How do I stop my cat from urinating outside the litter box?
Hi there! Layla is my kitty. She enjoys an occasional urination
outside of her box. She has been tested for a urinary tract infection and
treated. Is this something that is more common for certain breeds than
others? She has three boxes to choose from. Do you have any other
suggestions?
Nicole
Royal Oak, MI
Urinating inappropriately is certainly one of the most frustrating problems that anyone with a cat or a dog can face. Housesoiling has two basic causes: medical problems and behavioral problems.
Urinary tract infections and inflammation (irritation) of the bladder are the most common medical causes of housesoiling. Pets feel pain and burning, which may cause them to urinate in strange places. If Layla has been treated for a urinary tract (aka bladder) infection, and re-tested to ensure that no infection remains, then this probably is not contributing to the problem at this time.
However, there are a number of other medical conditions, such as diabetes and kidney disease, which may lead to urination outside of the box. I noticed while looking at Layla’s profile that she is eight. Cats over seven years of age are more susceptible to these types of problems, so if she has not undergone blood and urine testing recently, I would recommend it.
Behavioral housesoiling can be difficult to address. Stress and anxiety are the most frequent culprits. Some cats will urinate outside of the box to mark their territory if a new cat is brought into the house, or if they even see a new cat in the yard through a window. Tactics to avoid behavioral housesoiling include adding litter boxes (which you already have done), using enzymatic cleaners to remove the urine odor from soiled areas, and reducing stress (which often means giving each cat in the house her own area to serve as a home territory).
You have questions. 
My 18 year old cat, Annie, misses the litter box a lot. She was given a complete exam and nothing abnormal was found except one value was only slightly high, BUN I think. She stands in the box, but her urine and frequently her feces land outside the box. I have tried different litter boxes and litters. I’ve started buying underpads like for incontinent humans and setting the litter box in the center. They’re about 50 cents apiece. Sometimes now she stands on the underpad and urine and feces go on the floor. I’m thinking about buying a small wading pool and setting the litter box inside it! We love her, but this behavior is baffling.
Our 17 year old Sabyl is doing the same thing - only urine - she stands in the box and the butt hangs over - we have put a plastic boot tray outside the box which we empty and wash thru-out the day. She DOES go in the box and do it the right way - we just don’t know why she doesn’t always do it. We love her dearly, too and therefore just keep cleaning the tray. Hopefully, if we make it to her “human age” - someone will be there to change our tray and clean up after us.
Micky and Geri -
I used to have a diabetic cat who did the same thing - he would stand IN the box, but his rear would hang outside of it and he would urinate just outside the box.
What I did for this was: I used an extra large covered litter box, and I bought one of those under-bed storage bins, which are very long and not too high. I put the litter box IN the bin, with the closed end all the way to the back, leaving a large space in front of the litter box opening. The bin would then catch the urine. I also used the underpads that Micky mentioned, and I put them right outside the box. My cat did start urinating directly on the pad sometimes as well.
Not the ideal situation, but at least it prevented him from urinating anywhere else, like a carpet or bed! It was the easiest way to keep everything clean, for him and for me.
One of our 3 cats has marked some areas as her own. We believe she was mistreated in her first home and has some emotional scars from that. She’s only 3.
She also gets inflammation quite often in her pelvis with no known cause - so we think this is causing her to wet where she shouldn’t.
Our vet recommended trying Feliway - a synthetic pheromone. I was extremely sceptical about this product, but we have it in 3 rooms in our house and we can tell when it’s running low or out because that is when she will start her pouting and then wetting. 2-3 days after we replace it she is back to a good mood and using the boxes.
I have 2 cats Jake & Ellwood ( The Blues Brothers) at first I couldn’t tell who was pooping on the pool deck. Now I think it’s Ellwood. He seems fine, he plays with his brother and eats good, the litter is clean but i still find it outside. I’ll bring him to the vet ASAP to make sure he’s ok. I wonder if it has anything to do with trying to get them off wet cat food ?
Our diva kitty Midnight is not a lady in the litter box. She often sprays the sides of the box and the walls behind the box. She likes to stand and pee, so it is hard to say if she is really spraying or just being very unlady-like. Should I have her checked for urinary issues?
When my cat Chauncey kept urinating outside of her litterbox, we worked her up and found no physicial causes. My other cat died recently, so my vet suggested that perhaps Chauncey was depressed. I had nothing to lose, so we tried amitriptyline, an anti-depressant, which she was on for several months. It worked! She never had this issue again.
I have 12 yr.old female who has had same problem over the yrs. finally got urine sample and she had an infection and crystals.She’s always been tubby and has tons of long ,thick hair. Vet said at 1st she was too fat to keep herself clean,so irritation developed from this,I cleaned her every day with baby wipes made no difference. That’s when they finally tested,also put a litter box on each floor of house.All these things resulted in success,but have to watch as she is just prone to uti’s.Hope this helps. Cynthia