Cat starts to pee everywhere... need help!

Hi,

We have 2 female cats, one Siamese Cat called Misty, and a White Cat called Mina, they are both 2 years old (almost). Misty has been neutered, but Mina has not.

Since 2 months ago, Mina started to be in heat more than ever before, like 10 days in heat, 4 or 5 days calm, then in heat again. At the beginning she didn't meaw very loud, but she's getting a stronger and stronger voice every day. So we decided to schedule operation to neuter her too, but the vet can't take her before next friday.

Our cats have always been clean, and never peed out of their litter box. However this Tuesday, Mina peed in a tissue/foam house (where Misty likes to sleep all day long) as well as on our sofa. I heard it happens to female cats to pee when they are in heat, so I just cleant hoping it was an isolated incident (I used bacterial and enzymatic cleaner specifically for cat urine). The next day, Mina peed in the basket of Misty. I treated it with the product again, washed it, and dried it (same for the foam house), and made sure there was no urine smell remaining. I put back the basket and the house for the cats, Mina went to pee again on both! I got quite angry (my wife too), and put all back to clean. Not even half hour after, I see that Mina peed on her own pillow (had to throw it away). This morning, when I woke up, I found that Mina had peed again, this time on the rug of Misty, as well as on the 2 rugs in front of the door.

I'm feeling quite desesperated, that's too many times in few days, is she doing it because she's in heat? so why she never did it before? is there a jealousy thing with our other cat Misty? I have to say we take very good care of our cats, feed them well, their litter box is well cleant regularly, and my wife stays home during the day, so they are never alone.

Will all be fine again when Mina get neutered, or is there a risk she keeps her bad habbits afterward? I heard such stories before of cats keeping to pee everywhere even after be operated.

Thanks for any advice/help you can give me,

David.

Female cats do pee often in inapropriate places when they are in heat. They also do that if they have a urinary tract infection. Best get her to the vets ASAP get her checked for a UTI and get her spayed as soon as possible.

I've never heard of a cat peeing outside of the box because she's in heat, but that doesn't mean anything because I'm not a breeder and don't know any.

But I am aware of three other reasons cats pee outside of the box:

1) They are sick. 85% of the time this is why a cat pees outside of the box. When a cat pees outside of the box - especially if they've never had a problem with it before - the first thing to do is get the cat to a vet. In all likelihood as gardenandcats has pointed out, the problem is a urinary tract infection. If this is NOT the case,

2) the second reason is territoriality. This is most often seen in males that have not been neutered, but a female that hasn't been spayed may do this too. The answer is to have her spayed.

3) the final reason is anxiety. Something has caused the cat to become upset or anxious. Has anything in her environment changed? Even little things that we wouldn't expect could trigger anxiety in a cat. Did you forget to clean the litterbox? Have you changed the brand of litter you use? Did a relative visit? It could be one of a million things. There are several things you can try. I don't know where you're located, but if the behavior continues after illness has been eliminated as a cause, and if the behavior continues after she has been spayed, the first place to start is by addressing potential anxiety.

If you can purchase a product called "Feliway," do so. It is a bit expensive, but it is a synthetic hormone that mimics the "friendly" hormone that cats leave when they rub things with their cheeks. Spray it everywhere at cat-cheek height - it doesn't stain. You can also purchase Flower Essences at catfaeries.com. Put a small dab behind her ears, and add some drops to the water.

Also, as to cleaning the cat pee: remember, cats' sensitivity to smell is FAR beyond our ability to smell, so it may not smell like cat pee to you, but it may still smell like pee to her, and to her that means it's a place to go pee again. Treating and washing something may not be enough. You MUST use an enzyme cleaner. The enzyme cleaners we've used all take several hours to several days to dry. If it's a couch, rug, or a mattress thas has been affected, you have to THOROUGHLY soak the area affected. On a mattress, we then cover it with towels and the bedding until it drys. On a couch or other piece of furniture, we cover the area with aluminum foil until it dries. Same with a rug. But you've got to soak it down to the floorboards. Nothing else will do. And nothing other than an enzyme cleaner will really do the trick.

