You have to admit – there aren’t many smells as distinctive and memorable as cat urine. I remember when I was a child and I had a newspaper delivery route. I would go “collecting” each month at an elderly lady’s house who had dozens of cats, and the cat urine odor was overwhelming in her house. Sadly, her house was condemned a few years later, but I’ll never forget the smell of cat urine overtaking that house (and my nose).
Recently, I brought a new kitten into my home, and I’ve noticed that he’s decided to urinate in a potted plant, using the plant as a cat litter box. This gave me a new mission: find the best way to stop my cat from urinating in my plant. While I was searching, I found that the same tips are also good for keeping the cat from urinating or pooping on carpet and furniture. Here are the top 10 ways I’ve found stop this poor cat behavior.
- This method is very effective! Buy a Spray Repellent (for about $8 – $10 per can). Simply spray the repellent around the area where you want to keep the cat from going to the bathroom. Most of the repellents say they’re for dogs, but they work great for cats, too. PetStreetMall.com is a great place to buy the repellent for cheap.
- Place large rocks or pine cones on top of the soil. The cats don’t like the feeling of the rocks or pine cones on their paws.
- To keep them off the furniture, try aluminum foil or plastic carpet runner (with the little pointy things facing up). Again, the cats don’t like how it feels on their paws.
- Keep the litter clean. One of the most common causes of cat’s refusing to use their litter pan… is a dirty pan. How do you like it when you go into a public restroom and the toilet is nasty? Keep that in mind for your cat’s litter.
- Try putting mothballs in potted plants
- Buy some of those cheap noise-making motion detectors and place them in the areas where your cat is making his / her mess. Next time your cat comes by to relieve himself, the alarm goes off and the cat decides not to go there again.
- Tie a helium-inflated mylar balloon down where your cat has been peeing. The balloon will sway back and forth all day long and keep the cat away from the area.
- Give each cat his / her own litter box. Some cats just don’t like to share.
- Transfer the kitty feces to the litter box. Let the cat know where the proper place to poop is.
- Some cats urinate and poop in the wrong place because they’re stressed out about something. If you’ve done your best to relieve any stress from your cat, consider anti-anxiety medicine from your veterinarian.
I hope at least one of these tips to keep your cat from spraying / urinating / peeing / defecating / pooping (or whatever you want to call it) in all the wrong places is helpful. Hopefully this will help save your carpet, your plants, your furniture, your cat, and your sanity.
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165 Comments on Top 10 Ways to Stop Your Cat From Urinating-Peeing-Defecating-Pooping on Plants-Carpet-Furniture
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i have three cats all female and all fixed. the two cats are 7 and 8. they never peed or pooped out of there box. two years ago i brought a 3 yr old cat home now 5. they dont get along with the 3rd cat a calico. i have them seperated in two parts of the house. one of the two cats i have will not stop peeing or pooping on the floor. what should i do i dont want to get rid of any of them.
Yeah my cat is 14 too. I find that very interesting that so many of them are males and around that age…mine is pooping all over my furniture. My pillow dropped on the floor for no more than 5 minutes and he took a major pee on it like he was holding it all day just for me then he went and pooped on my couch that I had just gotten through cleaning from previous pooping! I am so upset and angry. I love him with all my heart but his butt is about to get kicked outside. My girl cat has never had an accident. I am going to buy the scatmat that better work!
HI THIS IS A SERIOUS CAT SITUATION PLEASE EMAIL ADVICE ROCKABILLYKENNELS@YMAIL.COM
I have a cat he’s a nice cat a friendly cat a soft warm furry thing that head butts me and eats everything he can get near… he’s also a very fat cat well not so fat he cant move but he has a guts.
Problem: at 7 months old he started refusing to use the litter tray! prior to this he was a semi crazy angle. Now i have sentanced him to the back shed with a concret easy clean floor and an old shower that floods the whole place daily for cleaning. It all started out when i found a cat crap in the couch… yes in the couch between the cusions. I spoilt him rotten he had everything a cat could want treats toys attention… he used to ride around on my shoulder during house work!
His crapping expanded i tried catching him taking him to his crap giving him a little shak saying “NO” picking up the crap walking over to the litter tray (the nice clean fresh UN USED litter tray next two the other two clean fresh UN USED litter trays) putting the crap in the litter box putting the cat in the litter box scratching with his poor telling him “good kitty” giving him a treat even in my desperation… nothing has worked it’s like crap hide and seek!! Oh and he knows he looks at me with those cute little catty eyes and smirks then gaps it outside faster then lightening! (He shits outside on my door step to)
So he now living in the little building down the back it reaks cat, i scub and baking soda and viniger and bleech constantly i’ve tried different litter been to the vets NOTHING but he has started peeing in an empty litter tray… he uses the old shower in his room as a giant litter tray an he craps alot… hes also a dirty kitty he smells all the time like pee. He gets regular baths now much to his disgust.
