cat peeing EVERYWHERE!!!

Help!!! Our cat a three year old, neutered housecat has been peeing on everything. We have been keeping our cats in our basement while we are gone and have had to replace carpeting and throw out a couch because of our cat peeing on them. The problem seemed to have went away when we removed the soiled item, but now we are seeing that he is continously peeing on the new carpet (different areas). We are afraid to allow him upstairs at all. He uses the litter box to poop and his sister always uses the litter box. We are at our wits end with constantly TRYING to clean up pee and trapping our cats in the basement. My husband thinks we should might need to get rid of them but does not want to have to. But, we just do not know what to do to keep the cat from destroying everything.

Have you had your kitty tested for crystals in his urine? My cat did this behavior when he was ill and we did not know it - once the treatment took effect - no more accidents! Good luck - I am sure you will get a lot of good advice here from the experts. It could be that kitty is not happy being in the basement? Is this something new to him or have you always done this when you are away? I have been told that to totally remove the scent - you need to use an enzyme cleaner otherwise - the kittys can still 'smell' their spots. Let us know how you make out?!!!

Please take him to the vet and tell the vet what he is doing. Peeing outside the litter box is the #1 symptom of urinary tract problems!

If the vet says he is okay, then consider making a few changes.

If you use covered litter boxes, take off the lid. Many cats refuse to use covered boxes.

Cats prefer fine grained unscented litter. So, you might try changing litter.

Make sure you have at least one litter box per cat.

Make sure you scoop the litter box daily, and with multiple cats, scoop twice daily. Cats often refuse to use dirty boxes.

If your litter boxes are real old, they may have absorbed odors even if you regularly clean them. So, try buying new boxes.

Make sure your litter boxes are in a place where the cat feels safe while going potty. If the other cat can sneak up on the cat while he's trying to urinate, he may be too afraid to use the box. So, move the litter box to a location where he can see the comings and goings of the other cats.

Put a litter box on each level (floor) of the house....especially if the other cat is blocking his access to his litter box.

Make sure you thoroughly clean all old urine spots on the rug and elsewhere. If he can smell the old urine he will think that place is a good place to pee. Use a flourescent black light to find old urine and treat all old spots with an enzymatic cleanser.

Try putting a plastic carpet runner upside down on the places he likes to pee....most cats don't like to walk on the "spikes" so they will avoid the covered spots.

Hmmmm. I'm sure there are other suggestions to try.

If all else fails, your vet can prescribe psychotropic medications that reduce inappropriate peeing, but try these simple solutions first so that you don't have to give him pills the rest of his life!

Good luck!

We are trying several of your suggestions and things seem to be going better. We are going to take Oreo to the vet to get tested. (The vet also suggested being tested for physical problems before determining that the problem is behavioral). Thank you so much for your help and suggestions!