Litter box problems

Hi everyone!

I'm hoping you can help me. We have 3 cats. 2 of them were mine and 1 was my husbands before we got together. He always had problems with his cat. When I moved in with my 2 it was pure chaos. Constant fighting, and she stated urinating all over my stuff, which I'm sure was a marking thing. She had moments of being good but she's progressively getting worse. Her favorite spot to pee is on our couch. We have been through 5 couches in 5 years.

We moved into a new house about a year ago and she was doing my great until about October. She started going on the couches again and one night she even came into our bedroom and peed on top of me while I was sleeping. Recently she's getting worse again. She peed on my husband in bed on Friday night and has been going on the couch constantly. She's even gone on our garbage can and swiffers, mops, brooms, etc. Today I came home and she peed on the couch again as well as popping in 2 places. I'm at a total loss right now. She didn't come out when I came home and found her under the desk in the office. As soon as she saw me she started growling at me even though we have never punished her for any of this. We have a pheremone collar on her and the diffusers as well. Our vet recommended anti anxiety medicine which we started her on. I don't know what else to do especially since she is home all day while we work. We have tried limiting her to 1 bedroom while out and she went crazy and destroyed the carpet and walls. I'm at a loss here. Sorry for the rant...any advice would be greatly apparexiated.


Oh and we have tried everything we can think of with the boxes. Changed the litter, changed the boxes, changed the location, type, amount etc and still the same results. We also had her tested by the vet to rule out any health issues.

Wow sounds like it has been a rough few years for you and her. A few questions I have:

Did her relationship improved with the other cats after all these years? How about her relationship with you (other than the recent growl). What made you think that she was marking? Usually marking is a small quantity of pee on vertical surface. It is used by cats to find a mate or communicate distress. If she is marking and targeting you only, as difficult as it may be, you should not punish her to prevent her from further associating you with negative experience. If there is some friction with the other two cats. This may be the root cause of her distress and she is letting it out on you since you brought them with you. Encourage group play to reduce conflict.

If she full on peed, then chances are there is something about the litter box that she didn't like (since you have eliminated health issues). Have you tried Precious Cat Litter's Cat Attract? It has some herbs that the cats are attracted to. I usually have to hide my unused portion otherwise my cat will happily use it right in the box.

Thanks for your response! The relationship has improved a bit. They can actually be in the same room with each other now and sit on the same couch. If they get too close she will growl and hiss. They are not friends at all but more so tolerate each other. My husband had problems with her before my cats were ever introduced.

My relationship with her is actually a really good one. I was the first person to ever bond with her outside of my husband. The first time I met her she sat on my lap and everyone was shocked. Any time anyone other then my husband and I goes near her, she instantly hisses and sometimes goes as far as striking them. She is really close with me and always lays on my lap. I wasn't around for "couch time" this week and I'm not sure if that upset her? I don't even really know if cats have those emotions. It always seems to be that she goes to the bathroom on my spot of the couch. For days straight she went on the same side where I sit and then yesterday I switched spots and she went there last night. Not sure if that's just a coincidence.

We have not tried the cat litter that you mentioned. I have tried just about every other litter out there. I even moved a litter box into the living room where she spends most of her time.

In addition to the litter, you may want to continue "bonding" them. That would help to alleviate some stress that she is experiencing.

What issue did he have with her before you moved in? If it was a behavioral issue that was never resolved then I understand why having three extra roommates made her more anxious.

Hi! I am new to this site but joined because we REALLY need help with our Bengal cat Winston. He is about 2 and he keeps peeing on our couch! We have tried absolutely everything. Enzyme cleaners, vinegar, mouthwash, citrus, foil as well as our scents.... We have taken him to the vet multiple times and he is in fine health- no UTI or crystals or blood in his urine. We have gotten stress relief spray & plugins and clean the litter boxes daily. We have tried feeding him on the couch as well as barricading the couch while we sleep & are at work. He is even on an anti-depressant for anxiety and that hasn't stopped the issue. Nothing is working & we don't know what to do anymore! 

We have 2 other adopted cats that he gets along great with. Tons of playtime & snuggles & we make sure that everyone gets individual attention. We also have plenty of litter boxes around the house and they have no issues sharing. Winston still uses the litter box occasionally which is the weirdest part. It seems like he goes wherever he wants whenever he feels like it. Our bathtubs are not safe either. 

The biggest issue is our couch because we had to throw our last couch out because we could no longer get it clean which was disgusting. The new couch is quickly having the same problems & we cant live like this anymore. He is a gorgeous cat and we love him dearly but I am completely at a loss in regards to how to fix this. 

