Why cat why?

[fromdespairto]

My perfectly trained cat has in the last week or so decided to start peeing on the floor, daily. I'm at the end of my tether. Her trays are clean, I've sprayed the areas she like with pet odour removal spray to take away the scent but she keeps doing it. What can I do?

Take her to the vet as there's often an underlying medical issue when a cat starts doing this?

Probably painful cystitis.

Thanks. I will get her checked tomorrow. I hadn't really thought of something like that. I've always had male cats and know they are prone to UTIs but it hadn't crossed my mind for her.

Not just utis. Can be a symptom of many things - for my cat it was a symptom of renal problems.

My cat started peeing in the hall when her kidneys failed.

We have an appointment today. I'm hoping it's just a simple thing, she's still only a baby so hoping nothing more sinister.

Fingers crossed x

Something could be upsetting her (if underlying medical issues are ruled out). My neutered tom started seeing on my bath mat and it turned out he was upset as a new Tom cat was hanging around his garden! I used feliway plug in and that did the trick and settled him right down

Weeing (oops)

We saw the vet today who was undecided if it was stress cystitis or infection. She's been treated for infection as has some markers but I always have a feliway just in case. Hopefully that solves it!

Hopefully. Did she have painkillers too?

So one week on she is still doing this. I assume it's behavioural now and I have no idea how to stop it. I'm at the end of my tether here. Help!

Take her back to the vet to make sure all is good.

Which cat litter are you using?

Are her medical problems definitely resolved? Does she have enough litter trays and are they away from food bowls etc.?

The vet wasn't convinced she definitely had an infection but treated her as such. Said it would resolve within 5 days if it was, it's been over a week since then.

I've uncovered her trays in case she doesn't like the lids. It's wood litter as we have always used, trays haven't moved from the same spot they've been in all year.

It sounds mad but could it be changing the living room around? We put up the tree and got a new sofa 2 weeks ago and it's all been since then. I'm going to have to let her outdoors soon, sooner than we had planned to see if it helps.

The only think that stopped Maia seeing on the sofa was physically blocking access to it by putting things on it. I tried al the sprays. None of them worked. The weird thing was that when her kidneys failed she weed on the hall mat instead.

Put some tin foil where she's been weeing too. Most cats hate tin foil. Except one of mine and he just wees on it instead but it's easy to clean up then haha

But which litter are you using? It’s important.

Can you put food down where she has been peeing? Cats won't pee where they eat

My girl did similar. She took to peeing on the back door mat. We took her to the vet, who said she was fine.
She is an outdoor cat but we keep her in after dark. She has access to an outbuilding from the house and that is where her litter tray is located. The suggestion from the vet was that we move her litter tray to the location where she was peeing. That seemed to do the trick.

"It sounds mad but could it be changing the living room around? We put up the tree and got a new sofa 2 weeks ago and it's all been since then."

I would say you have answered your own question

Cats are peculiar little creatures who need to feel in control of their environment. Any change, such as moving furniture, decorating, even a new air freshener/cleaning product can cause a cat to feel they have lost control. This leads to stress, which then leads to inappropriate behaviour such as peeing where they shouldn't.

What have you used to clean the urine up? A good way to remove all odours is to clean the area with a biological washing powder solution (helps to breakdown all the urine enzymes), leave the area to dry, and and then go over with surgical spirit. This should remove all urine smells, and encourage the cat to not use that area as a toilet. Most normal cleaning products won't be strong enough to break down the enzymes, and anything with ammonia in will still smell like urine to your cat.

Get a Feliway plug in and keep it on 24/7 (they are safe to leave on all the time). You could also try a product called Pet Remedy, which is valerian based (Feliway is pheromone based), and is available in a spray,and I think a plug-in.

Did your cat have a bed in the living room? Is so, and you've moved it to make way for the sofa or tree, this is likely to be making him/her stress out also.

Take a look at www.icatcare.org
This is the website of the International Cat Care society, and they have heaps of useful advice (and handy videos).

Thank you for the great suggestions.

In answer to PP it's pets at home
Wood based litter, same litter I have always used.

She sleeps in my DCs bed so nothing was disrupted on that side although now I think about it she used to nap on our old sofa but I haven't really seen her s much on new one. I've blocked the area she has been peeing, just hoping she won't find new spot.

I've also been cleaning it with bio washing powder as recommended by the vet but didn't know about surgical spirit so will buy some of that too.

I am grateful for all the helpful suggestions you have all given me.