We are having an issue with our cat Rory where he keeps on spraying pee in inappropriate places with increasing frequency.
For context, he often sprays when using the litter box. He sometimes gets attacked by our other cat in the litter box, which most likely increases stress. However, this issue had mainly been confined to the litter boxes until recently, with only the occasional spray elsewhere. But for the past two weeks or so, he has started peeing almost every night in our back enclosed stairwell. The frequency seems to be increasing as the weather is getting nicer. We think maybe he's extra agitated these days because of the nice weather, because he wants to go outside. We used to let Rory out once a day on a supervised walk, but had to stop because he was walking too far/almost had a lily exposure incident. We are trying to make a concerted effort to play with him more, to relieve some of this stress.
Any advice on ways to address this issue? We try to clean the areas with enzyme spray and hydrogen peroxide but are unable to get all of the smell out. We've used the Feliway diffuser in the past, but it didn't seem to make a huge difference and there seems to be some design flaws with the plug-in overheating.
He was also just at the vet recently, and blood tests looked good, so we doubt it's a health issue. He did get his anal glands expressed during that visit.
The downstairs neighbor also has a cat, so it could be related to that, but they are usually not let out. It’s also possible that a feral cat is peeing on our building outside, but the first floor is somewhat elevated, so it's uncertain if Rory would notice this.
Any insight would be appreciated!
For context, he often sprays when using the litter box. He sometimes gets attacked by our other cat in the litter box, which most likely increases stress. However, this issue had mainly been confined to the litter boxes until recently, with only the occasional spray elsewhere. But for the past two weeks or so, he has started peeing almost every night in our back enclosed stairwell. The frequency seems to be increasing as the weather is getting nicer. We think maybe he's extra agitated these days because of the nice weather, because he wants to go outside. We used to let Rory out once a day on a supervised walk, but had to stop because he was walking too far/almost had a lily exposure incident. We are trying to make a concerted effort to play with him more, to relieve some of this stress.
Any advice on ways to address this issue? We try to clean the areas with enzyme spray and hydrogen peroxide but are unable to get all of the smell out. We've used the Feliway diffuser in the past, but it didn't seem to make a huge difference and there seems to be some design flaws with the plug-in overheating.
He was also just at the vet recently, and blood tests looked good, so we doubt it's a health issue. He did get his anal glands expressed during that visit.
The downstairs neighbor also has a cat, so it could be related to that, but they are usually not let out. It’s also possible that a feral cat is peeing on our building outside, but the first floor is somewhat elevated, so it's uncertain if Rory would notice this.
Any insight would be appreciated!
