Angry cat taking it out by peeing on my stuff

Sorry this is probably going to be long but I want to give all info that might be helpful. My oldest male cat, Stray, is causing me all kinds of problems this year, or so it seems. He is now peeing, not spraying, but peeing out of the litter box. And I did a search on the forum and google for help on this, but so far nothing has really helped. This is why I am about to put a cat door in the window and allow the cats to go on the patio and have 2 more litter boxes.

Setup: 3 litter boxes in the garage with tidy cat clumping litter. 4 fixed male cats that have been together for 3, almost 4 years. There is a feliway not more than 8 feet from his chosen pee sites: my desk, office chair, and the dog’s bed. All are inside cats. Stray does NOT have a UTI and has done this before.

All cat boxes are scooped twice a day and bleached/scrubbed once a month. They were just cleaned a few days ago and the litter was 100% replaced.

History: when I first got Stray as an adult Tom cat, I had him fixed and made him into an indoor kitty. He was rather unhappy with that and repaid my kindness of taking him in and spending over $500 on him by, what else? Peeing on my rather $$ bed and ME. Took him to the vet and the vet said it was because he was angry and told me I should start letting him outside. This worked until my house burned down a year or two later. Now I live in a new place were it is not safe to let him outside, so since August of 2010, he has been a 100% inside kitty. He was just on clavamox for an upper respiratory infection-that also treats UTI’s.

I should also add that once in a blue moon, Stray has ALWAYS peed out of the box. Like once every 6 months or so he would randomly pee on a pillow or a rug-no reason behind it.

What has changed: #1. I kicked out my drug addicted now EX-BF of 5years-a person this cat really liked, this happened in Aug and Stray started Peeing  out of the box a lot more shortly after this. #2. I moved the litter boxes from my “office” to the garage via a cat door and it took stray a LONG time to figure out the cat door-he spent some time locked in the garage until he finally figured out how to use the cat door. #3. I moved a bed into the former office and turned it into a guest room-Stray peed on the bed so that room is now closed off from the cats. #4. There is a rescue cat, a fixed female, that is currently staying with me until I can find her a new home and Stray does NOT like her. I think this new cat is really driving him nuts because his peeing has really increased and seems to be centered around the sliding glass door-this is where the feliway, my desk, cat tree, and dog bed are within view of.

Future setup/hopeful fix but not sure: I already purchased another cat door for a window and will soon be allowing the cats 100% access to my back patio that has pet screen and there will be an addition 2 litter boxes. This cat door will be here on Saturday.

My fear: that even adding more litter boxes, space, and outdoor access will not solve his issue. He is an older male that was neutered late in life and he is pretty set in his ways. He just litrally peed on the dog bed right in front of me. My office chair is destroyed beyond repair and soon my rather expensive desk is going to have to be tossed to if he keeps urinating on it.

Any and all help is much appreciated.

Thanks,

Missina

My cat had "social anxiety" and would pee blood when I had certain people over. She would mostly pee in her cat box, but also other places, which she never usually does. She did not have any bacteria in her urine.

We took her to the vet no less than 8 times for this, and each time they would just tell us nothing was wrong, and give her pain killers.

I got fed up and changed vets. The new vet gave her pills for anxiety (the people at the pharmacy laughed at us )
But it helped!

Could it be that your cat is not angry, but anxious? I tried Feliway with mine, and although it helped a little, it didn't take care of the problem. Anyway, might be a shot in the dark, but thought I would mention it  

I'm sorry you're dealing with this. Cats don't make conscious decisions to be angry and take it out on anyone. They do, however, get stressed by changes in their environment and/or routine, and this is instinctual. Quite honestly, the four changes you listed seem like more than enough to send this cat over the edge and I can't say I don't blame him.

You'll have to be sure to clean the areas he pees on with an enzymatic cleaner really well to get the smell out. If it still smells of urine, he will continue to go. If it is something you can't clean well, it will need to be tossed.

Make sure the litter boxes have enough litter in them. The general rule of thumb is at least four inches of litter in each box.

