Cat peeing outside litter box

tamara m bell · Jul 6, 2014

Okay so starting from the beginning. This is a newer kitten, got her in Jan, no problems, never had problems with peeing outside of her litter box or whatever. She was a model cat UNTIL Spring/Summer started. We have a garden outside and for a while we would allow her to come outside with us, hang out on the deck while we worked. She knew she wasn't supposed to leave the deck so we would shoo her back onto the deck. No problems, etc. Well suddenly we started catching her more and more heading straight outside (this really started as of May) and suddenly we caught her a few times peeing outside on whatever planter/plant/garden had enough space for her to pee in.

So we realized "hhmm, she must be getting confused" so we decided "no more outside time for you"

Almost immediately afterwards she would pace in front of the door angrily meowing. About a week to two weeks after that the peeing on the floor started. This was interspersed with peeing any planted tree in the house. We have since put orange peels on some of the potted trees and so of course the peeing stopped in the trees, but now all she will do is pee on the floor and that is it. She elminates (no 2) only in the litter box, but eeing is been on the carpet right near the door she so wants to go out of. We live in Fairbanks AK so I can only imagine her

Okay so starting from the beginning. This is a newer kitten, got her in Jan, no problems, never had problems with peeing outside of her litter box or whatever. She was a model cat UNTIL Spring/Summer started. We have a garden outside and for a while we would allow her to come outside with us, hang out on the deck while we worked. She knew she wasn't supposed to leave the deck so we would shoo her back onto the deck. No problems, etc. Well suddenly we started catching her more and more heading straight outside (this really started as of May) and suddenly we caught her a few times peeing outside on whatever planter/plant/garden had enough space for her to pee in.

So we realized "hhmm, she must be getting confused" so we decided "no more outside time for you"

Almost immediately afterwards she would pace in front of the door angrily meowing. About a week to two weeks after that the peeing on the floor started. This was interspersed with peeing any planted tree in the house. We have since put orange peels on some of the potted trees and so of course the peeing stopped in the trees, but now all she will do is pee on the floor and that is it. She elminates (no 2) only in the litter box, but peeing is been on the carpet right near the door she sooo wants to go out of. We live in Fairbanks AK so I can only imagine her come winter when she can't go outside because its negative 30 or 40 out.

I don't have enough orange peels yet so that is out for the back door, at first we thought earlier this weekend that we might have solved the issue when we got some cat urine enzyme cleaner but she peed buckets right through that. I only discovered today how much she has peed because I had put some very strong smelling carpet baking soda mix there and by 1pm it was like mud.

We have recently had her checked out at the vet and all is good, health wise. So now we're stuck. Do we just let her run outside, pee outside so she doesn't stress but is then eaten by a bear or some other wild animal or do we keep her indoors and watch her ruin our carpet (which stinks massively now) because she's stressed.

Oh we have even put her food and water right where she was going, and her bed, and her scratching post. All of it. And instead what she does is simply lie down right near it and pee, right near her food, water, or whatever.

She is such a cute cat, really love her and I only want her safe but I get the feeling that its become a power struggle of her saying "I will pee here because I WANT TO GO OUTSIDE" vs me saying "No, you can't go outside when we are gone for the day, No you can't try to hunt dogs bigger than yourself or birds or whatever"

Need advice, what else can I try here?

chloe92us · Jul 6, 2014

Some cats like to pee and poop in separate boxes. Do you have two boxes? Also, try Dr. Elsey's "cat attract" litter. Or give her a pot with dirt in it and use that as her litter box, lol. Put a saucer underneath it.

micknsnicks2mom · Jul 6, 2014

Tamara M Bell said:
Okay so starting from the beginning. This is a newer kitten, got her in Jan, no problems, never had problems with peeing outside of her litter box or whatever. She was a model cat UNTIL Spring/Summer started. We have a garden outside and for a while we would allow her to come outside with us, hang out on the deck while we worked. She knew she wasn't supposed to leave the deck so we would shoo her back onto the deck. No problems, etc. Well suddenly we started catching her more and more heading straight outside (this really started as of May) and suddenly we caught her a few times peeing outside on whatever planter/plant/garden had enough space for her to pee in.

