How do i stop my cat from weeing in the House?!

Hi

I really need help. My Cat Pepper is 11 years old and a princess. She gets every thing she wants. Over the last four years my cat has decided to poo/wee in the house on a regular basis. She is able to go outside but for some reason does it in the house about once per week. At first we thought it was us, that we wern't giving her enough food or attention but now i am starting to think its somehting more. We cant stop her and have tried various things such as sprays and rubbing her nose in it but it just doesnt seem to work. She is too old to be fazed by theses things. My parents now want to give her away becuase they cant stand it anymore. She's ruining the house!!!! Id be greatful if anyone could offer any advice.. thanks

Welcome to TCS

First off, don't rub her nose in it, this will do nothing to solve the problem and will just make her scared of you.

Have you taken her to the vet for a health check? She may have a bladder infection that is causing her to urinate inappropriately.

Do you have a litter box inside the house? If so, have you changed the type of litter recently? Does she still have easy access to it? Is it in a secure, quiet part of the house? Any other cats or small children that may be preventing her from using it?

Is she actually urinating or spraying? If she's spraying then she may be marking her territory. Are there any other cats in the house? Any cats outside that may be coming inside into her territory?

There are some great stickies here that may answer some of your questions too.

Hi, welcome to TCS, to you and Pepper!
First and foremost, Pepper needs to be thoroughly examined by her Vet including her senior labs to rule out any medical problems. Please do not punish her, yell at her, or rub her nose in it. This is absolutely not effective for cats. Is she provided with one or more litter trays in your home which are kept extremely clean? You may want to read this thread . It contains a great deal of information on this subject. Again, so glad you've joined us, we all look forward to getting to you you and Pepper better as we assist you in any way!

Your cat may be ill and you should take her to the vet if you have not already done so. You shuold never "rub her face in it" so to speak. That never works and the poor cat has no idea why you are hurting and belittling her - cats do not think like we do. Cats respond to positive reinforcement, not negative stimuli - which just makes them upset and stressful. And stress can actually cause a kitty to have a urinary tract infection which can case inappropriare urination. I sure you love your kitty since she has lived with you this long.

There can be a variety of reasons for her problems - stress, illness, the litter, location of the litter box, new situations in the home (cats react to change). Also, if you clean using bleach, the area may still smell like urea to the kitty and she will continue to go in the same area.

Good luck - I would try a vet appt first and if she is fine physically, then examine the other factors.

Hey Guys!

Thanks for such the warm welcome...!

We did try a cat litter for peper, but she got lazy and started to use it all the time! So we stopped that, because she has a great big garden which she does go out in(most of the time). There are no other cats in the house, and the litter was kept in a private area that was easily reachable to her. Going to the vet may be the next step but, it is not just weeing that she does.... she poos as well. So maybe not a bladder problem then...?

Ohhh, so she goes outside?? Maybe she needs litter inside? It would prob be a good idea for her to have a litter box. That is sort of par for the course here (Are you in Europe?). The rule of thumb is one litter box per cat plus one. For example, my Siamese has 2 litter boxes - I'd be astonished if she ever went outside actually. I know ferals do it it all the time out of necessity but think of the fungi and other things in the earth, ugghhh! My recomemndation is where she obviously liked the litter box (and most cats do!), you should put it back - that might solve the prob. Make sure it si easily accesible - a urinary tract infection could also cause a cat to urinate and poo since they start to associate their regular place of elimination with pain and look for other areas. A vet visit shoudl be your first step and then work from there.


Good luck!

Hi there! I agree that she needs to be checked out by a vet first to ensure no infection, parasites etc. But just to let you know, my three cats are all inside cats with access to the outdoors through their catflap, and I keep litterboxes in the house for them too. They don't use them all the time, but at night or in a hurry then they will. If I were you, I would go back to using a litterbox (or ideally two). After all, what is the bother/expense of cleaning a litter box aganst cleaning the house and carpets? I hope you find a solution.