advice on cats peeing outside the litter box

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  • _SABOTEUR_
    _SABOTEUR_ Posts: 6,833 Member
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    Whenever my cat pees outside the littler box I smother her privates in cayenne pepper. She's good after that.
  • iheartwhitetea
    iheartwhitetea Posts: 29 Member
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    I can tell you I had this exact problem. My family had 2 cats for a long time, one of which was 12 when we decided to get a new kitten. The older cat HATED the new kitten. Hated. She was very hostile, and this caused a lot of stress. She started finding spots to pee outside her litter box. It was very hard, and my parents had a larger house so sometimes it would take a while to find. We cleaned everything really well, made sure the smell never stayed, etc. I took her to the vet to get her checked out, but she was of course fine, just mad and stressed all the time (still def recommend a vet trip just in case). It helped a little to put more litter boxes spread out around the house. She never responded to the feliway or cat hormones or anything else we tried.

    Ultimately, the only thing that stopped the behavior was that I took her with me when I moved to my new apartment 2 years later. Although it took her a while getting used to being moved after living in one place for 14 years, she did acclimate and now she's much happier being queen of her own apartment - all bad behavior is now in the past.

    Perhaps you could try designating an area of the house that is her space only, the other cat isn't allowed? I know that that can be difficult especially with cats, but it sounds like she just needs to be removed from the stress of being around another cat that she doesn't like all the time. More often than not, this kind of behavior is a result of a cat being unhappy in their environment, which is not something that any pet owner wants. I would try and find a way to separate them! Hope this is helpful.
  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
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    I think it's time for Kitty Kebobs. Yeah, I'm joking. First, get your cat checked to make sure he/she doesn't have a urinary tract infection. My cat did the same, her litter box was 100% clean and she peed on the rug I kept under it. I had to boot her to the porch because I didn't want my floor ruined. She has never gone on the floor out there and I still have no clue as to why she did it in the house.
    Good luck!
  • emilynicole02
    emilynicole02 Posts: 355 Member
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    I have one cat that is 13 as well and another that is 7...my older cat started doing this as well about 6 months ago.. we only had 1 litter box at the time and have now went to two. we also brought her to the vet and for the amount of money your going to pay for them to tell you to get a second litter box, i'd try getting another box before spending the money at the vet & see if that helps first!

    definitly have an UNcovered box, if your cat is scared a covered box will cause more problems bc he/she will just want to hide...

    and try your hardest to clean them once a week, (i am guilty of this as well!)

    its a weird thing, but the vet told us that the older cats get they can all of a sudden change their minds and want their own litter box so to speak, so we got another...haven't had any problems since!!!

    if its not this, then maybe your older cat is trying to mark her territory from the other cat and having a second box will make her think she has her "own space"
  • LadyPakal
    LadyPakal Posts: 256 Member
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    Just one thing - if she goes in the same spot each time, try getting some puppy pads for that spot - it should help with cleaning up.
  • BurtHuttz
    BurtHuttz Posts: 3,653 Member
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    Kitty diapers?
    +1
  • ZoeLifts
    ZoeLifts Posts: 10,347 Member
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    I have a friend that uses a large flat plastic container (like the ones that can slide under the bed for storage) for the kitty litter. Your kitty might be wanting more space to move around in and this will help.