Please help! My husband is completely fed up and I'm terrified the day he wants to get rid of him is approaching. 

Is he neutered? I guess I am trying to understand if he is marking vs. urinating (you can read my previous posts on this thread for the differences). 

Was the problem always there? Were you able to guess what might have caused it? e.g.: did it start after he was introduced to the other two cats, new house, bad experience, etc.?

If he is urinating outside of the box (instead of marking), then there is something about litter boxes that had given him a bad experience. You may want to try using the litter that I suggested in this thread. 

I think generally you are doing the right things. If he is neutered but pees to mark his territory, there might be some friction within the group that is not obvious. 

He is neutered and it's definitely pee. He backs himself up against the couch and pops a squat. No beds or items just bathtubs and the couches. This is something he has done now since before the other cats. We thought a friend might ease the boredom and stress of being alone which would help this issue but to no avail. He is the alpha as well so when he is through playing he gives a good swat and walks away. Lately, our kitten doesn't like taking no for an answer to wrestling but that is very recent so it's definitely not what brought it on.

As a baby he did have an intestinal issue that caused frequent diahrrea and that sometimes still flares up. We did everything the vet told us to do though by getting new litterboxes that were uncovered to prevent associating the ones he had with pain. We have even changed the litter. I'll look into the litter you suggested in the thread.

It's something he has always done but it definitely escalated when we bought our home a year ago. He is comfortable in the house and has certain places he enjoys most. He's not a super cuddly cat (as most bengals aren't) but he sleeps in our bed almost every night leading me to believe it's not a territory thing.

If we are doing everything right it's even more frustrating towards figuring out how to make this stop. We have to break this habit for sure.

CatLitterGuru said:

In addition to the litter, you may want to continue "bonding" them. That would help to alleviate some stress that she is experiencing.

What issue did he have with her before you moved in? If it was a behavioral issue that was never resolved then I understand why having three extra roommates made her more anxious.

Click to expand...

She was spayed late (I think she was around 6) and the vet said it may be too late to change her habits. She was left to him by someone who abandoned her and she was brought into a house with other animals and she refused to leave one room. She spent all of her time there. When she would leave she would pee all over the house. She's also been pretty unapproachable to most people.

dherd28 said:

She was spayed late (I think she was around 6) and the vet said it may be too late to change her habits. She was left to him by someone who abandoned her and she was brought into a house with other animals and she refused to leave one room. She spent all of her time there. When she would leave she would pee all over the house. She's also been pretty unapproachable to most people.

Click to expand...

Yeeowtch, she sounds like she had a rough start before your husband got her.  

Is she declawed, and are your two cats declawed?

Are your two cats girls, boys?

I'm far from an expert, but I have a few "packs" of cats in my place (2 separate groups, one consisting of 3 cats and one consisting of 6).  In the group of 3, two are girls and there is definitely some tension.  They play, but there's a kind of intensity there that they don't have when they interact/roughhouse with the others.  In passing, they'll kind of stand off, ears pinned, and smack one another (not hard, but...the tension is there!)   In my group of 6, there are two girls who are litter mate sisters.  They get along very well, but the one who marks (territorial) is also a bully to the others.  Truth be told, she's a Giant Wimp and is extremely, EXTREMELY lacking in confidence (sounds like a familiar descriptor of a bully in humans, as well!)  

I have no idea if it would help (if they can play safely together, that is), but doing "cooperative kill" games with my groups have helped ease the tension.  I was using a cat wand, but those last about 5 minutes in my house    I went to TSC and bought a lunge whip that you use to exercise a horse and use that instead.  (Very durable to kitty claws.)   The girls started out by playing "separately" with the same toy, and if they accidentally bumped onto one another or were watching the toy too intensely, they'd slam into one another and it would create a 20 second smack fest.  (Keep in mind these cats never fought all out, so I wasn't really afraid to let them be together, or get a little ticked off if one was a little too rude.)  After awhile, they realized they could work together.  It's almost like a tag team.  One will chase the toy up to where the other cat is waiting, and like someone flipped a switch cat #1 will stop while cat #2 takes off to continue the hunt.  One will leap and grab the base of the string, bringing the whole mess downward, so the other cat can grab onto it and pin the string to the ground.  It's really cool to watch them work together.  When I notice cooperation (we can look at one another or co exist and "she can breathe MY air, I guess") I drop the toy and let them gnaw it, drag it around, inspect it, and parade around with their treasure, etc.  The lunge line is large enough that there seems to be plenty of it for two, so possessiveness is minimal.  When they cooperate, they win the prize and the kill is complete until the next game.  (I don't do this with laser pointers, because the cooperation thing is hard to grasp when the reward...the "dot"...isn't something they can physically touch, bite, win, or 'get'.)

