It can be frustrating having to repeatedly clean your cat’s urine off your favorite couch. And if you’ve ever wondered why your cat has suddenly taken to peeing around the house, you should read on. So, why exactly does this happen?
Cats pee everywhere, either due to an underlying medical condition, issues with the litter box, the stress in the home, or in preparation for mating. A cat does not pee everywhere out of spite for its owner, and neither should such behavior be considered normal with felines.
Thankfully, irregular peeing behavior in cats can be corrected, and in today’s article, we’ll be taking a look at possible solutions to your cat repeatedly peeing around your home, and what you shouldn’t do when you notice such behavior. But before we go further, let’s take a look at the possible reasons your furry friend decided to mark your house with urine in the first place.
Why Is My Cat Peeing Everywhere?
Medical Issues
The first indicator that something is wrong with your kitty cat is that it starts peeing anywhere and everywhere – your bed, in the kitchen, your bathroom. And if you immediately notice this erratic peeing behavior, you should book an appointment with the veterinarian.
Common cat health conditions that are indicated by peeing everywhere include urinary tract infection, bladder stones, and interstitial cystitis.
Fortunately, these conditions are treatable, and once your kitty cat gets better, it’ll most likely resume peeing at the appropriate locations.
However, if your vet determines that there is no underlying medical condition with your kitty cat, then peeing everywhere could be due to any of the other reasons explained below:
Territory Marking
Cats are highly territorial animals, and the introduction of a new cat, bringing in a newborn child, or the presence of stray, hostile cats could lead to your Feline spraying urine everywhere, in an attempt to ‘reclaim or mark boundaries.’
Also, if you have recently moved places, your cat could begin peeing everywhere to announce its presence to the other cats in the new neighborhood.
Problems With The Litter Box
If your cat is suddenly peeing outside its litter box, it could be because you’ve recently changed the location of the box. And if your kitty doesn’t like the new location, it is forced to look for new, ‘more conducive’ peeing locations.
Additionally, if the litter box is too small for your cat to use, or you do not clean it regularly, then you shouldn’t complain when your cat starts peeing on your bed. And, if your kitty cat associates the location of its litter box with danger, it tends to want to pee elsewhere.
Mating Purposes
When it’s mating season, and your cat is in heat, it tends to pee everywhere to attract potential partners. The urine of a cat in heat smells attractive to potential partners, and it is also a means by which Felines leave messages for each other.
Stress
Cats can’t cope with stress, and you should not rule this out as the reason your furry friend suddenly starts peeing everywhere. If your cat is worried about something, or the atmosphere at home is not conducive to it, erratic behavior, such as peeing anywhere, might come into play.
Cats don’t pee out of spite, and you should work on making your cat more comfortable.
How Do I Get My Cat To Stop Peeing Everywhere?
Most times, cats develop erratic peeing behaviors due to an issue with the litter box. And if you can identify and solve the particular litter-box problem your Feline is facing, you’d most likely be able to stop your cat from peeing in the house.
That said, here are some changes you can make regarding your cat’s litter box, to encourage peeing in the designated locations:
Change The Location Of The Litter Box
As inferred earlier, your cat might not want to pee in its litter box due to the box being located in a noisy, unconducive area. Hence, changing the location of the litter box to an uncrowded, quieter location could help greatly.
Aging cats or felines experiencing weight gain might also find it difficult to reach boxes placed at considerably high distances. Therefore, you should lower the litter box to make it easily accessible to your furry friend.
Regularly Clean The Litter Box
Felines have a sense of smell that is, at least, ten times sharper than ours! And your cat might not like the idea of being cooped up with its own urine. Consequently, you should endeavor to regularly clean your feline’s litter box and change the litter from time to time.
Cats generally love unscented litter that they can dig through, and this should make up the content of their boxes – You’d find them spending more time in their litter boxes as a result.
Place Litter Boxes At Different Locations In The House
You could also adopt the use of multi-level wall boxes at different locations in your home to curb peeing everywhere, particularly if you own several cats. A misbehaving cat pees anywhere in the house. And strategically placing boxes at some of these locations will help check your kitty cat’s excesses.
How To Deter Cats From Peeing Everywhere?
Apart from the methods listed above to encourage your Cats to pee in their litter boxes, there are several other steps you can take to deter your kitty cat from peeing everywhere in the house.
Some of these steps are outlined below:
Clean Up Previous Urine Spots
Thanks to their super-sharp sense of smell, Cats can identify spots in the home where they’d previously peed. And there is a tendency for them to want to pee in that location again.
To prevent this from happening, you should vigorously scrub and clean spots where your cat has previously peed with a special enzymatic cleaning solution.