So we realized "hhmm, she must be getting confused" so we decided "no more outside time for you"

Almost immediately afterwards she would pace in front of the door angrily meowing. About a week to two weeks after that the peeing on the floor started. This was interspersed with peeing any planted tree in the house. We have since put orange peels on some of the potted trees and so of course the peeing stopped in the trees, but now all she will do is pee on the floor and that is it. She elminates (no 2) only in the litter box, but eeing is been on the carpet right near the door she so wants to go out of. We live in Fairbanks AK so I can only imagine her

Okay so starting from the beginning. This is a newer kitten, got her in Jan, no problems, never had problems with peeing outside of her litter box or whatever. She was a model cat UNTIL Spring/Summer started. We have a garden outside and for a while we would allow her to come outside with us, hang out on the deck while we worked. She knew she wasn't supposed to leave the deck so we would shoo her back onto the deck. No problems, etc. Well suddenly we started catching her more and more heading straight outside (this really started as of May) and suddenly we caught her a few times peeing outside on whatever planter/plant/garden had enough space for her to pee in.

So we realized "hhmm, she must be getting confused" so we decided "no more outside time for you"

Almost immediately afterwards she would pace in front of the door angrily meowing. About a week to two weeks after that the peeing on the floor started. This was interspersed with peeing any planted tree in the house. We have since put orange peels on some of the potted trees and so of course the peeing stopped in the trees, but now all she will do is pee on the floor and that is it. She elminates (no 2) only in the litter box, but peeing is been on the carpet right near the door she sooo wants to go out of. We live in Fairbanks AK so I can only imagine her come winter when she can't go outside because its negative 30 or 40 out.

I don't have enough orange peels yet so that is out for the back door, at first we thought earlier this weekend that we might have solved the issue when we got some cat urine enzyme cleaner but she peed buckets right through that. I only discovered today how much she has peed because I had put some very strong smelling carpet baking soda mix there and by 1pm it was like mud.

We have recently had her checked out at the vet and all is good, health wise. So now we're stuck. Do we just let her run outside, pee outside so she doesn't stress but is then eaten by a bear or some other wild animal or do we keep her indoors and watch her ruin our carpet (which stinks massively now) because she's stressed.

Oh we have even put her food and water right where she was going, and her bed, and her scratching post. All of it. And instead what she does is simply lie down right near it and pee, right near her food, water, or whatever.

She is such a cute cat, really love her and I only want her safe but I get the feeling that its become a power struggle of her saying "I will pee here because I WANT TO GO OUTSIDE" vs me saying "No, you can't go outside when we are gone for the day, No you can't try to hunt dogs bigger than yourself or birds or whatever"

Need advice, what else can I try here?

would it be possible to build or buy an outdoor cat enclosure for your girl? or even turning your deck into a screened porch? or part of the deck into a screened porch? this would give your girl some of the outdoors she loves, but still keep her safe. you'd let her out there just when you're home, in case some critter decides to come up and investigate kitty. if you decide to do one of these ideas, then i'd set up certain times of the day/evening that kitty gets to enjoy it. cats do very well with routines, and she'll learn when her enclosure/screened porch times are supposed to happen. in the winter she may ask to go out there, but once you crack the door open she'll quickly change her mind.

could it be that kitty prefers dirt/soil to urinate in rather than cat litter? it might be worth trying to put soil from outside in a litter box for her, and see if she'll use that to urinate in indoors.

you might have to replace at least part of the carpeting that kitty has peed on. until the urine smell is completely gone, it could very well cause her to continue peeing in that spot(s).

tamara m bell · Jul 6, 2014

Well, here's a big challenge to the idea though of her being able to have free reign outside (in a sheltered area). We live in Fairbanks, AK. Come 3 months from now, there will be snow on the ground. 5 months from now we'll be in -50s. So while our cutie loves the outdoors (and the bugs! they're so much fun, even the ouchie ones that make her yelp) she's going to be losing the outside (kind of like we do too).

As for the dirt, my biggest fear? We have a LOT of trees in big pots that while they are small now, they'll grow pretty big over time. I don't want to get her in the habit of thinking "dirt is good, I can pee in all these houseplants because, hey that's what my litter box is full of:

One other tidbit. We got a new litter box a long while ago. Late March. Its one of those Catgenies===Very expensive. We know she wasn't overly thrilled with the location because she whined a bit about it but by Mid April she seemed like she had resigned to having to go upstairs to use the potty. Only issue with the litter box about moving it, its gotta be right near either a toilet or a washing machine (needs the water input area and the waste area). We have it in our hall bathroom because that bathroom has the most space. The other bathrooms/laundry room don't have enough space for it.