Then again, I may an over obsessive analyst and may be making something out of nothing, but I swear, this helped ease the tension between a few of mine. 

For the litter issue, I'll second Cat Attract.  I don't use it exclusively, but I use just enough to cover the (regular) litter and that's enough to keep my cats coming back, for the most part. 

A few of my cats started out as barn kitties, and I don't think that part of their lives ever truly left them.  When they were picking on one another, clawing the furniture, and inappropriately sticking their butts in our faces as we were trying to eat dinner, we opted to build a small, sturdy, covered cat-proof enclosure attached to our house (on a patio; no digging!) and accessible by a cat flap door.   The change has been miraculous; rather than claw the lounge and wail at me from on top of the fridge before launching onto my head ("need a new hat?  I'M A HAT!") they go outside.  We got ambitious and threw some large tree branches in it so they have natural things to climb and scratch.  I understand that sometimes zoning and other things don't allow it, but it might be something to consider if it's do-able.

I feel your pain.  I hope things get better, very soon!

We have started using the attract litter in all the boxes I have also completely soaked the couch in enzym cleaner in order to eliminate the urine smells. Today while both my husband and I were sitting on the couch he squatted and peed only a foot away from me! The couch only completely dried from cleaning it this morning! We are completely at wits end and do not know what to do. Any advice from here is appreciated. We have literally done EVERYTHING we know to do.

What do your litter boxes look like? Can you upload photos? What about their locations? I've written so many times on this topic because we have an extremely litter-picky cat who used to pee outside of the box. She was abandoned by her former owner, living outside and peeing wherever she wanted to. After we brought her home, we literally tested every type of box and litter on the market and some other items that are not marketed for cat litter.

Months of testing, and the solution came down to the right combination of litter, box size/shape and location. I second Cat Attract. I hoped for so long that we wouldn't have to settle on clay litter, but that's what she likes best. It's been working so well that we began to mix it with Dr. Elsey's Ultra (blue bag) and at this point, most of her boxes are all Ultra.

We have four litter boxes scattered all over the house, and she has different uses for each one at different times of the day. One is a cement mixing tray that is very large and sitting in the guest bathroom shower stall. Best $10 we ever spent - find it HERE. Even if she digs aggressively, it's easy to clean up since the box sits in the shower stall. She strictly only poops in that if it's after her dinner. If she has to poop during the day, she likes the box in the living room. The box upstairs by her bed is for peeing only in the middle of the night/early morning before the sun comes out. The box in our study/office is only for peeing during the day, never ever poops in that. She will also never return to a box that has her poop in it. Luckily she mostly poops once a day, but there are the occasional days when she goes twice, so we have scoop right after she goes. She will return to a box with one lump of her pee, but any more, and she might just pop a squat on the couch. That's why we added a fourth box. We have two more boxes in the garage ready to add should another accident happen. Needless to say, it's high maintenance, but we're happy to do it if it makes her happy enough not to go outside of her box.

We currently have 3 boxes. 1 in each bathroom (upstairs & down) that are uncovered and one in the kitchen that is covered. I'm not convinced its the type of litter because I have seen him use all three boxes on different occasions. That's the weirdest part. I try to reward him with cuddles & treats anytime we catch him using a box. Over the winter we had a box in the dining room (very close to the living room couch) and that didn't seem to sway him at all. I'll try moving it back with the litter attract and see if that makes any difference. 

I'm increasingly concerned about what you mentioned regarding a riff in the group. How do I figure out whats actually wrong & fix it if that is the case? I really want to approach this from all angles until we find a solution!

Thank you for all your advice thus far!! 

We have been using the Cat attract litter for a month now, I moved a litter box literally right new the couch, We got calming pheromone spray & plug ins. NOTHING IS WORKING. He literally pees every single night. We have laid tin foil on the couch to prevent him from going on there and he moves it aside. I have soaked the cushions in gallons of enzyme cleaner & washed covers in vinegar. 

We really are at wits end & do not know what to do. One question I have is in regards to letting him be outside. He desperately want to be outside & cries at the door constantly lately. He has been out supervised but never for long periods of time. Could this possibly be a solution if he felt her had some type of freedom to roam. I'm terrified to allow him to be an outdoor cat but Bengals can live to be 18 and we cannot have 16 more years of peeing every single night. He has now destroyed the 2nd couch in 1 year! 

Any advice is appreciated because I feel like I have tried everything possible & nothing is working! PLEASE HELP!