I dont want him living in the back shed what sort of life is that??! i want my kitty to be normal to crap and bury it in the garden to use a litter tray if he’s inside.
I grew up with cats and they never crapped inside from birth they used the litter tray, is there something wrong with my feline? is he retarded (not kidding is there some mental condition here)
HELP i do love my cat but he smells and he poops everywhere in shoes on the washing in the bed!
I’m getting a new cat this week an older one who i have been assured will use the litter tray will she learn from this unruly male or will she teach him or will i live in a gross house an be cleaning for the rest of his life? I don’t want to get rid of him but this is out of hand!!!!!!!
Sometimes a cat peeing somewhere other than the litter box can be a sign of a urinary tract infection, a very common infection in cats that can lead to serious kidney problems if left untreated. It’s always a good idea to consult a vet if your cat suddenly changes his toileting habits.
About Pet Odors:
Bleach and vinegar will not remove urine odors and baking soda will only do so much. An enzyme-based product specifically made for this purpose will work wonders, though. I use Nature’s Miracle.
Thanks for this article – I have tried foil around the base of my plants and the cats just move it out of the way. I will give the rocks and pine cones a try!
I couldn’t Help but notice the Comment
“I have a 14 year old cat that has been peeing on the floor right in front of the litterbox. She has no stress and poops in them just fine. What can I do to make her stop peeing on the floor?” By Renee. I just wanted to say I had the same problem. I have 4 female Cats and I bought them a second Litter box and problem solved. Oddly enough they pee in one box and poop in the other. Also If your cats are stressed out sometimes It helps If you spend more time with them If you have a new baby they might feel like their being replaced, So get some string and pay some attention to them and get them some catnip which is a great feline stress reliever.
Hi! I have a 1 year old cat that I took in about 4 months ago. He is an indoor/ outdoor cat, meaning he goes outside to use the bathroom. The past three and a half months were fine. He didn’t have a single accident in the house. I just moved a week and a half ago, and now he has had two pooping accidents and two peeing accidents. Why is he doing this??!!! Any helpful ideas to help with this problem??
I have a 1yr old male cat who is sooo lovin and my 4yr old daughter loves this cat to death! I never had a potty problem with ths cat until last week. I caught him peein in my tub, the nxt day he doodo in my daughters bed, then 2nite he doodo in my tub! Im 6mo. Pregnant and realllllyyyy not in the mood for this. I have no idea y he is actin this way. I tried the stick his nose in it which worked for my last kitten but idk wuts wrong with him lately. I dont play with him @ all snce i been pregnant but trust me he gets more than enuff attention from my daughter. I need hlp and fast bcuz im not tryn to clean cat doodo nd change a baby diaper.
It’s 2am and I am completely beside myself. I have always had loving, happy cats that are a joy. Right now, I have an 11 year old male and a 4 year old female. They are both fixed and play, sleep and eat together.
Over the past 2 years, I have thrown out 3 living room furniture sets b/c of the older cat urinating on them. He has also destroyed our family room couches and chair and even left his marks on a small leather sofa in my son’s toy room. We tried the aluminum foil, adding a litter box, spraying repellant, putting the cat on kitty qualudes, putting their food on the couch…you name it, we’ve tried it.
Tonight, I can home from a business trip at 1am after driving for 5 hours. As I sat on my chair to relax a bit, I look over and watch my older cat pee right between the cushions on the sofa.
I’m really at the point where I can’t take it anymore. I can’t have friends come visit because they might sit in cat pee on my couch. I can’t buy new furniture b/c it will just get ruined again.
I’ve never let my cats outside (and they never try to go outside) because I feel they are safer and healthier as indoor cats. That being said, my older cat has ruined thousands of dollars worth of furniture and I just can’ take it anymore. I don’t want to be known in my neighborhood as the “house that smells like cat pee”. I also want to be able to sit on my furniture and enjoy it without feeling wetness oozing through my pants from cat pee.
So, I figure these are my options:
1. See if I can find a vet who will put the cat to sleep
2. Take the cat to the shelter
3. Put the cat in a room by himself. No couch. Just food & water bowls, a couple of toys and a litter box
4. Put him outside. Let him come in to eat and sleep in a specific room – otherwise, he’s outside.
What are your thoughts?