Regarding change #1: Try to give him lots of love and attention so that you can be his new favorite. Regarding change #2: I think you need a litter box in your home. He may not like the cat door and/or being locked in the garage could have created a negative experience in that area of your home. By not having a litter box in the home, he does not have the option to go in one. Regarding change #4: This is a big one, and I'm not sure what the solution is. As long as this female is in the home, nothing may help.

With all that is going on in your home, it might be wise to talk to your vet about medications to reduce his anxiety and stress until things settle down.

Hi, I feel your cat needs yet another vet that specializes in urology .he is def. not peeing blood coz he wants to.

Scotty Parno said:

 
Hi, I feel your cat needs yet another vet that specializes in urology .he is def. not peeing blood coz he wants to.

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If you are talking to me, then I can assure you that anxiety was the reason she peed blood. After treatment she's completely fine

ya my cat was not peeing blood..until after you guys started to post about blood in urine! *sigh* yesterday Stray jumped up onto my desk and peed right in front of me. it had blood in it. I locked him up and got a urine sample and took it to my vet. Sure enough the old man has crystals So the one time I think its not something medical, it turns out to be. He will be fine. he does not have a blockage and I caught it early on so they put him on the hills science urinary track diet, something to relax his bladder, and something to dissolve the crystals. I have had him since APril 2008 and got him as a full grown Tom in the prime of his life. never had anything come back positive in his UA before-the vet always told me he was just angry when he peed on random stuff. Guess it had to be real once in his life time. But the real test will be when the crystals are gone, if he stops peeing on my desk, the dog bed and what not.

Missina

l'm so very glad you took him to get fixed up, he'll hopefully feel better soon and start using the box again.

(To tell an owner a cat is peeing around the house because it's "angry" is negligent on the vet's part IMO). 

Aw, poor Stray. I hope he's feeling better soon. Urinary discomfort sucks. 

I was going to suggest another urinalysis in my first post, but thought...okay, he/she did already say it's not a UTI. Must have jinxed it! This happens to me all the time. I say my cats are doing great, and literally the next day someone will be sick.

Anyway, stress does play a big part of recurring urinary issues. I wonder if all this peeing outside the box is a result of various stress triggers that gets his bladder all worked up.

Here's are two general article about Feline Idiopathic Cystitis:

http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/news/pet-news/ficc-a-common-bladder-condition-among-felines/30

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?A=612

In this article: http://healthypets.mercola.com/site.../idiopathic-chronic-cystitis-in-pet-cats.aspx

there's a section called, "The Role of Stress in Bladder Inflammation."

Crystals can be concurrent with FIC, but not always.

Tomorrow marks a week since Strays vet visit and the bladder relaxer medication. His urine is nice and clear and he is leaving super large ponds all over my house. Called the vet to talk to him about this and about how he has been peeing all over my house since the female rescue cat, Alanathea, came to stay here. Seems like Stray had a field day today and peed pretty much all over all my freshly cleaned rugs, outside and under one of the cat boxes, and well..all over..i came home from volunteering at the wildlife park to find my house REEKING of cat urine. The vet said that since the crystals are under control, this is purely behavioral. So I'm back to saying my cat is angry and just peeing all over.

So I really do not know what to do now. back to angry cat peeing all over the place. I now have 5 litter boxes in 3 locations. its not helping. I'm very close to just tossing him outside and making him back into an outdoor cat. the only issue is that my next door neighbor is a hoarder and horrible, I do not put it past her to hurt or kill him and he is to friendly and stupid to know to stay away from her.

*sigh* I just do not know what to do.

Missina

I'm sorry you're still having trouble.  Is there an feline behaviorist you could talk to?  Perhaps call Jackson Galaxy (I'm half serious)?

Is the female cat currently free roaming the house?

Cats don't pee because they are 'angry'. They live in a world of smells, and their own urine is a comfort smell to them when they are upset. It also tells other cats they are there and that this territory is taken. This is why cats who are unhappy tend to pee on certain things - their owners' belongings and beds ( mixing their smell with their beloved owner is very much a comfort thing) and round the edge of the house, to warn other cats off. They will often do this if the territory is not large enough - as with a cat who is used to going out but now finds itself enclosed and so feels the need to hang on to all the ground he can get. Opening up your patio to the cats may help by giving more territory.