One reason why we upgraded to this type was simply, she fills up a typical litter box, (using either clumping or non clumping) in about 3 days with pee. I mean the pellets/litter is almost floating. By the weekend it stinks (we clean out the poop and the clumped litter of course each day when we get home, get up in the morning)

We checked with the vet to see if this massive amount of pee is normal and their biggest question was "how much water does she drink" and well she drinks a lot. She has a half gallon water dish and she drinks almost all of it, each day. I have previously had a cat (my best bud of 18yrs, passed away last Autumn) and she never drank that much!!!! Whew!

So since her intake and output is about equal they just shrugged and said she was too young for other normal health issues.

We are trying two new things, first, we're bringing everything upstairs at night, including Ms kitty and her food. She typically sleeps and plays up there at night anyways when we're in bed.

When we're gone for the day (school and work) it will be the same. Does anyone know how long it takes to make or break a habit for a cat??

Also we're putting plastic (which I have doubts will work because she likes laying on plastic) and if that doesn't work, we'll try aluminum foil.

I'm seriously hoping we can break her habit, which I have the strangest feeling will happen after the summer ends in August.

micknsnicks2mom · Jul 8, 2014

Tamara M Bell said:
Well, here's a big challenge to the idea though of her being able to have free reign outside (in a sheltered area). We live in Fairbanks, AK. Come 3 months from now, there will be snow on the ground. 5 months from now we'll be in -50s. So while our cutie loves the outdoors (and the bugs! they're so much fun, even the ouchie ones that make her yelp) she's going to be losing the outside (kind of like we do too).

As for the dirt, my biggest fear? We have a LOT of trees in big pots that while they are small now, they'll grow pretty big over time. I don't want to get her in the habit of thinking "dirt is good, I can pee in all these houseplants because, hey that's what my litter box is full of:

One other tidbit. We got a new litter box a long while ago. Late March. Its one of those Catgenies===Very expensive. We know she wasn't overly thrilled with the location because she whined a bit about it but by Mid April she seemed like she had resigned to having to go upstairs to use the potty. Only issue with the litter box about moving it, its gotta be right near either a toilet or a washing machine (needs the water input area and the waste area). We have it in our hall bathroom because that bathroom has the most space. The other bathrooms/laundry room don't have enough space for it.

One reason why we upgraded to this type was simply, she fills up a typical litter box, (using either clumping or non clumping) in about 3 days with pee. I mean the pellets/litter is almost floating. By the weekend it stinks (we clean out the poop and the clumped litter of course each day when we get home, get up in the morning)

We checked with the vet to see if this massive amount of pee is normal and their biggest question was "how much water does she drink" and well she drinks a lot. She has a half gallon water dish and she drinks almost all of it, each day. I have previously had a cat (my best bud of 18yrs, passed away last Autumn) and she never drank that much!!!! Whew!

So since her intake and output is about equal they just shrugged and said she was too young for other normal health issues.

We are trying two new things, first, we're bringing everything upstairs at night, including Ms kitty and her food. She typically sleeps and plays up there at night anyways when we're in bed.

When we're gone for the day (school and work) it will be the same. Does anyone know how long it takes to make or break a habit for a cat??

Also we're putting plastic (which I have doubts will work because she likes laying on plastic) and if that doesn't work, we'll try aluminum foil.

I'm seriously hoping we can break her habit, which I have the strangest feeling will happen after the summer ends in August.

i totally understand and agree that once it gets cold up there, it will be way too cold for kitty to go outside (or people too, for very long).

could you rig up a kind of cover for the soil area under/around the potted trees, like what's available for xmas trees to cover the water in the bottom part of a xmas tree stand? it would need to be a solid cover with a hole in it for the tree trunk, but one that could be removed so you could water and anything else needed.

i'm glad you mentioned the amount your girl is urinating! that sounds like a heck of a lot of urine for a young cat -- she's about 7 or 8 months old or so now? i would think that the large quantity of urine she outputs every day might make it so when she needs to "go", she needs to go right now. she may not be able to make it to her litter box before she must pee. i think it might be worth adding a second litter box downstairs (you said her litter box is upstairs now?).

two medical issues that excessive thirst/drinking and more urine output than normal are symptoms for are diabetes and chronic kidney disease. i know because my two cats each have/had those two medical issues. usually these medical conditions develop later in a cat's life, but i think there must be something going on that's causing the extra thirst/drinking and larger urine output. one possibility is a congenital or developmental kidney disease, but there may very well be other medical conditions that those symptoms fit too. if it were me, i'd work with a vet to figure out the reason for your girl's extra thirst/drinking and more urine output than normal. if there's something that can be treated, the treatment will be more effective and it will cost you less in the long run if it's caught/figured out sooner rather than later.