Tina
I grew up with cats and have had 5 indoor cats over the last 25 years myself and none had bathroom issues. I went 5 years without a cat after my 19yr old one died before taking in another one. A year into her living with us we found her peeing out of the litter box. The vet said she was healthy and it had to be behaviorial. I have tried every method I have found on the internet to stop her and NOTHING works. She does use her litter box (but prefers only one brand of cat litter!) In desperation we have resorted to placing litter boxes in her favorite pee spots, not the most attractive way to decorate, but preferable to attempting to clean up urine every day. We no longer use bathroom rugs but use tub mats instead that we keep over the edge of the bathtub. Any loose rug in the house was game so we no longer have any rugs – although I did notice that one cotton rug we had that did not have a rubber backing was never peed on. We live in an old house and when I pulled back some of the carpet where she had gone it seemed to me that the finish on the original wood floor underneath had an odor similar to cat pee so I wonder if that is attracting her. It may actually be the old adhesive that was used to stick down the first layer of carpet (wasn’t done by us). One day we hope to tear up all the carpet and refinish the floors. She also peed against bookcases – but only the ones that were particle board based – chemicals are used to bond particle board together (including formaldahyde) so I have wondered if she is smelling those products. Neighbor cats wander around our house too and I am sure they are marking outside the house and she is reacting to that too. In all she seems to have a much more sensitive “nose” than any other cat I have owned – she has to sniff my hand throughly before I am allowed to touch her, and sometimes she backs away – never had a cat do that before! All this to say I think that some cats are just pre-disposed to this behavior and if you love them as we do ours sometimes you have to modify your home to accomodate them – just as you would a child. We are changing out our bookcases which sit flat on the ground to a style that has feet that raise them up.
As far as clean up I have found the product “Complete” to work well on killing the urine odor – although we don’t just spray it – we pour it on and let it dry – it takes a couple of days to dry throughly and often seems to still smell bad until it dries. If I catch it right away and can soak up most of it, I keep a spray bottle full of vinegar and water on hand to spray and a shaker of baking soda to sprinkle on top. (I keep a crate with all the cat-pee cleaning products in – if I am going to have to clean it often at least this makes it fast and easy to tote to the location!). I tried soaking wood items like bookcase bottoms with hydrogen peroxide (found this on the internet) I didn’t think it was working until about a week later when I checked the item and it seemed to have worked. Also, never use any cleaner with bleach or ammonia – it attracts them! I switched to a lavender generic cleaner – supposed to have a calming effect just as it does on humans! When the carpets get really bad we rent a Rug Doctor and use their pet formula – it is fantastic and much more powerful than any carpet cleaning machine you can buy.
I found this blog as I was searching to see if anyone had sprinkled cat nip on the carpet. I don’t know if this will make her happy so she won’t pee there, or happy so she does pee there! Guess I will just have to experiment. There is some comfort in knowing I am not alone in struggling with this – good luck to everyone and please share any unusual methods that work!
well i have two female cats, who do not like each other, and they are constantly at war over territory. unfortunately, they like to mark anything of mine left out with urine. i mean anything: a stray newspaper, clean clothes, my bed, shoes,the carpet; etc. and its everyday at least 2-3 times. i am thinking of getting the spray to keep em of my stuff and if that doesnt work, i mite have to resort to spraying them with water. any other suggestions? aside from covering my belongings with foil and moth balls?
im so sad. my parents are getting rid of my cat and i need to know how to do get rid of here bad habbits. To this day she will still not go to the bathroom but the weird thing is that she goes right next to the box.I do not know want to do. Please help me. send me a email if you know what to do.
My parents said if i find a way i can keep her. My brother said a joke “Let something go if you love it” Should i give her to my grand parents. I am so confused and don’t know if she would be better off with them?
My cat pees/poops all over the place.Bed/shower/clothes all over.
I have tried all of the mentioned above methods. My female cat, at least 11 years old, NEVER urinated outside of the litter box before this past year. It doesn’t matter if it is clean, dirty, if there are 1 or 2 boxes, if it has her favorite litter or not…She basically will look at us and urinate wherever she pleases. I have used the “store bought” products that promise to get rid of the smell and don’t. I have also used vinegar and water to soak the smell out of the carpet and then used baking soda and dawn dishing washing detergent to scrub the stain out, and guess what, she goes right back to the spot. Carpet cleaning/steaming after this process results in the SAME thing. Doesn’t matter if the furniture is lifted ABOVE the carpet, she has managed to go on that smidgen that is on the floor. So now, our carpet is full of yellow stains and brown stains from the urine. We’re at our wits’ end! It’s not anxiety, or health related. And, I love my cat to DEATH, but I can’t take my bedroom and apartment smelling like cat urine. You can only clean so much daily. So I can empathize with Tina and the other owners who are so frustrated, and, I give my cat ALOT of attention and love DAILY AND ALL THE TIME. That’s NOT THE ANSWER and IT’S NOT THAT SIMPLE. If it were, we wouldn’t be on here looking for answers. Sometimes it is stress like moving that triggers such things but with such cases as many on here have described, not so much. So, if anyone has any new ideas or any thing other than what’s been listed, write it down so it may help some of us that are desperately looking for answers!!!!
