My cat is urinating in inappropriate places.

I have three cats. My eldest two (three years old) have never had a problem with litter training. However, my youngest (one year old) pees on any clothes, towels, plastic bags and sometimes even shoes that have fallen on to the floor. She still uses the litter boxes throughout the house but she can't seem to resist peeing elsewhere.

The problems started soon after I adopted her from the shelter. She was ten weeks old and had been rescued from a house where sixty-nine cats had been neglected. She was one of the unlucky kitties who was left alone in a room without human contact. Until I adopted her, she hadn't had any prolonged contact with humans, she hadn't been stroked, played with, or picked up unless she was wrapped in a towel, so when she started urinating on the floor on her second day home, myself and the vet put it down to anxiety. During the few months of having her, she peed on my bed (four times), on my boyfriend, on my sister and on any towels, clothing or cardboard she could find*. My vet couldn't give me any help and just said that some cats act out if they've had a rough start in life.

Her behaviour has improved somewhat over the last six months or so and sometimes she can go for weeks at a time without urinating outside of the litterboxes. However, over the last few days she has urinated in four different places. She even pulled clothes out of the washing basket to pee on.

I would never get rid of her. This is the only home she has ever know and she has completely transformed from the shy, slightly aggressive little kitten I brought home. She's part of the family, but I'd really like to not have to spend my life smelling like/stepping in cat pee.

A few other notes about my cat:

- she is an indoor cat

- she gets along well with my other two cats

- she is neutered

- I use either catsan or wood pellet litter (she doesn't seem to like other types I have tried)

- there are three litter boxes in the house, there was a fourth but they didn't like using it
- litter boxes are scooped at least once each day and cleaned out once a week

- she eats and drinks well

- she prefers dry food but will accept wet food if it is offered to her

Help?

Has she been to the vet for a check up to be sure she doesn't have a UTI?  That should be step #1. 

What are you using to clean the urine?  YOu will need enzymatic cleaner to be sure that you are getting all traces of it cleaned.  If not, she will pee in the same spots over and over again. 

Are your litter boxes hooded or covered?  I like to use sterlite under the bed boxes as litter boxes.  They are about 25" long x 18" wide x 5" deep.  I find them at Target or Walmart.  They are nice and large so that the cat has plenty of room.

Here is an article and 2 videos on litter box issues.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/litterbox-problems-in-cats-the-ultimate-guide

I took her back to the vet a few months ago and they told me that they didn't suspect a UTI - although, to be fair, my cat hates the vet and does backflips around the room trying to get away from her so all the examinations she's had have been pretty difficult. You're probably right, I'll book another appointment to be on the safe side.

I use hooded litter trays. The one that the cats didn't use was non-hooded, and they just completely avoided it.

Thank you for replying! 

In order to know if the cat has a UTI, they most likely will need a urine sample.  I would definitely get it checked out first. 

You might want to get a black light to help you see if there are other areas of pee that you are missing.  A really good enzymatic cleaner from the pet store is a must.

I'm having a similar-ish problem at the moment. We have two cats, a 2 year old burmese, and a three year old Persian who we adopted 6 months ago.

In the last month the persian has started urinating on the bed & lounge (which is SUCH a hassle to clean). We took her to the vet who suggested it might be stress related. Basically, she's now been here long enough that she wants to start asserting herself, which is causing tension, which is stressing her out and causing her bathroom problems.

We've got a feliway but haven't noticed much difference (although a lot of people have success with them, so you could try that?)

One of the problems is that we don't usually catch her in the act, even though she only really does it when we're at home. So it's hard to actually do anything, because we don't find out it's happened until hours later.

So I guess my only suggestion is to try and make sure there isn't any extra stress going on that might be freaking your cat out?