@tulosai or @catwoman707 -- any thoughts or suggestions for the original poster?

micknsnicks2mom · Jul 9, 2014

@tulosai or @catwoman707 -- just wanted to be specific about what i'm asking for your thoughts or suggestions about. it's the excessive thirst/water drinking and excessive urinating along with kitty's age (it sounds like kitty is around 7-8, maybe 10, months old) that has me concerned. the original posters vet said, "So since her intake and output is about equal they just shrugged and said she was too young for other normal health issues." i'm concerned that there could be an undiagnosed medical condition going on, possibly congenital or developmental kidney disease.

tulosai · Jul 9, 2014

Quite simply I think your cat needs more boxes. They need not be fancy ones. At a minimum I'd have one on each floor.

I will try to post.more later. Major time crunch right now

catwoman707 · Jul 9, 2014

Her peeing sounds to me like a behavioral issue.

She is in protest of being held captive indoors only.

My suggestion is simply to allow her to go outside.

When the cold weather comes, she knows where to go where she can be warm and safe.

I would not keep moving her box, food/water either.

Also cats do not like to smell their box near their food.

You mentioned you got the cat genie box because in 3 days time she will have filled her litterbox with pee, but daily scooping will take care of this issue.

I would also add an additional box, there should be one on each floor.

tulosai · Jul 9, 2014

Tamara M Bell said:
Almost immediately afterwards she would pace in front of the door angrily meowing. About a week to two weeks after that the peeing on the floor started. This was interspersed with peeing any planted tree in the house. We have since put orange peels on some of the potted trees and so of course the peeing stopped in the trees, but now all she will do is pee on the floor and that is it. She elminates (no 2) only in the litter box, but eeing is been on the carpet right near the door she so wants to go out of. We live in Fairbanks AK so I can only imagine her

Okay so starting from the beginning. This is a newer kitten, got her in Jan, no problems, never had problems with peeing outside of her litter box or whatever. She was a model cat UNTIL Spring/Summer started. We have a garden outside and for a while we would allow her to come outside with us, hang out on the deck while we worked. She knew she wasn't supposed to leave the deck so we would shoo her back onto the deck. No problems, etc. Well suddenly we started catching her more and more heading straight outside (this really started as of May) and suddenly we caught her a few times peeing outside on whatever planter/plant/garden had enough space for her to pee in.

So we realized "hhmm, she must be getting confused" so we decided "no more outside time for you"

Almost immediately afterwards she would pace in front of the door angrily meowing. About a week to two weeks after that the peeing on the floor started. This was interspersed with peeing any planted tree in the house. We have since put orange peels on some of the potted trees and so of course the peeing stopped in the trees, but now all she will do is pee on the floor and that is it. She elminates (no 2) only in the litter box, but peeing is been on the carpet right near the door she sooo wants to go out of. We live in Fairbanks AK so I can only imagine her come winter when she can't go outside because its negative 30 or 40 out.

I don't have enough orange peels yet so that is out for the back door, at first we thought earlier this weekend that we might have solved the issue when we got some cat urine enzyme cleaner but she peed buckets right through that. I only discovered today how much she has peed because I had put some very strong smelling carpet baking soda mix there and by 1pm it was like mud.

We have recently had her checked out at the vet and all is good, health wise. So now we're stuck. Do we just let her run outside, pee outside so she doesn't stress but is then eaten by a bear or some other wild animal or do we keep her indoors and watch her ruin our carpet (which stinks massively now) because she's stressed.

Oh we have even put her food and water right where she was going, and her bed, and her scratching post. All of it. And instead what she does is simply lie down right near it and pee, right near her food, water, or whatever.

She is such a cute cat, really love her and I only want her safe but I get the feeling that its become a power struggle of her saying "I will pee here because I WANT TO GO OUTSIDE" vs me saying "No, you can't go outside when we are gone for the day, No you can't try to hunt dogs bigger than yourself or birds or whatever"

Need advice, what else can I try here?

