# Will my cat always occasionally pee on stuff?



## shyboots (Jun 29, 2011)

I keep thinking I've got the situation under control and then my cat will pee somewhere again, can anyone help me understand?!

Biff is 3 years old, we've had him since age 2, don't know much about his life in the first 2 years but he has always been an indoor cat.

He seems to pee somewhere every 6 weeks or about 2 months, every time somewhere different, every time I can see something that could have been an individual trigger but now it has been a whole year I do wonder if there is an overall pattern instead of individual incidents.

Last week he peed on my face!! That has been a kind of wake up call to deal with this behaviour! I was in bed at the time, it was early in the morning, I had only been awake a few minutes. He walked onto my bedside table, and my alarm then went off and a few seconds later he sprayed - only the second time he has sprayed, every other time has been squatting down to have a wee. Then a few days later he peed in a cardboard box, this time it was one from a zooplus order and we were playing & he seemed happy & the litter tray was empty so why did he squat down and pee in the cardboard box? we've played with cardboard boxes before & never had this.

Prior to this it has been months and months since he peed like this. I can't remember exactly how long, some time maybe December or January I think he peed on our bed. Our bed has been peed on a few times - we have been through quite a few duvets! One time he was chasing the laser pointer and randomly sprayed on the sofa in the spare room, the only other spraying I have seen. He peed in our suitcase when we were packing to go on holiday - so now we don't pack in front of him, if we're going away he goes to the cattery a day early. He peed on my OH's new leather jacket (he was not pleased!). I think that's about it.

I am trying the vets - I have one of those kits to try to get a pee sample, but I am convinced it is behavioural and not an infection. 

He does seem to me like a very nervous, neurotic cat. He gets scared really easily. I try to give him lots of praise for good behaviour and lots and lots of play, and to give him his space. I don't usually approach him, I wait for him to come to me, and he often does, and enjoys a good stroke especially under his chin. He does get aggressive sometimes, I think it is usually a sign he's not had enough play and as long as I can find a toy and a treat he can be diverted and again I just give lots of praise for the good behaviour and ignore the bad. My OH does repeatedly try approaching him and it annoys me and every time I try to tell him not to, and every damn time Biff earns his name, although occasionally he does accept being stroked when approached by him.

We have 2 Feliway plugins, and give him Zylkene over periods of change like cattery visits, when we have guests. I worry about the effects wearing off over time, especially of the Feliway plugs. 2 plugins being refilled every month for a year is...pricey! 

At the moment I am hoping the vet will refer us to behaviourist, at the same time worrying about how much that will cost. I wonder if he needs treatment for his nervousness & if that would help with the peeing. I wonder too if he would be better off having access to the outdoors, which we can't give him because we are sandwiched between a busy road and a motorway, and he won't tolerate a harness.

I use "wash and get off" to clean up when he does pee somewhere, so I think I am getting rid of the cat pee smell thoroughly.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I am prepared to put money and time in, what I have anyway, he's my baby, I want him to be happy and I know he can be so affectionate and so playful and has moments of amazing calm, I want him to have every chance of a happy life. At the same time this is not helping with my own depression and anxiety, I have to look after both of us if I am going to give him a happy life. I dunno if that makes sense to anyone.


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## newfiesmum (Apr 21, 2010)

The first thought that springs to mind and I don't think you mentioned is, is he neutered? Entire male cats often spray all over the place.


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## shyboots (Jun 29, 2011)

newfiesmum said:


> The first thought that springs to mind and I don't think you mentioned is, is he neutered? Entire male cats often spray all over the place.


Thanks for reading and responding 
Yes, he is neutered, he was neutered before he came to us.


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## newfiesmum (Apr 21, 2010)

In that case I don't know what to suggest. I am not really a cat person to be honest but I am wondering if something scares him, then he pees. You did say the alarm went off and then he weed, so it could be that.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

It sounds like you have done a lot to try and find the cause of Biff's behaviour.

Is Biff your only cat? If you have other cat(s) then his spraying would be down to territorial behaviour. 

Do you have a dog? If so how does he get on with the dog, e.g. is he nervous around him?

If neither of the above applies, then as you have felt, it sounds like his spraying is due to periods of stress and anxiety (cause not yet established), and probably there is a pattern to it, though perhaps not easy for us to discern.

Do you think his spraying/weeing is linked to any changes in the household, e,g, more visitors, or visitors staying longer? 

