I have a very serious cat problem.

[Bertha Venation]

We have a peer. That is, a pee-er. Someone pees in the same corner on the kitchen counter. !!!

I think it's Rat Face, because more than a year ago I caught her on the counter just letting it flow.

It had been a long time, but I discovered the latest yesterday. She - again, I'm assuming it was Rat Face - had peed in the god damned fruit bowl.

This is serious. It's one thing if she were to pee in the dirty clothes, or even on a bed. But she's peeing in the kitchen!! What in the bloody hell am I supposed to do about this?! The causes don't matter at all. Psychoanalyzing this cat is pointless. I need to know what to do.

Any ideas? Are you as at a loss as I am?

Rat Face


(This is the cat whose emergency care cost us close to $2000 last year.)

[MissMillie]

1. I've heard that they don't like aluminum foil

so cover your counter w/ that and see how that goes.

[cbdo2007]

2. Don't know how to solve your problem....

but yeah, looking at the picture, Rat Face is definitely the kitchen counter pee-er. Look at him trying to be all cute. Don't fall for it and block him off from the kitchen!!

[bif]

3. Get a squirt gun

And squirt her every time you catch her on the counter.

[gvstn]

4. Maybe try

"Shelf paper. This paper can be placed sticky side up and placed in areas where you want to keep cats out of. Cats hate anything that is sticky because they like to keep themselves well groomed. Once a cat experiences sticky paper, they will stay away from it forever."

***If you try this I would secure the paper to the counter with strong tape to be sure the cat doesn't attempt to jump off the counter with the paper attached to him and lose his balance on landing. The glue on shelf paper isn't very strong but just to be safe.

[rurallib]

5. don't know if this helps but we changed litter brands

and one of ours started peeing around the house.
Took me a few weeks to realize the problem. During that time we had major problem.
I sprayed her former pee spots with Febreeze and washed what I could.

And of course we went back to the old litter and keep it very clean.

[dembotoz]

21. yeah if the boys do not clean the box often enough--we will be reminded.

[meow2u3]

6. You'll have to clean up the pee stains with enzymatic cat pee cleaner

The best way to do that is to buy a UV pee detector light, wait until it gets dark, and shine the light in the dark. Pee stains show up under UV light.

Then, you spray the enzymatic spray on the stains that show up, wait a few minutes for the stuff to do its work, then turn on the lights and scrub away.

To prevent further out-of-box deposits, get unscented litter. Some cats don't like the smell of scented litter. It may please the human nose, but cats think it stinks.

[SteppingRazor]

7. He cost you $2k and now this?! I say you beat it out of him.

:evilgrin:

[KamaAina]

17. She's a she

if kitties had driver licenses, hers would read "Miranda".

[blueraven95]

8. well, I know you already know this,

but a vet visit may be in order.

Besides that, the most useful thing I've done in similar situations, is to put cardboard with double sided tape (so the surface is sticky) on the cat's preferred surface. That's worked better than aluminum foil or a spray bottle, but I should warn you that it may just get Rat Face to move to another locations, not actually solve the problem.

An additional litter box may help too.

:hi:

[LisaL]

9. I wish I could help, but mine is a pee-er too.

He is the one who pees on clothes (laundry) and the bed.
If you find out what to do with pee-ers, do let us know.

[NV Whino]

10. Scat Mat

http://www.petco.com/product/12981/Contech-Scat-Mats.aspx

Shelf paper is good. PetCo also sells sticky strips, which is wide double sided tape. Works great.

I tried aluminum foil – they played with it.
I tried paper bags and found one cat (not the offender) asleep in one of the bags.
Not to mention, try cooking with foil or bags all over your counter. :)

[SteppingRazor]

13. I can attest to the usefulness of the sticky strips.

I took in a street cat a while back. (more accurately, my wife took in a street cat over my strenuous objections, and for reasons I still can't explain it took to me immediately and now I can't sit down without it curling up in my lap.) Unlike our other cat, she has all her claws, and she started shredding the corner of our couch. I stuck a strip of sticky tape on that corner for a few weeks -- problem solved. Even after I took the tape off, she never clawed the furniture again.

[LiberalEsto]

11. She might have a urinary infection

When one of my cats starts peeing in all the wrong places, she's trying to tell me that she's in pain.

Our vet said to feed her a tablespoon of plain yogurt every day for a week or two. This has solved our kitty wee-wee troubles many times.

[AngryOldDem]

15. +1.

Had the same problem with our cat last year. Just started peeing in places other than her box. Even in front of us one night, against a wall. Turned out she had a urinary tract infection. Also, the vet suggested a second box.

[Lorien]

25. +2. Bladder infections in cats commonly cause peeing outside the box

take her to the vet. A bit of time on Clavamox may be all that it takes to clear up the problem.

[joeybee12]

12. Has she been to the vet's lately?

Usually they are peeing to show you there is something wrong with their urinary track.

[mike_c]

14. clean the kitchen as necessary....

