Pissing in the house

[gotthearse]

My 16 y/o ginger tom has started weeing in the dining room.

It started after he was laid low and a bit miserable from a dental op, then we were away for a week with our neighbour feeding him, then the neighbors dog came to stay (he's a bit of a playful unit, but no prey drive, if he doesn't like it he hisses and the pup scarpers).

Vet thinks there's nowt too much wrong with him, he's had antibiotics and pain relief in case of a wee infection. Bloods normal for age.

He has lost a lot of his muscle mass in the last 18 months, is stiff and sleeps more.

He has never wanted to use a tray and has always peed outside using the catflap.

How do we stop him? I absolutely cannot live in a house that smells of cat piss. We have been cleaning with all the right stuff, but he isn't relenting, and will do it in front of us now. DH is on the verge of saying it's time he went to the big farm in the sky.

Any ideas! I'll try anything within reason!

Do you actually have a tray/trays inside for him?

At his age, leg stiffness is probably arthritis, is he on pain meds for this?

Is it exactly the same spot each time? Put his meals in that spot. And have a litter tray (or two ideally) in the house.

Sounds like stress as there were a lot of changes after the op and the neighbours dog coming to stay. Cats like routine so changes like that can upset them more than we think.

Clean with warm soapy water, don’t use bleach as the ammonia encourages them to wee there again. Maybe try Feliway plug in for a bit to see if it helps

All those events would stress a lot of cats out , and weeing in unsuitable places isn’t that uncommon in stressed cats . He could also still be marking his territory after having the dog intrude on it .

He’s an old man who really needs an indoor litter tray so he can wee as soon as he needs to go , preferably two which is the standard amount for one cat .

Did the vet do a follow up urine test in case of a persistent infection ?

There are lots of cat calming sprays , tablets and also vet prescribed medications which can help if it’s stress induced .

Thanks everyone I will try with a tray. He likes weeing up the wall rather than on the floor. When he goes inside or outside he always backs up to something and pees at 90° out of his back end. How did you cope with a wall pisser?

That sounds more like marking than actual weeing, often a sign of stress. Or, if he is actually weeing like that, is it a recent thing? If so, it might be he's struggling to squat, pain meds could help with this.

We have always used enclosed litter trays , so even if he did that it would run down the side into the cat litter.

Sounds like a stressed cat.

Get rid of the smell with a pet urine cleaner - not a household cleaner as the chemicals can make the smell stronger

Feliway plugins absolutely everywhere

I'd try Metacam as he is an old boy and likely to be in pain from arthritis

And a litter tray indoors in case going outside is now too difficult/scary