I am at wits last end as well as some of the other folks on here. I have an 8yr old cat that I’ve had since he’s been 5wks old. I have moved several times with him and had no issues. 2 yrs ago, moved again and cat pees outside of litter box. I thought maybe it was the new house, but we have been there 3 yrs now and he keeps peeing..I have used every litter out there, new litter box, bigger litter box, taken him to the vet multiple times, no UTI. He is now on anxiety meds from the vet and still pees. He gets a TON of attention and there are no other animals in the house. I have put aluminum foil on and around the spots (after cleaning them up) and he just goes right next to the foil. I have barricaded the room off and he’ll pee next to the barricade. Ive tried loud noise when he walks into that room. He does it whether I’m home or not. I have done everything to clean the carpet, (enzyme cleaners, remedies, including professional cleaning) and he is STILL peeing. I do not want to take my cat to a shelter but I am out of options. I have placed ads to find him a good home. #1 is there anything ELSE besides any remedy online or any tips given from the vet that I can do before finding him a home? I am very attached and even writing this note brings me to tears, but I cannot take it anymore.
Feather,
Get another litter box. She may not want to share with the male cat.
Tried the mylar balloon idea. Failed with my cat(s), first popped and shredded it, then peed on it. >.< I’m going with mousetraps and electric fence charger with aluminum screening with dry paper towels as insulator until they pee there. That tingle will curl more than just hair.
Alas… daughter is not down with that… but it SURE made me feel good to describe it! I’d know which cat it was, without question. But not gonna happen. Held hostage by a 4 1/2 foot tall cat lover.
Will try the other ideas next.
My cat is 13 years old. She has kind of wet on different items since she has been a kitten. The last couple of years have been the worse. She would pee on backpacks coats anything left on the floor. She has since stopped doing this behavior. But now she has took to wetting and pooping on our bed and sometimes my white couch!! She has been to the vet a couple of times. She had colitis which is back again. He checked her out really good and said it is a behavior problem. So I have bought painters plastic and put down on the bed. I have dressed it up with some old sheets so it does not look stupid. I also bought puppy pads and put down and she usually pees on those. I love her she is my baby and I will continue to commidate her for the rest of her life. I have tried several of these suggestions and they have not worked. You just have to decide how to solve the problem yourself. I hope this helps..
I have a 17 yr old cat and he is peeing on the carpet, rugs, and we just had a flood last month and we just go new carpet and he is peeing every and its like he forgets he has a litterbox. And I have a 11 yr old daughter who loves him to death and i don’t want to put him to sleep what do I do. I love him so much he is the nicest loveing cat in the world. And the oddest too he loves driving in cars and going the shower. Hes like my best friend what do I do? please help!:)
I have a 3 year old female cat that has always been very good and then suddenly started urinating on my laundry pile. I took her to the vet and found out she had a urinary tract infection. A UTI explains the sudden accidents. It becomes painful for them to urinate and they associate that pain with the litter box so they go elsewhere. She has been on antibiotics and is doing fine now. For those that have cats that are urinating and you cannot figure out why, make sure it is not a health issue. A urinary tract infection can be relatively simple to take care of but left untreated can be very serious.
Ok – many folks are skipping the vet (bad on those of you – you need to be sure it’s nothing medical as some things like crystals can kill a cat). For those who have been to a vet – you have several things more to do, especially if the cat has “learned” this behavior.
First, go buy Nature’s Miracle for Cats. ANYWHERE the cat has peed or pooped, DOUSE THE ENTIRE AREA – even if you’ve cleaned it before. You have to use an enzymatic cleaner to get rid of what you can’t smell and the cat can.
Second, buy some Feliway plug ins and put them whereever you need them – they generally don’t “go” in the rooms where those are plugged in. This also helps keep multiple cats from fighting.
Third, you need more than 1 litterbox per cat. If you have 2 cats, you need at least 3 litter boxes and keep them all clean.
Forth, keep your “problem” pet. You accepted the responsibility of pet ownership when you got the pet. You don’t get to shirk the responsibility because your pet isn’t “perfect”. You’re just passing your “problem” to some other poor person who may abuse it or it will end up put down. Keep your temper.
