Just wondering if anyone has heard of this...

I have three cats the youngest of whom is just over a year old. She has all of a sudden starting peeing (and sometimes pooping) on the stairs in my house. I took her to an emergency vet clinic because we were leaving for Maui for ten days and wanted to make sure nothing was wrong before we left. They were unable to get any urine out of her bladder but suggested a shot of antibiotics since we were leaving early the next morning and I was not sure the pet sitter would be able to give her meds while we were gone, anyway long story short I have been watching her since we have been home and she has peeed on the stairs a few times. My suspicion is that she has become afraid of going into the garage where the litter box is so she is holding it. So I have taken her out a few times when it was quiet and put her in the box to watch her pee and the last two times she did it was like she was spraying like a male cat. I am calling my regular vet in the morning to she if they can fit us in tomorrow but was just curious if anyone had heard of anything like that before. Thanks for any input.

She may have a Urinary Tract Infection. Or she may not like her litter box in the garage, try moving it to another room and see if that helps.

Have you changed her litter Brand/type lately? Or did you reccently buy a new litter box?

I am glad you are getting her to the vet again, it sounds like she needs it.

has she been spayed? females in heat have been known to spray.

I had a female cat that used to pee on the stairs and she did it to mark the upstairs of our house as her territory. Just a thought.

Are you using urine odor neutralizer to get rid of the waste? Even if this was a one time freak occurance, cats do go back to areas that smell like pee and mark over and over again until the scent is gone. There are a lot of products out there, but the one that has worked best for me is Nok Out. You can only buy it online. Another favorite here is Zero Odor. Some people use Nature's Miracle, but I have found that it's not as potent as the other 2.

Thanks for the input... my regular vet was not in the office today but we talked on the phone. She looked over the report that the emergency vet sent her and she seems to think it could just be stress. There was a strange male cat hanging around the back yard around the time that this started and the vet said that if he got into the garage and marked something in there she could still be smelling it or she could have encountered him in there. I don't know anyway I steam cleaned the stairs today and have some Feliway spray on order I am going to completely empty and scrub the litter boxes and get rid of the throw rugs out there. If it continues I will try to find a spot inside the house for a litter box assuming the UTI or other health issue is ruled out when we go back to the vet.

Originally Posted by bellatrix

T I don't know anyway I steam cleaned the stairs today

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Steam cleaning does NOT neutralize cat urine. You may no longer smell it, but she will. You must use a urine neutralizer product or she may continue to pee there.

How is she now?

She seems to be better now, vet said if she did have a UTI the antibiotics seemed to have cleared it up. I have steam cleaned the stairs twice now with a product called "OUT" that supposedly contains enzymes and bacteria to get rid of the urine smell, I also sprayed the stairs with Feliway and we haven't had any incidents in the last few days. I also have been leaving the door to the garage open at night and have been taking her out there when it's quiet and she seems to be getting more comfortable out there. Something definitely scared her in the garage at some point. I also started adding a handful of Purina One Urinary formula to her dry food just in case. Anyway (fingers crossed) so far so good. Thanks for all your input.

She probably just got scared, I am glad that she seems ok now.