Help, new to this website URINE PROBLEMS!!!

I have 6 cats. I have had the first 3 since July 2003. The first was an eight week old stray. The second I got 2 weeks later from the humane society. The third "Mandarin" was an eight week old stray I received about 1 month later!!
Ever since I brought Mandarin home she has urinated out of the box. The first time was 8 weeks of age and on a nylon jacket. I am a vet tech, and I asked one of the doctors and they said some cats like the feel of nylon, so I dismissed it. Probably about 6 months later she urinated on a blanket on ME, ever since then she will go regularly out of the box.

Now she has no physical health problems. She will only urinate of my bed, laundry basket, blanket left on the couch, or towels/clothes left on the floor. She will go as much as once every two weeks to once every two months.

I have tried feliway plug in and spray. That didn't work! So now I added two more litter boxes in different locations and with different litter. I also have her on behavioral meds that are costing me a fortune!
CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!!!!

emb: As you know, cats are very particular and clean animals. I have found that when I do not keep the litter box clean, that my cats will make use of the laundry basket and piles of clothing. Maybe with 6 cats, you have to keep your litter box extra clean for Mandarin. Even with one cat, I clean the litter box every morning and sometimes again later in the evenings. Good luck.

emb,

With 6 cats, there's the potential for a lotta problems. Since you've eliminated a feline UTI as the cause, there's most likely some fear and behavorial issues going on.

Is this cat shy, and easily bullied? If so, she may be possibly being hassled when she's trying to use the cat litter box. Have you observed this?

The rule of thumb for the minimum number of cat litter boxes is this:

"X" cats + 1 = MINIMUM number of cat litter boxes needed.

Since you have 6 cats, you need at least 7 litter boxes. Can your residence accomodate this? Cats like clean boxes, and with that many cats, scooping is nearly a full time job.

It could be the type of cat litter box, or it could be the cat litter. You'll need to experiment with different boxes and cat litter to see what makes her happy. And, it's possible she's one of these cats who needs two boxes - one for solid, one for liquid.

In the meantime, use a good enzyme cleaner like Dumb Cat or Simple Solution to clean up the cat urine mess to eliminate the odor.

Try these, and let us know...

Good luck, keep us posted,

I have exactly the same problem, with our Jeffrey urinating on clean laundry and blankets. We also have three other cats. Honestly, I doubt your cat needs meds for this problem. What meds is she on, and for what reason? It sounds more to me like Mandarin never really got the idea of the litter tray. Or perhaps she developed a substrate preference for softer materials to urinate on early on in her life, and now this has become a learned behaviour.

You need to change the pattern, so you could try getting an old towel and leaving it on the floor for her to urinate on, and day by day move it closer and closer to the litter box until it is actually in the litter box. If she still urinates on it, you could add a little bit of litter and build it up. That way she might finally get the idea. Another suggestion is to put her in a kitten pen with just a bed, somewhere to eat, and a litter tray (perhaps with a towel or blanket in it initially). As cats will rarely soil their beds or anywhere near where they eat, she should then be forced to use to tray. If you can get to this stage, gradually let her out so she has access to bigger areas and hopefully she will then have learned what the litter box is for.

Thanks!! Great ideas!

Originally Posted by newigal

emb,

With 6 cats, there's the potential for a lotta problems. Since you've eliminated a feline UTI as the cause, there's most likely some fear and behavorial issues going on.

Is this cat shy, and easily bullied? If so, she may be possibly being hassled when she's trying to use the cat litter box. Have you observed this?

The rule of thumb for the minimum number of cat litter boxes is this:

"X" cats + 1 = MINIMUM number of cat litter boxes needed.

Since you have 6 cats, you need at least 7 litter boxes. Can your residence accomodate this? Cats like clean boxes, and with that many cats, scooping is nearly a full time job.

It could be the type of cat litter box, or it could be the cat litter. You'll need to experiment with different boxes and cat litter to see what makes her happy. And, it's possible she's one of these cats who needs two boxes - one for solid, one for liquid.

In the meantime, use a good enzyme cleaner like Dumb Cat or Simple Solution to clean up the cat urine mess to eliminate the odor.

Try these, and let us know...

Good luck, keep us posted,

Click to expand...

Things are going GREAT now I have different litter boxes and litter everywhere!!