Alright, to give a longer post, point by point:

I agree with catwoman707 that this is very very likely behavioral. The chance of a 7 month old kitten having diabetes or kidney disease is extremely low, and the chance of a UTI is also low in a cat that young because of how concentrated the urine is. Further, you can pretty much pinpoint how and why the issue started.

I agree with catwoman707 also that I would just let her outside if she wants to go. She isn't going to confuse outside dirt with inside carpet. To avoid her peeing in the houseplants, just keep using the orange peels if they are working, or cover the dirt portion with tin foil. It might mess up the perfect aesthetic slightly, but it probably will do the job. When it gets cold, she will probably quite naturally stop wanting to go out.

Regarding the litterbox situation, honestly, I think you need to make a change as I said above. You should always have at least one box per cat, plus one extra, so in this case 2 boxes. I see that you've purchased a super fancy box that makes things easier for you, but the real truth is that 9 out of 10 cats prefer a large, uncovered box that is kept clean. I find it really hard to understand why a box would fill up in 3 days if you re scooping daily. Do you use clumping litter? Is the box terribly small? This really just does not compute for me at all. I am not meaning to doubt you but I legitimately do not understand. You also admitted she didn't like either the new box nor the new box's location. Honestly, if you want a cat who uses a litterbox you need to cater to the cat's preference most of the time. They are stubborn.

If I were you, I'd go with the theory that the simplest and most obvious solution is the best one. Let her back outside when she wants to go and trust her that she'll be smart enough to not want to go when it is -50 degrees. If she's not you can deal with that problem at that time. Add more boxes. If I were you I'd add more than one box probably, but you can start with one. I'd place it near the door where she is peeing. Then you can move it slowly, inch by inch, until it is where you want it. I personally would just buy a large uncovered litterbox and scoop it once a day, twice if necessary.

I honestly think if you do both these things, the problem will resolve itself.

micknsnicks2mom · Jul 9, 2014

catwoman707 said:
Her peeing sounds to me like a behavioral issue.

She is in protest of being held captive indoors only.

My suggestion is simply to allow her to go outside.

When the cold weather comes, she knows where to go where she can be warm and safe.

I would not keep moving her box, food/water either.

Also cats do not like to smell their box near their food.

You mentioned you got the cat genie box because in 3 days time she will have filled her litterbox with pee, but daily scooping will take care of this issue.

I would also add an additional box, there should be one on each floor.

tulosai said:
Alright, to give a longer post, point by point:

I agree with catwoman707 that this is very very likely behavioral. The chance of a 7 month old kitten having diabetes or kidney disease is extremely low, and the chance of a UTI is also low in a cat that young because of how concentrated the urine is. Further, you can pretty much pinpoint how and why the issue started.

I agree with catwoman707 also that I would just let her outside if she wants to go. She isn't going to confuse outside dirt with inside carpet. To avoid her peeing in the houseplants, just keep using the orange peels if they are working, or cover the dirt portion with tin foil. It might mess up the perfect aesthetic slightly, but it probably will do the job. When it gets cold, she will probably quite naturally stop wanting to go out.

Regarding the litterbox situation, honestly, I think you need to make a change as I said above. You should always have at least one box per cat, plus one extra, so in this case 2 boxes. I see that you've purchased a super fancy box that makes things easier for you, but the real truth is that 9 out of 10 cats prefer a large, uncovered box that is kept clean. I find it really hard to understand why a box would fill up in 3 days if you re scooping daily. Do you use clumping litter? Is the box terribly small? This really just does not compute for me at all. I am not meaning to doubt you but I legitimately do not understand. You also admitted she didn't like either the new box nor the new box's location. Honestly, if you want a cat who uses a litterbox you need to cater to the cat's preference most of the time. They are stubborn.

If I were you, I'd go with the theory that the simplest and most obvious solution is the best one. Let her back outside when she wants to go and trust her that she'll be smart enough to not want to go when it is -50 degrees. If she's not you can deal with that problem at that time. Add more boxes. If I were you I'd add more than one box probably, but you can start with one. I'd place it near the door where she is peeing. Then you can move it slowly, inch by inch, until it is where you want it. I personally would just buy a large uncovered litterbox and scoop it once a day, twice if necessary.