Or minor upheavals due to work being done on your house? 

Or has it followed times when you have gone away and he has been looked after & fed by someone else, or perhaps put in a cattery? 

Or has it followed times when he has been left on his own more that usual, e.g. you have both been working longer hours?

Even if it is due to the above, some of them can't be helped, as they are a normal part of life, and you cannot be expected to "tiptoe" around all the time. But if it were possible to identify any triggers then maybe the use of Feliway could be concentrated beforehand into those periods as it may be more effective than having it on all the time. Likewise the Zylkene. 

I do think it's possible Biff might be happier/less stressed if he could go out, but free outdoor access is not an option for him because of your location. 
If you have a garden would it be possible for you to completely catproof it with fencing, so he could have some time outdoors safely? I don't know if it would cure his indoor spraying completely but there is a good chance it would reduce it by extending his "territory", so he might therefore do some of his spraying in the garden. 

Also, by being able to go outdoors, and watch the birds, lie in the sun, do things cats like to do, he will have things to distract him from the anxieties he feels indoors, thus bringing down his stress levels.


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## WeeMairi (Jul 13, 2012)

Hi,

I had an issue like this with two cats of mine (both have since then passed across the Rainbow Bridge). Each time, although I was convinced it was behavioural, it turned out to be a physical problem. Cats then often pee in front of you or even on you I (mine did) to let you know something is wrong. It could be an inflammation (called cystitis). It is very common in male cats. I would really suggest to have a urine test done for white blood cells. Also, can you tell if he pees more than usual or if he strains? The former is hard if you have more than one cat. If he strains, it may be an obstruction. Diet is a factor in cystitis. A large amount of pee can also relate to kidneys or diabetes.
I hope I did not repeat what everybody else wrote. I read only yours and the first few answers.

Good luck!
P.S. for anxiety: have you tried a vet who works homoeopathically? In Germany there are many homoeopathic vets or vets who work in conjunction with a veterinary homoeopath. I had excellent experience with it (I am from Austria originally and use homoeopathy for my pets and myself). I know there are some in theUK, too.


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## mizzcatz (Jul 14, 2012)

Hello,

My cat went through a period of peeing in strange places and this was completely out of character. It turned out to be cystitis. Fingrrs crossed its s physical problem x


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## shyboots (Jun 29, 2011)

mizzcatz said:


> Hello,
> 
> My cat went through a period of peeing in strange places and this was completely out of character. It turned out to be cystitis. Fingrrs crossed its s physical problem x


Hopefully we can find out if that is the case soon, I will definintely ask the vet to explore all the options!



WeeMairi said:


> Hi,
> 
> I had an issue like this with two cats of mine (both have since then passed across the Rainbow Bridge). Each time, although I was convinced it was behavioural, it turned out to be a physical problem. Cats then often pee in front of you or even on you I (mine did) to let you know something is wrong. It could be an inflammation (called cystitis). It is very common in male cats. I would really suggest to have a urine test done for white blood cells. Also, can you tell if he pees more than usual or if he strains? The former is hard if you have more than one cat. If he strains, it may be an obstruction. Diet is a factor in cystitis. A large amount of pee can also relate to kidneys or diabetes.
> I hope I did not repeat what everybody else wrote. I read only yours and the first few answers.
> ...


Thanks very much for sharing your experience, that is really useful. I haven't noticed him peeing more or less than usual really. I do think he is eating a lot at the moment, he's pretty much been finishing everything which is unusual for him but then usually I'm fretting that he isn't eating enough and is he living on dust he finds under the bed or what lol!

I would try anything so if the vet thinks it is anxiety I would consider homeopathy. I'm reluctant to put him on anxiety meds or anti depressants, I don't know if that is silly of me. I take anxiety meds myself and they are so useful! But how do they figure out an animal definitely, definitely needs those medications and what is just controlling behaviour that is inconvenient?



chillminx said:


> It sounds like you have done a lot to try and find the cause of Biff's behaviour.


Thanks, I do try 



chillminx said:


> Is Biff your only cat? If you have other cat(s) then his spraying would be down to territorial behaviour.
> 
> Do you have a dog? If so how does he get on with the dog, e.g. is he nervous around him?