Fifth, do not ever hit, smack, or otherwise physically strike your cat or throw things to hit in (in the general area to scare it is different). Cats are not like dogs and this will not work as it may have for dogs.
Sixth, get an empty beverage CAN – like a soda can or beer can – and wash it out. When it’s dry, put some small rocks in it. Tape over the opening. When your cat begins to do something it shouldn’t or go somewhere it shouldn’t, shake the can. BUT DON’T EVER LET THE CAT SEE THE CAN or it stops working. You may need several cans in several places.
Seventh, if your cat is over 10 or 11 (especiall if older than that by 3 or more years), your cat is “elderly”. Even with humans, older age can affect things like bladder control. Consult your vet (again) and talk about it. People don’t adopt older pets very often, so keep your pet and be understanding – you don’t toss grandpa just because he wet himself, so don’t toss your cat either if it has an accident. There are medicines to help as well as these other tips.
Good luck all and hang in there.
okay, so i have five cats. Three of them are younger and we cannot figure out who is doing it, but there is pee everywhere. in shoes, on towels, on laudry, i don’t know wat to do. If it happens to much longer, my mom will get rid of them. I can’t live with that. HELP!!! wat do i do?!?!?!?!
First let me say that the majority of the time it is due to stress that cats urinate outside of their boxes (unless it is a health issue). Cats are VERY, VERY sensitive to change. Even the smallest thing can be very stressful to them. Arguments, yelling, loud noises (including music), moving your furniture around, getting new furniture, new person in the household, new pet, cats outside your house, visiting children, schedule changes, vacations, redecorating/remodeling, etc, etc. They are very sensitive creatures to change of any fashion. Their litter boxes can be fresh every day and stress can still exist. You need to sit down and seriously consider what is changing/different in your house & life. Once you have that figured out you have half the battle.
Two – Purchase Feliway and use it several times daily. One squirt every 6-10 inches where they like to “mark their territory” with spray or urine is good. You will need to do this several times a day and for 3-4 months or longer if the problem has been occurring for some time.
Three – Purchase a product that will ELIMINATE the urine not mask it. Cats have extremely hightened senses. It may not be noticeable to you (the smell) but, they can still smell it. Even if it is marking that they are smelling from outside due to doors opening and closing or open windows. Washing your clothes and other items that can be laundered with Borax will remove the smell.
Four – Cats are not like dogs and any good veterinarian will tell you that you cannot attempt to train a cat like you do a dog. It will not work. Another thing that you don’t want to do is yell at your cat. They are already upset & stressed otherwise you wouldn’t be having this issue. Yelling or raising your voice at them will only worsen your situation. I’m not saying don’t scold them IF you catch them in the act but, yelling at them for something that they may have done 15 minutes ago or 9 hours ago when you didn’t catch them is not going to do any good.
Five – Never put your litter box or boxes next to their food. Big no-no. Alway keep them grouped together and have one more litter box that you have kitties. Scattering them about only tells your pet that they have your permission to do their business in that room.
Six – Diffusers or plugins will assist you with the Feliway spray. One diffuser will cover approximately 500-600 square feet. You may need several in order to keep harmony. Each diffuser will last approximately 4 weeks, then refill.
Seven – This is not a 5 minute process. This will take time and dedication on your part.
Eight – Don’t change your attitude toward your cat. They still need the love and attention that you have always given them! Probably more now than ever before.
Nine – I believe that pets aren’t born mean or bad. They can’t tell us what’s bothering them so it is up to us. We get the attitude and personalities back for the time & attemtion that we dedicate to them.
Ten – Read up on your pet. Read about the facts, traits and ownership responsibilities that go with the breed of cat that you own. They can be very different.
Eleven – They also make pet pads (or mats as others refer to them as) for older pets that have health issues and will continue to have true accidents. I believe they start in sizing at 20″ x 20″ and can absorb up to 2-3 cups of fluid per mat. These can be tossed into the washing machine and reused.
Remember, your pet loves you too! They aren’t trying to make you angry or destroy your home.
I have a cat that is almost 3 he started to pee when he was about 1. My mom said he has to go if I can’t find any thing to stop it, i have to the end of summer. sombody please help!!
P.S. Alecia you obviously don’t have a cat or you don’t have any clue what cat pee smells like. we don’t have a choice it can make you very sick or put you in the hospital, you should have known that before blaming us for it!!!!
first to miss my cat is 14yo , another thing to consider is fourteen for a cat is a advanced age for a cat , being close to sixty in human years , it may possibly be your cat is getting old , and just like humans , when they get old , they get feeble and sometimes forgetful just like us and have difficulty holding in as easily….
i know this because around a few years before my oldest cat died , she didn’t always make it to the box .
i hope these tips work out better than the last time i took pet advice from a person online….
i am in charge of my cat and i am 12 1/2 yrs old. then all of a sudden she starts pooping on the floor. how do i stop it? i clean the litter box every day, i cleaned the area where the litter box is. p.s the litter box is a open box. and she keeps pooping on the carpet still! and i have had to put 3 cats to sleep because of the same problem and i dont want her to be put to sleep.
