My kitty is peeing all over!

Please help me out. I have a male cat who is about 6 years old. He is litter trained and has been fixed. The problem is within the past six months he has been spraying all over. I had switched his litter to shredded paper about a month before he started doing this, and then switched back to litter when he started to spray. Any help on how I can get him to stop?

 

I've heard that pouring 1-2 drops bleach is attracting the to its toilet. Hope this helps

 

It's possible the cat has a urinary tract infection. When my cat started peeing everywhere that was what it turned out to be. Of course male cats often spray because they are being territorial, so it is possible something in the home is making him feel threatened.

 

The bleach Idea does not sound like a good one to me, urine has ammonia in it and bleach and ammonia is a deadly combination! I would take the cat to the vet to make sure it is not a urinary tract infection and ask the vet for advice.

 

Are there some new strays in the neighborhood? Is he an outdoor/indoor cat? I agree that it could be a UTI and you should take him to the vet. He's trained so you need to find the root of this issue. It could be a health related issue. Hope you figure it out!

 

I had a cat that did this a couple years ago. I had put a black liner under his litter and he started to pee everywhere instead of in the litter box. I removed the black liner and he kept doing it. We had to keep taking the cat to the litter box several times a day, just to show him it was clean litter and they was no black liner. After a while he started to go back to the litter box. Good luck!

 

Male cats do that to mark their territories. It's not easy to change this behavior. Take him to the vet to check that it's not a medical problem. Then try using a light form of reprimand like giving him a light swat with a thin cane if he still does it.

 

I agree there could be several reasons, some have already been named:

- Switching litter, so switching back is a good start
- Urinary infection which a VET can look in to so you're sure it's not that
- Changing the spot of the litter box
- Anxiety issues due to changes around the house (other pets, furniture moved, etc)
- People being anxious which he feels and reacts to
- Marking his territory (this doesn't always stop after being neutered)

If he doesn't have a urinary infection and switching the litter doesn't help, and anxiety might be the reason, you can try feliway. It's an electronic vaporizer which has a synthetic version of the cats own feromones which make them feel happy and relaxed. It doesn't make them drowsy or different, just more relaxed and happy. A lot of people on this forum have wroten positive things about it, including myself. In the worst case scenario a cat behavior therapist can help find out why your cat is spraying.

 

Definitely have him checked by a vet. If it is a medical problem that can be easily solved, you might find relief that way. Otherwise, you might try using a feliway plug-in to calm your cat- in case it is territorial or stress. Also, make the places he DOES go less enticing- clean them with an enzymatic cleaner (not just soap and water) and put things like tin foil down where he has been peeing so he won't like to stand on it.

 

I'm having a similar issue with my female cat, she has also been meowing more and more frequently. We believe it may be the urinary tract issue, but then again we recently moved so I think that may be the issue as well. Our other female cat is fine, so I'm just a bit puzzled.

 

Great tip with the foil, Alli! I forgot to mention using foil. That is my training go-to and works every time. My cats would love having a kitty party on my kitchen table, but once I put a few strips of foil on it at night, they stopped climbing up there and messing up my centerpiece. It really works!

 

My mom has a male cat with a similar problem. He would squirt just a little bit of urine here, a little bit there, all over the place. She took him to the vet and it turns out that the problem is his ureter is too small for the size of his bladder. The vet gives him medication that sort of relaxes the muscles there and helps him control his urine stream better. When he's in control, he's a good cat, not getting it all over the place, but when it's time for more medication, he suffers from the sensation of having to pee all the time but he can't. He doesn't really have to go that badly, but he tries to go because he feels like he needs to. Poor little guy. If your kitty is experiencing urinary tract issues, he will lick himself a lot, act very uncomfortable and will likely spray anywhere you might notice it. Also... you mentioned that the spraying started after you switched his litter... some cats have issues regarding which type of litter they are willing to use. They can be quite the little fuss-budgets, but I guess if we had to paw through our own urine and feces, we would be fussy too. It's possible that he started the spraying to voice his displeasure, but then it became a game for him and then a habit. Or, if there is more than one cat using the same box, he might have a problem with that as well. It's hard to say for sure from my perspective, but your first step is to eliminate all medical conditions before acting on anything else.