Cat advise please.

A question about : Cat advise please.

Please could somebody help? 3 months ago we adopted a cat from Cats Protection, Tish, she is about 12 months old. She is not yet going outside. To begin with she was very tmid, but with lots of love and encouragement she has become much braver. She has been a bit of a challenge for a number of reasons, but nothing we felt we could not handle. until a week ago. when she started, for no apparent reason weeing in a corner of the sitting room carpet. We have done everything we can think of washing the area well to remove any smell,sprinkling bicarbonate of soda, spraying citrus oil. putting down orange skin, but she still goes back there and wees every chance she has despite us telling her 'no!' Her litter tray is always clean and accessable and she uses it to poo. There has been absolutly no change in the house or her routine which may cause her to be stressed. Any advise very welcome.

Best answers:

• Hi there I have four rescue cats at the moment but in my heyday I have had ten at once! It is difficult when homing rescue animals because you don't know what has gone on in their lives before being adopted. Cats are by nature clean animals but a couple of suggestions for you- are you removing the poo from the tray sometimes cats don't like dirty trays. Try putting a tray in the spot she is going, cats will go back to the same spot hence its important not to keep moving the tray. Is the tray in a traffic area ie kitchen, again cats like 'privacy' when going to the toilet.
  Hope the above helps
• The tray is in a quiet room where she can be private and I always remove the poos so it is always clean for her. I don't really want to put a tray in the corner where she is going as it is in the sitting/ dining room , would prefer to find a way of discouraging her from going there. Just can't understand why she has just started doing this, but as you say don't know what has happened to her in the past and she is a bit 'strange' compared to cats we've had in the past.
• Have you considered giving her two trays?
  I had a cat that couldn't abide using the same tray for both so had two at 90degrees from each other - she could just step from one to the other
• We use silica litter and remove the waste a couple of times a day. She has just used the tray for a wee, so is not refusing to use it at all, I think she is just marking in the corner for some reason. Nothing at all has changed since she arrived .
• To be honest I have never had a cat do this.
  However I do know others who have had problems with the same, and it usually means the cat is stressed for some reason . I have also known owners who can not fathom at all what could be causing it....but for some reason it has been stress ( diagnosed by vet each time).
  It does sound like stress though if nothing has changed and kitty was fine up until recently.
  Could you keep her out of that room when you are not in to try and break any habit forming?
  Play with her lots for a few weeks?
• I would suggest stop using anything smelly to clean up where she wees, its best to use diluted white vinegar, it neutralises the smell. Very often they will keep weeing in the same place to cover up the smell of the cleaning stuff... worth a go.
• I haven't had this experience either, but I always suggest having the largest tray you can for any toilet-related issues.
  also try spraying some feliway in the room you want her to 'go' in.
• Could you put the little tray in that corner to try and get her into the habit of using it?
• If possible, wash the area with biological washing powder (such as Ariel) ... it breaks down the enzymes in the urine, (nothing else does) getting rid of the smell ... once a cat wees somewhere in the home they usually go back to the same place, smelling the urine from where they previously weed ...
• In case it's stress, try a Feliway plugin. They're expensive but cheapest from Zooplus.
  I was really skeptical but we had the end of one from our cats previous owner. After a month he became more scatty and scared of us. We put a refill in the plug after realising it was empty and within a few days he was calmer again.
  Might be worth a try if all else fails.
• It might also be worth trying different types of litter. Good luck and I hope that you get it sorted.
• Would second the feliway suggestion, definitely worth a try.
  Can you put something on the spot she's goin on to discourage her for a while? When our cat went through his 'pee by the front door' stage we put a bin liner there for a few weeks. He's not keen on the feel of it so it put him off trying to dig or pee there.
  You could also try putting a small bowl of biscuits or similar down in the spot. Cats don't like to toilet and eat in the same area. Putting food there can help break the association that it's a toilet area.
  Finally - has she had a vet check lately? Always worth ruling out infection etc.
• I would agree on the de-stresser, plus it may be worth mixing some earth with the kitty litter. If the cat has been previously used to peeing outside the smell of soil could be of some comfort.
• I volunteer weekly at my local Cats Protection. A lot of the advise we would give in this situation is above, however.
  1) It could be stress. Whilst you may not think anything has changed to make the cat stressed, it could be down to this. Therefore, as suggested, trying a Felliway plug in may resolve the situation.
  2) A second tray - it is recommend that you have one tray per cat you have, plus one extra. So if you have just one cat, two trays.
  3) I am assuming by the age she is (1 year) that she has been neutered. However, if she hasn't, this may help
  4) Her litter. What type are you using? At the CP i volunteer at, we use the wood pellet type (you don't need much at a time, so therefore it is more economical that some other brands.
  5) Are all her vaccinations up to date? I doubt this would affect her in this way, but with animals, you never know!
  If none of the above work, try talking to the CP branch you got her from, as they may be able to give some advise, of comment on her behaviour during their time with them.
  Hope you manage to get her sorted, it does sound like something has spooked or upset her.
• I second the suggestions to clean the area with biological washing powder and to then put food there.
  Also check where you have the trays at present. Are they somewhere with a lot of traffic? Are they too close to where she is fed?
  Temporarily moving the trays (or offering extras) may help, too - if she had a painful bowel movement or another unpleasant experience she could associate that with the tray or the area it is placed, and be avoiding it for that reason.
• I have 4 cats and 2 litter trays - one is on our landing and the other in the kitchen. One of my kittens likes to do a 1 in 1 tray and a 2 in the other - we also put a litter tray on the landing because we had the same problem - weeing on the carpet. Its no longer an issue but one time my cat did wake me up at 5am weeing on me! Not Happy
• I have had lots of cats over the years who don't like weeing in litter boxes. They will usually go on anything flat and absorbent though, so I just use the litter box lids or any flat tray-like lids lined with kitchen paper/tissue.
  Even the cats who wee in the boxes don't do poos in the same box. I notice the poo boxes are relatively dry where some of the other boxes are much wetter in the morning.
  ETA I also think there should be a separate area for number ones well away from the litter boxes.