Female Cat Spraying

My female spayed 6 year old cat has been spraying lately. She only does it in the bathroom where her litter box is, usually on the same bathroom rug. She will go days without spraying but once I put this one rug down she will pee on it. Finally after the 4th time I have thrown the thing away. Other than this one issue she seems fine and healthy. Could it possibly be a UTI infection? I may be wrong but I thought UTI's would make the cats pee little amounts many times. When she sprays there is a good amount of pee. I actually first thought it was my dog until I caught her. Her litter box is clean and I have a male cat and a male dog. I'm not sure what her problem is. I've never heard of females spraying. Any ideas?

I think that with a UTI she'd be doing it more regularly and not selectively on that rug. Try getting rid of the rug. If she does it again, see a vet. UTI can be ugly.

X

While females can spray, I would bet this is a UTI or some other inflammation. Spraying is usually done on a vertical surface, like a wall. Since this is happening on a rug, it is probably peeing rather than spraying. UTIs can cause cats to pee in small amounts, particularly if they are developing a blockage. However, UTIs can also occur in such a way that the cat is still able to urinate normally, but it is painful to do so. They then associate the litter box with the pain and seek out another place to pee. I would make an appointment with a vet and have a urinalysis done to see if there is evidence of bacteria, blood or crystals. Willow had a recurring problem with cystitis where she would occasionally pee right next to the litter box. Eventually (more than a year after the problem started) we found that she had developed a kidney stone.

While the vet is looking at possible urinary issues, have them check her joints as well. If she is experiencing stiffness or arthritis, she may be having some trouble getting into or out of the litter box. If everything comes back normal, it could just be that she found the smell of the rug attractive. Some cats are drawn to urinate on objects with certain smells, and the rubber backing on bath mats tends to have that attractiveness. Was this a new bath mat?

Thank you guys for your reply. I threw away the bathmat she had been peeing on which was only a few months old. The one I put down yesterday ended up getting peed on as well. This one did not have a rubber backing. It just seems so weird for her to be doing this. I did change her litter about 4 months ago to Worlds Best and before when she was using clay this did not happen. Anyway, I will make her an appointment with the vet just to make sure she is ok. Thanks again!

Males and females (neutered or not) will spray on occasion.

Usually the neutered ones do it for one of two reasons - UTI or if there is another unaltered cat hanging around or stress from a new cat coming in the house.