I honestly think if you do both these things, the problem will resolve itself.

what do you think about the excessive thirst/water drinking (op posted -- "She has a half gallon water dish and she drinks almost all of it, each day"), and excessive urinating (op posted -- "her intake and output is about equal"). i'm thinking that that amount of water drinking each day and about an equal amount of urine output is excessive and could be a symptom of something serious, like congenital or developmental kidney disease.

my snick, who is 13 years old and has CKD, doesn't drink that much water/have that amount of urine output. even when she was on prednisone long term and had increased thirst/water drinking (side effect of the pred), she never drank that much/made that much urine output

tulosai · Jul 9, 2014

I candidly don't know much about cat health and definitely would never discourage a vet visit. But it's my impression that in this case the vet has been visited and given the okay. I frankly don't think a cat would physically be able to actually drink a whole 64 ounces in one day even if sick and wonder if the OP is mistaken about the measurements or if it's possible the cat is doing as mine do and splashing the majority of the water on the floor unnoticed. For comparison, many websites say it's a warning sign if a cat is drinking a cup (a mere 8 oz) of water a day.

The OP may want to consider the idea of congenital kidney disease though and see if any of the symptoms are present other than thirst/excessive urination which may include

Lack of appetite
Lack of energy
Weight loss
Vomiting
Abdominal enlargement
Bloody urine

micknsnicks2mom · Jul 9, 2014

tulosai said:
I candidly don't know much about cat health and definitely would never discourage a vet visit. But it's my impression that in this case the vet has been visited and given the okay. I frankly don't think a cat would physically be able to actually drink a whole 64 ounces in one day even if sick and wonder if the OP is mistaken about the measurements or if it's possible the cat is doing as mine do and splashing the majority of the water on the floor unnoticed. For comparison, many websites say it's a warning sign if a cat is drinking a cup (a mere 8 oz) of water a day.

The OP may want to consider the idea of congenital kidney disease though and see if any of the symptoms are present other than thirst/excessive urination which may include

Lack of appetite

Lack of energy

Weight loss

Vomiting

Abdominal enlargement

Bloody urine

thank you. i think there may very well be limited vet resources where the OP lives -- fairbanks, alaska. i'm not sure how unusual or rare congenital or developmental kidney disease is. i'm just very concerned because if the cat does have that, then it's a serious condition requiring monitoring and treatment.

you could be right that the OP could be mistaken about the measurements of water intake and urine output, but the OP did say "the pellets/litter is almost floating".

alyssam · Jul 9, 2014

Is she spayed? Contrary to popular belief female cats spray just as much, if not MORE than males. Same purpose, marking their territory.

Do you have an open yard? Is it fenced? Can other cats get in your yard?

She may feel threatened and feel the need to mark her territory now that she has seen the outside world. Even more so now that you aren't allowing her out anymore.

Try placing more litter boxes around your house. Or as @mickNsnicks2mom said, if possible, build or purchase an outdoor kitty enclosure for her.

Best of luck!

tamara m bell · Jul 9, 2014

Yes, she is spayed. Back yard is fenced in, but birds and wildlife do fly in the area from time to time. I've caught her stalking birds occasionally that are easily big enough to snack on her.

Okay, some interesting developments. First, brought her again to vet. Got her tested, she's in the clear. The vet just reported this afternoon that there is no UTI. I asked again if drinking large amounts, and peeing large amounts was normal.

They more or less just said "just like humans each cat is different"

I'm probably wrong on the exact amount that she drinks, possibly about 2 cups, maybe? per day. Just know our old cat never drank that much but she also never peed that much either.

Now here are more developments. We have moved each and every (fruit bearing or herb) tree outdoors. The last one (bay leaf) just got moved out because I caught her crawling into it, preparing to pee, even though its soiled is lined by sharp pointy dried orange peels.

We have also lined the carpet where she was urinating almost exclusively with plastic bubble wrap, tinfoil, orange peels, etc etc. You name it! All to make it as highly undesirable as possible.

Next, we keep her locked upstairs with her food, her water, her litter box and lots of toys during the night. During the day, same goes.

When we come home we unlock her from up there and bring her down so she can socialize, play with us, cuddle, etc etc.

Now here are the observations.

First day after being locked upstairs, she had obviously been going pee in the litter box (GOOD GIRL!) Litter was ALL over the floor.

She almost immediately went to her fav spot down near the door and got very agitated by the fact that it was not carpet, instead it was all this shiny and loud stuff that didn't feel so good to step on. You could see the desperation and anxiety on her face and then finally resignation set in, she turned around and upstairs she went. And peed in her litter box.

