<p>About five years ago I adopted a female, adult, special needs cat. The cat had been abused and, as a result, suffered some bouts of extreme shyness - hiding, running from strangers - but nothing resembling what she’s up to now.</p>
<p>Of course, with a lot of TLC, my cat has become a wonderful companion. Unfortunately, in the past year or so, she’s begun peeing all over the house. She mostly pees on our couch - which we cover with shower curtains when not home - and our bed. </p>
<p>We’ve had a roommate for the first time since we’ve had our cat. We’ve lived together since, roughly, the peeing started. Two vets maintain that there’s nothing physically wrong with our cat. Is it possible that she rejects the roommate and reacts by peeing?</p>
<p>Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Cats are bright creatures and since your little lady had been abused earlier in life, it is possible that the roommate reminds her of the person (people) who hurt her. She feels secure now and is “getting back” at the abuser.
We had a small girl whose behavior was very similar to your cat and we also put in the time to reassure her and make her feel safe. This past spring, she began to flood an area in one room, without warning and without cause. We dealt with her by placing her in the powder room when we were not home or at night. She had her little bed, food and water and seemed to be pleased to have her own “room”- we came to the conclusion that she felt threatened by the two (neutered) male cats. This “time alone” gave her the chance to feel free to do whatever she wished and the peeing stopped.
Her behavior could simply be the result of advanced age, which is eventually what happened with our little Sophie. Unfortunately, her health deteriorated to the point where her quality of life was no longer good, so putting her down was the best thing to do. I do have some suggestions/questions about your cat and hopefully, we can turn this around for her, and you!
Does she pee outside of her box every day or is it sporadic? Is her litter box completely clean (we use a metal one, which doesn’t retain odors and can be disinfected if need be)? Have you changed litter near the time when her actions changed? It could be that she doesn’t like her litter and changing to an unscented, low-dust, clumping type such as Fresh Step might help her. Try more than one litter box also, so that she has one nearby and consider placing one close to say, the couch, moving it a bit farther away each day until it is where you want it. You could try putting her in the bathroom when you are not home, which gives you some control over her access. If she doesn’t mind other cats, she might enjoy a younger female companion- but I’d wait on that until you see if you can get the peeing issue resolved. As an old vet-tech (first career!), those are the things I’d begin with- make sure that you have those enzyme cleaners to use and if you can, get a hand steamer, which will really help to kill the odor. She will keep returning to the same places unless you can break the cycle, which I’m sure you know. Start with the litter and extra boxes and with confining her when you are not at home. Please, feel free to PM me if there is anything else you can think of about her and I’d like to know how she’s doing.
PS- if all else fails, get rid of the roommate!! Seriously, if the roomie is gone for a week or so, does her behavior improve?</p>
<p>MM has some great suggestions. I’ll just add one that my vet and I recently discussed - cats don’t like covered litter boxes. She says covers are for people, not cats, and that cats like big, open boxes that they can move and dig around in.</p>
<p>You didn’t mention if her box is covered or not, but it was a simple fix for my 16 year old cats. I also try to keep it really, really clean.</p>
<p>Often this is the sign of a urinary tract infection.
I agree about the covered boxes- although my daughter and son manage to use them with their cats. We put our litter box under an open laundry room sink (no cabinet- open on 3 sides, and they refused to go in it! It has to be moved out in front of the sink. Little sh1t$!</p>
<p>Thanks for all the great, thorough replies!</p>
<p>Her litter box is uncovered though it is plastic - maybe we’ll try metal. We keep it very clean.</p>
<p>Two vets have told us, independent of one another, that there’s nothing physically wrong with her.</p>
<p>Our roommate never leaves. He literally hasn’t spent one night away since we’ve lived together. We are, however, moving to a new place in a few months. Our new apartment will include no roomies. Fingers crossed!</p>
<p>has the cat spent time outdoors? our vet says problems like you are having are a sign that the cat wants to be an outdoor cat and not live indoors.</p>
<p>I am going to suggest Feliway or a Calming Collar. These are products that work by emitting phernomes analogous to the nursing mother cat. The cat picks up on the phernomes and feels like they are back home with mommy when everything was safe and wonderful.</p>
<p>I know it sounds like just so much hocus pocus … but it really seems to work. I sell a lot of this stuff in the shop to repeat customersI personally would go with the Feliway plug in. You won’t smell it. It comes in plug-in, sprays, and wipes. There’s another brand with impregnated collars.</p>
<p>If you need more info, feel free to PM me. The items should be available from your vet or pet shop – any of the independent shops can order this and get it with their regular deliveries if they aren’t stocking it.</p>
<p>We do use Feliway and have had pretty good results. By that, I mean that slightly less peeing. I doubt she wants to be an outdoor cat. Even if she did, the city environment isn’t condusive/safe to outdoor life. Our area is infamous for dogfighting and wandering animals, unfortunately, can be used for baiting. That’s a whole 'nother problem.</p>
<p>I may’ve forgotten to mention this. She’s almost eleven years old and we’ve never, until right around the time we got a roommate, had a problem with peeing.</p>
<p>My parents had a male cat that began spraying, the Vet said it was when he was upset/scared and he was marking his territory. They put him on kitty tranquilizers for a while. I think it helped. They also told my mom to spray lemon scented oil/spray where the cat had sprayed so he wouldn’t spray there again.</p>