Neutered male cat peeing everywhere

We've had this cat for about a year, adopted him, he's probably about 2 years old. Up until 2 or 3 weeks ago he's been absolutely perfect with the litter box. Now he's peeing everywhere else. It started off being once every few days, today he's peed twice in the house. I don't think it's marking...when he goes it's a full bladder worth. We thought maybe it was a UTI, though he shows no pain when he goes. He didn't have enough urine in his bladder today for the vet to check, but she gave us antibiotics and we started them. She said it would take a couple days to take effect, if it was a UTI. She felt his kidneys and they felt fine. She didn't feel a stone or anything. Please someone tell me this must be a UTI and this'll stop! If it isn't a UTI, what else could it be? We've had some changes, brought a dog in a few months ago (but he LOVES the dog, sleeps with him), have been trying to litter box train them (though we're taking a break it's not working so well) but he never had a problem peeing in the toilet, he took to that very quickly. We so worried and upset about it. We can't deal with this if it's a behavioral thing (something unfixable). He would have to become an outdoor kitty and I can't bear to do that

Is he peeing small amounts in a lot of places? This is a classic sign of a UTI, blockage, etc.

If he had been using the toilet (a very unnatural habit for cats, although many have learned it), and now he doesn't, it may be that he just doesn't like it. A good clean litterbox in a safe and convenient location is the best bet.

Heck, I know plenty of old men who don't use the toilet, either!

I'm not sure why you can't deal with it if it's behavioral. There are things you can try.

If the antibiotics don't do the trick, you can

Use Feliway spray
Add Bach's Rescue Remedy Flower Essences to his water (and dab some behind his ears and under his chin) http://www.catfaeries.com
Add some litter boxes - try different sizes, uncovered
Purchase Cat Attract Litter (this has helped SO MANY people!) instead of what you're using

...and make sure you are cleaning the areas he's soiled with an ENZYME cleaner. This is the only thing that will remove the scent from HIS perspective. They are not created equal. We use Nok-Out and found it to be the best. http://www.nokout.com Blot up what pee you can. SOAK THE AREA - and it should be wet and squishy. Let it sit for 10 - 15 minutes. Soak up excess. Let air dry. We cover the affected area with aluminum foil while it dries.

You may want to purchase a black light to go through the house (at night in the dark) to make sure you've gotten all the places he's peed. The scent of his pee outside of the box will continue to encourage him to go outside of the box.

...and if you really can't deal with it, please consider building him an outdoor enclosure or trying to rehome him (not easy with the problem though) before you just put him outside.

I'm sorry, I was (and am still) pretty upset about this. What I meant was, I won't be able to deal with if we can't fix it. Don't get me wrong, I want to try everything we can to fix this problem. But I can't forever live in a house that smells like cat pee!

Well when I get home from work I'll put his regular box out again. Here's my problem with putting out extra litter boxes..the one we have is in a bathrooom with a kitty door built in..so they can get in but our dog cannot. Our dog will eat the cat poo if given the chance. So I don' know how to stop him from doing that if there is a litter box anywhere but in the bathroom?

Well the cleaner my husband got for it is "Nature's Miracle"..is that an enzyme cleaner?

Where can you get the attractant litter? From Petsmart or Petco? What is it called?

Thanks so much for the ideas!

How big is the dog? If he's not a small breed, you could get a Booda Dome Clean Step litter box for outside the bathroom. You'd have to use a bungee cord to keep the dog from knocking the top off.

Oh that litter box is a good idea. He's a greyhound, so I'd have to look at it, but I don't think he could get in there. I'll try that if just going back ot the regular box dones't work.

It is frustrating. Half our house was covered in aluminum foil, our couch was covered with it, we had to lay cardboard boxes flat to cover the bed, and we couldn't leave any clothes, laundry, towels or bedding out anywhere.

Yes, Nature's Miracle is an enzyme cleaner. It's not that great - it usually requires 2 - 3 applications (and you do have to let it dry inbetween) - so using the aluminum foil over the spot may help because it's going to take a while to get them completely cleaned up. Just remember - cat pee wicks, so it is really important to use a LOT of the cleaner or it won't get down into the floor boards - or wherever the cat pee got - if you try to "economize" using it.

