Biscotte is stressed out

I have been having problems with Biscotte, who has been peeing everywhere for a week or so. She is marking everything - the living room sofas and rugs, the clean laundry, my dirty clothes and once on my bed. She is also pacing around the place looking miserable and spends hours at the window waiting for Wellington to come back (he goes out for a couple of hours a day). Before, she used to watch for him but was quite happy about it, or would play with some toys or sleep. Normal cat behaviour.

I had her at the vet the day before yesterday and he did some tests, her urine, an ultrasound of bladder and kidneys, checking all her functions. He could find nothing wrong but put her on mild antibiotics just in case something was not showing up.

So we think it is stress related. I have plugged in a Feliway spray to help, and am giving her lots of extra one-on-one loving. I have noticed that she and Wellington are not cuddling together as much as they used to, though they certainly curl up at least once a day, and Biscotte still follows him everywhere. She does not seem to mind the foster kittens when I have brought a couple into my part of the house for an hour or two. She sits and looks at them in their box, but who knows what goes through her mind?

Meanwhile the sofas are covered in plastic and foil, I have lifted the smaller rugs and I am keeping her out of my bedroom. She is obviously unhappy and I don't know what else to do right now. I am also unhappy as I have American visitors coming on Sunday for a week, friends whom I have not seen for four years, and I so want the house to look and smell nice for them. But I don't want my stress to transfer itself to Biscotte.

Can you think back to when this started and if there were any changes made to the environment / routine that may have precipitated it? Sometimes something small such as rearranging furniture can throw a cat off because it's "different". Also, maybe Wellington is coming back in with different smells on him.

When did you get the foster kittens? Did this behaviour start before or after they arrived? Did it start before or after you started to have them around her? Have you had other foster kittens around Biscotti in the past?

Nothing has been rearranged or changed in the house. It all started after I brought the fosters home but before she saw them - they are normally kept two doors away. I have been really trying to think of a trigger. Wellington has been going out for months now, just for a short time each day, but I sense he gets annoyed sometimes by Biscotte shadowing him all the time and he goes and lies somewhere she cannot get to him like the small covered cat basket. Other times he really loves having her attention and they groom each other and cuddle. He also sometimes tries to mount her, which she seems to like! She lies there with an expression of ecstasy on her face, it is really funny. But now she wants more attention from me, and she has never been a lapcat. Maybe it is unrequited love.

It might be the fosters. Even if they are two doors away, she could certainly smell them on you before she even saw them, and may have been able to hear them, too.

Originally Posted by jcat

It might be the fosters. Even if they are two doors away, she could certainly smell them on you before she even saw them, and may have been able to hear them, too.

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Yes, I think that too. It seems more than co-incidental that this all started after you brought the fosters home, even if she hadn't seen them at that time. Cats have a powerful sense of smell.

It is certainly possible. Although I had been working at the shelter for quite a time, so she must have smelled strange cats on me. It has been better the last few days, though she peed on a bathroom mat this morning.

Maybe it is the combination of everything. Being rejected by Wellington, the Fosters and the prep for your visitors.