This has now repeated over and over again since Monday. She tries to get close in to the area where we have tinfoil and plastic but many times we shout a warning so she walks away frustrated, only to try again to see if the area is open.

But the big thing is definitely, she's back to using her litter box. I have caught her playing in the dirt in some of our plants, but there simply isn't room for her to do much other than put her paw in it, dig for a second and then give up.

Come winter, only thing I'm seriously concerned about is we will be bringing back in a Tangelo tree that was our present to ourselves for our 20th anniversary, our Bay leaf tree, our Avocado tree, a Moringa Oleifera tree, and a Gardenia. I have a sneaking suspicion that even though she won't be able to go outside she will be going nuts with the desire to crawl into these and PEE which will pretty quickly kill most of these (being that the Tangelo cost us over $100 I really don't want to just say "oh well, thats just how cats are")

Tulosai, pretty much what you said about it being behavioral, that's exactly what the vet said after they reported the urine test results, so its looking like more of a retraining than anything else.

We have been very strict, no outdoors because so far, the two times she's been out now (she snuck by us) she immediately went to plants she's peed in (which now HA HA are TOO BIG FOR HER TO LIE IN and PEE ON!!!! LOL LMAO)

And the biggest thing, we've stopped screaming at her for going outdoors.

Only negative to this battle of the wills? My grinding my teeth, screaming at my husband and son, and slamming things around the house.

But as they say "this too shall pass"

alyssam · Jul 10, 2014

Tamara M Bell said:
First day after being locked upstairs, she had obviously been going pee in the litter box (GOOD GIRL!) Litter was ALL over the floor.

Try getting some litter boxes with lids on them. Also try putting another downstairs so she doesn't have to run back up and down every time she needs to go. This may ease some of the stress you are seeing especially if she is struggling to hold it (which may be a reason to her urinating outside of it).

kelly urban · Sep 30, 2014

I am having similar issues. I have two cats who have been a part of the family for 7 years. We have a dog who was introduced to the family about 2 years ago and a 4-month old baby. One or both of the cats are peeing on our couch. I know it has to be an anxiety thing. We have a Cat Jeni which we have had for 4 or 5 years, it auto cleans after each cat. I am almost positive it has something to do with the 4-month old. Maybe it's because he is becoming more mobile (not yet crawling, just rolling and vocal at this point). Today I cleaned poop off the couch...

Are there any products that we can use to get them to stop? Right now we have one of those calm-cat air-fresheners right next to the couch, it doesn't seem to be working.

canopener · Sep 30, 2014

Kelly Urban said:
I am having similar issues. I have two cats who have been a part of the family for 7 years. We have a dog who was introduced to the family about 2 years ago and a 4-month old baby. One or both of the cats are peeing on our couch. I know it has to be an anxiety thing. We have a Cat Jeni which we have had for 4 or 5 years, it auto cleans after each cat. I am almost positive it has something to do with the 4-month old. Maybe it's because he is becoming more mobile (not yet crawling, just rolling and vocal at this point). Today I cleaned poop off the couch...

Are there any products that we can use to get them to stop? Right now we have one of those calm-cat air-fresheners right next to the couch, it doesn't seem to be working.

One of my cats has been having some anxiety issues secondary to travel this summer followed by the unplanned acquisition of a new cat. I have found the pheromone collar more helpful than simply spraying Felaway around the room. The most widely available brand I've found, Sentry, only makes the collars scented (this appears to be designed to please humans rather than cats) so you have to do a bit of looking to find an unscented one.

In terms of keeping cats from repeatedly soiling the same place, I've had some luck with Nature's Miracle No More Spray. It has a scent in it cats don't like so they are less likely to return to the spot to pee. I've been successful with it at keeping the aforementioned new cat from peeing in her favorite spots. Unfortunately, it does nothing to prevent her from finding a new favorite spot...

maureen brad · Sep 30, 2014

Perhaps your cat began peeing outside because she was smelling other cats and was marking her territory.She may be hyper aware of other cats now, even in the house. I got some automatic air cannisters and placed them at the outside windows to keep animals away. It works. I also used Cat Attract and that really works, if you don't have it in the stores by you you can order from Amazon.I get the Prime membership so I don't pay shipping.

Cat peeing outside litter box

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