2 Months Old Kitty Peeing Everywhere

[Eezo]

Hello guys Before I trouble you with the actual problem I'm having, let me give you a bit of a background first.

I adopted a very young kitten about a month ago and we estimate that by now it's about 2.5 months old. It's a male. When he first came into my home, he was such a good little boy, asking for a lot of contact but also sleeping and resting a lot. He got his parasite paste and got washed and all that, and he's looking healthy. The vet looked at him and confirmed that he's healthy and strong. He uses his litterbox regularly. He even switched from bentonite to wooden pellets with ease. I keep it clean, sift it every other day, take out the solid waste twice a day. I don't wash it with anything that contains ammonia, and I wash it monthly.

He eats Orijen dehydrated catfood now, I mix it with cooked liver and egg sometimes as well as wet foods for cats. He has different toys - mice (which he loves), balls, scratching post where he can climb, pinecone wands that I made etc, so he's not bored when I'm not around.

So as you can see, he is being taken care of with a lot of love and dedication.

Now for the tricky part. I work 8 hours a day and live alone. He doesn't mind that time because whenever I come back home, it's intact - everything is where it's supposed to be. Whenever I come home I take care of his needs and play with him for at least half an hour up to an hour but he never tires, and I do. So I thought, ok energetic cat, it's nature.

However, when and if I don't pay attention to him or reprimand him for say - sticking his nose into my coffee cup or my plate and put him down to the floor, he pees. He peed in my lazy bag, on the cushions on my chairs, anywhere. And I reprimand him for that (I use the water sprinkler) but it just doesn't work. He does that out of... spite? I know cats don't have that emotion but still, looks like that.

Vet suggested adding valerian root into his water every 24 hours, but it doesn't work. He doesn't care about valerian at all. Or catnip. He's completely resistant.

If you have any suggestions please let me know... I'm at the end of my wit. I don't want to give him away but I will have to if this continues :/ I will have him sterilized after his re-vac, but until then I don't know what to do.

And by the way - his instincts couldn't have kicked in yet, and it's not spraying. It's definitely urine.

Thank you in advance!

 

[ArtNJ]

If you are actually using outside "sprinklers" -- in suburban US we usually use this to refer to the things that water the lawn -- to discipline a tiny kitten, quite possible he is afraid of you getting mad. But I'm pretty sure you just meant a little squirt, so its probably not that. Still: (1) make sure you are not stressing him out -- a loud "No" is about all you should do for training on important issues only (like no biting); (2) clean with an enzyme cleaner; (3) make sure there is nothing soft on the floor like a gym bag, laundry or a bath mat & exclude entirely from your bedroom or put the comforter in the closet when not in use; and (4) use a blacklight to investigate whether the accidents are really only when your home -- I tend to doubt it, but the answer to that will give you a clue as to what is going on.

Kitten could have a UTI or crystals potentially - has vet checked for that? Or maybe he just never got fully litter trained in the first place since he was separated prematurely from mom. If blacklight shows a lot more spots than you were aware of, consider confining to the safe room for a few days to retrain.

 

[Eezo]

No it isn't, you're right He doesn't have health issues - he was checked thoroughly just past Saturday. As I said, he uses his litter regularly, he buries his excrement and pees there as well. It is never full, I'm taking care of that because I know some cats are neat and opinionated about that. It literally happens when I 1) squirt water at him when he's misbehaving (you're right, it's not an outdoor sprinkler, my bad), 2) when I put him down from the desk if ImI drinking coffee/eating etc and 3) when I don't pay attention to him (at 6AM when InI trying to catch some sleep usually) or after we're dine playing and I'm trying to do something else around the apartment. I think this is not so much related to his litterbox training as much as it's spite or what he perceives as lack of attention

 

[RajaNMizu]

Hi there Eezo, sorry your baby is having these problems. As you can see, squirting your kitten with a sprayer is only making him afraid of you and not doing anything to create the behavior you're looking for. Have you considered feeding your kitten more wet food in their diet? Sometimes these issues can be solved by changing their diet to something with more water in it. As for misbehaving, I find it easier to create a distraction rather than discipline. Bring a toy to a new location can work or putting a treat in a puzzle feeder can disrupt what they were doing previously.

 

[di and bob]

Cats DO experience fear and stress however. A young kitten like you are describing is NOT doing the peeing to spite you, you are right on that score. He is peeing because he loves you, you frightened him badly(cats do not respond to physical punishment like dogs, they are not pack animals and live to please, they just become scared of you.) and he is peeing on your things to comfort himself and re-enforce that you are his and he is yours. He is hurt and frightened and confused. The next time he does something you don't like, take him by the scruff of the neck holding him still, and say NO loudly or even hiss. That is what mama cats do to discipline, and it is something he understands instinctively. If the peeing doesn't stop after trying this, it may be time to keep him in a much smaller area with his litter box until he is retrained to use it consistently. Do you have at least two litter boxes at both ends of the house? A kittens bladder is very small, many times they can't make it back to the litter box in time. It may be a good idea to have two anyway with his old litter brand or at least a different kind, if kittens don't like their litter, even if they force themselves to use it once in a while, they still will pee elsewhere. Two boxes may seem like an adventure and he may see them easier and want to use.
Kittens are a LOT of work. they are young, so very energetic, and so full of exploring, things like this pop up all the time. They are a whirlwind of action and need lots of patience and understanding. Take comfort in knowing eventually he will turn into the well behaved cat you dreamed of, after toddlerhood and those teenage years!

 

[Eezo]

Thank you guys! I really appreciate your time to consider and reply to my inquiry. I made him a puzzle feeder today with an old decorative birdcage and a pinecone on a thread in the middle, with treats inside and it looks like he loves it I will try to subtly adjust his diet and change my training methods.

Also, my apartment is really small, and he darts from the toilet to the living room so quickly, he definitely doesn't need two litterboxes... But if it continues I will purchase another.

I'll update the thread in a few days with the results

 

[maggiedemi]

I agree about adding more canned food to his diet. This helped my boy cat with his urinary problems.

 

[Eezo]

Well I just wanted to update you guys on our progress - Poe stopped peeing everywhere. He is regularly using his litterbox and has no issues with it.

I introduced him with more toys that keep him busy (most of which I make myself), a new scratch post and I adjusted his diet.

He is still incredibly energetic, fussy and demanding. He makes the weirdest sounds but he's growing healthy

I think he's about to lose his baby teeth as he chews at everything he can get his paws on, but I learned how to control that as well.

It just took incredible amount of patience.

Thanks again for your advice guys!

 

[maggiedemi]

Yay! That's wonderful.