To ask for your help with Alan

[Hatsuma]

Alan is a 5 month old cat

He is a dirty little ape. I have witnessed with my own eyes him peeing in:

1. a full bag of shopping on the kitchen floor.
2. his play tunnel
3. my linen basket

Which makes me think there’s plenty more places he’s pissed when I wasn’t looking. I’m recovering from covid and my sense of smell isn’t great, but I keep thinking I can smell cat wee everywhere

He’s been neutered. He’s squatting down and doing a full wee rather than spraying. He has a litter tray which he does use, but it would appear sometimes he can’t be arsed. Litter tray is cleaned regularly.

Cat experts, please help!

Very odd name for a cat

@BrendaBubbles

Very odd name for a cat

I like it

That's as may be but Alan is in his new home now and rather than pointing the finger, surely we should be helping OP make sure he is as happy as he can possibly be.

That’s true and nothing OP can do about it now, but I think the pp was pointing out that this is very likely the reason for Alan’s pissing (great name BTW).

8 weeks is far too young and most governing bodies of pedigree cats insist on 14 weeks prior to rehoming. I’m afraid Alan’s breeder is nowhere near as knowledgeable as you think, OP.

As others have said though, you need at least two litter trays, well away from their food and sleeping places. Are you using the same litter his breeder used? One of our cats will only wee on catsan, they can be fussy buggers.

I agree with a pp that you can demonstrate scraping the litter, I’ve also gently held a kitten in a tray and used their paw to move the litter around, she did then wee in it and I praised her. He may need a bit of extra guidance through missing out on some of the early socialisation from mum.

I’d caution it as age thing, our three cats all did this up until being out of ‘teenage‘ years - so around age 3 stopped. Though one still does it when he’s particularly peeved off - no pun intended!

I'm no help op I just wanted to say Alan is super cute!

Three litter trays for two cats.
Smaller litter - try Cat's Best litter from ZooPlus, it's tiny, soft on the paws and doesn't smell. Also it clumps which makes scooping pee much easier!
Don't clean them as often - they need scooping daily but I only empty and do a full clean once a month. Just top up as needed
Use simple solution or another pet enzyme cleaner where you've seen him pee. You will need to absolutely soak the area several times I suspect.

You could also try a plug-in such as Feliway if the behaviour is a result of stress.

I wonder at his young age if he wasn't appropriately litter trained. If that's the problem, try putting the tray down in one of the places he frequently wees on (you'll have to just bear and grin if it's your bedroom, for now).

Have you tried different types of litter? My cats always HATED the pellets and would go anywhere else to avoid it.

Like dogs, when he does use the litter tray immediately after give him a good fuss and maybe a little dreamie biscuit to show he did something right.

As someone said upthread, thoroughly clear the spots he weed in as he'll recognise the smell and continue going there.

If it makes you feel better, one of my two (admittedly before neutering) liked to wee over my belongings and ME! I do see the funny side now.

Thanks everyone, some good ideas to try here. Will get on the additional litter trays tomorrow and try some different kinds of litter.

Here’s his equally cute sister 🥰

Feliway plug in is also good, buy on Amazon.

What is Alan’s sister called?

Has he been checked for a UTI? Only time our boy cat would wee where he shouldn’t. Watch out if you feed dry food. They often don’t drink enough.

well he might pee everywhere - BUT he is VERY beautiful.

Sister looks like my one

I have read before that you should have at least one tray per cat.

Alan could piss anywhere in my house and I would still love him.

@Elieza

You can buy a torch on eBay for a quid odds that shows up bodily fluids like wee if you shine it on the carpet in the dark!

Shows up a kind of greeny colour.

I got one for my old cat. Found some bits I had no idea she’d used as a loo! Totally worth the money.

I was just going to suggest one of those UV torches from amazon. Quite an eye opener but it worked to find where the smells were coming from...

Will get one of those torches (and then probably set fire to my house when it arrives), thanks to the posters who suggested that.

Alan’s sister is called Hattie (Catty).

Cute kitties!
My 2 year old cats will still occasionally wee in odd places. They go outside but don't like wind or rain. Refused to use the litter tray once they could use the cat flap. Pee in the sink and bath most often, but stray boxes are fair game and I have had a few nasty surprises in the laundry basket too. Never on clean clothes though. There's some logic to their choices

I have 4 cats and 2 dogs. Mop up urine and place in litter tray. Try using puppy pads in litter tray as some cats don't like shop-litter products. Use white vinegar on soiled areas, it is wonderful at leeching out the smell. Once soiled, cats tend to go back to affected spot. Get object of furniture to put over the target area to prevent reoffending. Get cat checked at vet. One of mine bleeds in his urine due to stress of any change, and leaves dirty protests at the site of any change...new furnishings or DIY. Some cats are just neurotic and don't like change.

Hi Alan - this is Bernard- he loves weeing on bags, open suitcases and DD3s school uniform - nowt to do with health or lack of litter trays - he’s just a twat! We just make sure that stuffs not available to him

We love him - he says Alan is a great name for a cat

Ps I’ve never owned a tabby that didn’t like weeing on stuff - including mail!

'a dirty little ape'. Best insult all week

My boy died a few weeks ago, I would love it if he was still around to do a 'shut in poo' behind the sofa again. Alan is lovely, he will get there eventually with his weeing in his litter tray

Omg they're both gorgeous!

Years ago we tried the wood pellet litter but our cars at the time hated the feel of it and were weeing outside the box. We changed to a normal litter and had no problems after that. A litter tray upstairs and downstairs downstairs and nowhere near food or water.

@BeepingBB

Fabulous name for a cat.

Our neighbour has a Colin and a Harold.

Our neighbour has a dog called Stanley.

Have you tried a different cat litter for him? Mine didn't like wood pellets.

@ghostyslovesheets mine are both partial to the bowl on their cat tree too! The tabby one is Hattie and she’s very clean, apart from the time she shat in the mop bucket.