# HELP!! my cat keeps peeing in the house.



## snickers0801 (Dec 25, 2008)

Can someone please give me some advice. My cat Snickers keeps peeing in the house, and my mom says if she doesn't quite, she is going to throw outside. Any advice on how to get her to stop peeing in the house?


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## cjh27 (Feb 23, 2009)

Hi snickers,

I'm finding it a bit hard to answer to your question as you've hardly given any information about your cat and its peeing, would you mind answering a few questions, please?


Have you seen the vets about this to rule out struvit or a urinary tract infection? You probably wouldn't notice if your cat was sick because cats are masters in hiding their pain.

Has your cat been neutered? How old is he or she? Any known medical problems?

Indoor or indoor/ outdoor cat?

Do you have any other cats? If yes- how do they get on with each other? Any fights been taking place lately?

Have any other causes of stress or changes in your house hold recently taken place? For example building work?

How many kitty loos of what kind do you have, how often are they cleaned? Where in the house are they?

Where does she pee? horizontal or vertical survaces? Normal amounts of pee or just some drops?

How often has this happened?

Is the cat told of when it pees out side of its box? If yes- how is this done?

What do you use to clean away the pee?

Christine


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

Those are excellent question that will help us answer. In the areas your cat has peed in be sure and use an enzyme cleaner to remove the scent. Plus spray feliway spray on the area also. 

Answering the questions help find the root of the cats motivation to pee outside its box.

Please do not let your mother throw the cat out. It will meet a horrible death if you do. Nothing could be more cruel than abandoning a pet. If you feel you don’t want a cat find a no kill shelter or no kill rescue to take it.


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## snickers0801 (Dec 25, 2008)

Have you seen the vets about this to rule out struvit or a urinary tract infection? You probably wouldn't notice if your cat was sick because cats are masters in hiding their pain.
We have not been to see the vet.

Has your cat been neutered? How old is he or she? Any known medical problems?
No known medical problems, she is about a year old, and she has not been neutered.

Indoor or indoor/ outdoor cat?
Indoor cat.

Do you have any other cats? If yes- how do they get on with each other? Any fights been taking place lately?
We do have one more cat but she is outside.

Have any other causes of stress or changes in your house hold recently taken place? For example building work?
We have been finishing the basement.

How many kitty loos of what kind do you have, how often are they cleaned? Where in the house are they?

Where does she pee? horizontal or vertical survaces? Normal amounts of pee or just some drops?
She pees in the living room on only two blankets, vertical surfaces, and it is normal amounts of pee.

How often has this happened?
Any time we let her up.

Is the cat told of when it pees out side of its box? If yes- how is this done?
Yes. We scold her and put her in the basement where her box is.

What do you use to clean away the pee?
We usually use this odor elliminating spray.


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## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

Mitts & Tess said:


> Please do not let your mother throw the cat out. It will meet a horrible death if you do. Nothing could be more cruel than abandoning a pet.


Now, now, that language is a bit alarmist, don't you think? We don't know much about the circumstances. As you see, there is another cat living outside. They might live in the country. And "throw the cat out" might just mean making the cat live outside _which is exactly what I had to do and still do with my cat_. Coming to those conclusions is a bit premature, I'd think.


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## cjh27 (Feb 23, 2009)

Hi,

thanks for answering the questions  

So the box is in the basement where the building work is taking place? Try to remember, has her peeing coincided with the work done in the basement? This sounds like a very likely cause of your problem, maybe your cat doesn't consider the basement as safe anymore and doesn't feel like she can use the box down there.

*I'd strongly recomend you to buy a second box and place this somewhere upstairs.*, find a quiet corner where she won't feel bothered.

Some cats also like to have two boxes- one for urine and one for the other job- maybe your cat is trying to tell you that it won't use one box for both anymore or that the box in the basement isn't cleared out often enough for her. 


Your cat could also have a medical problem. If it hurts a cat to pee they associate this pain with the litter box and start avoiding to box in an attempt to avoid the pain. In other words- go to the vets and have an urine sample tested.

When you scold her and tell her of- is this only done if she is caught in the act? If no it won't do any good at all. Your cat won't really understand what you are trying to say to her- she'll just start feeling uncomfortable around you as she doesn't really understand why she is being scolded. 

Personaly I wouldn't scold a cat for not using the box- normally cats are very clean animals, if they are not this usually means they are deeply distressed.

The odor eliminating spray- how does it work? Does it just cover up the smell or does it biodegrade the urine? If it just covers up the smell it isn't that great- your cats nose will still be able to pick up the scent of urine. You'd be better of using a detergent that degrades the urine- here in Germany biodor and nodor are commony used; not sure what brands are available in the USA. 

I'd forgotten to ask you for how long you've been having this problem and how often it occurs.


It doesn't sound like she's marking due to her being in heat. (You should still get your cat neutered as this will protect her from contracting pyometra (a disease of the uterus) and considerably minimize her risk of having a mammary tumor later in life. Besides that it will save you from her screams when she's in heat :wink: )

Good luck,

Christine


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