I know, that sounds snarky, but it's not. I have the same problem. In my house it's eight or so cats (a couple come and go) and there are at least three of them that mark constantly. They didn't used to do it so I'm pretty certain the behavior is a response to cat population density-- it started when my GF moved in with her three cats. It also became dramatically worse about eight weeks ago when we fostered a kitten, who is now living with a friend.

They're not "pissing" per se-- they're scent marking territory. The kitchen counters get it too, along with nearly any vertical surface. One memorable afternoon a couple of months ago my biggest kitty, Maxwell, backed up to my partner as she sat on the couch and let fly against her arm. They can't help it. Circumstances are triggering the behavior.

We just steam cleaned the carpets last weekend. It was getting pretty foul. We threw a couch away. I never liked that couch much anyway.

So the best advice I can offer is to clean up after them when necessary. We just routinely look for marked surfaces in the kitchen every day and wipe them down with Natures Miracle. Ditto anywhere else we find them. We also have THREE Feliway dispensers going full time (in a 1200 ft² house!). That does seem to help-- this latest bout of nasty marking corresponded to my getting a bit lax about buying Feliway, which isn't cheap, at least not the way we go through it, about the same time the kitten arrived.

The alternative is reducing our cat population. That will almost certainly reduce the problem because it reduces territorial anxiety in cats, but that's not easy to do responsibly.

on edit-- just to be clear, if the stuff they're "peeing" is smelly and somewhat greasy feeling it isn't urine, or at least not urine alone. It's scent marking pheromone, most likely mixed with some urine for dispersal. It dries to a sticky, greasy coating on surfaces.

Urine alone is easy to deal with-- just wipe it off of nonabsorbant surfaces and use an enzymatic cleaner on absorbant ones. The scent marking pheromone is tougher to deal with, largely because cats WANT the stuff spread around.

The distinction is important because if your cat is JUST urinating inappropriately that might indicate a medical problem. Emphasis on MIGHT, but still. Territory marking, on the other hand, is just normal behavior.

[grasswire]

16. try feliway

It might work. You can get a plug in or a spray. It has a calming hormonal effect on cats and can help with marking issues. You can get it at your vet or at most pet stores.

[KamaAina]

18. Admitting you have a problem is the first step

:P

I suppose you could always spray No! on the counter, if they still even make that.

[jobycom]

19. She's trying to tell you something.

I know you don't want pscyhoanalysis, but that's how you stop it. She's peeing someplace she knows you'll have to notice. That's a message. If she weren't, she'd hide somewhere to keep her world cleaner.

Two main things she could be telling you. One is that she's sick. It doesn't have to be urinary. Cats are incredibly communicative, and they do what they can to get your attention because they expect you to help. She could be telling you something else is wrong. Two could be that there's something wrong with the litter box. Maybe too many cats for her comfort are using it. Maybe the litter isn't cleaned enough. Maybe it's a bad brand. Maybe it's some cat thing you'll never figure out.

I once had a cat pee on my foot, or on the mattress next to my foot. They had been trying to get my attention all day, and I had ignored them, thinking they just wanted to be petted. Finally when I felt the warmth of their urgency, so to speak, I explored the apartment (after trying to teach them a few new words) and discovered that my 11 year old had closed their litter box off. I had another cat--the infamous Minnie if you remember the Lounge kitty from a few years ago--who used to pee on my things when she was mad at me for something--either yelling at her, or not petting her enough, or even switching her food.

So you have to do two things. First, stop Ratface from peeing on the counter. One way to do that are to make the counter very unpleasant for her. You've already gotten good advice there. I'd also say you could soak a rag in bleach and leave it on the counter, or cover your counter in upside-down bowls. The problem there is any of it will inconvenience you, and as soon as you remove the barrier she'll start up again. The other option is to lock her out of the kitchen, either by locking her up, or locking up the kitchen. Any of these need to be combined with a better fix.

A better fix is to lock her in a room for a while with her own food, water, and litter box, and a pile of towels or papers in a corner opposite the litter box. See which she prefers. Switch litters if she starts using the pile. Leave the pile there as long as you can stand it, because eventually she'll hate the pile more than the litter box. If she never uses the pile, then there's something about the other litter box she doesn't like. Maybe it's not clean enough, maybe she hates the other cats, maybe one of the other cats is bullying her out of the box. I've seen that happen, and it's a pain because scolding the bullied cat just bullies her more (scolding never works on cats, anyway, it's just to make the owner feel better). Anyway, the point is, if she uses her own litter box all the time, then the problem is the other litter box. If she still goes on the pile with her own clean box and a couple of different litter options, then the problem is her. If it's her, she's got a medical issue, probably. If it's the box, then you have to find a way to give her her own box.

