• where they were weeing

Also just to add making her live in one room sounds mean, but she also had access to outside and lots of attention from us.

I can't tell you what to fix the behaviour- but what to check you haven't cleaned the pee areas with bleach?

Make sure you use proper pet odour cleaner stuff (simple solution is great) as bleach leaves a smell like wee so then means they pee there again.

The problem is that she's confined to one room with a litter tray and never gets to go out.

Cats aren't for training unfortunately so the answer will lie in trial and error and may never resolve if the behaviour is completely entrenched

We tried many of the things on this thread and some in combination - but I put our cat stopping down to him being permanently on cystease - which apparently has calming properties. He has access to outdoors though and about a month after he stopped peeing everywhere - he started toileting outside as well.

After we moved house my cat began peeing. We cleaned the carpet regularly but it wasn't until we removed it totally, used a Feliway plug in and had several litter trays with wood pellets in that it stopped and only resumed when very old and senile.

More trays that you think you need, comfy litter and regular cleaning as well as constant outside access did the trick.

I'm a real person with real cats and real experience. I also used to be a volunteer fosterer for the Cats Protection, which meant that I had 2 x cat runs in my garage for years, where foster cats lived in while they waited for adoption.

This was a very common issue - and, it was an issue, even though they were only living in my garage. Our policy was to restrict them to a smaller area - I had a large dog crate for the purpose. Within the crate would be a litter tray, blanket and food / water.

Another blanket is handy for covering the crate if they're feeling agitated while confined. (Like covering a cat carrier to stop them miaowing)

Once in this set up, the behaviour should stop immediately but maintain the set up for another week. Then restrict them to a small room with the exact same blanket and the litter tray and food bowls and nothing else. If they revert to urinating about the place again, go back a step and this time for 10 days.

It isn't cruel and it does work. I fostered 12 cats and they almost all displayed this behaviour upon arrival. It worked for every one of them. It's a fucking nightmare trying to clean out the litter tray / feed them because they'll make a break for it every time. But, even this is better than living in a urine house.

As PPs have said, it's usually emotional and the restricted space is actually good for them while they calm down and acclimate.

Seriously OP, if you haven't tried it yet... big dog crate. You can get them from Argos on same day delivery.

My heart goes out to you.xxx

Ps. Lemon rinds soaked in white vinegar is good for the smells.

Just checking you use or have tried:
Enzyme cleaner
Multiple trays
Different litters
Puppy pads
Cystease

How old is she?

Why is she an indoor cat?

@PeeAche

I'm a real person with real cats and real experience. I also used to be a volunteer fosterer for the Cats Protection, which meant that I had 2 x cat runs in my garage for years, where foster cats lived in while they waited for adoption.

This was a very common issue - and, it was an issue, even though they were only living in my garage. Our policy was to restrict them to a smaller area - I had a large dog crate for the purpose. Within the crate would be a litter tray, blanket and food / water.

Another blanket is handy for covering the crate if they're feeling agitated while confined. (Like covering a cat carrier to stop them miaowing)

Once in this set up, the behaviour should stop immediately but maintain the set up for another week. Then restrict them to a small room with the exact same blanket and the litter tray and food bowls and nothing else. If they revert to urinating about the place again, go back a step and this time for 10 days.

It isn't cruel and it does work. I fostered 12 cats and they almost all displayed this behaviour upon arrival. It worked for every one of them. It's a fucking nightmare trying to clean out the litter tray / feed them because they'll make a break for it every time. But, even this is better than living in a urine house.

As PPs have said, it's usually emotional and the restricted space is actually good for them while they calm down and acclimate.

Seriously OP, if you haven't tried it yet... big dog crate. You can get them from Argos on same day delivery.

My heart goes out to you.xxx

Ps. Lemon rinds soaked in white vinegar is good for the smells.

Really helpful, thank you.

@JessicaPipsqueak

The problem is that she's confined to one room with a litter tray and never gets to go out.

Cats aren't for training unfortunately so the answer will lie in trial and error and may never resolve if the behaviour is completely entrenched

No, she was weeing inappropriately before when she had the run of the place.

The only thing that works for mine is giving her urinary care cat food and stopping her from going in certain rooms by keeping the door closed. She doesn't move much during the day and will stay in one place for ages without weeing, but other times she will take her chance in somewhere different and wee there if she can.
I think something like feliway or pet remedy is supposed to be good but I never found it made a difference to mine.

I used this food for two years, then gradually weaned him off. He’s not given any dry food at all as it makes him worse. I also used cystease and a feliway plug in.

www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/canned_cat_food_pouches/purina_vet_diet/urinary/755078?mkt_source=1454719&variantid=755078.2&gclid=Cj0KCQiAtJeNBhCVARIsANJUJ2F1_sNcjds1hDakX2L5-JTZ0CTU26lxdlOa8GLKp-AGRJFVlxtWz8waAvvOEALw_wcB

I also replaced my floor where he had been peeing and blocked off the area on the new floor for about six months.

He’s all better now and hasn’t had an accident in about a year.

Cystease in his food and ultraclumping litter, talcum powder scented.

For a macho Bengal he had feminine tastes in litter.

Tried them all- she has the radio left on, tv left on, lights left on, plug ins everywhere, pheromone spray, electronic feeder, ignored before we go out and as we get home, toys always available, litter changed daily, no medical issues....
The only thing that has worked is keeping her warm! Cats pee more when they're cold and this seems to have cracked it recently. If her ear tips, paws or tail tip feel cool then she is cold. I've bought her a cat safe heat pad that lasts 12 hours (not electric, just incase!) And make sure the fire is on first thing so the heat lingers. I've also extended they heating times too. Fingers crossed it carries on!
She's an old, toothless rescue whom we've only had 18 months but love to pieces.