Your cat no longer smells your BF so it may be he is also trying to create the comfort smell that is no longer there. It is all a difficult situation and all depends on making the cat calmer and giving him the attention he may feel he is lacking. I wish you luck.

jennyranson said:

Cats don't pee because they are 'angry'. They live in a world of smells, and their own urine is a comfort smell to them when they are upset. It also tells other cats they are there and that this territory is taken. This is why cats who are unhappy tend to pee on certain things - their owners' belongings and beds ( mixing their smell with their beloved owner is very much a comfort thing) and round the edge of the house, to warn other cats off. They will often do this if the territory is not large enough - as with a cat who is used to going out but now finds itself enclosed and so feels the need to hang on to all the ground he can get. Opening up your patio to the cats may help by giving more territory.

Your cat no longer smells your BF so it may be he is also trying to create the comfort smell that is no longer there. It is all a difficult situation and all depends on making the cat calmer and giving him the attention he may feel he is lacking. I wish you luck.

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I know its anthropomorphism and that cats cannot be “angry” or even “happy”, but it’s the best way to describe the issue in a way that more people understand it, and both the vet 6 years ago used the term "angry" and my vet this week also used the term "angry" along with "behavioral problem". It the long run, he is “angry” because things have changed, I know this but I hoped someone might have a better answer then what I have tried. He just doesn’t understand that getting rid of a drug using human is a good thing, and he never truly understood why he had to become an inside only cat 4 years ago. All he knows is that the world outdoors became lost to him. So in an attempt to bring him out of his funk and give him more freedom, I ordered an underground cat fence. It will arrive next week and then he will be allowed in the back yard during the night and be brought back inside during the day, as he use to be once upon a long time ago. If this fixes the issue, cool. If it doesn’t….well..i will deal with that if and when it needs dealing with. And worse comes to worse, my mom said he can come and be an outdoor cat at her house-the only issue there is that he does NOT get along with her 2 cats and it has cost a lot in vet bills in the past when Stray and Trip (don’t we come up with great pet names? Lol) got into fights.   So that is a last case thing.

As to the female cat, so far I am having 0 luck rehoming her again. Now that we know she has a flea allergy, No one wants her. I really don’t know what to do with her other than to keep trying to rehome her until I can find the perfect home..hey anyone in FL up to PA want a cat because I will be driving to PA at the end of the month well thought I would try lol.

 Peeing issues are so difficult to solve and frustrating to experience!!!!   One thought (aside from give a "thumbs up" to the previous suggestion of calling Jackson Galaxy) is to be sure that all your litter boxes have UNSCENTED litter.  Scented litter will be excruciating, especially to a kitty who has any kind of urinary problem or a sore bottom (same for people - in fact, scented toilet paper can CAUSE bladder irritation). So even if the crystals are gone, the cat will smell the source of previous pain.  Also, if the litter is scented, it is makes a territorial cat pee elsewhere outside the box, so the other cats can smell the "message".

I live in a small town so finding unscented litter can be a challenge.  In the past, I have also used chicken feed (the crumbles/krackettes) instead of clumping litter.  I have been so busy lately, that it's difficult to go to the feedstore during regular hours which means that I am dependent on supermarkets which typically don't have much unscented litter.

Bless you for doing so much for those kitties - the cat doors, patio & underground fence!!! You are a wonderful cat-guardian & a true hero!!  

You are indeed a hero - a long suffering, patient, and creative cat hero.  You are doing a wonderful job to find the fix for your boy - and your female.   Someone did ask whether your female is free-roaming or has one room?  It would make sense to give her less territory in order to help your boy.

Also, I second someone else's opinion that the vet saying he was 'angry' is negligent.  (Many vets don't get cats - they are just an animal to them and that's why they say things that are just wrong when it comes to behaviour and psyche and emotions etc).  And it is rubbish that cats can't be 'angry' or 'happy' or have emotions - they certainly can and DO.  So it is very helpful to identify the emotion that is triggering behaviours correctly, or you can't fix things.  But I think you do get the emotions behind all this (but have mis-labelled it angry because of the vet).  As other people have said, it would be clearer to say anxious.

