Need the Litter Tray Hive Mind - cat pees on towels/clothes left on floor.

[sweetkitty]

I have four cats, this is about DCat4, a neutered boy, he’s a beautiful silver grey tabby4 years old. Every now and again he goes through this phase whereby he will pee on any item of clothing that has been left abandoned on the floor so think a top, used towel, rug, mat, anything really.

Litter tray set up as follows, we have a large walk in cupboard down stairs with 3 large trays in it and another tray upstairs which he probably has sole use of. We did have another one downstairs but we had to removed that one as the puppy found it too irresistible 🤮

Now it could have been the arrival of the ginger menace aka the puppy but he did it prior to her arrival and in fact he gets on quite well with her. Is he being bullied, don’t think so because he is the bully and terrorises the tortie girl especially!

The only other thing I can think of is we have a baby gate across the hall/lounge door to stop the pup going upstairs so the cats have peace during the day, at night the cats are locked downstairs, as soon as the door is opened in the morning he rushes upstairs to DD3s bedroom he adores her, he has decided she’s his person he spends his days in her bedroom usually sitting on her. Is he upset he can’t get to her at night?

im saving up for a catio for them too for the spring to relieve some of their boredom being indoor cats

I suspect it’s the fact that he’s an indoor cat in a rather busy and crowded household. It sounds like you have three children, a puppy, and three other acts and the cats are stuck inside all day.

I know hence building catio, children are adults one at uni so not running around annoying cats more like sleeping in bed with them. There has been a dog in the house since he was a kitten. Can’t let him out we live near a busy road. House is quite large with lots of space and quiet rooms. He’s usually the one causing the trouble last night he jumped on DCat3s head whilst he was sleeping! He is very affectionate and lively though.

He sounds bored - I would be too if I was trapped inside four walls all day with the same people and animals for company the entire time.

Assuming he’s had a clean bill of health, I think it’s something you need to ride out until they can go outside, though in all honesty a catio may not make much (if any) difference.

I’m not getting into the indoor v outdoor cats. I used to work in a vets and almost everyday a poor cat would come in RTA, some in an awful state. I’ve also had to pick bits of a beloved cat off a road. I’d rather have a bored cat than no cat. All my cats are rescues, I don’t breed cats. There are millions of indoor cats and most don’t pee on towels.

I'm only speaking from experience here - I used to have a bored indoor cat who would pee on the floor randomly every week or so. Since we let him outside, he's never once had any accident of any kind indoors.

I used to be a massive advocate of indoor cats (all mine used to be indoors) but ultimately they are animals who are bred to roam, not animals who are designed to live their lives inside our houses for our own convenience.

Territory marking because too many cats, imo.

Yep, that's what our vet reckons the issue with our cat was - too many cats inside a house and no options to go outside and escape/explore.

Well you can't start by not leaving clothes ur towels in the floor. You're all adults.

then get some repellent for any mats/rugs you don't want to remove.

if you're adamant about not letting them
inti your garden, get the cation built ssap.

Can you not just put those angled deterrnts on your fencing & see how they get on?

He's a young cat and he's marking his territory. Four indoor cats, a dog and several people is sadly too many "animals" in one house. Yes, there are people who have more cats in probably smaller houses than yours, but not all cats can cope with so much competition. The fact he is the bully would also point to this, there is too much smell of other cats and people for him to cope with, so he is marking your things as his... You could try something like a Feliway multi-cat plug in. Some people swear by them, others don't find them to be effective, but it's probably worth dotting a few around the house and giving it a go. Also, make sure you don't leave your things on the floor, clean the litter trays very regularly and put another one upstairs at least. The advice is one litter tray per cat, plus at least one more.

He goes through phases and it’s usually in the mornings so I was thinking it’s because he’s not allowed upstairs at night to be with DD3, he loves her a bit too much and wakes her in the night but cuddling her (scent marking, giving her kisses and sitting on her head). He spends most of the day with her in her room. He likes the pup and the two of them “play” together and he and DCat3 will chase each other about. The other two cats are a little bit older and shall we say a bit more unfit so don’t play as much.

I would love to get the cat proof fencing but a set of neighbours are A-holes and would complain/not allow us (long story). I had to very kindly ask them if they would stop their dogs peeing on our front garden at the weekend, their dogs don’t get walked they get let out as far as our garden (20 feet) they pee all over it (gardens aren’t fenced) then get called in. And before anyone says why did you get 4 cats when your neighbours have 2 dogs, cats were there first. Another reason not to allow cats out.

I’ve been trying litter tray with old towel in it and washing it every day 🤦‍♀️

@sweetkitty
I’ve been trying litter tray with old towel in it and washing it every day

Wait, what? You've been putting a towel that will smell of you, even if you've washed it, in a litter tray? No wonder he's peeing on clothes and towels! You need to stop doing that and use proper litter!

No @TwinklyWrinklythis is not in place of litter this is a “well he’s going to pee on something might as well direct where he’s going to pee, then we will remove the towel. He has 4 large, very clean litter trays full of Cat’s Best Litter hidden away from the dog

You're seeing this from a human point of view. What HE sees is something on the floor (even if you have put it in a litter tray which is irrelevant to him) which smells of you that he pees on. This is exactly the same of every other piece of clothing or towel on the floor. YOU can differentiate between what he CAN pee on and what he can't. They are exactly the same for him. You are causing him confusion. Also, as I mentioned previously, you need one litter tray PER cat and at LEAST one extra, so five in total (not counting the one with the towel in it as that's just confusing matters. HE doesn't have four litter trays, he shares them with three other competitors. Huge difference. The dog is irrelevant.

Just to say though Cat's Best Litter is not the best, it's fine, but no better than many other litters. It is just very expensive. By all means use it, if that's personal preference, but it's neither helping nor hindering the situation.

Sorry I know you’re trying to help it’s just frustrating and we are trying to help him too. We do have five litter trays (the extra one makes five). I thought at least if I put an old towel in there I know where he’s going to pee. I must have tried at least 10 different litters over the years, they don’t like the selling wood type and the natural clay is too heavy. The Cat’s Best seems to be their favourite! I try to hide the trays away so they feel safe doing their business, I can’t leave them out in the open so to speak as the dog likes to have a rummage in them!

I have spent a fortune on Feliways too, he goes throw phases of being fine for months then something we don’t know about spooks him. This is the same cat who runs up when I’m hoovering and loves to be hoovered with the attachment hose and plays with it. He has no fear.

I think I’ll need to think of ways of expanding his territory whilst keeping him safe.

I'm sorry, but the extra one does NOT make 5 because it's got a towel in it. To him, it's not a litter tray. It's a plastic thing with a towel in it that's the same as all the other clothes and towels that are on the floor. You asked for advice and I've tried to give it and explain how your cat is seeing the situation. I volunteer for a cat rescue and have fostered over 50 cats and kittens so whilst I'm definitely not an expert by any means, (I'm still learning something about cat behaviour with every cat I look after), I do have a bit of experience. I hope you manage to expand his territory somehow and can afford to get the catio soon as that might help but please do consider the litter tray as well. But as I mentioned in my first post, the amount of "animals" in the house may just periodically overwhelm him and he may continue the innapropriate behaviour due to overcrowding.

I’ve taken the towel out now, it was just a stop gap. We obviously try not to have anything lying around for him to pee on.

I actually think it’s because he’s not allowed upstairs at night, I can’t get DD3 to budge, I do get it he annoys her too much. 3am cat cuddles aren’t fun. His territory has been shrunk even more at night, the cats have a room with trees and climbing furniture and I’m attaching the catio out of this room plus they have the whole downstairs puppy free at night. Hopefully this will help.