Cat consistently pees in the same spot

I recently (4 month ago) adopted my 4-yr-old kitty from a friend who didn't have the money/temperament to take proper care of her (i.e., she wasn't spayed, litter box was cleaned irregularly, irregular feeding, etc.). Since I adopted her, she's been vaccinated, spayed, tested, microchipped...the works. Overall, I haven't had too many issues with her with one exception: she pees on the loveseat regularly. I've tried everything I can think of to stop the behavior (litter attractant, enzyme destroyers, cat repellant on the cushions, etc.). She usually only does it when I come home later than usual and it doesn't seem to matter if I clean her litter box every other day or twice a day - she uses the litter box regularly except for when I'm not home "on time" & then she pees on the loveseat, in almost the same spot every time. I've just ordered the feliway diffuser, thinking maybe she's just stressed when I'm not there, but I'm moving in about a month and I don't even want to think about how much stress that will cause her (assuming that's the issue). Not sure what else can be done if the feliway doesn't help. I love my cat but the constant smell of cat pee is driving me insane. Any suggestions?!?!

Oh & I did take her to the vet who ruled out UTIs and any other medical issues.

Wow, you really have followed all the guidelines to deal with litter box avoidance.  One thing you might try is to put her food bowl near or on the spot she's chosen on the love seat.  Many cats don't like to eat near where they pee.  What I would probably do at this point, however, is to cover the loveseat with a plastic cover while at work.  You might even put some chairs or something on it so that she's faced with an obstacle course up there.  Put a litter box next to the loveseat. Hopefully you wouldn't have to do this permanently.  Once she started using the box, you can gradually move it out of the living room.  

The feliway is a good idea as you are probably right that this is a response to your being late.  Does she have plenty of toys and places to look out windows to help with boredom? Also, you might consider getting a timed feeder so that she still gets fed on time  even when you're late.  

A final suggestion is to consider getting another cat.  If she's bored and lonely, a companion may be just what she needs.

Serious credit goes to you for all that you've tried. Have you considered adding a second litter box? Maybe adding one near the love seat will help.

Margd said:

 
Wow, you really have followed all the guidelines to deal with litter box avoidance.  One thing you might try is to put her food bowl near or on the spot she's chosen on the love seat.  Many cats don't like to eat near where they pee.  What I would probably do at this point, however, is to cover the loveseat with a plastic cover while at work.  You might even put some chairs or something on it so that she's faced with an obstacle course up there.  Put a litter box next to the loveseat. Hopefully you wouldn't have to do this permanently.  Once she started using the box, you can gradually move it out of the living room.  

The feliway is a good idea as you are probably right that this is a response to your being late.  Does she have plenty of toys and places to look out windows to help with boredom? Also, you might consider getting a timed feeder so that she still gets fed on time  even when you're late.  

A final suggestion is to consider getting another cat.  If she's bored and lonely, a companion may be just what she needs.

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Thanks so much for your suggestions! She does have a ton of toys; she usually bats them under the furniture within 5 minutes & I have to dig them out every night, though, so she may not be getting much use out of those! I should probably look into getting some toys that are bigger/heavier that she can't lost quite so easily.

talkingpeanut said:

Serious credit goes to you for all that you've tried. Have you considered adding a second litter box? Maybe adding one near the love seat will help.

Click to expand...

Another great suggestion; thank you! If the feliway doesn't help, that will probably be my next step, at least temporarily.

OMG, I feel for you. Feel free to read all my previous posts and what I've learned over the past year. One thing that helped solve our problem: Cat Attract - HERE. Before Cat Attract, we had four different types of litter boxes with all different types of litter scattered all over the house. For months we watched her and the boxes to see which box, litter and location she liked best. There was a lot of trial and error, but once we found out the magic combo with the location, we were able to remove all but one box.

I can't stress this enough: Add more litter boxes. Also, make sure the boxes are large enough for them to freely turn around. Our cat avoided the little boxes that she couldn't turn around easily in. And someone has to scoop every time after she uses the box. if it's a clump of her pee, she will dig and dig and bury that old clump extremely well before she goes to another spot in the box to pee again. But if there's poop in her box, she will not return to it at all until the poops been removed. That's when she used to hop on our sofa to relive herself. I don't blame her. As I've said time and time again, if I went to use the toilet, and I saw a big turd in there that I couldn't remove, I wouldn't use that toilet either. Ha!