Is there ANYTHING I haven't tried to stop cat peeing?

[oldbirdy]

Hi. Our cat is 5. She is very sweet.
We moved house when she was very young, and due to renovation works she lost her cat flap soon after. We leave the back door open throughout the morning until we go to school, and I often work from home. She likes to pop out into the garden but rarely stays out long.

Soon after we moved I found she was peeing on the carpet just at the top of the basement stairs. Despite buying specialist cat urine remover, trying vinegar, using biological powder, placing a litter tray nearby etc she did this so often that it soaked into the underlay and in the end we had to remove the carpet from that landing area. Despite litter tray, which she does occasionally use for wee and always for poo(though invariably she poos over the side of the litter box) she then started peeing on the top step. Cleaned that, she moved to second step. Etc etc. We took the carpet off the whole flight of stairs and bought feliway plug ins. She has one litter tray on the original peeing spot and two at the bottom of the stairs in another place we found she was peeing. She has clay litter (preferred for poo) and wood litter (the one she chooses when she sees in litter more often). We have tried large and small litter boxes, covered and uncovered. She prefers uncovered. I even bought cat litter attractant to sprinkle on the litter.
She still pees on the fucking stairs, even now they are bare wood. The stuff stored under the stairs has dripped cat piss on. If I scrub and clean and use strong smelling cleaners (I use cat wee scent remover) she will just wee on a lower step. Every single step has been soaked in piss. The staircase smells catty as you go down it.

We have discussed replacing the entire wooden structure but seriously? The cat has already cost us an almost new John Lewis carpet. If the kids wouldn't be sad i'd seriously consider rehoming her.

This morning the back door was open for an hour. She was in the adjacent room but didn't go out. 1 minute after I shut it I caught her peeing on another new step. I can't take much more.

Anyone?

Have you taken your cat to the vet?

One of my cats is the same, drives me mad and she's been to the vet's, nothing wrong with her.

Did your cat wee/poo outside when she had a cat flap in your old house? Has she ever used the cat flap? Could you put a cat flap on your new house?

I would personally set her up with somewhere outside that is sheltered outside (chair in shed or greenhouse, or if no outside place like that then a chair with cushion underneath a garden parasol is very popular with cats) and put her outside of a morning. She will be forced to become used to the outside for weeing and pooing but she will have a comfy sheltered spot to sit in whilst she's out there. There's only so many wees and poos a cat can do :-)

Also if you have a smaller room you can close her in for the night with a tray, that would be good. Hard floor best obviously. Utility room, kitchen etc. With a tray in one corner (newspaper under the tray to catch her poo if she misses the tray) and her water and cat bed etc in the opposite corner. Don't allow her access to the stairs as much as you can for a while, to see if she can break the habit.

I sympathise. I love cats but when they develop antisocial habits to the point you had to remove an entire stair carpet and the wood is starting to smell, it's really not good. I think you have to get firmer with where you allow her access. Good luck!

buscaution
What for? She is young, glossy fur, good condition. She's been doing this 4 years. The urine is clear and a decent quantity. I seriously don't think she is unwell. I think she thinks it's the place to pee.

OH and PS. Re-reading you post I realise that you've placed trays on her preferred pooing and weeing spots, i.e. the landing and the stairs? Although cats can't be "trained" like dogs, basically it's saying her toilet area is the entire stairs and landing area because there's all the trays there. Even though the trays are there, with all the previous wee and poo smells she might be confused and see the tray as a choice rather than a necessary.

Definitely banish her from the stairs area as much as possible, day and night, and pick a completely seperate area for her tray. That's tray singular. She needs one toilet area somewhere completely different.

And can you close the basement stairs off to the cat during the day/night? We had a staircase we didn't want the cats to go up so we put a baby gate at the bottom, this did stop them.

Sunday girls
She tends to wee mid morning so shutting her out of the area overnight would not be very effective, though I'll give it a go. Catching her to get her out is hard as well, but that is I think the only solution.

She has always had cat litter, even when she had a cat flap, but didn't use it that often.

What for?

Eh? Your cat has been pissing all over for 4 years and you think it's odd someone asks if you have seen a vet?

I can't believe you asked what for! To rule out an underlying condition of course.

We had a cat that did this, though not as badly as yours. Apparently cats won't pee where they feed, so we put little bowls of catfood everywhere she peed, I mean we literally had 20+ little plastic bowls with a handful of food in scattered around. It worked, though it took about four months before we could get rid of the bowls completely (maybe it took that long for the smell to go away?)

I’ve got one like this and ended up putting a polystyrene block (in packaging for something) in the spot and it scares her so stopped it in the put and a sprinkle of chilli powder in the other spot, so far it seems to be working but it really gets me down so you have my sympathy.

Have you tried putting bowls of food on the locations she pees? Most cats do not like to present near their food source. If you can convince her this is an eating area, it might break the habit.

Or plastic sheeting/tin foil over the areas she uses. Might need to be there a while, but not forever.