The #1 solution on this list should be to take your cat to the vet and rule out a UTI.
After reading some of the comments above I beleive my 3 yr old cat must be stressed as about 4 mths ago my daughter had her male kitten come to stay for a week we kept the cats separated as my 2 cats did not like him after they left my youngest cat started to spray on my kitchen bench tops and surrounding walls I have been spraying bleach on the marked areas but he keeps going back so I will try this spray that was mentioned and hopefully that will work.
My cats are both desexed
I have to cat’s they are 3 and sisters. the one cat pees on the floor beside the cat litter box. I keep it clean she other wise goes in the box. I am stumped at this. Can someone please tell me what is up with that. I just addopted them about a month ago from sadboth really good cats. She is really friendly I get lots of cat love from her. That is the only thing that is bothering me I dont like the dirtiness of this.than you in advance.Angel
One of my cats just started pooping in tub and now in sinks. I appreciate that they are considerate enough to pick an easy clean up spot but jeez. I can’t point the finger just yet cause I don’t know who it is. I have 5. Here is a thought for all of you using the traditional scoopable cat litter. We switched to wheat scoop like 2 months ago, and my house doesn’t smell like cat anymore. The stuff is amazing. Absolutely no ammonia smell. And I also use a granulated pure cedar as a deodorant just to freshen the litter because it lasts FOREVER. Try it you will notice the difference!
Oh and one more trick that I find always works especially with those neighborhood cat owners who juct can’t be responsible and think that it’s ok for their little furball to use your garden and a toilet. Mix three heaping teaspoons of rat poison with one tin of cat food. Leave several of these around the problem area. In a day or two, your problem is solved!
I have a cat that is 10 years old…she is an indoor cat. she has always used the liter box and in fact will inspect it when I clean it, add litter, etc. She also lays in it if she has the flu.
She is still a happy playful kitten but…has started to use my house as her personal litter box. After reading the top 10 it has confirmed some of my suspisions. The only thing that has changed is we have a man who stays in a room where is door is next to the kitty box. I think she does not like him so I am going to try moving the box away from his door. I have not thought of putting the duty in the box but I will start. I have also tried positive reinforcement that has worked great with our cat that is 12 and has had very little interest in her liter box. She uses it and that is it…but when our other cat started using wherever she was following suit so I bought kitty treats and we did the inspection with the treats, if there are no messes they get their treat. This did work for the older cat and hopefully moving the box will work on our younger cat. FYI I tried cleaning with almost 100 percent vinegar but she could care less, same as the moth balls. Good luck everyone and wish me luck too. PS this is not the first time we have had someone new in the house but this is the only change we have had and she will not go by her litter box without a fuss now.
Thank you everyone for sharing. Some of the more humorous stories had me laughing, (I hope they were supposed to be humorous)and boy, did I ever need the laugh and to know I am not the only one with this problem because in the past couple months I have been driven to tears. I have 5 indoor cats, have owned cats for nearly 20 years, and like so many of you, I am at my wit’s end. I have never had this problem until now. As I write this, my couch is curbside waiting for tomorrow’s pick up because after cleaning it a few times with various products such as white vinegar, upholstery cleaner, and a product called Urine-off, it was doused like never before and I couldn’t bear the thought of trying to clean it yet again to no avail. Until recently we all lived in harmony and I had no cat troubles except for having to retrieve a toy mouse from under the stove occasionally. The living arrangements are two cats live in my car-less garage which is more like a basement laundry/storage room. They have plenty of comfortable spots, and these two seem to prefer being out there as they are great buddies, but do not get along well with the others in the house, plus one is totally nocturnal and keeps me up all night, so they have their own place. The other three live in the house. Again–I have never had troubles with any of them peeing outside of the litterbox. However, a couple of months ago my daughter moved back home and with her came her cat. Now there are 4 in the house, and 2 in the garage. Shortly after “Chloe” arrived, the peeing started. My bathroom was the first target–the tub and sink have been cleaned many times due to cat pee, although now the peeing there has halted for some reason. Oh, and the bathroom rug finally had to go due to, you guessed it, multiple peeings; yet the entry way and kitchen rugs remain unmolested. The two pee perpetrators have been to the vet, and HUNDREDS of dollars later, no physical problems were found. The pee spots seem to have no commonalites other than that the perps have the opportunity and I guess a