How to stop my cat from peeing everywhere

Each cat’s personality and habits are different. Coupled with different environmental factors and some emergencies, even a docile and pleasant cat may engage in some disturbing behaviors. The most common problems encountered by scrappers include:
Open defecation;
grab furniture;
Acting aggressive and unloving;
chewing on electrical wires;
eat green plants;
Digging through trash cans;

Move the items on the table to the floor.

These annoying behavioral problems are often the main reason why people dare not raise cats or abandon cats. However, these problems are not terrible. Through some simple methods, we can prevent and correct most behavioral problems. Below, we will analyze each of the specific behavioral problems mentioned above, their causes, prevention methods, and how to deal with the problems after they occur. Today we will first analyze the problem of open defecation. There may be the following reasons for cats to defecate in the open:

Normal marking behavior:

For example, they spray urine, pile feces, use scent to declare the “sovereignty” of the territory, or spread mating information.

disease:

For example, medical diseases such as lower urinary tract dysfunction, gastrointestinal discomfort, viral infection, or surgical diseases such as arthritis that prevents the use of the cat litter box.

Behavioral issues:

For example, open defecation caused by negative emotions such as nervousness, fear, and dislike of cat litter boxes.
When a cat urinates and urinates everywhere, we should first go to the hospital to check whether it has a disease, then determine whether it is normal marking behavior, and finally determine whether the cat’s behavior problem is caused by some internal or external factors. Below we will analyze these three aspects in detail.

Step 1: Check if you have a disease

Many diseases can cause cats to avoid using the litter box, such as Feline Idiopathic Cystitis (FIC), Feline Urologic Syndrome (FUS), and Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD). ), diarrhea, constipation, stress-related disorders, etc. (1).

When a cat shows the following symptoms, it may be caused by the disease:

Frequent trips to the litter box;
Squatting in the litter box for a long time;
Little or no urine output;
blood in urine;
crying in the litter box;
licking the genitals more frequently;
No energy.
When a cat excretes randomly, we can observe whether the cat has the above symptoms and send it to the doctor for examination.

Step 2: Determine whether it is normal marking behavior

In the natural environment, spraying urine is a normal behavior and a cat’s nature. Cats often spray urine on tree trunks to declare their “sovereignty” of this territory. Cats not only spray urine on the boundaries of their territory, but leave their urine almost everywhere in the territory, except where they sleep, eat, and rest.
Relying on the smell of excrement, cats can communicate with each other without meeting each other, thereby avoiding unnecessary conflicts. Over time, the smell of excrement will fade, and other cats may find an opportunity to occupy the land by leaving their own scent. Therefore, cats will spray urine in the same place repeatedly, preserving the smell for a long time.
Cats will spray urine during estrus, which is usually triggered by sex hormones and can convey and spread the message “I want to mate”. In addition to urine, cats also mark with feces. Functions similarly to urine. Cats like to spray urine on vertical surfaces (and sometimes horizontal surfaces) to leave their scent behind.
The classic marking posture is to lean against a vertical object with the tail raised upward. When a small amount of urine is sprayed on the surface, the cat will tremble its tail vertically, tap its hind paws, and half-close its eyes (5).
Similar to the natural environment, domestic cats may trigger urine spraying behavior when encountering the following situations (2):

