Himalayan Cat Urinating Problems

ok i have a himalayan female cat w/ a urinating problem. Now i read all the posts on cats and their peeing problems but nothing really helped because of how she goes about it. Now she has been peeing since we got her when she was 10 weeks old. She is now about 6 years and nothing works. She is litter trained and has been since we got her. She first starting peeing and we thought she was just confused. She peed on the mats in the bathroom (and i assume its because of the chemical in the mats that make them do that), and when she was younger she peed in the corners of our houses and also on me a few times in my bed when i was sleeping. Now we took her to the doctors and there's nothing wrong. The vet said she may just be insecure. He put her on some kind of hormones to make her feel like she's pregnant so she'd feel secure but that also didn't work. She was spaded when she was old enough. We do not have any other pets in the house.

After she ruined our floorboards because of her peeing, we decided to just let her live in the garage, and let her roam outside when the weathers nice. Well we have a box for her in the garage which we insulated and put nice towels down to make it comfortable, we also have an open chair on the side of the box with more towels down incase she'd like to lay on there. Since I can remember she not only saturates the towels on the chair with urine, but she also urinates all through the towels in the box and lays on them afterwards! I just don't understand what animal would want to lay in their pee. We have two littler boxes in the garage for her and she's very neat about using them. She uses one box for peeing and the other for her other business. She uses them often, but still pees on both the towels on the chair and in the box.

The vet says she's healthy and has no health problems. I'm assuming its something about marking her territory, but we have no other animals and she's been doing this since we got her. My family and I don't know what to do and it just seems like nothing works.

Any new thoughts/ideas that my family and I haven't thought of?

A note of caution, letting a pedigreed cat outside is an invitation to someone with bad intentions to steal her. You keep saying the vet says that there is nothing wrong with her. In the six years of this inappropriate peeing, have you had her to a feline specialist at all?

There are solutions to this problem, but if you are only working with one vet, perhaps it is time to find another vet, a specialist this time. Himmys are generally pretty laid-back cats with not much behavioral issues.

My one female himmy I had. Had the same issues. We had her to 3 different vets and she was in perfect health. No matter what I did or tried she peed almost daily usually on any clothing or towels left on the bathroom floor.
I tried it all and I could not train her not to do this. I wonder if its a Himmy thing? I learned to live with it. Sadly she did pass on early at 9 she had cancer.

To reply to hissy, firstly yes we know someone could steal her but due to the fact its my parents house i have no say in whether she stays inside or outside, however i do have a say in ideas that could help her quit this peeing problem (i'm 20 years old and live out of the house in college 6 months out of the year) And secondly no we never had her to a feline specialist. Is it possible that it is just an issue with the breed like gardenandcats suggested? and where do u find feline specialists at?

sorry, can't help you with the peeing issue, but I would think that a cat which pees everywhere would not be stolen for long, so you should be safe there.

But it does seem to be an excessive amount? I mean soaking several towels ? My cat does several pees a day, but they wouldn't be enough to soak several towels.

Although I have never had a Himmy, I have had several Persian cats.  I found they did not like the litter on there feet.  they have very sensitive paws (whether declawed ot not) and the litter irriatates their pads.  If she likes the soft towels and rugs use those inside the litter box instead of litter.  If you are opposed to that try a soft grain sand instead of actual litter.  I found this worked with ALL the persians I had. 

As a Persian mom, I need to caution you that Persians are not made for outdoor life.  Many of them do not do well outdoors.  Please don't do that.  Not only because of the stealing factor but because they are bred to be indoor cats exclusively.  Many Persians have this very issue which is why many people toss them out and so many end up in shelters.  My suggestion is to clean the places she pees thoroughly with a steam vacuum and an enzyme based cleaner.  Then the walls the same way.  Any place she has peed, paid extra attention to.  Then, put litterboxes in all the corners she pees in.  It most likely is a security issue.  Do you have young children?  Maybe another pet would be helpful.  Persians often are nervous if they are left alone for long periods of time.  So they crave company.  Maybe get her on some anxiety medication.  I don't usually suggest it for cats but I think you are past the point of Feliway or the calming collar helping you.  She needs reassurance.  So spend time with her as much as possible and "talk her up"  maybe groom her, if she'll let you.  Play with her.  Find something to stimulate her... Time with you that you can do together.  This will go a long way with her anxiety.

Also as jsjcwolf said, many Persians and himmies (which are just colorpointed persians) do not like the feel of litter on their feet.  It has to do with them being bred to be indoor pets only.  One of the reasons they are not meant to be outside!!!  Anyway, try to find a softer litter or even potting soil works good for some.  It's super soft, and just put a big mat to catch the soil off their feet.  But potting soil is much much easier to clean than pee from a carpet or wall.  Please DO NOT put her outside.  This is important. 

Just a note that this thread is from 2006.