motive to do it. One time I found pee in a bowl of fake lemons on the dining room table! I knew I kept smelling pee in the general area and couldn’t find it. Nothing on the rug, chairs, etc. Then when the time came to dust, the bowl stuck to the round mirror it was on, and Voila! The source of the pee odor was discovered. I read that cats have an aversion to the scents of citrus and lavender, so now there are new fake lemons in a bowl on the table with lavender sachets under them, (I couldn’t find citrus sachets). The couch in the living room was hit multiple times and is now, as I said, laid to rest down by the street. My second daughter who also lives at home and does not own her own cat, cannot leave her bedroom door open. If she does–her room becomes the Pee Club. We have found pee on her bed and bedding, her clothing, the carpet, and even on her purse. Thankfully I have never gotten out of the mommy habit of keeping waterproof mattress pads on the mattresses, so her mattress was not runied. Two weekends ago we replaced her carpet with a laminate floor at a cost of $500. One perp, who was caught in the act, after the vet confirmed no aliments, is now a garage cat, and is now allowed to go outdoors occasionally. Oddly enough, they spend much of their time in my bedroom which has their food, water, and a litterbox in it and my room has never been inappropriately peed in. Anyway, the saga continues: a loveseat was moved to where the couch used to be, and a chair and table moved to the loveseat’s spot. Yesterday I came home to a peed on loveseat–same location as where the couch got it! So the cushion was cleaned with white vinegar, sprayed with Urine-off and set outside on top of the grill to dry and air out. I believe one makes a committment when adopting an animal and I do not want to bring the cats to a shelter or give them away, nor do I want them to become outdoor cats. I was hoping that by removing the one perp it would cease, but it hasn’t and I am afraid if I put my daughter’s cat–the other perp–in the garage, too, the peefest will continue in there, and I have only relocated the problem. I shall try some of the products mentioned and will try the plastic carpet runner pointy-side up on the couch cushions. If there is a positive to this gross and tiresome situation, at least they do not poop in addition to the peeing, and I am certain it is happening to define territory. I just don’t know how to stop it. I suppose if it doesn’t end soon, the garage is the last option or I live without living room furniture. How crazy is that?
My cat just recently started peeing on my bed. I have three cats and they’ve never had a problem with sharing the litter box before. Also I clean the litter box everyday. What could be causing this and what can I do to stop it?
I need HELP!!!! I have 3 older cats that are indoor, i just brought in a stray about 4 days ago took him to the vet to get his shots & neutered. I have him in my family room down in the basement, I bring him upstairs when I am home to get used to my cats smell & for my cats to get used to his smell. But, when I bring him up he starts to mark his places with pee & my cats start too. I know they do this to see who is in charge & all but, how long will this last & will it ever stop because the stray is about 1 yr old & I am afraid he won’t stop peeing… I want to give him a home but, my husband & I are going crazy cleaning up the pee. We just bought our house & new funture & it smells like pee my husband is not very happy with this. The stray also keeps crying at my sliding doors to go out.. I don’t want to let him back out I am afraid for his saftey. Please give me advise HELP!!!
I have 2 female cats, 6 years old, that are sisters. About a year ago they started to fight and not get along. One seems to be the aggressor which apparently put “stress” on the other. The peeing started on our bathroom throw rugs and has since progressed to laundry, backpacks, random things and worst of all just open carpet. I caught the one who is being “stressed” peeing once but besides that they do it when I am not around. I have been to the vet to rule out UTI infection. The vet also prescribed anti anxity medicine. That did not work and made it worse. My cats were foaming at the mouth as I tried to give them the medicine and produced more stress. They also wouldn’t come near me b/c they were afraid I was going to give them the med. – not good for cuddling your kitty.
We have 3 liter boxes, I have the sprays, done the moth balls and I don’t know how many times I have washed our bathroom rugs. I am at my wits end and my husband keeps telling me I have to get rid of them. Well I just can’t do that. HELP! what can I do?
I don’t know how to get them to stop, I have a cat who pees on my sofa routinely, but one way to make sure your furniture/bedding/clothing isn’t ruined is to use puppy pee pads. They are like flat diaper sheets that will absorb all the pee. If your cat pees on bed or sofa or carpet put these pads (which are cheap, about $3 for 16 of them)in the area they pee in. It won’t stop them peeing, but it will protect your belongings from being soaked in cat pee. On furniture like sofas you can also buy a cheap plastic shower curtain liner and tuck that over your couch cushions so nothing seeps down into the couch.
BEST URINE SMELL REMEDY EVER!!!!!!!!!!!
