Advice for a friend - cats urinating everwhere

A good friend of mine added two kitties to her home about 4 months ago. her older cat crossed the rainbow bridge and she missed the companionship, so she adopted two female 'kittens' that a friend of hers had left over from his cat's last litter.

Well, the two are actually 2 years old and not spayed, plus neither of them had ever seen a vet. So she's been going through to get them all thier shots and vaccinations, check-ups and blood work and planning on getting them spayed as soon as she saves up the money at the end of the month.

The problem is this: Since the first heat they had after she got them, the two of them pee everywhere. She's tried everything - cleaners, multiple litterboxes, different litters, different foods, you name it...she even has a diffuser in the house for them. The real kicker is, they both happily use thier box to poop...no idea why they have to pee outside of it.

She's hoping the spay will help correct this. I'm just wondering what the chances are that the spay will help, or if anyone has any other suggestions.

Unspayed females mark their territory too. They can even spray, I promise.

It should go away as soon as they are spayed. It is a sexual behaivor. In the wild a male cat would smell where the female marked and would know that she is ready to mate.

Can she confine them to a small room? That would narrow the area to clean and may help them use the litter box better being in a small space.

Dr Elsey's brand of litter called "Cat Attract" may help. I have used it with good results.

Make sure she has enough boxes and that they are spread out. 3 boxes for 2 cats. I would have 3 even if she puts them in a small room.

Using an enzyme cleaner is the best, maybe only, way to get the urine out. You have to soak the area to be cleaned and let it air dry. Repeat treating the spots.

www.urineoff.com is sold at PetSmart
www.nokout.com really good
www.weecleaner.com

Spaying them as soon as possible will help.

She is a wonderful person to take care of the two sisters. Everything will settle down once all the health issues are taken care and they adjust to their new home. You are so kind to help her out. Best of luck.

Thank you for the suggestions - I've passed them along. She had 2 boxes, but is going to try adding a third. She also picked up some UrineOff last night and is going to give that a try.

I'm glad to hear the spay will likely help - since it only started in force after they went into heat, we were guessing it was related. We're in the process of getting her an appointment with my vet, since her's wouldn't do a spay for less than $900 per cat. With any luck, they'll get thier spay within the next month.

She talked to the friend that gave her the pair and it turns out the momcat is pregnant again ...she gave him an earful about irresponsible pet ownership.

Have them also checked by a vet for UTI if they are or were stressed, the peeing out of the box is one of the signs of an infection. If she sees them do this and they are backing up to a wall and twitching their tail, they are spraying. Females can spray just as effectively as males can both whether they are neutered or not. If they are squatting and peeing, moving off, squatting and peeing, then it is a health issue and really needs a vet's intervention with a needle draw of urine and a scan under the microscope.

Just to let those readers know that spaying and neutering does not always stop spray behavior. If the cat has mated before, whether a successful mate or not, they can and do continue to spray their entire lifetime. It is an innate behavior and the number one reason why so many cats are dumped off at shelters, or pushed outside to fend for themselves, because for humans it seems it is a behavior, we simply do not want to accept as being a natural part of the cat itself.