Estrus

A new pet comes to the house (fearful, nervous)
Conflict or aggressive behavior among peers (fear, nervousness)
Too many cats at home (fearful, nervous)
There are unfamiliar guests (fear, nervousness)
Home redecoration (unfamiliar environment)
Moving to a new home (unfamiliar environment)
Patrol one’s territory (declare sovereignty)
Declare victory after a fight (declare sovereignty)
Let’s first look at how to behaviorally distinguish normal urine marking behavior from random urination (3).
If it is judged that cats are indeed marking normally, then based on the above potential reasons for marking with excrement in natural and domestic environments, we can solve the problem of random excretion of indoor cats under normal marking behavior in a targeted manner.
1. Sterilize cats. Sterilization surgery removes the testicles of male cats and the ovaries of female cats to control the secretion of their sex hormones, which can effectively prevent cats from spraying urine during estrus. One study showed that 12% of neutered male cats and 4% of neutered female cats had urine spraying problems (4); another study showed that 10% of male cats and 5% of female cats still had urine spraying problems after neutering surgery. Urine marking will be performed (5).
2. Deep clean and protect the area where the cat has sprayed urine. Cats will repeatedly leave urine in one place to renew their own smell. Therefore, we can prevent cats from continuing to spray in the same place by deep cleaning and adding protection. For urine, you can hang a plastic pad, stick double-sided tape, or spread a layer of aluminum foil on the area where urine is sprayed.
3. Improve the cat’s sense of security in the living environment. Urine marking may also cause cats to lose their sense of security in the living environment.
4. Cats can be isolated in a multi-cat environment. If multiple cats do not get along well with each other, there may be urine marking. We can isolate the cat for a period of time.
5. Use pheromone products. As mentioned above, cats will leave some friendly pheromones in places where they sleep and rest, so that they will not spray urine/pile feces in these places. We can use some synthetic cat facial information. Vegetarian products to create a friendly environment. Clinical studies have shown that the use of pheromone products can effectively reduce urine marking behavior in cats (6).

Correction based on specific behavioral problems

If the cat is healthy and is not marking normally, then there may be a behavioral problem. Listed below are some common causes that may cause cats to urinate randomly, and provide corresponding solutions.

The cat litter box is too small

The litter box is too small, making it difficult for the cat to turn around and scratch the litter.

Solution:

Choose a litter box of appropriate size. The length of the litter box should be 1.5 times the cat’s body length, so that the cat has enough space to turn around and scratch the litter.

The cat litter box is too dirty

Behaviors such as standing astride the cat litter box (without touching the cat litter), shaking hands after touching the cat litter, scratching on the floor outside the cat litter box, and not covering up the excrement may be precursors of the cat’s disordered excretion behavior problem (7) . These behaviors are often associated with a lack of litter box cleaning.

Solution:

Clean the litter box every day and change the litter every 1-2 weeks. Because the cat litter box will also absorb the cat’s odor, this cleaning frequency not only ensures the cleanliness of the cat litter box, prevents the breeding of parasites, but also retains the cat’s familiar toilet smell.

Hate certain types of cat litter

Cats may be picky about the material of cat litter. For example, the cat may not like the feeling of sharp litter particles embedded between the toes, or the feeling of litter adhering between the toes, which may cause the cat to excrete in other places.

Solution:

Test your cat’s preference for different cat litters. Cut multiple uncapped boxes from a scrap cardboard box and fill them with different types of cat litter. It is generally believed that cats generally prefer clumping cat litter with finer particles, and clumping cat litter is also easier to clean up urine.

The smell of cat litter is too great

Studies have shown that the greater the smell of cat litter, the greater the probability that cats will urinate randomly (8). The scent of cat litter is too strong and will mask the cat’s own scent, making it impossible for them to identify the toilet through the smell. Some highly scented cat litter mates will also prevent cats from peeing in the litter box.

Solution: 

Use unscented, lightly scented cat litter and litter mates. Once you find that the use of cat litter mate will cause your cat to urinate randomly, you need to change the cat litter immediately and stop using cat litter mate.

The cat litter box is too clean

Cleaning the litter box too frequently (cleaning it every day) and using cleaners and disinfectants with too strong odors can easily lead to the cat’s own odor being masked, and the cat excreting in places other than the litter box.

Solution:

The cat litter box should be cleaned at an appropriate frequency. It is best to clean it with an odorless and light-smelling detergent. Do not use strong-smelling detergents such as bleach and disinfectant.

Cats don’t like the location of the litter box.

If the cat litter box is placed next to some machines that make sudden noises or even cause the ground to vibrate, it will make the cat nervous and restless, and then look for other places to urinate.

Solution:

Place the litter box in a relatively quiet area with few people walking around, away from washing machines, dryers and other machines that tend to make a lot of noise.

Cats like to eliminate in a specific place

Your cat may prefer to eliminate in a particular spot.

Solution:

Placing a litter box in this position will help guide the cat to use the litter box to eliminate. After the cat gets used to excreting in the litter box, you can slowly move the location of the litter box, for example, move 10 centimeters every day until it reaches the location you want to place it.

In a multi-cat household, there are not enough cat litter boxes.

