Cat wee on the floor

[Hadenough21]

I can’t take it anymore! I’ve got 2 cats. One of them has had a problem with weeing on the floor for a few years now. I’ve taken her to the vets multiple times and spent a fortune trying every calming method under the sun. I’ve moved her trays several times. She wees on the floor right next to her perfectly clean trays! It’s driving me mad cleaning it up all the time and it stinks. I’ve got feliways and tried calming treats etc. She’s been checked for uti a few times. She’s got a normal tray and a hooded tray. The other cat doesn’t use them. She will poo in them but not wee. Some days she does but mostly she just wees on the floor right next to them, even if they are completely clean.

Whyyyyyyy?! If it wasn’t for the fact my dc would be upset I think I’m at the point where I’d have her pts now, and I don’t say that lightly. I’m so fed up of it.

Have you tried different litter? What kind do you use just now? The fact she's weeing next to the tray suggests she doesn't like something about the tray itself

We use Catsan. I’ve tried various brands. Why would she poo in there but not wee?? She has 24/7 access to outside too so she could wee in the garden if she doesn’t like the tray but no, it’s always on the floor next to it

Tbh it’s too cold to go out to wee. She sounds middle aged?.

Have you tried Sanicat Gold talcum powder scented ultra clumping litter?.

Jackson Galaxy reckons they don’t like hooded trays either.

Cat behaviourists recommend really big litter trays, we used to use catering washing up trays. They’re flat but really big. I bet eBay sell them.

My cat used to spray everywhere. we tried lots but a combination of a huge covered litter try and cystease did the trick

tray sorry

I have exactly the same issue. Cat sees on the floor next to the trays, poos next to them too. I have 3 different trays all lined up. I’ve tried putting them in different spots but have moved them back to the corner where she goes.

I’ve bought a cheap universal rubber car boot liner now and put the trays on them. So saves the carpet. But I’m still sick of mopping up piss twice a day.

I hear you.
One of my 2 cats has a problem like this. It started after he had a UTI as a kitten. I think it was at a crucial time when he was growing, which has meant the behavior stuck. He ALWAYS poos in the litter trays, and 9/10 times he will pee in the litter trays. But he has a habit of peeing elsewhere, usually once a day. At the minute, we seem to have it sussed, but for years he was peeing in front of the front door, the back door, on the stairs. He has been peeing in the bath for months. We were OK with this (not great but at least we can just clean the bath!) but now make sure the bathroom door is always shut, and we've bought a third litter tray outside the bathroom to use instead.. and for weeks now this has been a success!!

How many trays do you have? The rule with cats is that you should ideally have 1 more litter tray than cats. So I have 3 for 2 cats. For one cat you need 2. Cats also don't like to pee where they poo, so this may be the issue.

@Fluffycloudland77 I’ve never heard of that litter but I’ll try it, it’s worth a go. I’ve only very recently got her a hooded tray because my vet recommended I try one. She will happily poo in it. But she still has a none hooded tray as well and both are large.

@gingercatsarebest thanks, tried Cystease, seemed to work for her for a while last year but currently is making no difference whatsoever unfortunately. Arrghhh!

@Trinacham it’s a nightmare isn’t it?! Glad you seem to have found an answer for yours! The trouble is because she literally wees right right to her trays it’s not even like I can put a tray in that location - the trays are already there! We have 2 trays, have in the past had 3 but it didn’t make any difference, our other cat doesn’t use them and goes outside. I might set a third one back up though and place in a different location... worth a try!

Thanks all for your help. If anyone else has had success in fixing this I’d appreciate hearing about it

Cystease might help, pets at home sell it.

I think that sanicat one is an ultra clumping litter so just try one that specified ultra clumping on the packet. They are fine granules like sand. I dont personally like scented litters do would buy an unscented one. I found catsan went smelly very quickly and it doesn't clump so you can't remove pee from the tray.

Yep sanicat gold is ultra clumping. It’s pricey and I think cats have ways of knowing this 😃

Can you put an inco pad or newspaper down so she can piddle on that instead

[quote Hadenough21]@Trinacham it’s a nightmare isn’t it?! Glad you seem to have found an answer for yours! The trouble is because she literally wees right right to her trays it’s not even like I can put a tray in that location - the trays are already there! We have 2 trays, have in the past had 3 but it didn’t make any difference, our other cat doesn’t use them and goes outside. I might set a third one back up though and place in a different location... worth a try![/quote]
It certainly is. I've been in tears over it in the past. I couldn't ever give him up but the thought of having him pee on the floor everyday for the next 10+ years was horrid! Does seem solved now but then again, I've thought that in the past when he's been fine for months, then he will find a doormat or something and he'll decide that's where he wants to go! Then the habit starts all over again for a while. My other cat has 0 issues (he's just a greedy boy with food issues instead!)
Trying to think what else you can try.
Have you tried litter attractant? You sprinkle it in the litter and the scent of it makes them want to go there.. supposedly.
Also, I do know that cats will smell their urine, and want to keep going there, so you really need to use an enzyme cleaner to get rid of the smell, if you haven't already.

Put puppy pads around the tray, then wait a couple of weeks or more and put large shallow open tray there with a piece of puppy pad on the bottom. If you can get her to wee on a puppy pad in a tray I'd consider that a result.

Are you using an enzyme cleaner for mishaps?

@ViperAtTheGatesOfDawn

Put puppy pads around the tray, then wait a couple of weeks or more and put large shallow open tray there with a piece of puppy pad on the bottom. If you can get her to wee on a puppy pad in a tray I'd consider that a result.

Are you using an enzyme cleaner for mishaps?

I tried this with mine. It worked briefly but the tray was so shallow she pissed up the wooden cupboard which is worse I think than the carpet. So I got a slightly deeper tray after a couple of weeks of that and she went back to pissing on the carpet.

Thanks all, yes I’m using an enzyme cleaner. Tried various ones but if anyone knows of a good one that stops them weeing on the spot again I’d love to know? The ones I’ve tried don’t seem to stop her!

I have tried putting newspaper down too and she wees on that, it’s not a solution to be honest, I just have soaking wet newspaper on the floor then which all breaks up when you try to clear it up! I think I’ll try clumping cat litter and see if that makes any difference

Simple solution is the best enzyme cleaner IME.

Puppy pads won't fall apart etc.

Usual advice is to have litter trays at a ratio of 1 per cat plus one extra. Does she go out?

@ViperAtTheGatesOfDawn thanks, yes think I’ll try puppy pads around the tray, I’d rather she just weed IN the tray but at least a puppy pad will absorb most of it. She does go out but not a lot, she doesn’t wander far. She tends to go out more in the summer, she’s definitely a fair weather explorer!

Can you try a tray in a bigger tray...is she definitely not peeing over the edge??

Our really old cat found it hard to crouch down when he aged, but would still back right up to the corner and then pee over the edge, so the big tray in an even bigger tray worked to save the floor!

Otherwise current girl cat will only use catsan or she used to like the pink gravelly stuff but I cannot seem to get that anywhere now. Boy cat definitely likes a pee tray and a poo tray.
he accompanied me to the bathroom to pee the other even and scampered directly out to the one on the landing to poo. It's a good job he is cute!

OP, if you cat doesn‘t mind peeing on newspaper, maybe you could put a puppy training pad there instead? These are super absorbing and you will only have to pick it up and bin it.
My vet put one into the basket when my cat got spayed and I took her home afterwards. She did pee into the basket and the pad absorbed it all. It was one of these: www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/dogs/puppy_products/pads/30110

Try a shallow tray with a couple of sheets of newspaper laid flat in it. Worked for us.