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urinating in the house

Species: Cat
Breed: Am. Shorthaired Tabb
Age: 11-15 years
Dr. Marie,
Isabella is a healthy 13 yr old female cat. For a short period we rescued another female 8 mo. old kitten. They did not get along, fighting and urinating. The kitten has been gone for 3 years now, but the urinating from my cat is ongoing. After so much time, I really don't think the other kitten is the problem. The urinating is usually in the same room. How can I break her of this habit? We've tried it all, spent it all, and sprayed everything suggested to us. HELP!

Online vet, Dr. Marie

Dr. Marie replied:

Sorry to hear that you are dealing with this frustrating problem!

There are a number of things that can cause a cat to urinate in inappropriate areas.

The first thing I would highly recommend is to have your vet examine her and her urine to be sure there is not a medical problem. Quite often I have owners come in who assume their cat is behaving badly because of a behavioral issue but really they have a medical problem such as interstitial cystitis, an infection, a kidney problem or urinary crystals.

I am wondering about the possibility of interstitial cystitis for Isabella. This is a condition where animals have inflammation in the bladder in response to stress. This may be why things seemed to start off when the kitten came in the house.

If your vet clears her of medical problems then here are a few things you can do:

-Add 2 or 3 new litter boxes
-experiment with different types of litter
-experiment with different sizes of litter boxes
-restrict her access to the area where she likes to pee - You can do this by closing the door or if that is not possible then cover the area with double sided tape so she will not want to walk on it.
-do all you can to enrich her life - new toys, a kitty condo, etc.

You can also talk to your vet about feliway which is a pheromone which helps reduce stress, or even anti anxiety medication.

I hope this helps!

Dr. Marie.


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