The name of the product is Cat Attract litter. Here is the website - in the upper left, you can type in your zip code to find a dealer. http://www.preciouscat.com/

While many people do not like to use covered litter boxes, if you use a low-dust litter, not only would something like the Booda Dome Clean Step boxes work, but you can also buy large and fairly tall sterilite containers to use as litter boxes. Most toss the top - but with the dog, you can keep the top, and cut a large-ish hole in it for kitty to jump down into the litter box.

Also, cats are animals that go vertical. Any place you can put a bookshelf up that you can place a cat tree or something next to it? This way kitty can use the cat tree to get to the top of the shelves, and you can place the litter box up on the top of the book shelves.

There are lots of ways to get creative about litter box placement - but in the context of your home. It may be a compromise between what's comfortable for your kitty vs. your dog's access - but think three dimensionally as well.

The other thing to consider is an automated litter box if you can afford it. Within a few minutes of cat peeing/pooping, it automatically gets removed - so no poop for dog to eat. (And dogs are almost always attracted to cat poop because it smells like protein to them).

Well thanks for the advice! WEll we put the old litter box back out, and he used it! SO here's to hoping that's all the problem was. When he saw it he immediatly jumped in and used it, then spent some time burying it, then went again! So maybe he was just sick of the toilet training method? Whatever, I can accept toilet training defeat if he'll just use the litter box!! But definately, if this doens't fix it, I'll start using some of the other ideas posted.

I'm so sorry - I didn't realize "toilet training" literally meant you were training him to use the toilet for people. I'm glad putting his litter box back seems to have managed the problem.

Our cat was doing the same thing. No pain, so evidence of UTI, and it was like he just preferred peeing on the carpet rather than the litterbox.

We've since added a litterbox to our bedroom (the LAST thing I wanted to do, but we had just recarpeted our house and I was not going to let him ruin it). Now he has a food dish, water dish, and litter pan in the room he spends most of his time. And he is so much happier. He uses the box regularly (and having it in the bedroom is not as unpleasant as I had first imagined). No more pee on our carpet.

I think he didn't like sharing a box with his evil step-sister, a white Persian who never covers after using the box. Plus, she's always been kind of sneaky and ambushes my cat whenever possible (my husband and I have been married for 9 years, and those two have never gotten along).

So now my husband and I joke that Boy (my cat) can reduce his daily exercise to a 10 foot radius -- food, water, litter, bed -- and he seems quite satisfied with the arrangement.

Cats can't talk. Often when they start peeing, it's their way of trying to talk to you to tell you that something terrible is bothering them. They might be hurting inside, either physically or mentally.

They might be jealous of another cat, dog, or human and feel threatened and lonely. Someone in the household may be abusing or teading them when you aren't there.

Their litter box may be filthy and the smell burns their nose or they don't want to step in it. (Don't put a top on a litter box if you don't change it often.)

Sometimes they pee over the side of the box because the box is too low and they don't realize it's squirting out the back as they are staring the other way.

Often they pee when they move to a new location, both because they're scared and because they want to establish some kind of scent that tells them they are now home in a safe place they can identify with.

If you just moved into a place where there was another cat that was messy, yours might feel threatened and try to cover up the scent of the other cat so you need to buy special enzyme liquids to treat all of the spots (available at most huge department stores like Walmart). You may have to treat one spot several times.

If your own cat has peed on one spot and you haven't destroyed the odor with special enzyme liquid designed for that, he will return to the same spot again, thinking that's his new litter box.

The litter box should be in a nice quiet place where he won't feel threatened or be disturbed by kids when he tries to use it. He likes his privacy on the toilet the same way you do. If you switched a type of litter recently, try to go back to the old kind again.

Re UTI, often you can see the glass-like crystals that are so painful. If your cat is peeing outside of the box and you take a flash light to the dried urine, you will see small bits of blood or glass-type crystals there. If that's happening your poor cat is in serious trouble and needs to be put on special cat foods probably forever.

Is his little stomach noisy at night? Does it rumble? He may even be trying to tell you he suffers from bad stomach problems, or worms that can easily be treated by your vet.

If he doesn't have UTI, try foods like Science Diet. One brand of it is really expensive but you can buy a whole bag especially for cats with sensitive stomachs. I buy that for mine because I fear the junk they are throwing in cat food these days, and mine vomits very easily otherwise.