Jesus. Four years and now you're asking for help?! My cat did it for 4 days and I'd had enough and made it my mission to sort it out.

You're going to be stuck now after 4 years. She has a major habit. Taking her to the vet is to rule out any bladder issues - honestly gobsmacked you haven't taken her when it first started.

You need to be far more proactive. Treat this like potty training. That means watching her all the time for a few days and immediately lifting her onto the litter tray when she's about to wee. (normally about 15 mins after eating) You're going to have to completely retrain her. If it were me, I would literally take a week off work and spend the time sorting this out.

Actually feel a bit for the cat tbh :/

Present = pee. Thanks prudish autocorrect.

Star
Actually if you read the list of things we've tried we have not ignored this for 4 years. Sometimes we get her to stop for a few weeks after cleaning or removing the carpet or putting the litter tray nearby or finding she prefers wood litter etc.

Each time she stops I think I've cracked it.
Then a couple of weeks later it starts up again.

Part of the reason I have not posted on here before is that people tend to be very caustic and judgemental.
I have made it my mission repeatedly over months to try to stamp it out. I succeed for a while. Then she starts again.

I think the smell persists whatever you use to clean the area. You may not be able to smell it but she will. Sorry not to be of help, but years of having cats has taught me that.

oldbirdy I don't mean put her out overnight, especially now it's getting colder. I mean put her out first thing in the morning. Put her outside when you get up so she can do a wee. She can come back in for breakfast a little later, or, if she comes back in for breakfast and wees in the house then put her breakfast outside for her along with water of course.

For the night, I would put her in one room if you can, with a hard floor if possible, but definitely away from the steps area she likes to use for wees and poos. If she's not in that area she can't do it there. It's already been proven that leaving trays there doesn't work so (I think) you need to limit her access at least until she's had time to form new habits and preferably outside.

We have cats but we don't have a cat flap or litter trays indoors, unless it's been very cold and the cats haven't been outside for a good length of time in the day. They sleep inside, they are put outside first thing in the morning. They then come in and out through the day or if we're out all day, they have a comfy dry sheltered spot to sit in. And water bowl outside all the time. There's no real need for a cat tray unless a cat is very housebound, either through illness, age or outside weather conditions. They become used to the pattern. Ours go out in the morning, come and go all day, definitely outside for a wee etc in the evening and then are called in before bedtime if they aren't already back in.

Hope this helps!

For the posters who are saying vets - if a cat has wee/poo/bladder/urinary tract issues then that is usually illustrated by observing them struggling to wee or poo, or acting strangely when they are trying. Pawing over the same area again and again (even if there's no litter) for example.

If they are weeing and pooing, eating and drinking and sleeping perfectly normally, but are just toileting in the wrong/antisocial area, is more likely to be behavioural than physical. Obviously bladder problems can't be ruled out by anyone on the internet, only a vet in person, but I would presume OP has discussed this during the annual booster jabs visit to the vet?

Yes I am convinced its behavioural.
I don't know if its relevant but her Mum got caught very young, before she had been scheduled to be spayed. She was only 6 months when she got pregnant and perhaps because of that she was very inexperienced and a bit of a neglectful mum - of her 5 kittens 2 died.

I will schedule a vet checkup but if she turns out to have a physical problem causing this I'll be amazed.

Going to buy a little kennel to enable her to shelter outside, with a soft cushion. I do think she gets scared outside as there are some cat bullies around, so I've been reluctant to force her out, but enough is enough. I will also start ensuring she is kept away from that area, while we repaint it and hopefully that will get rid of the smell even for her, and it will lose its association. Will also try cat food but putting bowls of food on the stairs is a bit tricky!! Need to find some tiny bowls....

Cat flap and cat proof the garden? If she’s wants to toilet outside but is scared of the bullies that could explain it.
Covered tray? Many hate an audience!
Yes to UTI check. Our boy would pee where he shouldn’t when suffering.

Google Jackson Galaxy- US cat behaviourist.

I have a cat that refuses to use his litter tray if he has already peed in it once so I have to completely empty and wash it several times a day. Could it be a case of her using the stairs when she has already done a wee in her tray?

I clean mine out regularly and also sometimes empty it completely and wash it out with Milton and boiling water. The plastic absorbs the smells.

Tin foil where she weds? They don’t like the sound of wee on the metal.

Your vet can prescribe Prozac, it is extremely effective with inappropriate cat urination. It is most effective with stress urination and from what you say your cat sounds like she is a stressy character.

OP - very interesting you say about her mother being so young and not good at the mothering. I was going to say before that when cats have behavioural problems, not necessarily aggression but what we would consider anti-social issues such as toileting inappropriately, or waking up at all hours loudly carting around things like socks, or are nervous, they (in my experience) have often been removed from their mother too young.

But it could be that if the mother herself is young, then she is not old enough to mother effectively so they don't get the direction/confidence/socialisation they need from the mother.