He's our only cat and we have no dog, just me, OH and the cat.



chillminx said:


> If neither of the above applies, then as you have felt, it sounds like his spraying is due to periods of stress and anxiety (cause not yet established), and probably there is a pattern to it, though perhaps not easy for us to discern.
> 
> Do you think his spraying/weeing is linked to any changes in the household, e,g, more visitors, or visitors staying longer?
> 
> ...


If there have been changes they are minor. Like vacuuming, tidying up. It was a while ago now but he did once pee on the bed twice when I was away for the weekend, so now if one of us goes away, the other just makes sure to give plenty of attention. I don't think it relates to cattery stays - again, we minimize than, and use a cat sitter if we are away overnight - which happens very rarely, he seems to like the cat sitter. He doesn't like us staying in bed late! But that time last week when he peed on me in bed I had only been awake for 5 minutes and the alarm went off at 7am so it wasn't late!! We're pretty predictable in our routine. His ears go back at the tiniest of things, some cat toys even scare him, if they are too noisy, we've had to get rid of some! He doesn't seem to like noise of any kind! Which is kind of hard to eliminate entirely. I don't know about his life before so it is hard to understand. I get the feeling he was generally afraid a lot of the time where he lived before?? He is such a scaredy cat and he is so secure here, I can't see him coping in many households.



chillminx said:


> I do think it's possible Biff might be happier/less stressed if he could go out, but free outdoor access is not an option for him because of your location.
> If you have a garden would it be possible for you to completely catproof it with fencing, so he could have some time outdoors safely? I don't know if it would cure his indoor spraying completely but there is a good chance it would reduce it by extending his "territory", so he might therefore do some of his spraying in the garden.
> 
> Also, by being able to go outdoors, and watch the birds, lie in the sun, do things cats like to do, he will have things to distract him from the anxieties he feels indoors, thus bringing down his stress levels.


We have garden front and back, they are both mainly paved/gravel, the back is very small, I think it wouldn't be impossible to fence proof it all, but it would be very difficult and we'd have go get the landlord to agree, and then probably pay for the work and then you never 100% know with rented property, I hope we can stay as long as we like but always feel a bit insecure. I'm a postgrad student at the moment, it might be quite a few years before I have a secure job again, unless we somehow bought a house just on my OH's salary. Which he would think mad - to buy a house for the cat to have a garden. Even if we had a deposit, which we don't! So scratch that!

Out front, there is no fencing at all between gardens and I don't think we'd be allowed to do it, it would change the whole look of the street. Then there is a path, and some grass, and then the road. The grass is quite big, it is kind of triangle shaped and we are at the narrow corner of it nearest the road, only a few metres, less than 10, and we get big lorries and all sorts on that road, it gets really jammed at rush hour. Behind us are more houses, but very close the motorway, I'd be scared for him. Two kids got killed on that road not that long ago  if he'd take to the harness I'd love to take him outside on that grass but he just goes beserk if I try. I suppose if we could treat the anxiety that might help with that. He watches everything out of the windows, and I think it does all wind him up, his tail swishes and his makes little squeaks. But I mean he does this not just at birds but at the neghbour gardening, the neighbout hanging out washine, the council guy cutting grass, roadworks, lorries that make a rumbly sound, bees...

Thanks for everyone that answered my post, I really appreciate it. Biff would say thanks too, if he knew


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## shyboots (Jun 29, 2011)

UPDATE: We've been to the vets, and the vet thinks he may have sterile cystitis so we are treating for that and monitoring, and she will do phone consultations with us to avoid stressing him out with more vet visits. They couldn't squeeze a sample out of him either (don't worry, he is peeing normally and not blocked!) but from his response thinks he may be sore in that area. So we have painkillers and a food supplement which helps the lining of the bowel, the food supplement is powder in capsules that goes on top of his food, and he's been accepting that maybe even likes it, and finishing all his food (YES!). The painkiller I feel bad because we have to pick him up and squirt it into his mouth and he doesn't like this at the time but very quickly recovers. 

I think we might be on to something because he has been a lot calmer and not at all aggressive the last two days, and has been a lot quieter. He doesn't really want to play but maybe he's tired out from not feeling well and needs to rest? Now I feel bad because I think he was sore for a while and it took me a while to really pick up that there was a definite change in demeanour. I guess at least for future reference we can know he might be susceptible to cystitis so can catch it sooner if it reoccurs.

We have to keep monitoring and it is early days but overall I think I've learned - change in behaviour definitely warrants investigation for a physical cause!!


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