Yet another pee problem!

Hi I have read through the inappropriate peeing thread, I have searched the internet, talked to my vet and tried everything I could possibly think of to fix my cats pee problem and three years later she is still doing it. Theo is a 5yr old spayed female who has taken to peeing on the cement beside her litterbox. I live in a basement suite and I have seven litterboxes for my seven cats under the stairs in the laundry room. Around three and a half years ago out of nowhere Theo started peeing on the floor, and occasionally on the dogs bed. I took her to the vet, she had a bladder infection which cleared up in a few weeks and she went back to using her litterbox.

About a month later she started peeing on the floor beside her litterbox again and so I took her back to the vet, but this time no infection, no crystals, nothing. I tried to figure out if something had changed around the house to upset her and could never come up with anything. She continued peeing on the floor for a few months with me cleaning the spot twice a day with natures miracle smell remover, and or vinegar water. She suddenly stopped and started using the litter box again.

Since then she has on and off used the litterbox, one week she is peeing in her box, and the next two she is not. Around 8months ago she started pooping beside her litterbox as well. She now consistantly doesn't use her litterbox.

I clean the litterboxes every evening when I get home from work. I have tried different litterboxes, different litter, mats, and plastic beside where she is peeing. Nothing works. I have watched her, she is not straining to pee, she is not accidently sticking her bum over the edge and peeing over the side. She is actually going beside the litter box with her feet on the cement and peeing. It splashes her feet all the time so she leaves a little trail of pee prints out the laundry room. The poor other cats have to try to get past the pee to get to the litterboxes if it is in the way and I am not home yet.

People have suggested that maybe Theo does not like living with the other cats but she gets along great with everyone and she has never been a single cat. There was already three cats in the house when I got her.

I tried giving her to a friend who loves her for a few weeks to see if she would be happier somewhere else, but she became very skiddish, started hiding from her, hissing at her, and got so stressed she stopped eating. She also started angry peeing and pooping behind my friends couch and on her bed. Theo has never lived anywhere else and is a strictly indoor cat. She is not very adventurous and has never been overly friendly with other people.

My parents think she should live out in the barn with my two barn cats but I can`t do that to Theo. She has never been outside, EVER. If you even open the patio door and hold her near it she freaks out and runs to go hide. She would be to stressed and wouldn`t last long between the road, and predators considering she has never been outside.

I currently rent my parents basement suite, but I am moving in a few months to a rented acreage. I can`t have a cat that is peeing on the floor everyday in a rented house. I am lucky my parent s have put up with her this long. My parents and my vet think I should just put her down already cause they think she will never stop. I am having a hard time rationalizing ending my cats life when she is perfectly happy and healthy, all because she pees on the floor 12inches from her litterbox. I am at a loss about where to go from here. I have a few months to get her using her litterbox again or figure out something else to do with her.

Currently Theo is living strictly in my bedroom and she is using the litterbox, but only because she is trapped in such a small space. She has to be quick getting to her litter box that is in the closet because the rabbit while chase her. I have it blocked so the rabbit can`t get to her litterbox, only she can by jumping over a pet gate. If she tried to pee anywhere else on the floor the rabbit chases her off before she would have a chance to go. Theo has never peed on my bed or couch or her cat tree in my room.

I can`t keep her locked in my room for ever, so if anyone has any advice, it would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks, Meg

If she's peeing in the litterbox in your room, maybe you should just keep her in there for a while, until she gets a grip on the habit, and then later on, start letting her out for a few hours at a time under your supervision. Just make sure to watch her, and if she goes to pee, and she squats by the box, try picking her up, and putting her in it.
Honestly, and this is just my opinion, if my two choices were
a. keeping a cat in my bedroom
b. putting a cat down
The first option would be a hands down winner. Just a thought.

Maybe she doesn't like all the litter boxes in one place, the basement. I would think that as she is using the box in your bedroom that maybe the issue is the basement where seven cats could all be milling around. So I would try moving some of the boxes elsewhere if you can. Also, whe was the last time she had a check up? Maye another trip to vet could be in order

I have had a litterbox behind the bar in the living room and none of the cats ever use it. None of the cats are ever just hanging around the litterboxes, they go in there, do their business and then leave the room. My parents will not put a litterbox upstairs, cause their dog gets into the litter. I have tried putting litterboxes in various places in the basement so they are not all in the same place, but she still goes right beside it. I have tried corn litter, yesterdays news, various clay litters, wood pellets, crystals, etc..... Nothing seems to help. Theo has been locked in my room for two weeks now and is starting to really stress out. She is crying at the door, she pulled the curtains down, broke a shelf, and is now sticking her paws under the door screaming her head off. I let her out for a couple of hours today since I was home sick from work and watched for her going into the laundry room, but she never did. She went back to my room and used the litterbox in there. I thought finally she is going to start using her litterbox. No she did pee in the box in my room, but I went upstairs later and found that Theo had pooped on my parents brand new leather sofa.

So she is now banned from going upstairs at all. My parents love her too, but they are sick of my cat wrecking their house. She used to pee on all my moms dogs blankets and my mom would have to constantly was dog beds and floors. Like several times a day.

I put Theo back in my room, and she was mad so she peed on my bed. I am getting to the end of my rope dealing with her. I love my cat so much but if she won't stop peeing outside of her litterbox, and is now going to start peeing on furniture, What am I supposed to do? Even if I could find someone else that wanted to take my cat and see if she would be better there, is it better for her well being if I know for a fact that she will be panicked, stressed out, stop eating, and start angry peeing in their house?

What do I do, keep my cat locked in a tiny room for the next ten years miserable, give her away leaving her panicked and stressed out, or put her down? I am running out of options!

By the way she was at the vet two weeks ago, and there is still nothing wrong with her. I work at a vet clinic and take urine samples from her to get checked almost monthly now. Since her bladder infection three years ago cleared up she has never had a infection, crystals, nothing!