Is it spraying or another

I need help! I recently got a 2-year old short-hair female cat(she's fixed) two months ago. And I have recently noticed this cat has been urinating on the bathroom's mat. She does it whenever she sees it! I'll remove the mat ,wash it thoroughly, and place it back on the floor, and she'll do it again! Two weeks ago she actually urinated on my bedspread.

Not only does she urinates in weird places, but she meows and cries in the middle of the night as well. She's been very picky about her food too. She doesn't eat dry, ground, chicken, turkey, or fish food. She only eats shredded beef. She doesn't even like fancy feast!

When I took her for a checkup, the vet said she's healthy!

Lately I have been removing the mat whenever I am finished with it and putting up with other things the best way I can. But this is not acceptable. I'm really thinking about taking her back to the ASPCA and leaving her there because she is really difficult to live with. I have been brought up with cats all my life, and never have I seen a cat that acts like this. I don't attack her, or abuse her. So she shouldn't be stressed out for any reason. I always show her loads of attention, and I even treat her like a roommate.

Next week, I am going to take her back to the vet. If the vet tells me she is healthy again, then the only thing I can do is take her back to the ASPCA and let them take care of her. I know this sounds mean, but I really believe I cannot help her unless someone gives me some good advice! Please help!

If the vet said the cat is ok, I'm guessing he/she made sure the cat didn't have a UTI (cats will often urintate in weird places when they have an infection)?? Did the vet not have any suggestions at all for your predicament? If this vet is not a cat only vet, you could try one of those instead of going back to the same vet again.

If she mostly goes on the bathroom mat, have you used a special cleaner to get rid of the urine smell? Even though you can't smell it, the cat may still smell it. Maybe you could buy a new mat, or even use a towel for now to see if she likes the spot or has a thing for the mat.

Does the cat sense other cats around? Some cats can be very territorial or upset by the presence of other cats (even those who lurk outside of a home).

The other thing that comes to mind is that the cat may have a psychological issue. Just because you think she doesn't have a reason to be stressed doesn't mean she isn't stressed. She might be taking a long time to adjust to the surroundings. You could try giving the cat a herbal remedy to attempt to calm her:

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...?threadid=7587

As for the food, try not to change her food too often. You could try to leave some hard food out for a few days to see if she'll eventually eat. Cats can be stubborn but a healthy cat won't let itself starve (they sometimes will hold out for three days!). She should be drinking water though.

The vet is from ASPCA, but I have never asked if she only treats cats. When I took her to the vet, it was before the problem. (At least I hope so)

I have tried new mats, and towels, however she does the same thing. I have even seen her do it once. - When she urinates on the mat, she treats it as if she's using the cat litter box (she tries to scratch the mat over the mess). It appears as if she prefers to urinate on the rug instead urinating in the litter box. I clean the box everyday by scooping. When it is to dirty, I change the cat litter completely. I have even tried different cat litters too, to correct the problem. But I am going to take her to the vet to see if she has an infection.

We haven't had any other cats in the home for years.

Regarding the food, Do you think I should leave the food there for two-three days? But would she get sick for not eating for such a long period of time? Also when I leave her food that she doesn't like she gets upset and gives a nasty meow when you pass her, and some times tries to nip me on my ankle.

Don't get me wrong, she is a very affectionate cat, she's really out-going! It appears that the previous owner treated her very affectionate but wasn't careful when it came to potty training and eating habits.

Here is what I would do. First off wash the matt and add only 2 cups of vinegar to the wash cycle and no detergent. Instead of putting the mat in the dryer, let it air dry for a few days.

Stop giving the kitty a choice of food for her to eat. Set out a small amount of good dry food and leave it out and give her nothing else. She will not starve and she will eat when she is hungry and realizes that there is nothing else available.