You should be prepared to apply this solution a couple of times to completely get rid of the smell and stain. And sometimes, you might have to cordon the pee spot for some time to allow the cleaner work properly, without your kitty cat’s interference.
Use Essential Oils
You can also stop your kitty cat from peeing everywhere by marking your apartment with essential oils like vinegar, lavender, peppermint, citrus, and many more. Cats hate the smell of these essential oils the most, and won’t go near where they’ve been applied.
Also, these oils tend to have an overpowering smell; hence you should be frugal when applying them. Additionally, you should avoid essential oils that contain substances harmful to your cat.
And if you’d love to mark your apartment with an essential oil that will keep your cat from peeing, I’d strongly suggest you go for the Handcraft Peppermint Essential Oil. By applying a few drops of this peppermint oil to your cat’s preferred peeing spot, you can neutralize the smell of its urine and discourage it from returning there to discharge.
Neuter Your Cat
If you have no intention of raising your male cat for breeding, then it is best that you neuter it at a young age before it starts getting the urge to mate and spray pee everywhere. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, neutering is the surgical removal of a male cat’s testicles.
And don’t worry, neutering a male cat is completely healthy, with no known adverse effects on your cat.
How Do You Discipline A Cat For Peeing Outside The Litter Box?
There is absolutely no reason for you to ‘discipline’ your kitty cat for peeing outside its litter box, as the feline is simply responding to either external or internal stimulation.
What You Shouldn’t Do To Discipline Your Cat
For no reason should you:
- Starve your cat.
- Yell at your cat.
- Hit your cat in an attempt to discourage it from peeing around the house.
- Force your kitty cat to smell its own pee – you are only encouraging it to return to the crime scene by doing this.
As I said earlier, cats don’t pee out of spite, and doing either of the above will only confuse your cat as it thinks it’s doing the right thing – I mean, you can’t fault your cat for wanting to mate. And you would just end up with a mighty depressed and aggressive kitty.
How To React To Your Cat Peeing Everywhere
What you should instead do when you notice your feline peeing around the home is to:
- Try to get to the root of the problem.
- Give your kitty the required attention and care; fix an appointment with your vet as soon as possible.
- Strive to make your kitty as comfortable as possible.
- Reinforce positive behavior by offering your kitty cat treats and showering it with praise when it pees in the right locations.
- You can also fritz your cat with water from a spray can when you notice it stooping to pee in an inappropriate location.
Can You Euthanize A Cat For Peeing?
What Does It Mean To Euthanize A Cat?
If you’re hearing this for the first time, to euthanize a cat simply means to inject it with a lethal dosage of barbiturate anesthetic to induce a painless, struggle-free death. This procedure is typically carried out by suitably qualified vet doctors in a conducive atmosphere.
When Do You Euthanize A Cat?
It might be necessary to euthanize a cat in situations such as:
- When it has a chronic and progressive disease
- Organ failure due to aging
- Fatal injuries resulting from an accident
Leaving your cat to suffer immense pain from the above conditions is inhumane, and it’s best you part with your furry friend in the most peaceful manner possible.
Can You Euthanize A Cat For Peeing?
Yes, you can indeed euthanize your cat for peeing. Thousands of cat owners euthanize their pets yearly, simply because they feel their pet is trying to spite them by peeing in inappropriate places around the home.
Should You Euthanize A Cat For Peeing?
No, there is absolutely no reason for you to euthanize your cat simply because it’s peeing around the house. And if you’ve read through this article up to this point, then you’d share the same point of view with me.
If cat owners take the time to observe their kitties and determine possible reasons for erratic peeing patterns, then they’d discover this behavior can be remedied by less harsh means.
Related Questions
Can Cats Hold Their Pee Overnight? A cat can typically hold its pee for anywhere between 24 to 48 hours, hence holding pee overnight should be no problem for your feline. However, due to potential health complications, this behavior shouldn’t be encouraged. And you should make provisions for your feline to always relieve itself with ease.
Will Cat Urine Smell Ever Go Away? Cat urine is quite potent, and if left unattended, it can sink very deep into furniture, rugs, and wood, leaving behind a smell that can last for years! Therefore, if you’d rather not live with the smell of feline urine assaulting your nostrils at random intervals, you should scrub the pee area with an appropriate enzyme cleaner.
Should I Rub My Cat’s Nose In His Pee? You should not rub a Cat’s nose in his pee as it is not only cruel, but it also doesn’t achieve anything other than getting your cat to dislike you! There are several ways by which you can deter a kitty cat from peeing everywhere, and rubbing his nose in his pee is certainly not one of them.
