Kitten owner's cat peeing problem need advise

[Angie Panczak]

Hi, below is from one of my kitten owners who bought male from me who is now 7 mos old. I recommended anti ichy poo to clean area with, but obvious to me is put your stuff away. My cats will be on dog beds etc. However, I was wondering if anyone had anymore advise on breaking the habit?

Shawn I bought Ratchet from you. I had some questions for you. He keeps peeing everywhere. If a jacket or towel or plastic bag gets left out on our boot room bench he pees on it. We have a towel that we cover our dogs kennel at night with and he's been peeing on it as well. We had him neutered over 6 weeks ago and it has just got worse. I'm afraid if we can't get this to stop very quickly he's going to have to go. Other than that he's a pretty good cat. I like all his traits. Well maybe other than his walking over the counter tops. Any suggestions? I will mention that I bought that anti spray stuff as well. Didn't help.

 

[Lori Greer]

Is the kitten neutered? How often are they cleaning his box?
I recommend they switch to Cat Attract litter and be sure the box is scooped daily at minimum. A second box would also be a good idea.

 

[Angie Panczak]

He was neutered 6 weeks ago. I'll let them know your suggestions

 

[Pam Flachs]

If they are washing the items---jackets, towels---that are being peed on, and they still retain the scent after laundering, the cat is going to smell it and continue to pee on it. Adding several cups of white vinegar to the wash load will help eliminate the odor, and not leave a vinegar scent. They should be washing the crate tops with vinegar, too. Maybe they could try using another material to cover the crates?

Your suggestion to keep everything picked up is a good one and a no-brainer. I've had a few cats who will pee on plastic bags. Certain plastic bags seem to contain an odor cats find irresistable; whether they like to lick the bags or pee on them.....but not both.

For what it's worth, a small sprinkling of ground black pepper on the boot room bench and towels covering the dog crates may well stop him from peeing there; it has worked for me for one particular spot in my home (the bottom shelf of a wooden storage unit). Since I sprinkled the pepper there, it has remained pee-free for months now.

If these suggestions, and Lori's suggestion of another litter box with Cat Attract don't work, they may have to contain him in a small room for a while to retrain him, but I think this is not an issue of him refusing to use the litter box to pee, but one of dominance, most likely directed at the dogs.

I would hate to see them give him up, especially for such an easily dealt with issue.

 

[Dantes]

Do they know *why* he is peeing? Is he sick? (UTI/Crystals/inflamed bladder) Is he only peeing outside the box or is he pooing too? Is he acting out/acting dominant? Is he afraid? Is another pet bothering him (they might not even notice)? Is his litterbox located next to something objectionable/noisy? Are there enough litterboxes and are they clean enough? Is the type of litter bothering him? Is the type of litterbox bothering him?

Dante (ragdoll) started this behavior at 6 months too. Turns out (2.5 years later) we figured out he was expressing dominance over the other cats as well as ME (which is why at one point he started peeing on me instead of just on my stuff). (at least that's the answer we've come up with for now) He *appears* to get along with the others (sleeping/grooming, etc), but then every once in a while, and only if you're looking for it, he gets aggressive with the others. Not saying that this is in the case of their kitten, but IMO until you figure out what's wrong with him (physical/psychological) you can't start fixing him, just covering up the results, which is a PITA.

 

[Pam Flachs]

Great suggestions, Dantes!

 

[Dantes]

One more thing to check: access to windows. You think they'd love to sit in a window and make noises at birds, but if the wrong creature ends up discovering the cat(s) in the window, the cat may start spraying/peeing around the house in an effort to dominate/guard its family. Something as simple as the guy next door with the leaf blower could be seen as an enemy to guard against.

 

[Becki]

I second the cat attract litter, and maybe go back to the isolation room with the litter box and start that process over after they rule out any health issues. Once he is using his box like a good boy in isolation, slowly increase his territory and ensure enough boxes are around. None of my kitties have ever liked covered boxes, they like the big, clear tote boxes instead. They are scoped multiple times daily, and wiped out every few weeks. I learned on here to replace them as the potty smell gets in the scratch marks and picky cats may object to that. The plastic bags should be a pick up only rule as they can get stuck in them, chew and swallow little plastic pieces, etc.

Perhaps he is protesting his name?

 

[Angie Panczak]

These are all good points. I know I once had a male neutered cat that always peed on one of my step kids stuff when she came over. Turned out the kid teased the cat and it was just stress.i know the family has kids so maybe it is acting out of stress? Even a dog who chases a cat can make the situation worse. There are so many reasons and without seeing first hand what a going on its hard to know. I hope they try all the suggestions. He is a nice big monster marble SV, so it won't be hard for me to help rehome, but would like to figure out the reason why he has been doing this first.

 

[Dantes]

I second the cat attract litter, and maybe go back to the isolation room with the litter box and start that process over after they rule out any health issues. Once he is using his box like a good boy in isolation, slowly increase his territory and ensure enough boxes are around. None of my kitties have ever liked covered boxes, they like the big, clear tote boxes instead. They are scoped multiple times daily, and wiped out every few weeks. I learned on here to replace them as the potty smell gets in the scratch marks and picky cats may object to that. The plastic bags should be a pick up only rule as they can get stuck in them, chew and swallow little plastic pieces, etc.

Perhaps he is protesting his name?

Honestly the cat attract litter never worked for me, especially if there was an underlying reason for litterbox avoidance, but it probably would work if he just wasn't educated enough (ie. never really learned litterbox habits or just formed bad habits that need to be straightened out).

Covered/uncovered box, door/no door/top entry/plain box, clay/wheat/whatever litter, and yeah bleaching every 2-3 weeks always seemed more important. Agree 100% a step back to the safe room could help. The safe room could be used as a time out place if he's caught in the act.

After the struggle with Dante, I know it takes a lot of effort to see a cat through these issues. You might need to figure out what their commitment level is, if they can't figure it out right away it might take time...although hopefully not 2.5 years. There have definitely been days when I've told Dante I was going to take him to the pound. Obviously I didn't, but my frustration was really at that level that I could have.