My cat has peed in the same exact spot almost 10 times now, and I’ve tried alot to get him to stop…. I think hes mad at us for getting him a sister. He thinks hes been replaced. Anyway, despite that, I had tried and tried and tried to get the smell to go away, I tried carpet shampoo, pet odor eliminator, resolve, vinegar, a bissel vac, FINALLY I decided to shampoo the carpet myself. I mixed pine-sol with downy fabric softener (a really yummy smelling one) and diluted it with hot water in a water bottle, I poured it all over and around the spot, scrubbed my little heart out, put a towel down and stood on it to soak up the water, and by God, IT WORKED!!!!! NO MORE KITTY SMELL HALLWAY!!!!! Now it smells like a fresh spring orchard!!!!!
@Tamara Candelario
About letting your cat out, try getting a kitty harness.They have them at pet stores and if you can’t find one get one for a small dog and use that. Be sure it is a HARNESS and not a choke collar or neck collar or anything of the sort. We dont want to hurt the kitty. Also make sure you put it on VERY SNUGLY!!! Cats are extreemly nimble and can slip out of almost ANYTHING!!! Make sure to get him used to it first!!! Don’t let him outside with it untill he is comfortable wearing it around the house for maybe a week or two!!!! When you do finally take him outside attach a leash or rope to the harness (there should be a loop or ring for this) and either get one of those steaks that goes in the ground or tie him up to something heavy outside. Then sit back with a nice cold drink and keep an eye on him!!!I do this with my cat and he has about a 10 ft roaming radius. He likes it better than not going outside at all!!
i have 6 cats and 1 out of the 6 is urinating by the front door,
please help! I’ve had cats for at least 25 yrs. of my life and this is a first!
We rescued two kittens from a lumber yard, but had an older male and female cat as well. The older male was the dominant one, but he died recently. Still, the younger male (one of the rescued kittens) has taken to peeing on doors, carpets and sometimes furniture. We know he had a traumatic start in life, so figured it might be a result of that, so we started showering him with attention. Helped for awhile, then he started again. He doesn’t like new things, so when we changed the litter, did renos, or have people over, he does it again. So we figured that was the problem – but we had no idea how to stop it. We also figure he’s now trying to establish himself as the dominant male of the house. We are at our wits’ end because he is destroying all of our carpets, furniture and floorboards. We are considering giving him away to a willing friend who has not other cats so he can be the king of the hill, even though it pains us to even consider this. Help!!!!!!!
I do not have any cats, and I am so sick and tired of my front porch smelling like cats, they probably sit on my patio furniture and either spray or something ! I have spent lots of money on keeping them out of my garden and finally put huge rocks in so they can’t use it but how do I keep them off my furniture! Cats should not be allowed to roam and destroy or be able to spray other peoples property. I am not a cat hater but I am tired of other peoples cats using my property as their own personal area. When you let your cat out do you not understand what they maybe doing to others property, maybe I should find out who owns them and start billing them for all the stuff I have to do to keep THEIR pets off MY property!!! Do I sound bitter? Well, it is your animals that are making me that way. Your home maybe as how you like it but mine isn’t because of your carelessness!! Thank you!
I just got a kitten 2/3 days ago and it follows me everywhere.
It does its ‘business’ in my plant pots and even though i have got two kitten food boxes it does not eat them.
So, I have 3 female cats and 3 litter boxes that I keep very clean. My 2 older cats I got about a year before the first one and they hate the younger cat’s guts! My younger cat pees on the carpet in one certain spot, doesn’t matter how clean I get it or what type of product I use to clean it. She will also pee in/on a box if I try to cover that spot. I have gotten the pheromone spray, the diffusers, etc. and so far nothing will work. I have also had her tested for everything it seems like, including a urinary tract infection! She has marked in other spots of the house as well, but after I cleaned them, she doesn’t mark there again. Any suggestions please????
tina: PLEASE find another home for your animals as you are not fit to have them!!!
I have a 8 week old kitten, she uses anything square as a litter box… The bath tub, clothes basket, a cooler… Etc… She has two litter boxes one for upstairs and downstairs. She uses them but if she can get inside anything that seems rectangular then she’ll pee in it. What should I do?
Seriously, peed up on a table in a bowl of peanuts!
I didn’t realize until I picked up the second wet one!
Hi there
I have a cat over a year old and we moved house we had to put the cat on a plane. Now he is weeing on the bed we have been to the vet and they have given him stuff to take because he is stressed.
He is on pain releaf for uinrey track infection.
He does yuse his litter try for the poop but thats all.
How can we stop the peeing on the bed and differant places.
Help would be great if someone knows what alse we can do thanks.