Many cat parents stress when their cats start peeing inappropriately. This means that your cat has stopped using the litter box and will pee just about anywhere. In fact, inappropriate elimination in cats is the leading reason why cat parents may consider taking her back to the shelter. As much as this does not sound fair, we cannot blame them.
Sometimes it is impossible for you to live with your cat when she pees everywhere. This is because of the stench of the cat urine that never seems to cease. However, before you get to surrender your cat, I can help you! Read on and discover how to stop a cat peeing around the house.
8 sure ways to stop a cat from peeing around the house
- Seek medical advice
- Fix the litter box
- Check & treat stress & anxiety
- Spend time with your cat
- Is it boredom?
- Stay positive
- Provide enough resources
- Have your cat neutered
Seek Medical Advice
This should be the first step you take when you find your cat peeing around the house. This is due to how vulnerable cats are to feline urinary tract issues. Your vet is going to examine your cat and rule out any medical illnesses related to peeing inappropriately.
Even though these illnesses are treatable, they can put your cat in danger if left untreated. Usually, if your cat has a urinary tract problem, she is going to spray it all over your house.
This is because the illnesses, such as UTIs and bladder inflammation will make it impossible for her to hold urine. This means that your cat will not always be able to get to the litter box.
In most circumstances, a cat that has an infection of the urinary tract will spray urine. The urine will have a strong pungent smell that is difficult to get off. In addition to this, your cat will also pee more frequently and might experience pain and difficulty when doing so.
Another symptom to watch out for is your cat’s inability to pee at all. This will require emergency medical attention.
If you observe these and more signs, rush your kitty to the vet’s office for a check-up. Your vet will be able to examine, diagnose and treat your cat.
In the case where your cat has developed an irregular peeing pattern but fully empties her bladder on the floor, couch, or bed, this could indicate a more serious condition. These conditions are mainly diabetes and hyperthyroidism in cats. Therefore, do not ignore this either, instead, take her for a check-up.
Fix your litter box
An unclean and smelly litter box is also another possible cause for cat peeing around the house. However, in order to stop your cat from doing so, you must encourage her to use the litter box. Now, let me mention that cats are quite particular when it comes to grooming. There is a chance that you have observed her occasionally cleaning after herself. This indicates how they prefer clean environments.
When you have smelly litter boxes in the house, trust me that she is going to avoid it. Instead, she is going to pee elsewhere or spray to showcase her frustrations. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the boxes are clean at all times. Make sure you scoop at least twice a day. To make it easy for you, make a point and understand your cat’s pooping pattern. This way, you can ensure that you scoop the latter before you leave the house.
In addition to this, sometimes we may forget to change the litter boxes entirely. I mean, you cannot have your cat using the latter through the year. Consider changing the boxes every few months. Do not forget to get a soft type of litter for your cat. Go for the odorless and soft type of cat litter in order to make it comfortable for her. Change the litter every few days to eliminate the smell.
If your cat has been avoiding the litter box because of the smell and state of the latter, adhering to the above-discussed hygiene practices will help you stop your kitty from peeing around the house.
Check and treat stress and anxiety
You would be surprised how easily cats get stressed if you do not already know. Stress and anxiety will lead to inappropriate elimination as well as cat spraying. This is because it opens a window for your cat to feel vulnerable and frustrated. Therefore, you should check if your cat is stressing or experiencing some type of anxiety if she cannot stop peeing around the house.
In order to determine whether your cat is stressed, check for the recent living conditions. Have you changed residency recently? Or have someone move in with you? Well, these are possible causes of stress and anxiety in cats that trigger spraying.
In addition to the above, if you or a member of your family has not been around for some time, your cat can also react by peeing all over. Understand that each of your family members has established some type of bond with your cat. Whenever you are missing in action at home, maybe traveling, your kitty could possibly develop separation anxiety. As a result, you may notice your kitty peeing on your items, or the items of the missing person.
Other stressful situations like having guests over can also lead to spraying and urinating. In all of these instances, your cat is vulnerable and in need of reassurance. She needs to feel safe again and having her urine smelling all over the house assures her of that.
Eliminating all stress and anxiety in cats is the main key to stopping your cat from spraying. Identify why your cat is stressed and eliminate the element causing it. You should have your kitty peeing in the litter box within no time.
Spend time with your cat
We tend to think that our cats are clingy, which they are. However, this behavior is a result of your cat’s need for affection and attention. Let me take you back a little bit, if we didn’t domesticate our cats, they would be living in families in the wild. Due to their territorial nature, they would protect, play and live with their families. This does not change when we adopt kitties.
Once you bring her home, she only recognizes you and your family members. You become her family and thus she wants to belong. She wants to get the same amount of attention as everyone and everything else, if not all of it. Once she feels like you are denying her the attention, she might spray urine in order to get it.
To avoid all this trouble, spend some time with your cat, preferably playing or cuddling. This way, you are going to establish a strong bond that reassures your cat of your affection and safety. This will minimize the chances of your cat being afraid and vulnerable even when you are not at home. In addition, it will also get rid of the emotions of loneliness and boredom.
Check for Boredom
Cats are also very prone to boredom, especially when you leave them alone for a long period of time. This is because we leave them at home all alone with nothing much to do. Due to this idleness, your cat might develop other behaviors like watching the outside from the window. As entertaining as this might be, it might actually breed anxiety.
As a result of watching outside the outside world, your cat might feel threatened. This is especially if there are people and maybe other pets on the outside. This will definitely arouse your cat’s need to protect her space using urine.
Now, in order to get rid of such behaviors, keep your cat busy all day. The first thing you should do is schedule playtime with your cat. Engage in play that stimulates her both physically and psychologically prior to leaving the house.
