Cat Peeing on All Fabric

[tadydid]

I have a 7 year old, female cat that has been peeing on things for a few years now.  It's mostly dirty clothes that spill out of the hamper in our basement, but she'll sometimes go on other cloth-like or squishy things: for example, she's ruined a beanbag chair and a pair of faux-suede boots of mine, and I've had to wash our slippers and a few pillows multiple times.  It's been really annoying but my husband and I love her dearly so we've just been putting up with it and keeping our clothes off the floor as much as possible.  We've finally hit our wit's end today.  She climbed into my husband's underwear drawer and peed on everything, which he didn't realize until he was at work and smelled like cat urine until he could change.  How can we get her to stop?  We've tried showing her her litter and try to keep it clean, but what else can we do?

A little more information: she's been to the vet and does not have a UTI or any other urinary problems as far as we know.  We have two cats and three litter boxes.  The cats do not get along, but it's mostly our other cat that doesn't like this one so I don't think it's behavioral in that sense.  She's a sweet little girl, loves to play, and is affectionate to a fault (she likes my husband more than me and the other cat likes me more than him, lol).  She'll poop in her litter, she just won't pee in it.  Any insight on what we can possibly do to fix the problem would be great!

 

[bestdayever]

this woman's setup was very helpful for her cats. Hope this helps.

 

[burt46]

That video has some great advice- I'm going to try her method myself. I need to replace the litter more often and use less.

Some other things you could try:

Add more litter boxes
Try a different brand/type of litter
Try stress relieving methods- feliway or some Jackson Galaxy aromatherapy
Check for any cats or other animals that are outside, could be a territorial reaction (although actually climbing up and peeing in an underwear drawer is something I've never heard of before)

Kudos to you and your husband for being so patient, going to work and finding out you smell like cat pee is the worst.

Maybe you could try puppy pads for a while? If you're kitty will go on them that would be better than your clothes and furniture. I used to have a suede futon in college and my cat would go number two ALL over it. Something about that material and the height of the futon.

Maybe taking some clothing that smells like you or your husband and putting that in or near the litterbox to encourage the transition.

Good luck!

 

[bestdayever]

B burt46

Yes 3.5 to 4 inches of litter is key. I haven't had to change to litter in months with this method. Urine clumps into a ball and doesn't stick to the bottom of the box. One time it was on the side of the box so I used her tap method and it worked great.

 

[dhammagirl]

I checked out the video, and this is what I've always done, just because having a deeper level of litter works better. I scoop all five boxes daily. And I actually rarely do the thing of dumping out all the litter, cleaning the box and filling with new litter. The litter boxes do not stink. Any stink comes from the bag holding the scooped clumps and poops. Doing that once every week or so, as some recommend, would get expensive.
We developed a serious peeing all over the house problem when we got a third cat, so it's an issue of territory and
"I don't like you!" between the kitties. We tried Feliway, Jackson Galaxy's herbal remedies, and soo many other things, with mixed results. Different things will work for different cats and situations. I highly recommend using underpads, which are like pee pads for chairs and beds for people with incontinence issues. I get them at Sam's. They have no attractant like peepads for pets. I put them on the spots that have been repeatedly peed on. I tape the pad partway up the wall, or side of the furniture, like an "L". This way, you can see if the pee has been sprayed, as marking behavior, or it's just on the pad part covering the floor. This protects the floor/furniture, and helps make cleanup easier. It also makes it easier to find pee. We have wood floors, and often you can't see the pee until it's soaked into the wood. Various enzymes and urine destroyers have been used. We've spent a fortune and much time trying to resolve the issue. I sympathize with your situation. Just keep trying. [emoji]128512[/emoji] We've made the situation much better by letting outside two of the three cats, giving Prozac to the main offender (controversial, a last desperate measure, but it helped tremendously!) and keeping underpads on the spots that are prone to marking.
Good Luck! [emoji]128568[/emoji]