Help! My cat is urinating out of the litter box.

Has your beloved cat pushed you to your limits?  Are you ready to pull your hair out or worse...Well help is on the way.  There is almost always a reason that your kitty has chosen locations other that the designated litter area to deposit urine.

Feline inappropriate urination is one of the most common problems cat vets see on a daily basis.  A careful history as well as appropriate lab tests will help identify the reason, and give you the tools to correct this destructive behavior.

The first problem is to decide whether or not your cat is "spraying" or "marking" which involves urinating or spraying urine on a wall or other vertical structure such as a chair leg, or if it is having a "toileting" problem. Toileting problems are manifested by urinating on horizontal surfaces like carpeting, bedding or, heaven forbid, your husband's gym bag or briefcase.

In this article we will only deal with toileting problems. Visit our website atwww.scaredycats.com for a downloadable behavior questionarire that may help you decided which type of problem we are dealing with.

Causes of feline house soiling due to toileting problems can be divided into:

1. Environmental or "Substrate" preference: in this case, your kitty is telling you they aren't pleased with the type of litter, location of the litter box, or design of the litter box.
2. Behavioral: in this case, your little lion has decided to stake out it's territory by depositing urine in strategic locations around the house, usually by a door, or under a window, or around the perimeter of the room. This is actually a form of marking behavior.
3. Medical: This situation can be as simple as a bladder infection causing increased urgency and frequency of urination, or as complex as kidneys disease or diabetes causing increased volume of urination.  A common cause of urinating out of the litter is due to irritation of the bladder caused by the formation of microscopic crystals of calcium debris or other minerals that can be either treated or prevented with a change of diet.

Diagnosis: 

1. A thorough history by a qualified cat vet or behaviorist including filling out a comprehensive questionnaire like the one downloadable on www.scaredycats.com.
2. Laboratory data including but not limited to: Urine analysis, X rays, serum blood testing, urine culture for bacteria, and perhaps most importantly, a urinary tract ultrasound.
3. Response to medical therapy
4. Response to diet change

Treatment of feline house soiling really depends on the cause and may involved the use of any or all of the following modalities:

1. Change of food
2. Change of the type of cat litter
3. Change of the type of litter box
4. Change of the location of the litter box
5. The use of a pheromone product such as Feliway
6. Blocking the windows or preventing any visualization of out door cats
7. Anti-anxiety medications
8. Pain medication
9. Antibiotics
10. And even possibly surgery in the case of bladder stones or a urinary blockage

The bottom line is don't despair if your cat is being litter aversive.  A visit to your local feline vet is in order to get to the bottom of this potentially very destructive syndrome.  Visit our website at scaredycats.com for more information of cats and their problems.