If none of these things works, then you have to try "retraining" her. You do this by isolating her - preferably in a small room. Put a litterbox on the opposite side of the room as her food and water. Put a radio in there tuned to a classical music station. Spend time with her in there - make sure she knows she's not being abandoned. When she's using only the litterbox for at least a few days, and all the pee smell from where she went outside of the box in other areas of the house has been completely treated with enzyme cleaner (and has dried), then let her back out into the rest of the apartment or house.

This last resort "isolation retraining" works most of the time. But if it doesn't, then you may need to consider consulting a vet about medication for anxiety. They do treat cats with Elavil, though this really is a last-last resort.

Originally Posted by LDG

I've never heard of a cat peeing outside of the box because she's in heat, but that doesn't mean anything because I'm not a breeder and don't know any.

But I am aware of three other reasons cats pee outside of the box:

1) They are sick. 85% of the time this is why a cat pees outside of the box. When a cat pees outside of the box - especially if they've never had a problem with it before - the first thing to do is get the cat to a vet. In all likelihood as gardenandcats has pointed out, the problem is a urinary tract infection. If this is NOT the case,

2) the second reason is territoriality. This is most often seen in males that have not been neutered, but a female that hasn't been spayed may do this too. The answer is to have her spayed.

3) the final reason is anxiety. Something has caused the cat to become upset or anxious. Has anything in her environment changed? Even little things that we wouldn't expect could trigger anxiety in a cat. Did you forget to clean the litterbox? Have you changed the brand of litter you use? Did a relative visit? It could be one of a million things. There are several things you can try. I don't know where you're located, but if the behavior continues after illness has been eliminated as a cause, and if the behavior continues after she has been spayed, the first place to start is by addressing potential anxiety.

Also, as to cleaning the cat pee: remember, cats' sensitivity to smell is FAR beyond our ability to smell, so it may not smell like cat pee to you, but it may still smell like pee to her, and to her that means it's a place to go pee again. Treating and washing something may not be enough. You MUST use an enzyme cleaner. The enzyme cleaners we've used all take several hours to several days to dry. If it's a couch, rug, or a mattress thas has been affected, you have to THOROUGHLY soak the area affected. On a mattress, we then cover it with towels and the bedding until it drys. On a couch or other piece of furniture, we cover the area with aluminum foil until it dries. Same with a rug. But you've got to soak it down to the floorboards. Nothing else will do. And nothing other than an enzyme cleaner will really do the trick.

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Thanks for the reply. I already heard of female cat peeing when in heat, my sister's cat did it a couple of time before.

I don't think it's related to urinary tract infection, but anyway, I have scheduled a visit at the vet, and she'll be sprayed next week, hopefully it will fix the problem. But I heard stories of cats continuing their habbits of territorial peeing even after getting sprayed...

I did clean very well the places the cat peed on with enzymatic and bacteria product, I used a full bottle of it on the sofa, and let it dry for 36 hours, I even treated it again with half a bottle yesterday to be sure it's clean. Mina didn't go pee again on the sofa anyway. she didn't go to pee the same place again and again, she did in different places, beside the peed on the bed and house of Misty again.

About anxiety, the only thing I could see, is that me and my wife get a bit tired of her being in heat and meawing all night long... so maybe she feel we love more Misty than her these days... would that explain why she started to pee on the favourite sleeping places of Misty?

Thanks,

David.

my cat sprayed and peed all over the house before she was spayed. it does happen, more with males, but females do it too.

the first step to trying to stop the problem is to spay her and you are going to do that. when you take her in talk to the vet and tell him that see has been peeing and while it could just be because she isn't spayed, it has happened mroe now then ever before and you would like him to check her for a urinary tract infection too.