I wish you all the best and super loads of energy to cope with all that cleaning!  It is not easy to really clean cat pee.  (I assume you have a black light?) And it is expensive because so much needs to be tossed.  Luckily we have not had to replace flooring - others have.  We have had to put all pillows in a cupboard immediately we stop using them, and spread our cats special blankets over our bed, and we have replaced the mattress and now have a mattress protector (god-send!  No more need to replace a mattress!).  No one fix is the solution - it is always a recipe, so keep adding to the mix of solutions. I did like the suggestion you get litter box/s into the house - right on top of the place he pees most (your desk?).  It is not ideal for you, but it can really really help.  Once it is all under control, you might be able to move them to somewhere more convenient - sometimes you can only do this 1 inch by 1 inch so it takes MONTHS, but I wouldn't think it a good idea to completely remove the box from the room given his past reactions to big change in litter box locations. Use feliway (even tho it hasn't solved anything - recipe remember), and make sure it is placed around the home so it is reaching everywhere in dispersal.

I think your outdoor and patio ideas are SUPERB.  Hopefully these will be the magic ingredients...

You are staying very positive in a difficult situation - I like the idea of letting him be outside with the fence. I have a friend with one and it works very well.

OH! Just the other night I saw a re-run of a "My Cat From Hell" episode where it was one of the worst spraying cases Jackson Galaxy has ever seen. Part of what helped was bringing the cat outside on a leash and harness and actually letting him spray the parameter of the back yard. It partly fulfilled his need to mark his territory and the spraying inside had decreased. I forget what other tactics he used. The cat's name was Moose.

Ah, the irony!!!  Hopefully it will bring laughter to your day!

I posted last night, and now it's morning.  I had a rude awakening...thought Kato was cuddling in the crook of my arm and helped him smooth out the blankets....all warm and wet.  He peed ON ME!  Yuk, Yuk, Yuk,....

He must love me very much SIGH.  Now for the next 3 days of cleaning, cause that's how long it takes to let the enzyme cleaner work!  I'd just switched the doona to our winter one, so maybe that's why.  Double the work than the light weight one grr.  I ditched the sheets and his little blanket (he'd only got he edge of that rotten sod), so just mattress protector and the doona.  Thank God for mattress protectors.

I'm off to have a shower....it ran down my leg while I was carrying the doona erk...

Just saw this, and thought it might give you some ideas...Jackson Galaxy's My Cat From Hell helliday special 2013 - the first story is about  a sphynx who pees everywhere: http://sharesix.com/7b1hg3gwhw6x

(Told you my cat loves me!! Enough to pee on me!!)

Thanks for all the reply's! Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to everyone but here is an update. Stray pretty much ignored the inground fence, the shock was not strong enough to even bother him as his skin is to thick. So after spending 2 days digging and installing the fence, I removed it and sent it back to amazon. I put a collar with his county tag and rabies tag on it and just let him have it his way. He has now been allowed outside at night for the past week, and then comes inside during the day. Just like when I did this with him at my old house, he has stopped peeing outside the litterbox in the house 100%. Not only have we gone the entire week without an incident, my other cats have become super calm ( I never even noticed that they were acting stressed until they stopped), and it just seems like Stray is really liking life a lot more now. Thankfully my wacko neighbor has yet to bother him, despite my best efforts he has been going into her back yard though, she is a hoarder and her back yard is FULL of trash and rats. Stray has also met some of the neighborhood cats and has managed to come home without getting hurt by them to.

yesterday I began reinstalling the screening around my front patio-my house was a foreclosure and the former owners removed the screen and tour it down before they left. After I reinstall everything, Im going to put a cat door in there (I think I am growing to really like cat doors) and then I can put Stray's Rx food in there and hopefully the other local cats will not eat it. I also have plans on building him a "cat house" on the patio. I am thinking about doing a tile roof so its nice and cool and he can hang out up on top of it, and then doing padded soft stuff on the inside so he can stay warm during the cold months. At any rate, I will one day post photos.

Thanks again everyone

Missina

I'm glad that letting him out has stopped the inappropriate urination inside! And it's great to hear that you're trying to think of other ways to enhance the outdoor space for Stray.

I just hope he stays out of trouble out there. Is there a reason he goes out at night? Rather than going out during the day and coming inside at night?