Litter box issues

[cleopurrtra]

I'm having some real trouble with my 9-month old female cat.

Currently, she will use her litter box half the time, and the other half of the time she is relieving herself all over the house, mostly in my roommates bedroom. We have another kitten (about 5 months old) who does not have this problem and uses the litter box every time.

My cat has been in heat lately and has an appointment to be spayed in 2 weeks. Could the problem be that she isn't spayed yet? Any advice on getting her to use the litter box instead of the carpet?

 

[random gemini]

She more than likely has a UTI. You need to get her to the vet and get her on antibiotics. Also, you should wait until her heat is done before you spay her. You could cause her incontinence issues for the rest of her life, if you spay before that heat is over. Generally, you spay before a heat, or after a heat, not during. Most vets will tell you that it's no problem to spay while an animal is in heat, and this is not true. You might want to reschedule that appointment until your little miss is out of diapers. 

 

[di and bob]

A cat in heat will definitely urinate everywhere, and will very quickly come in to heat again until she is pregnant. Getting her spayed should take care of her problem. Cats can be spayed at a lot younger age, 4 months wouldn't have been too early. You may have to invest in a good enzyme cleaner so they don't smell those spots and cover them again. Good luck!

 

[cleopurrtra]

She isn't in heat right now. Her heat cycle just ended. 

I find a UTI to be unlikely due to her diet, but I will check out that possibility.

 

[random gemini]

Then I would move up that spay surgery to as soon as you can. 

So far, Nature's Miracle has worked well for me for cleaning those urine spots. You have to follow the directions on the bottle and I would follow it up with a steam cleaning of your entire carpets where she's made messes, either with a machine you own, or one you rent from the grocery, with a little of the enzyme cleaner in the machine for good measure. 

 

[cleopurrtra]

Another thing I've noticed is the past few days she will just go right in front of you while you are watching her. This morning she tried to go in my closet while I was standing there playing with her. What's up with that? She didn't seem to have litter box problems for the first couple months I had her, and then all of a sudden she won't use it.

 

[betsygee]

 
A cat in heat will definitely urinate everywhere, and will very quickly come in to heat again until she is pregnant. Getting her spayed should take care of her problem. Cats can be spayed at a lot younger age, 4 months wouldn't have been too early. You may have to invest in a good enzyme cleaner so they don't smell those spots and cover them again. Good luck!

This is good advice.  

 

[neato]

 
Another thing I've noticed is the past few days she will just go right in front of you while you are watching her. This morning she tried to go in my closet while I was standing there playing with her. What's up with that? She didn't seem to have litter box problems for the first couple months I had her, and then all of a sudden she won't use it.

I'm a new cat owner, but I had an ex with 3 cats, and when one of his cats started peeing right in front of us after perfect litter box use, it wound up being a UTI.