3 year old peeing in house - tried everything!

[Wayne18]

Hello everyone,

We have 3 cats - a 21 year old female mix (Sylvie), 4 year old Flame point Siamese (Simon) and a 3 year old Snowshoe Siamese Mix(Rosie). Up until last August there was peace & tranquility in our home. In August Rosie started to eliminate on our upstairs landing. Nothing had changed in our house to cause this behavior. It happened a few times so we took her to the vet and got a clean bill of health (blood work, urine, etc). No matter what we did to discourage her (foil, etc) it kept happening. We ended up taking out the carpet and adding hardwood flooring (expensive fix!). In addition we added another litter box upstairs with cat attract ( we have 2 in the basement and 1 in a guest bathroom for the 21 yr old as she can't use the stairs). She started to use the box, as did Simon, and thought we solved the problem. Wrong. She started again on the carpet in the guest room. In the past 3 months we have replaced the carpet in our guest and master bedrooms, which are now closed off to all of the cats. Rosie used the litter boxes in the basement for a week straight (great!). Then she started peeing on our stairs, but was doing #2 in the litterpans in the basement. We have now ripped out that carpet, too. Our vet gave us Prozac gel to put in her ears, but she was a feral cat and refuses to be picked up, so that's a no go. While she is the sweetest thing, you cannot grab her, etc. After tearing out the stair carpet she was started using the litter boxes again (forgot to add we have Feliway plugged in too). 2 days ago she starting peeing on our rug in the living room, needless to say, that was thrown out. We are losing our minds. We now have liquid Prozac for her food. No matter what I mix with it (wet food, tuna juice) she won't eat it. We love this little cat and she is great with our other cats, but we've spent so much money and time on this that we just don't know where to go from here.
Any advice would be great. If we could get the liquid Prozac into her, I think it might help. Please note, we cannot catch her ever, so there is no wrapping her in a blanket to give it to her orally.

[Janey]

Hi and welcome. It’s a real pain when this happens, when I fostered, one cat was the same. However, once a home was found and he could go out he was fine. So the first thing that comes to mind is can Rosie go out, and if not is she wanting to? Similarly if she can go out and there is something going on outside, that can cause her stress, e.g. new cats in the neighbourhood that can cause it too. Also, have you tried different litters? Here is a link which may be helpful:
https://www.catchat.org/index.php/cat-t ... ay-indoors
I hope you manage to sort it.

[fjm]

Going outside might certainly help, if it is feasible where you live. I also wonder if there is a quiet battle going on over litter trays - either access to them (another cat sitting on the stairs or in a doorway), or that she is put off using a tray if it smells of one of the other cats? More trays may help in that case, positioned so that access cannot be controlled to all of them, or if you work out that she won't use a tray soiled by one of the others a tray with a portal that only opens for her microchip.

[Red wine lady]

I feel your pain and I've been where you are. Sorry to repeat, however:

Oscar, 6 year old rescue male, indoor cat who has never seen daylight…he started to pee the week after we got him. It turns out his previous owner got rid of him for this reason and they had him since a kitchen. We had ultra sounds, costly vet bills, bought cat trees, toys etc. to try and stop him...nothing.

We then moved and we decided to let him outside, we wanted him to experience the great outdoors and frankly it was a huge risk. Oscar BLOODY loves it and has NEVER peed since we moved. After listening to vets, behaviourists and so called experts, I honestly believe it was down to other cats! Oscar looked outside and saw other moggies, which stressed him out and he peed (to mark his territory).

Some people might disagree and it depends on where you live…but if we lost Oscar tomorrow due to him being outside, I will be happy that he enjoyed his final days in an environment he loved. Some cats are not meant to be indoor cats

[Wayne18]

Thank you, everyone. Unfortunately we cannot let Rosie outside - too much traffic, etc. As far as I know there aren't any cats visiting in our neighborhood. I've tried adding litter boxes and different litters. No changes. Today I bought different kind of foods to see if we can "slip" the Prozac by her. This morning she peed on our entry carpet mat and it went into the hardwood. Insanity.

[Janey]

Thank you, everyone. Unfortunately we cannot let Rosie outside - too much traffic, etc. As far as I know there aren't any cats visiting in our neighborhood. I've tried adding litter boxes and different litters. No changes. Today I bought different kind of foods to see if we can "slip" the Prozac by her. This morning she peed on our entry carpet mat and it went into the hardwood. Insanity.

Hi Wayne18, does Rosie want to go out? If so, I appreciate that it wouldn’t be right to let her out near a busy road, so it may be fairer to rehome her. My cat came from a home near me, and she was kept indoors because they lived on the roadside, but she kept escaping and coming to us. In the end the owners said it would be fairer for her to move in with us, if we wanted her, as we live in a cul-de-sac. We didn’t want another cat at the time, as we’d just lost our oldie and wanted a break, but ended up keeping her. Regarding giving Rosie Prozac, I wouldn’t be happy using it as a solution to what’s bothering her. I do feel for you in this situation, but you have to try and find out what’s best for her.
Just a thought, if it is the going out, could you cat proof your garden?