Those are my thoughts. None of the solutions is perfect because I don't know your house and setup. We had a foster cat once who pooped on the counter. That was nice. Couldn't ever get her to use the box. We rescued her and her litter from under a neighbor's shed, and she just wanted to be an outdoor cat and would accept nothing less. Ultimately we had to give her to a rescue service, which was our plan all along, with four cats and three dogs already. The only other cat I could never train completely was Minnie, who mostly used her box when she was healthy, but would go off it for times when she was upset about new cats or new food or just whatever. All cats are different, so you just have to work with her.

[hyphenate]

20. I've been told the solution that works best

is to get the cat into a small space with essentially a catbox and food and water, and keep them in that place for a day until they recognize the difference between a space for urinating and for food. If they aren't following the rules, you can then keep them confined for longer periods of time. It seems to happen more with multiple cats in the household, because someone isn't getting the attention they need or want.

The other things which you might concurrently try is to get (at a Petco, or other pet store) the "bitter apple" solution which is used to keep cats from scratching and/or gnawing the wrong things, and spray it into the area they're soiling.

If there is still a problem, get thee to the vet, to make sure kit doesn't have cystitis or something else which might be exacerbated by cat litter.

If there is a new kit at home, it might be jealousy; if there isn't a new change around home, it could be as simple as just an attention grabber.

I am sometimes so in the middle of something that I can't look at it objectively, so I just have to step back to see if it's any clearer from a distance.

Good luck to you and to kitty!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

27. That method worked well with my old cat Charles.

I kept him cooped up in the bathroom with his litter box, food and toys for about a week (with frequent visits, of course). He didn't like it -- howled like a banshee at first -- but it did the trick. The vet told me about it; said it works because cats don't like to pee where they eat; if they are in a confined area they have to use the litter box to avoid getting pee near or in their food.

[Bertha Venation]

22. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE

Time permitting, individual replies tomorrow. DUers rock.

:yourock:

[RandomThoughts]

23. Have you considered.....

Beer!!!!!!

[MrsMatt]

24. Good lord man, that will make her pee

all the more! Beer is a diuretic.

[RandomThoughts]

26. Bingo! LOL

..............:rofl:
........:rofl:...:rofl:.................:rofl:
......:rofl:........:rofl:.....:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
.....:rofl:.:rofl:.:rofl:............:rofl:
.....:rofl:............:rofl:
.....:rofl:............:rofl:



But in seriousness.

Take me to the River.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmwqJfOd2v8


That song always reminds me of Rasputin





AC/DC - Thunderstruck
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvoeeq-BH4w

[applegrove]

28. I know that when the kitty litter was full one of my cats protested by peeing

against the outside of the kitty litter box. When I cleaned it out the behaviour stopped.

[City of Mills]

29. Definitely trying to tell you something

A lot of times with bladder infections, they will either spend a LOT of time in the litterbox, or just sort of try to pee in front of you, or actually just pee in weird places, like on your fruit or in your bed. If Rat Face isn't behaving that way, it may be something else - food or litter change recently? How about behavior, activity level, any changes like that? Animal psychoanalysis is so much fun. If you're stumped, bring him to the vet and have them do bloodwork, in case its something not-so-obvious.

Some animals are just jerks. My cat is a huge monumental jerk. Unless the litterbox is 100% pristine, he poops outside the box. He's been doing it for years. It's to the point where if I don't follow him after he goes, I can expect to clean up after him later. And is poop is a horrible, indescribably offensive stink. If I had any decent cat recipes I'd probably just eat him for dinner. But I do love the little sonofabitch for some reason, he just has this mean little face with a dirty looking nose. And he likes to talk so he's entertaining.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

30. Is she a very serious cat? If so, you have a serious cat problem.

My cats are not very serious, most of the time, so I rarely have very serious cat problems.

But in any event, this problem, serious or otherwise, sounds bizarre. I would be deeply disturbed to find that a cat -- or anyone else -- had peed in my fruit bowl. For starters, her furry ass needs to be evicted from the kitchen. The confinement treatment described elsewhere in this thread might just do the trick.

Good luck with your very serious cat.

[Generic Brad]

31. Get used to the odor of cat pee

The cat always wins. Always.

[Rhiannon12866]

32. Have you tried Feliway?

It's a synthetic cat pheromone, available at most pet stores, that has a calming effect on cats. It can be used for all kinds of cat stress, like moving, and I got it for my very anxious cat who I rescued from outside, but its main use is for inappropriate urination. I got the spray, which I spritzed on the corners of furniture (except the cat's things, bed, litter box, etc.), but it now also comes in a diffuser. The synthetic pheromone is like the one that they have in their cheeks, emitted when they're happy and rub against things. They claim it has a 96% success rate in stopping inappropriate spraying or urination. Good luck with this... Cute kitty! :hi:

http://www.feliway.com/us

[superduperfarleft]

33. Try a litter box with toilet paper laid flat instead of litter.

One of our cats was declawed, and whoever did it evidently butchered the job (and declawing is butchery anyway), and as a result, he's evidently scared of the litter because he associates it with the pain from the declawing. Now we place him in the paper box three times a day, and now no more peeing inappropriately.