At night when she cries, what do you do? Pick her up and pet her, put her next to you? Feed her? I know this is hard, but try to ignore her for the first couple of nights when she cries. Use earplugs to sleep if you have to, but don't give her attention or the cries will not stop. To this day, my father will get up 3 times a night to feed Bootsy a cat he rescued a few years ago. Now Boots always has food down and water, but my father will open a can of food and if Boots only eats a few bites, my father will throw the food away and open another can. I swear my mom's pantry looks like a grocery store with all the brands of food they buy.

I have 9 cats and none of mine like Fancy Feast, it is really junk and made only to make money and not to be very nutritrious. I get my dry food at Costco- Kirkland is the name of the brand I feed. All my cats are healthy and not neurotic like Boots happens to be. Good luck!

Thanks so much for the advice. I'm going to try both.

If there is no physical problem like a urinary infection, stress is the most likely cause. But, I would also like to say, not to blame the previous owner for not "training" her properly. I've had my cat since she was a kitten, and despite all I have tried, she still pees on bathroom mats, the dogs' bed and other similar places. She just seems to like them, even though she will use the litter box most of the time. This is something that I have just learned to live with. Knowing she has this problem, I know that no one else is likely to want her, and I wouldn't give her up for anything anyway. I just manage it- I can do without bathroom mats, and the dogs never really liked their bed anyway. At least with my cat, she seems to do this when she is stressed about something- me being away too much in her opinion, for example. I know this is an annoying problem, but at least it's easily remedied by not having things around that she's likely to pee on, and I think that is a small price to pay for such a lovely cat.


She also had a period of peeing on the sofa almost every day when my new cat had her first heat, she was probably stressed due to that, but the peeing stopped when the younger cat was spayed AND I changed the litter, got two covered boxes (there had been only one covered and two uncovered ones) for the cats to use. She had had the same litter for years, but it seems that the new litter was more to her liking anyway, even though she'd never seemed to care about the kind of litter I used before, hadn't made any difference in her peeing habits before. Hmmm... Maybe I could try putting down a bathroom mat, to see if the change in litter made a difference in that regard, too. Who knows? Anyhow, thought I'd tell you "my story", so you'd see you're not alone. Even if mine isn't exactly encouraging regarding stopping this behavior, I know that many kitties have stopped peeing outside the litter box.

I would try cleaning the area on the floor, underneath the mat, w/a cleaner designed to neutralize the pet odor. You may not be able to smell it, but she can. I use Petzyme cleaner.

Another idea is to put her litterbox on top of the spot in the bathroom where she is going.

Is the cat declawed? Sometimes that causes litterbox aversion. I would also take her to a vet that specializes in cats.

Try and give her catfood only. When she is hungry she will eventually eat. Trust me she will not allow herself to starve to death.

Don't give up! Moving is very stressful on cats. She has to adjust to new people, noises, and smells. I'm sure she will come around if you just give her time and she will love you even more for not giving up on her.

-safron

Originally posted by mcfaddendeed766
The vet is from ASPCA, but I have never asked if she only treats cats. When I took her to the vet, it was before the problem. (At least I hope so)

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If the vet didn't know the cat had a problem, by all means call the vet and let her know what's been happening. The vet may have suggestions for some tests to run to make sure the cat isn't ill. As I mentioned earlier, cats can act oddly when they have infections.

If the cat is given a clean bill of health, then you can go ahead with the other suggestions.

Hope it works out for you and your cat!

Tigger will pee on the leather furniture every once in a while, but that is only when the litterbox gets stinky (not that I don't clean it out, but from the urine smell). She did it the other day. I took her to the vet, but they found nothing wrong. So, I believe it's either
1.) she does it because she smells it in the couch
2.) she wants attention
3.) dirty box.

I would take your to the vet to rule out a UTI.

I agree. If you didn't specifically ask the vet to check for a UTI, then it is very unlikely that a test was run. So, please take her back to the vet for a new exam.

Also...there is something about the rubber backing on bath mats that is attractive to some cats. Try a mat without the rubber backing. Also, when you're done with your shower, put the mat on the edge of the tub. This will keep her off of it.