[Kay]

What do you think she would do if you restricted her to only areas without carpet, and removed all mats and rugs? Because from what you say it is only soft material she pees on

you might find she would pee on puppy training pads if you scattered some around her favoured spots - working with her to find a solution might be more successful than trying to change her behaviour

[Red wine lady]

Thank you, everyone. Unfortunately we cannot let Rosie outside - too much traffic, etc. As far as I know there aren't any cats visiting in our neighborhood. I've tried adding litter boxes and different litters. No changes. Today I bought different kind of foods to see if we can "slip" the Prozac by her. This morning she peed on our entry carpet mat and it went into the hardwood. Insanity.

Have you tried Cystophan? I use that on Oscar and it works for anixety...I buy from Amazon. X

[Wayne18]

I'll look up Cystophan, thank you! Rosie has no desire to go outside and is generally a happy go lucky little girl. She plays all the time, actually fetches toys and brings them to us. We restricted her from the bedrooms upstairs with the new carpet (Simon is restricted too, unfortunately), threw out to the living room carpet, but can't close the downstairs master bedroom as our oldest cat sleeps there and has her litterbox in the bathroom (She has yet to target this room). I put pee pads in the areas she has used and the she avoids those areas and finds new ones.

I really appreciate all of your responses:)

[Kay]

as a last resort then you could try restricting her to one (carpetless) room for a week or so to see if that will restore acceptable toilet habits - it sounds cruel but is no worse than a stay in a cattery, and a lot better than a pen in a rescue

[Sniper1]

With all due respect something did happen to change her toilet habits its just that you didn't see or understand it and now its become a habit of oh I just pee anywhere a common problem am afraid with some cats unable to perform all natural cat behaviours that going outdoors brings and therein lies your problem I believe however happy you believe she maybe she obviously isn't and is trying her best to make that known you won't stop her in her current situation and drugs should not be the answer its a selfish approach

[Wayne18]

Sniper -We have spent thousands of dollars on this issue (flooring, carpets, etc). Selfish? No. That would be true if we had dropped her off at a shelter last August.

Our Vet recommended Prozac for her. Putting her outside is assuring that she will be poisoned (our lovely neighbors put rat poison out on their property), hit by a car or who knows what else.

Kindly do not respond unless it's from a good place, not purely to attack someone seeking assistance with a problem.

[fjm]

Confining her to one room and gradually re-introducing her to the rest of the house may be the answer. It worked, in conjunction with short term medication, for one cat of mine that suffered from anxiety and licked herself hairless. A comfy bed, tray, food and water in one room for a few days, soothing medication, then opening just one door at a time over a week or two helped enormously. I don't remember how long she was on medication but it was weeks rather than months.

[Red wine lady]

Hi Wayne18, does Rosie want to go out? If so, I appreciate that it wouldn’t be right to let her out near a busy road, so it may be fairer to rehome her. My cat came from a home near me, and she was kept indoors because they lived on the roadside, but she kept escaping and coming to us. In the end the owners said it would be fairer for her to move in with us, if we wanted her, as we live in a cul-de-sac. We didn’t want another cat at the time, as we’d just lost our oldie and wanted a break, but ended up keeping her. Regarding giving Rosie Prozac, I wouldn’t be happy using it as a solution to what’s bothering her. I do feel for you in this situation, but you have to try and find out what’s best for her.
Just a thought, if it is the going out, could you cat proof your garden?

You gave the same advice to me with Oscar...and I dismissed it rather rudely. However, you were spot on...and I apologise for my rudeness and simply not believing you. However we have now moved to a much much more rural location and Oscar is so happy to be an outdoor cat and no more peeing. Thank you

[Janey]

Hi Wayne18, does Rosie want to go out? If so, I appreciate that it wouldn’t be right to let her out near a busy road, so it may be fairer to rehome her. My cat came from a home near me, and she was kept indoors because they lived on the roadside, but she kept escaping and coming to us. In the end the owners said it would be fairer for her to move in with us, if we wanted her, as we live in a cul-de-sac. We didn’t want another cat at the time, as we’d just lost our oldie and wanted a break, but ended up keeping her. Regarding giving Rosie Prozac, I wouldn’t be happy using it as a solution to what’s bothering her. I do feel for you in this situation, but you have to try and find out what’s best for her.
Just a thought, if it is the going out, could you cat proof your garden?

You gave the same advice to me with Oscar...and I dismissed it rather rudely. However, you were spot on...and I apologise for my rudeness and simply not believing you. However we have now moved to a much much more rural location and Oscar is so happy to be an outdoor cat and no more peeing. Thank you

That’s wonderful, I’m so glad you sorted it and thanks for letting me know.

[hayleyt]

Hi, I just thought I would post my story as I am always looking to see what other people do with this and to share my story with you in case its useful to anyone out there.
I rescued Jinj a stray in my garden and he was a terrible pee-er in the house! - behaviourist said it was anxiety and it wasnt till my existing cat died - he calmed down.
Its come back again with another stray in the garden (I am not adopting this one!) - but recently it became so bad I took him and him treated for systitus/UTI - although its difficult to prove one way or another. He is on Yurelieve and I have to say - things are definitely better - this has tryptophan in it - which can be used to increase serotonin/dopamine - which is used for anxiety in humans - so perhaps he had behaviour which has become a UTI - who knows - its an ongoing process for me. He goes out at will - I never keep him in. He laughs at litter trays. But having rescued him - I love him. Feline calm was recommended to me as food too - will try this. Feliway and pet remedy do nothing for him - but pet remedy has geranium in it and this makes me feel calm! - Valerian drops did nothing - so good luck. Behaviourist told me to put up scratching posts where he pees. Cover windows. And never tell him off Good luck!