# Desperate for any help/advice on 3 year old cat urinating in house



## Erinc (Jun 4, 2013)

We have a 3 year old cat whom we adopted from a friend of a friend about a year ago.
She is the most loving affectionate cat with one problem....her area of choice to urinate.
We didn't have any problems with her until about 5 months into first introducing her to our home, she's constantly urinating by the left corner of our door. Her litter tray is clean, and we've tried everything to discourage her from her habit.
It's really embarrassing especially when we have guests over because although we clean and clean the house is really starting to reek of urine the amount of times she does it.
She doesn't seem in any pain or discomfort and all eating drinking habits are the same, the vet did give us some special litter tray stuff to try and get a urine sample but she refuses to wee in her litter tray so have been unable to obtain the sample.
She is spayed but I don't know if the fact we don't have a cat flap could be a cause? We always leave the back door open for her when we are home but when we are at work she is kept in the house, at this point il mention she did used to be a house cat until we adopted her so I'm not sure her being in the house during working hours is the reason for her urinating.
I just don't know what else we can do it's just causing so much stress at the moment, we used all kinda of sprays etc to discourage and remover odour.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated and if you need anymore information let me know 

Thanks

Erin


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## lisajjl1 (Jun 23, 2010)

Hi,

Sorry to hear you are having problems.

I have known an otherwise previously clean girl start to spray near a door to the outside...usually on the doormat in front - eventually turned out a local stray tom was spraying on the outside and guess she was just trying to warn him off her patch.

Just thought would mention it in case there is any possibility it could be territory marking?


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## Jansheff (Jan 31, 2011)

Yes, I'd second the above. Not my cat, but my sister's - she kept having problems with one of her Persians piddling on the door mat just inside the front door. She came home one day to find next door's cat piddling on the outside - on her front door step right outside the front door. Obviously her own cat could smell it from the inside and piddled by the door to mark her own territory and feel more secure in her own home. 

Any cleaning needs to be done, not just with household cleaners, but with something from the vet or pet shop which removes the enzymes. Otherwise she will still be able to smell it, even though you can't, and continue the spraying. If there is a chance that a cat is urinating outside, use the same cleaner and put something down to deter that cat from coming back. 

You could also try using a Feliway plug to make your cat feel happier, more secure and less stressed, and that in turn might mean she doesn't feel the need to spray any more.


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

If you can smell urine the house really pongs of it to her. A solution of biological washing powder or liquid is an excellent cleaning, the worry is that it has reached a point in that corner where removing the carpet and underlay is the only way to get rid of it.

Have you had her checked by the vet? Urinating outside the tray can indicate a health problem.

How many trays does she have, and have you tried putting one on her choosen spot?

Using a spot right by the front (or back?) door really suggests there is something outside that is upsetting her. I would clean the outside of the door as well. 

Does she ever do this when the back door is open?

If you can't resolve this fairly quickly with the advice here consulting a behaviourist might be worth doing. You would need a referal from your vet (often free - they have to sign a form and send her medical notes), and of course choose one in your area. In the UK there are several professional bodies for behaviourists, Google for "pet behaviourists uk" to find them.


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## havoc (Dec 8, 2008)

You need a specialist enzymatic cleaner to break down the protein and get rid of the smell. There are pet products such as Urine-off or Propack and there are car upholstery products which do the same thing.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

As others have said, your cat could be scent-marking with urine away from the litter tray, especially if she always picks the same spot. 

However, in case it is a straightforward toiletting problem, ensure you are providing a minimum of 2 large trays for her (as many cats do not like peeing and pooing in the same tray), and use a litter that is soft on her feet such as OKO Plus. 

As Oriental Slave suggests, put a small litter tray right on the spot where she has been peeing. If she was scent marking the tray will act as a deterrent, and she won't use it. I appreciate it might not be very convenient having a tray right by the front door, but hopefully it will be a short term thing whilst you resolve the problem. 

But I am afraid, as Oriental Slave also says, if you have carpet and underlay on which your cat has been peeing repeatedly you won't get rid of the smell fully by any means, and it is a case of biting the bullet and throwing out the carpet and underlay and (preferably) having a wipe clean floor. I had to do this with my hall carpet after my old cat (RIP) repeatedly over time sprayed by the front door. I have a polished wood floor in the hall now -- so much easier to clean!