In addition to this, ensure that she has something to do throughout the day. For instance, get several toys that will keep your cat occupied. Leave them in different rooms in the house. This way, she can fetch them as she plays with the latter.
Additionally, you can leave your TV on but ensure that all the drapes are down. Understand that if you leave your cat bored, she is going to look for things to do. These things are often destructive. Once again, boredom also opens the doors for loneliness.
Your idle cat is going to miss you and think about you the whole time. She might also start feeling unsafe without you around. As a result, she might pee on your personal items, or even bed to try and feel your presence. Therefore ensure that your cat is not bored when you are out of the house.
Stay Positive
If your cat has suddenly started peeing in the house, it is going to be very frustrating. However, do not, under any circumstances punish your cat. Yelling or beating your cat is not going to stop her from peeing in the house. Instead, you are only making her afraid of you. Once again, fear generates anxiety and stress and thus causing cat spraying and inappropriate elimination.
No matter how frustrating this behavior might turn out to be, do not punish her. Instead, calmly address the issue at hand. Identify the reason why your cat is engaging in spraying. Then approach the correction process from that angle, by eliminating the element or situation causing inappropriate peeing.
Provide enough resources
This is an important point for cat owners with more than one cat. We understand that controlling spraying and cat peeing everywhere can be such a headache. However, you do not have to worry. On most occasions, insufficient resources lead to spraying in the house.
This is because each cat will have to be competitive in order to get a share of food, water, and even litter boxes. Therefore, ensure that you have enough resources for the number of cats in your house.
In addition to this, you must also ensure that your cats have enough space. The same way your cat moves from a crowded place sometimes is an indication that they sometimes need space. Failure to provide sufficient resources will lead to stress in your cats. In order to communicate their frustrations, they will pee around.
This behavior can also be attributed to the nature of cats to want to protect boundaries. They are naturally adapted to marking territories using their urine. For instance, one cat might pee to mark territories in order to secure some space or a bowl of food. By marking, your cat is trying to warn others to stay away. Well, when you offer adequate resources, you will be able to minimize cat spraying and peeing inappropriately.
Have your cat neutered/spayed
Intact cats will spray and pee around the house every time they are in heat. If you have an intact cat, consider getting her to the vet. Your vet will advise you on the best time to spay your kitty in order to stop a cat from peeing around the house.
Well, when your cat is in heat, she is going to mark using her urine. She aims this at helping her get a potential mate. This is a genetic behavior that we cannot be able to modify. The urine will contain the age and sex of your cat. This way, she hopes to attract a male counterpart for mating. At the same time, she repels the female cats during this time.
Unfortunately, indoor cats will not get to mate since they are all alone at home. A cat in heat will continue to exhibit the symptoms until the season is over. This is going to be problematic since there is nothing you can do to stop her from spraying. However, once the season is over, you should take her to the vet.
By spaying your cat, not only will you get rid of these seasonal episodes of spraying but also eliminate the hostility in cats. This way, your cat will not have to constantly want to mark and protect boundaries. However, do not have your cat spayed when she is in heat. This is because she could experience excessive bleeding or develop other complications.
Once you manage to stop your cat from peeing around the house, make sure you apply protective measures.
Preventive measures for cat spraying
You cannot keep dealing with cat spraying even though it is a common vice among cats. You do not have to wait until your cat is spraying uncontrollably. You can apply the following preventive measures to ensure that your cat does not pee inappropriately anymore.
Get rid of the pee smell
Once your cat starts peeing in the house, look for the spot immediately. You should not let it dry if it is still wet. This is because it is the easiest to clean as compared to dried urine. Wash the spot thoroughly in order to remove the stains and the smell.
There are several ways in which you can be able to remove the smell of cat urine. Start with pouring a mixture of water and vinegar on the fabrics. If you are trying to clean urine off your mattress, then make sure that the mixture gets as deep as possible into the mattress. This way, you will be able to soak every part of the sprayed sport in the mixture before blotting it out.
By using paper towels, ensure that you soak up as much liquid as you can before you leave it to dry. Alternatively, you can wash your fabrics using enzymatic cleaners. The goal is to discourage your cat from peeing in the house. The smell of urine in the house will possibly trigger your cat to keep spraying.
Restrict your cat from a previously sprayed place
Once you clean up a previously sprayed spot, keep your cat away from it. This way, she won’t keep coming back to spray once again. This is because the cat pee smell may take some time before it clears. As mentioned earlier, the smell of urine will encourage your cat to keep remarking the spot.
You can be able to restrict your cat from accessing the place by either closing the doors or simply repelling your cat from the place. There are different types of cat repellents that you can use to keep her like eucalyptus and peppermint oil. However, ensure that you do not use too much of the two as it might make your house unconducive for your cat.
Alternatively, you can simply make the scene unattractive. For instance, if she is peeing on the couch, cover the washed place with aluminum foil. This will make it uncomfortable for your cat to walk on the latter.
Place the litter boxes in strategic places
This is another technique that you can use to ensure that your cat uses the litter box at all times. As much as you may have all the boxes clean, it is important to note that your cat is also particular with the location of the latter.
Once you have all the litter boxes clean, place them in quiet but easily accessible areas of the house. Provide a few litter boxes in the household to make it easier for your cat to find them.
Finally, we have been able to understand cat behavior, even though they do not care about ours. This means that it is your responsibility to make sure that your cat is comfortable in your household. Make sure that she is also healthy without too many visits to the vet. The key to stopping a cat from peeing around the house is identifying the source of the behavior and addressing it.
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