New and looking for answers

Hey everyone!

I found your site by googling different questions about my kitten Poe. So, here I am looking for answers of my own...

I got Poe as a kitten at 8-9weeks, he is now 5 months. I love him to death but he has started peeing on beds and clothes. I got him neutered about 2 weeks ago hoping this would help. Unfortunately, it has not Poe pees in puddles on my blanket, and my son's blankets only. He uses his litter box to pee and poop perfectly fine but urinates on our blankets still.

We have confined him to the laundry room while we are out of the house because of this. His litter box is in the laundry all the time and we clean it daily. Is there something else that could be going on? I've read it might be a UTI but I have to wait until tomorrow to make a vet appointment. When I got him neutered they told me it could be because he's reaching sexual maturity and that neutering may help. The first few days home he was fine and didn't pee anywhere but his litter box. The vet told me to do a UA would be $65, which is super expensive... I have never had a male kitten do this before so I'm completely lost here. It's frustrating and I don't really want to get rid of him but my fiance is getting really mad and he's on the verge of finding him another home.

Definitely go to the vet and see what they find. You'll have to rule out health problems before you can start treating it as a behavior problem. Does he eat canned food? If he eats dry only, it might have contributed to a uti. Also, I heard that it may take some time for all the hormones to leave his body after the neuter. Go to the vet and let us know the updates. Good luck!

In addition to the above, it's very important that you wash everything he has peed on with an enzymatic cleaner like Nok Out or something similar.  Just washing things in hot water and even using bleach on them will not do the trick.  YOU may not be able to smell anything, but you can sure bet that your little furball can .  And if he smells his urine on anything, he thinks its an ok place to continue urinating.  it's a vicious cycle. 

Do you only have one pet?  Reason I ask is that cats will mark their possessions sometimes.  I have three cats, and if ever I leave a pile of sheets or towels or anything like that on the floor (as in when I'm doing laundry, if I leave piles out on the floor for any length of time)  my female will pee on them.  I KNOW she will do this...she is marking that pile as HERS and telling the others to stay away .  She won't do it to anything except a nice pile of stuff...won't do it if things are laying flat on the bed, etc.  So, I just know that I cannot leave things in a pile.  AND, I know to always keep a bottle of Nok Out handy for those times when I forget

Thanks for the insite! I called today and made an appointment. Can't get in until next week though :/ is there anything I can do in the meantime? I have only been feeding him dry food, I will buy some wet food tomorrow though.

Glad you have a vet appointment- please let us know how that goes.  In the meantime, do you have other cats? Is there a chance he is getting attacked by that litter box? 

Couple other things you can try:

feeding on a schedule and then placing him in the litter box (maybe in a crate) within 15-20 minutes after eating, until he goes, then praising and letting him out.

 Feliway/Comfort Zone - friendly facial pheromones which reduce stress and may reduce marking behavior. I got mine on Amazon but your vet might have it as well as Petco.

 Cat Attract litter - supposed to help attract cat to litter box
 

You can get a black light to see if there is residual urine marking in places that you are unaware of and then get a good enzyme cleaner to avoid repeat performances.Nature's Miracle works for us. Carpet may need to be rolled back and treated on the back side, plus treating the pad separately (or replacing the pad). It can require repeated applications.

regular play sessions of about 15 minutes to reduce stress and promote bond with you

reward desirable behaviors - if you see him use the box, praise and treat him