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## Erinc (Jun 4, 2013)

Thank you everyone for the suggestions, it never occurred to me that it could be as problem with cats outside of the door....there are many cats in the area we live in.
luckily we have wooden flooring so cleaning is fairly easy and we dont need to worry about the removal of carpet 

We have had her checked by the Vet and he could see/feel nothing wrong with her and she wasnt in any pain what so ever.

when we tried getting a urine sample with the special litter we bought from the vet we placed the litter in a fresh new tray and placed it at the front door.....Lily (our cat) then decided to urinate right next to the tray (frustrating when you've been sitting on the stairs armed with a pipette and a test tube for an hour waiting for her to wee in the tray haha!).....im unsure if maybe she just simply does not want to wee in a tray as she seems to only want to urinate on the floor, no matter where the tray is placed.
However saying that she has no problem going for her number twos in the tray :/

We now have 2 trays one inside the house and 1 near the door(when possible) and that has been the case for a week or so with no progression unfortuneatly 


iv bought a different enzyme removing spray from our local vet (rather than our local pet shop) as recommended by him which i have now used on the area she urinates and also outside the house (come to think of it i only sprayed in the corner where she goes would it be an idea to spray the whole front door area?)
i think this is the last thing i can really do....the next step would be to see a behavioural specialist as i see nothing more i can do 

Its such a shame as she is such a people friendly adorable cat and she would be perfect if it wasnt for this.

Thanks again all of you

Erin


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Erin, the suggestion for putting a tray by the front door is as *a deterrent*!

Toiletting is a different instinct to scent-marking, and we don't know for sure whether Lulu is scent marking, or simply peeing, by the front door. If it is scent-marking the litter tray will put her off. If it is toiletting she would use the tray. The fact she went alongside the tray when you were there observing suggests it is scent-marking behaviour which is why she did not use the tray. This makes it more complicated to eradicate the behaviour.

However, she still needs all the encouragement she can get to use litter trays, so to clarify, she needs *2 large trays* in areas where you _do_ want her to toilet. The trays don't have to be side by side, but are probably best located in the same room. (These 2 trays are in addition to the deterrent tray you've placed by the front door). The 2 large trays are essential if you are going to to be able to effect any change at all in her behaviour.

Experiment with different cat litters, but choose one that is as near to the texture of sand as possible. Most cats like using the cereal-based ones like OKO Plus, becos they are easy to dig in and soft on their feet. (like sand in other words).

Next, a training method - next time she wees on the floor, mop it up with paper kitchen towel and place the wet kitchen towel in one of her large litter trays (i.e. the one she has not pooed in) Calmly carry Lulu to the litter tray and gently let her sniff the wet kitchen towel so she knows what it is. (This is not about punishing her or humiliating her, purely about training). Then with her watching you, bury the kitchen towel in the litter tray making the sort of scraping moves she would make. This is a way of teaching her what you expect of her. It must always be done with kindness and you may need to do it quite a few times before you see any change, but it is worth persevering, and being very patient..

In addition, continue cleaning the inside and the outside of the front door as well as the whole hall area every day with the enzyme cleaner.

Keep up her fluid intake so her bladder feels comfortable, and she is not getting any stinging when she pees. This means feeding her only wet food,
no dry at all. And adding a little water to her wet food.


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## Erinc (Jun 4, 2013)

Thank you very much for the advice chillminx 
Fingers cross it will all work 

Erin


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## wicket (Aug 22, 2012)

Agree with everything already said - just wondered do you have a hallway door to shut to keep her away from the offending door?


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## Erinc (Jun 4, 2013)

Yes we do actually we just fear it would mean she would pee elsewhere in the house if we shut her in....we would be shutting her in kitchen and living room area if we did that with a lot if electrical s....I suppose if it is territorial urinating the theory would be she wouldn't pee elsewhere???
I don't know haha! We're attempting chillminxs suggestions at the moment to see how that pans out

Thanks

Erin


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