Cat weeing indoors

[17bluebirds]

Hi, we have a cat who is about 12 years old.
He has always sprayed in the house. We have tried many things to stop him, but sort of learnt to live with it now.

However, recently he has begun weeing inside. Not in the litter tray, just on the floor or anything he feels like.
Does anyone know why he would do this, or how to stop it?

Thanks

Ours has started this, shes 16 and its driving me INSANE!!!!

No help - Sorry....

Are they spayed?

It's common in older cats tbh, especially if they're stressed by anything.

Do they have two litter trays each?

Also Feliway / Zylkene are good.

One of mine does it, she's 8 and there's absolutely nothing wrong with her, its behavioural.
I've tried everything and now just resigned myself to it.
It's only in two places so I have them covered with plastic mats, towels and puppy pads.
Yes, it drives me mad and I have days when I'm really fed up but she's a lovely cat, its not her fault and I took her on for life when I got her.

I guess the fireworks last night didnt help. But I wasnt happy to be woken by the sound of him weeing on my dressing gown!

If there is anyone else with suggestions, please post, it sounds like your advice would be appreciated by many of is.

Happy new year!

Has he had a urine test at the vet?
Is he on dry food?
Which litter are you using?
How many trays do you have?

It can be a sign of dementia - which means the cat might not be safe to let out.

When our very elderly (12-13) cat started doing this the vet strongly advised we put her to sleep (after checking for simple physical reasons for it) as in her confusion she would not be safe crossing roads, finding her way home etc. Talk to your vet, if it is dementia you will have some tough choices to make.

We did put ours to sleep as it seemed kinder than risking her getting injured outside, she didn't tolerate being confined indoors (which we tried) as she'd always been a mouser and loved being out and about. Our current cat, otoh, would probably not even notice if we locked the cat flap, she's a home loving girl. I don't think there's a one size fits all solution, it's about what's right for your cat and your family.

My 7 year old cat does this as she's neurotic. I've found that getting an additional litter tray and giving her a tablet of feliway cystease has helped a lot. She may still do it occasionally but not doing it twice a day in front of me..

We have tried felliway for the spraying, both spot on and plug in, but it didn't help.

He has a litter tray, always accessible to him. He has used it about twice in all the years we have had him. He prefers to go outside.
He eats a mixture of dry and wet food, but mainly tries to steal whatever we are eating. We don't let him

We haven't spoken to the vet yet, the weeing only started a few days ago, and they were no help with the spraying, so I'm not too keen on paying for them to say 'he might be stressed' I can work that one out for myself.

WHICH LITTER DO YOU USE?

If it’s uncomfortable to tread on they won’t use it, mine wouldn’t use wood pellets or those silica crystals.

I'll get a different type of litter today, it might help. But I'm not sure why he just doesn't go outside like he always has.
I know it's cold, but that hasnt stopped him before in any other winters.

My cat started doing this again when a new cat started spraying outside and scared her.

She prefers world's best cat litter, which I get delivered from zooplus. It's very fine and she can throw it around the room when digging.

The cystease tablets are sprinkled onto food and mixed in, I buy them from Amazon in bulk now.

I think I've got some tablets from the vet ages ago. They didn't have any effect, but I might dig them out and try them again.

One of our girls used to do this, she has always been highly anxious but as she aged she became more and more upset about going out (doesn’t like a litter trays either no matter the litter or position ) and would wee behind sofas and in other out of the way spots.

We tried Feliway and Zylkene but finally our vet prescribed a stronger medication which works brilliantly and she’s so much happier.

She doesn’t go out for long but she’s calmer and able to pop out, walk in the garden and not be trapped in the house frightened of her own shadow.

Speak to your vet 😽

In cat years he’s in his 70’s now, that’s why he doesn’t want to go out in the cold.

They need a really soft substrate to go in or it’s like treading on Lego bricks for them. They like a nice big tray, some sold are far too small to turn around comfortably.

Zylkene, that what we have.
So my action plan is, start giving Zylkene again, get a new litter tray with a softer litter in, encourage him to use it.
If this doesn't help, take him to the vet.
Thanks everyone

Is he neutered?

Yep, Joris

My 11yo male cat has started doing this too. Mainly in the empty washing basket...
I'm now trying a very large plastic tray, similar to said Washing basket with a little litter in it to see if this helps

Mine started doing this during the first lockdown and it drove me insane. I have a pair of house cats. The final straw was her looking me in the eye and promptly stooping to pee on a brand new rug

She was checked by the vet to rule out illness or infection and he suggested different litter trays. Also wondered if the change in daily routine had stressed her, the house was suddenly much busier during the day.

I had a covered tray (for each of them) and switched back to uncovered and also got an extra large size, and an extra tray.

This seems to have done the trick. Sadly the smell on the rug still lingers if the room gets really hot - don't want to derail your thread OP but can anyone suggest a lasting solution to this please?

Good luck OP!

If it's a new behaviour I would get him checked at the vet. Male cats are prone to stones and this can cause blockages and issues with peeing in the litter box.

My old male cat had this and the first sign was him trying to pee in my handbag. By the next morning he was really unwell - couldn't retract his penis and ended up in emergency surgery. I obviously don't want to scare you but it's really worth getting checked out sooner rather than later.

@Letsskidaddle

@SomethingsGottaChange - thank you! I've been using gallons of a cleaner the pet shop suggested and it's not made any difference, sigh.

I'll grab some of this instead

Something biological for your rug - the enzymes break down the urine and get rid of the smell. Simple Solution pet stain remover or a solution of bio washing powder in warm water.

We have had this for months, I’m only just beginning to feel like I’m getting somewhere.

Older cat who is allowed outside and for ever has only toileted outside has been scared by a new neighbourhood cat and started pissing in the dining room.

We’ve got a house cat as well and had 2 litter trays (now have 3). Older cat would wee by the side of one of the trays. Cat has had a clean bill of health at the vets. So I moved the second tray next to the first tray. She just weed on the floor next to that one. So i put paper down and she would wee on that....put a rubber mat under the paper to save the carpet. Let her carry on with that for ages. Then put a tray....not a litter tray....but like a 2cm deep tea tray there with newspaper on top. Let her carry on for weeks. Then swapped to a litter tray with newspaper. Let her use that for weeks. Then added a bit of cat litter......gradually increasing this and removed the paper.

So I now have three litter trays in a row but she uses one of them! She still poos on the floor but the dog eats that. 🤷‍♀️🙈. And I did find a poo in the tray today! So 🤞

Our older cat (8) started weeing in random places earlier in the year. Drove me mad. We upped litter trays from 2 to 4 (2 cats) and got bigger ones and a different litter. Put one of the trays where she kept peeing (bottom of the stairs, bit annoying but better than cat pee!) and another in the dining room, as well as the ones in each bathroom. Kept the old litter for the old ones and new litter in the new ones. She now uses both and we only have about 1 accident a week rather than several a day.

The smell still wafts up from the carpet occasionally despite professional cleaning, several different spray cleaners etc.

Never did find out why she was doing it. Tried the plug in thing but didn't make any difference. She's a nervy cat though, only goes outside very occasionally for a few minutes. May try some of those tablets mentioned, if it ramps up again.