In a multi-cat household, if there are not enough litter boxes, several cats may compete for the litter boxes, and when one cat goes to the toilet, another cat blocks the exit and shows aggression, etc. This may cause Allow your cat to eliminate in a place other than the litter box.

Solution:

Prepare a sufficient number of cat litter boxes. From experience, the best number of cat litter boxes is the number of cats + 1. Different cats may also like different types of cat litter, and different choices need to be given to different cats according to actual conditions. Don’t put all the litter boxes next to each other. Place the litter boxes as far apart as possible.

Indiscriminate excretion caused by anxiety

Anxiety is a disease problem. Different brain components communicate information through neurotransmitters. These chemical signaling factors bind to neuroreceptors and affect emotional responses. Negative emotional responses can easily cause some physiological problems, such as gastrointestinal discomfort (9). Anxious cats may urinate randomly when they receive some additional stimulation.

Solution:

You should actively understand the causes that may cause anxiety and improve the environment to relieve your cat’s anxiety and tension. Punishment should never be used as this may further aggravate anxiety and lead to inability to improve excretion problems.

Other things to note

The place where the cat has excreted randomly should be treated specially.

We want to reduce the attraction of random excretion areas to cats as much as possible, and a very important point is to remove the cat’s odor;
Cats’ sense of smell is much more sensitive than humans. Just the “cleanness” perceived by humans may not be able to remove the smell left by cats, which may cause cats to go to this place to excrete again;
You can use laundry detergent with enzymes that can degrade the protein components in the excrement, and then use alcohol to remove the remaining fat components in the urine;
Cleaning may not completely remove the cat’s odor. Therefore, if we find that the cat continues to urinate in this place, we can also use plastic film, double-sided tape, etc. to cover the original urinated areas after cleaning to further reduce the impact of these places on the cat. attraction.

The incorrigible cat

When we have tried all the above methods, but still have irregular bowel movements, we have one last “trick”. You can lock cats in a relatively small confined space so that they have to use the litter box. When they get used to it, you can slowly expand their range of activities. Since “confinement” is quite contrary to the welfare of cats, this method is not recommended for widespread use.

Adopted adult cats

Generally speaking, adult cats have already formed the habit of using a litter box before adoption, and they will also have a litter box and type of litter they are used to. After the adoption comes home, we can purchase cat litter and litter boxes of similar materials and types to help them adapt to their new home as quickly as possible.

Summarize

It is not terrible for cats to urinate everywhere. We must actively discover the reasons for cats’ excretion and patiently treat or guide them. Master the following three steps and you will no longer have to panic when you encounter the problem of cats urinating everywhere:
1. Check whether there is any disease;
2. Determine whether it is normal marking behavior;

3. Make corrections based on specific behavioral problems.

References:

1.Rodan I, Heath S. Feline behavioral health and welfare[J]. 2015.
2. Pam Johnson-Bennett. Think Like a Cat: How to Raise a Well-Adjusted Cat–Not a Sour Puss. Penguin, 2012.
3.Turner DC and Bateson P (eds). The domestic cat: the biology of its behavior. 3rd Edition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2014.
4.Hart BL. Behavioral and pharmacologic approaches to problem urination in cats. Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice. 1996. 26: 651-658.
5.Hart, B.L., Hart, L.A., & Bain, M.J. Canine and Feline Behavior Therapy, (2nd edn.). Ames, IA: Blackwell. 2006.
6. Frank, D.F, Erb, H.N., & Houpt, K.A. (1999). Urine spraying in cats: presence of concurrent disease and effects of a pheromone treatment. Applied Animal Behavior Science, 61, 263–272.
7.Borchelt, P.L. Cat elimination behavior problems. Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice. 1991. 21: 257–264.
8.Horwitz, D.F. Behavioral and environmental factors associated with elimination behavior problems in cats: a retrospective study. Applied Animal Behavior Science. 1997. 52: 129–137.
9.Dards JL. Feline house soiling: elimination and marking behaviors. Veterinary Clinics of North America. 2003, 33, 287-301.
10.Carney HC, Sadek TP, Curtis TM, et al. AAFP and ISFM guidelines for diagnosing and solving house-soiling behavior in cats. J Feline Med Surg. 2014. 16, 579-598.