<p>Last summer, H helped out the neighbor by looking at an electrical outlet that had stopped working. When he took it apart, all the metalic pieces had rusted… She suspected (and then smelled)…it was cat pee. She’s a def “cat lady” and in these cats’ minds, I have no question that it was spite and malice. All of her cats are “fixed”.</p>
<p>^^I hope the kitty was not electrocuted while spraying that electrical outlet :eek:</p>
<p>Another cat lover chiming in here. If your kitty is indeed “clumsy and a bit dim” and you can’t solve the peeing problem any other way, I think it would be far kinder to give him a peaceful passing at the hands of your vet than to put him outdoors and subject him to the risk of being mauled by a dog or wild animal or struck by a car. He may not even be able to find his way home if he wanders. I believe that since animals have no fear of death, there is no cruelty in euthanizing them when there are no better solutions, and there should be no guilt involved in choosing that option.</p>
<p>Unfortunately have had this problem with three of our neutered male cats. The first two started doing it after a new cat was added to the house. It got so bad and had no success with products (ruled out medical issues) that they were put outside to live. That has been five years ago and they are still happy and healthy with access to a screened porch and woods to play in.</p>
<p>My d’s male cat started urinating on her (and mine when she was home) sofa when he had a UTI. He periodically does this when a UTI flares up again. My understanding is that they are having pain which they associate with the litter box and attempt to find somewhere to go where there isn’t pain. The following is a response from a professor at a vet school.
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<p>I hope that cat food is just for the cat!!</p>
<p>BB: yes, I agree that caging a cat is a last resort. The friend who did it used a LARGE cage (6x6x6 feet) and the cat was quite happy there. It was her mother’s cat; she took it in after her mother’s death and it did not get along with the dog either. The furniture scratching was the last straw, as far as my friend was considered.</p>
<p>We had a similar problems with one of our two male cats. Actually each had their own special problems. One would do exactly what you described in standing up to pee straight back (and over the side of the litter box). The other would pee in corners. We did find out he had crystals and had surgery about 18 months ago. The vet at the time put him on Science Diet KD but all that did was bloat him and make him lethargic.</p>
<p>We were at our wits end as well.</p>
<p>After lots of attempts to find solutions, we finally found a combination of the following that seems to have both boys happy for now:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>We use two rubber maid large storage high sided containers with a square hole cut out of the long end. The lid we use underneath as kind of a catch tray for stray litter and then use a rubble trash bag as a mat. We keep one box upstairs and one downstairs. As the cats have gotten a little older (they are 8) they find it sometimes difficult to go up and down the stairs or hold their pee to make it a long distance.</p></li>
<li><p>We scoop the litter twice at day and spray a papertowel and wipe down the sides with clorox multi-surface spray. The result is no smell to either us or our cats.</p></li>
<li><p>We use scent free arm and hammer litter</p></li>
<li><p>We use a combination of dry and wet catfood. We used Wellness brand Grain Free wet and Well ness dry. Each cat gets 1/2 can in the morning, 1/4 scoop of dry at dinner and 1/2 can before we go to bed</p></li>
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<p>The wellness wet cat food has plenty of moisture to keep our cats kidney’s healthy and the grain free helps with bloat and digestion issues. Occasionally we also add a tsp of plain pumpkin puree (NOT PIE MIX) to their wet cat food. We’ve stopped giving them any milk or people food.</p>
<p>Seems to have worked for about 8 months on this regime.</p>
<p>Here’s wishing you luck in solving your cat’s problems. I would advise taking him to see a vet to rule out any issues but be aware sometimes they don’t give the best advice when it comes to nutrition and feeding.</p>
<p>I forgot to add- while we were trying to find the right combination that worked for our cats, we placed wee-wee pads that are normally used for puppy training strategically where they were peeing. These are plastic backed and absorbant and can simply be folded up and thrown away.</p>
<p>With regard to spraying vs peeing-my stand up pee-er never squats. he just stands and shakes his tail and pees. I guess his joints are too stiff to squat anymore.</p>
<p>My two female cats started peeing all around the perimeter of our living room. We tried Nature’s Miracle (gallons of it). It really didn’t help. Finally, we pulled up a 2 foot swath of the carpet all around the border of the room. The underlayment was saturated in areas. The pee had seeped into the concrete. After cleaning the concrete with Softscrub and painting the concrete with Kilz, we replaced the carpeting with hardwood. Hopefully, they will not find the smooth hardwood inviting to pee on.</p>
<p>Because the cats have now trained us, we now have 3 litter boxes around the house. Two of them have bathmats in front of them so the cats can pee on the bath mats. We replace and wash the bathmats frequently. This seems to be working.</p>
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<p>This is so true!!</p>
<p>If you have n cats, you should always have n+1 litterboxes.</p>
<p>I think the cat needs to be taken to the vet to rule out any possible problems. It could be infection, it could be stress, it could be ???</p>
<p>Thanks for the bathmat idea - I was just trying to figure out what would be best in front of the litter box. That sounds perfect.</p>
<p>And yes the Costco cat food is just for the cats - although now that you mention it my own diet has been rather short in protein lately … :)</p>
<p>Besides UTIs, the cats should be tested to see if their kidneys are functioning properly, if the ph balance is off in the urine. You may be suggested to switch to urinary formula cat food, to use filtered water, etc. But all that depends on lab results.</p>
<p>Thanks Lergnom, I like the idea of switching to urinary formula cat food. I’m going to try that. (our water is already filtered)</p>
<p>Please, please, please do NOT feed your cat prescription diet dry food for urinary tract problems. My male cat began peeing outside the litter box a few years ago. We took him to the vet right away because we suspected FLUTD. The vet confirmed our diagnoses and told us to buy a special dry food. This food contains a urine acidifier, which causes the crystals that are formed in a basic environment to dissolve. However, they are not meant for long term use. Too acidic of urine also forms crystals and these must be surgically removed as they will not dissolve. Also, these prescription foods are extremely high in carbohydrates. Cats do not need carbs like humans do. They make them extremely fat. My cat gained 6.5 lbs on the diet! Please google “Lisa A. Pierson, DVM” and read what she has to say about treating FLUTD with these dry foods. Now my cat does not eat any dry food whatsoever. It’s important to note that most vets know very little about animal nutrition (it is only a small part of their education) and they also get kickbacks from the pet food companies for recommending diets.</p>
<p>I do not know if there are some local regulations, but here in my neck of the woods you cannot buy special diet foods without prescriptions. If I find the article explaining the dangers of dry foods, I will link it. Basically, it states the same thing as BodaciousG said: lots of carbs are added to dry cat chow to keep the food fresher and to be able to shape it into pellets, and cats absolutely do not need these excessive carbs. A cat on a dry food diet will eventually get fat, and as the cat gets bigger, it eats even more food, generating more profits for the food maker.</p>
<p>About three years ago our vet moved all his feline patients to an all-wet food diet, saying that research had discovered that the carb content in dry food was a great contributor to diabetes in cats. He advised using whatever brand, is cheapest. The only downside is that like many cats, ours like to nibble at their meals over hours, and having wet food out for that long is rather distasteful for the human inhabitants, since it’s kind of smelly and unappealing to look at. I do offer my guys a small snack of an “oral care” dry product (large and very hard kibbles) every night to give their teeth a work out. Our vet also recommends we brush their teeth daily–that one I’m not so compliant on. Even with chicken flavored toothpaste, the cats hate the process and seem to read my mind and hide whenever I’m ready to play dental hygienist.</p>