Cat peeing outside litter tray

[CharlestonChew]

Our boy is about 7 months old and has started to pee outside the litter tray after having no issues prior to this. He always poops in the litter tray, no problems there. This morning he’d peed in his tunnel, less than an inch from the litter tray so I don’t think he can’t make it to the tray if that makes sense.

He is not neutered as his appointment was cancelled due to covid and he’s back on the waiting list so I’m not keen to let him outside. He has escaped a couple of times and now spends his days howling at the window pleading to go out. Could this have anything to do with it?

I’ll be making him an appointment at the vets ASAP to rule out a UTI. Will also put an extra litter tray down in the house.

I’m finding it very stressful though so any other tips would be very helpful

Uti or being stressed would be my guess.

By tunnel, do you mean there is a lid on the tray? Perhaps taking it off and also having a second tray beside it is an idea.

@BlueTimes it’s like a pop up tunnel, I’ve tried to attach a picture. He loves to play in it but I’m quite tempted to get rid of it if it’s going to be his new spot to pee in.

An update to this is he is now peeing everywhere and his new favourite place to poop is in my sons Lego box .

We’ve taken steps to make sure he can’t access the Lego and have placed extra litter boxes around the house. The vet feels he is well in himself but has managed to book him in to be neutered this week. I hope it makes a difference because I am really struggling with this. He will use the litter tray if he is confined to the kitchen over night, so I don’t think the litter itself is the issue either.

We’re trying to keep him confined to living room and kitchen at the moment so he can’t sneak off and pee somewhere but it’s not what I want to do and I feel on edge constantly making sure the doors are shut

It’s the neutering, find a vet who’ll do it

@Fluffycloudland77 I really do hope that will solve it, the vet has agreed to see him this week to do it. Forgot to say I’ve also changed the litter boxes to wider deeper ones incase that was the issue but he looked thoroughly unimpressed!

Are you using wood chip or crystal litter?.

@Fluffycloudland77 we use the wood pellet litter from Asda, he’s never seemed to have an issue with it until now

Is the litter tray in a heavy traffic area of the house or where he could be disturbed whilst he’s doing his business? We had an issue with our first pair of cats. I was working at home one day and discovered our neighbour’s Jack Russell had found a gap in our fence and was sticking its head through the cat flap and terrorising my cats when they were trying to use their litter tray. They were also too scared to go in the garden, so started peeing on the bed etc. Fixing the fence and moving the tray somewhere more private worked.

Try ultraclumping, wood pellets are really big in comparison to cats paws and it must be very uncomfortable for him to have to walk on them to go to the loo.

Different scenario!

But our elderly cat has started to pee and poo out of tray!

So much so, we have carpet cleaners coming in tomorrow that ls gonna cost £100

Nothing worse than the smell of cat pee!
I feel your pain !!!

@soddingkitten there is one tray in the kitchen, which has always been there and never been an issue before and another tray in the hallway.

@Fluffycloudland77 I did wonder about the litter but he is actively seeking out Lego to poo/wee in so surely that must be even more uncomfortable? I will try and change the litter though.

Thank you for all the advice so far, I’m pregnant and feel very sensitive to smells so really keen to get this sorted.

My sympathies about the random weeing if you are also pregnant OP. DH ordered a black lamp (UV) torch after he found me on my hands and knees 6 months pregnant trying to sniff out our boy cat’s latest crime scene. The smell drove me mad with my heightened pregnancy sense of smell. The urine luminesces brightly on hard surfaces and more dully on soft furnishings under UV light. If your boy cat has become unpredictable in where he wees, I can recommend it.

Thank you @soddingkitten I’m going to look into that! I’ve ordered an enzyme cleaner today and plan to blitz the house tomorrow.

I’m just so worried having him neutered won’t make any difference. I absolute cannot live like this long term!

Washing the area down with a solution of biological washing powder removes the compounds that make the cat want to re-mark the area. We were also told that a wipe down with surgical spirit after washing down with bio powder removes whatever (if any) is left of the smell.

How's it going now OP? We have the same issue with one of our cats and it's driving us mad. We've had to constrain him to the main downstairs area so he doesn't pee upstairs, but it means he doesn't get any peace from my two kids & so I think the stress is just making him even worse, like a vicious cycle!

DH keeps suggesting we need to rehome him but the thought breaks my heart...

The market for cats who wee everywhere isn’t massive, who’s going to want him.

The cat behaviourist I saw on tv said huge litter tray, ultra clumping litters and one tray plus spare per cat.

@Fluffycloudland77

The market for cats who wee everywhere isn’t massive, who’s going to want him.

The cat behaviourist I saw on tv said huge litter tray, ultra clumping litters and one tray plus spare per cat.

He has all that already. Always has. I think the problem is that my kids stress him out and he has very little respite. I'm just hoping that once the pandemic is over and we're out of the house more he'll be happier and this situation will resolve itself.

& he's a desirable pedigree (Ragdoll) so I think rehoming would be possible (although it would be an absolute last resort!)