[Jamm]

Jesse is going to be 8yrs old in June. He has always been a VERY clean cat (we have had him since he was a kitten) he never missed the litter box and never ever had an accident. Our second year in this new house he has started to pee at the front door whenever we left. Separation anxiety we thought? We would clean it, bleach it, then clean it with natures miracle. Recently it is happening a lot more. The other day we found pee in the upstairs washroom, and just now I found some at the front door again. Is this medical or behavioural?! He has 1 litter box that is cleaned every other day. It is the same litter he has used his entire life, nothing new or different has changed. I can't even say it was bringing Joey into the home because we have had Joey for a year and it is starting now. Any thoughts? Should we bring him to the vet? Thanks all.

 

[Rainheart]

Usually when a cat pees outside the box, it is a behavioral problem. Though, you do want to check a for a UTI to be sure.

 

[3goldens]

my thoughts and I have 4 indoor kitties, one of which started peeing right in front of the door First have a pee sample evaluated, mine did have a UTI.

Second, even tho you only have 1 litter box and 1 cat,,,get another litter box..I have two downstairs, two upstairs...IF you think he's maybe have anxiety, and does in front of the door when you leave,,try putting a litter box right there when you do leave...Also, I would scoop daily, kitties tend to not want to go in used litter boxes, so I scoop mine daily..

First tho, definately have him checked for a uti,,mine didn't act sick, but she did have a uti...

 

[VickiR]

I agree to check for UTI and you might also want to avoid using bleach.
Cats tend to be attracted to it.
Try Nature's Miracle or some other stain and odor remover.

 

[Jamm]

THank you all. I called the vet and we are going in today at 240. They are going to check everything out. If it is behavioural I have no idea WHY as nothing new has happened. I will also get another litterbox for him.

 

[boomers_dawn]

Oh boy, cats, they just do not care.

I actually paid for a behavioural consult for my former cat who peed on every carpet of every place we ever lived in, my car, under the Christmas tree, etc...

First, you have to rule out medical problems.

Second, the behavioral vet said peeing is never an act of spite, it is caused by anxiety. I was encouraged to look around for sources of anxiety. Are there windows that other animals could be upsetting your cat through?

We also were in a new home that was much bigger than he was used to.
The vet said to make the cat feel more secure, try restricting him to one floor and use shades or whatever to block out windows or doors where there might be a view of something stressful or scary.

Restricting my former cat to a smaller area of the house did the trick for us.
I hope this helps, good luck.

 

[Megora]

Good luck.... it is probably stress. I hope it's something that fixes on its own. Our first cat would just mark when whatever was stressing him was around. Like cats on his property. He would spray windows and doorways. And anything near them.

But if it doesn't settle down, I can definitely say that kitty prozac helps, and you don't have to keep them on it long term.

Our current cat would and will mark laundry and other strong smelling spots around the house. If strangers visited the house, cats were on his property, I killed him for knocking bird cages over and running around with my birds in his mouth... etc.

It usually takes only 1-2 days of prozac to make him forget about whatever is bothering him and get things back to normal.

 

[Nyahsmommy]

I agree with the others, I would definately get him checked for a UTI. Cats also get finicky... I would definately scoop out the litter box once a day minimum. With two kittens I have been cleaning it out 3-5 times a day. They won't use it until it is clean... in fact they wait for me to clean it and hop right it and mess it up again.

 

[Jamm]

Thanks guys. We are back from the vet awaiting the call to see what the pee said. For the time being we have closed him off to one area for 10 days and we are going to see how that goes. The vet mentioned other cats outside and there are three strays/outdoor cats so maybe that is whats bothering him. If it his behavioural we are going to section off the front hall and the upstairs washroom after the 10days and hopefully that will work. I'm also going to add another litter box upstairs, and one of those ferimone spray things to calm him. If that fails the vet did say we could medicate him and she did mention prozac. Thank you guys for all the advice.

 

[Jamm]

Okay YAY!!! Vet just called and Jesse indeed has crystals! he has 3+... whatever that means. So we are still sectioning him off to a spot and I am still going to get a second litter box, as well as a different one for his main one. I'm going later to get some wet food for him and then he will be on a urinary care food. Does anyone know any good urinary foods? :S Thanks everyone again<3

 

[iansgran]

Hope that is the answer and it all works out. Had cats most of my life and have had numerous issues with the peeing.