If an older cat starts peeing, it may also be caused by memory problems like Alzheimers. The cat simply might not be able to remember what he's supposed to do, or what he has already done. Older cats can become senile just like older people and need to be treated very gently at that time because if you punish them, they won't know why. They will just think you are mean and will become extremely depressed and overanxious and pee all the more from the extreme stress of not knowing why your'e always mad.

Don't try to rub an animal's nose in its mess either because in many cases when it does mess, it's not its fault. It could be caused by any of the above things. It's really cruel to do that, the same as it would be to rub a young child's nose in his pee or poop.

Often if you rub an animal's nose in his mess he won't know why anyway He will just know that his mean owner is rubbing his nose in his business. Often he won't even realize that he himself made that mess (because he's not human and doesn't think like one) and won't understand why his owner is so cruel. Instead, praise them right away when he does the right thing. (Again, don't praise him 10 minutes afterward because he won't know why).

Check also to see if your cat has runny stools or is constipated. If the poor thing has gas or something, he may just have to go on the spot like a human with gastrointestinal disorders and won't have time to go anywhere else.

A lot of older animals get arthritis too. If the box is hard to get at, make sure there is a low stool or lift nearby so his joints won't hurt each time he has to climb in the box.

Some cats also hate sharing a box with another cat, just as you might hate sharing the same one with another human, especially if the output sat there for several days. You might have to put their boxes in entirely different rooms and if the dominating cat pees in it, you might have to clean it immediately before the submissive cat wants to use it again.

Seems like you have several things to go on as far as kitty peeing all over. I think I would experiment with litter boxes and find one kitty really likes.

Now what I wanted to say about the dog is eating cat poop is very common for younger dogs. I've seen lots and lots of smaller breed dogs that like to eat cat poop.

Good think about that bad habit is it usually doesn't last that long. Try to keep him away from it and make sure he has plenty of food for himself and lots of attention.

Most of the smaller breed dogs seem to eat cat poop mostly when they are bored with nothing to do and no lap to lay in.

It will pass!

Good Luck!

Mm

Well he's still doing it. I'm going to get some of that cat attract litter and one of those covered litter boxes tonight to see if that helps. He doesn't do anything to indicate pain or discomfort. The problem is in 2 days we're going out of town for a week..my parents are coming to feed the cats and clean the littter box, but of course that won't help with cleaning up pee. So we're putting the cats in the basement whiel we're gone..it's heated/cooled but the floor is concrete so at least if he pees it's not on carpet. Don't worry there's still windows for them to look out, and we're going to bring their beds and kitty tree downstairs, so it won't be too traumatic for them. They acttually like being in the basement, they love to be let down there, it's mysterious I guess.

Oh and our dog isn't young, he's 4 years old. I've never seen him eat cat poop (b/c he never gets near it) but when we let him out in our horse pasture to run he inevitably eats manure. So I know he'd like to.

He eats horse manue because it has vitamins in it that your dog is lacking. I have 22 horses, I know. Chances are you dog will not bother the litter box. You never tried it - maybe you should for the comfort of your cats?

Well the woman who fostered him before he came to me said he did it, that's why I've always assumed he would. He's also eaten cat vomit/hair balls when he noticed it before we did..so I have little doubt he'd eat cat poop. Well I'm getting the special litter box that I can put out in the living room and he can't get to, so i figure that should work, without exposing him to the cat poop. Here's to hoping. He almost peed on our bed last night the only thing that stopped him is my husband noticed and was able to get him to the litter box before it happened.

EWWW, yes, you do have a doggy eat everything on your hands! The hairball threw me over the edge Much luck with all of it. I have a territorail sprayer of my own who I don't know how to fix right now too. It's a rough thing to deal with! Meanwhile kitties just smile and say ha-ha to us every time

Cats get stressed out fast. He may like the dog but he is also confused and stressed out by this new addition to the family. It is not a behavioral problem. Think how you would feel if you came to live with someone and after a few years all the sudden you must share your family with a loud noisy person. You being stressed out does not help him.

Give him his own space away from the dog. Where he can have some food and littler box to himself. Take him to the vet. A cat peeing on the floor is usually a symptom of a bladder infection. Dont throw the cat outside that would only make him more sick. You need to think about him first and not the dog. He was your first pet and he needs your love. Dont be stressed out. seperate them until you find out what to do from the vet. Please do not abandon him. He loves you. I had a cat with bladder infections and he did the same thing.  Bladder infections are brought by stress. Please help your first pet get well and happy. I wish the best to you.