*updated with new questions* cat is peeing everywhere :(

[jrosebud]

*see post further down for more issues*

Oh, Charlie, we love you, but we're at our wits' end.

Charlie's a bit over a year old, neutered, and the dominant cat in the household.  He has his own litterbox that the two girls avoid, and it's kept fairly clean.  

We noticed a urine smell in the guest bedroom starting last January (the cat bed in there was saturated with cat pee); we removed the bed and cleaned the area with an enzyme cleaner, but it happened again on a pile of spare blankets.  So we took those out.  And then we found a spot on the bed.  We closed off the room.  And then noticed a pee smell in our bedroom.  

We finally figured out who was doing it yesterday morning; my husband caught Charlie in the act (in a laundry basket of clean clothes).

I'm taking him to the vet tomorrow to be tested for a UTI, but at this point, I imagine that he's been doing it for so long that it's a behavior issue rather than a medical one.

Any ideas that might help?  We love him, but we just can't deal with him peeing all over the place.

[Kylyssa]

I suggest a product called Feliway.  It simulates cat facial pheromones and calms cats.

A homeless teen I took in had a cat.  I wouldn't even consider separating him from the cat he'd had since early childhood, his only remaining friend.  So I took in both boy and cat.  His cat had never been around other cats and he set to urine marking my house.  So I cleaned up the urine using laundry detergent (contains similar enzymes and it's far cheaper), put small food dishes in the areas (hoping a cat wouldn't pee where it ate) and used the Feliway spray as directed in every inappropriate place the cat marked.  Within a week the problem ended completely.

If your cat is peeing on vertical surfaces it's a territory marking issue but if he's peeing on horizontal surfaces, chances are it's a urinary tract issue or an anxiety issue.  Reducing his anxiety is really the only way to stop either territory marking or anxiety urination.  That Feliway spray works magic in that regard as far as I'm concerned.  

But if there's any new kind of stress in his environment that could be responsible, too, and simply removing or defusing the stressor may work.  My friend had issues with her cat marking when construction was going on outside her house for a few weeks.  As soon as the construction was done, he stopped urine marking.  Stressors can be anything - new pets, new people in the home, the sudden new use of an air freshener, a change in the cat's diet, repeated loud noises - just about anything that would make the cat nervous or anxious.

[joeactor]

The vet's a good idea - could be something afoot.  Have seen this before with urinary tract problems...

I've also seen it happen with stress.  Any new people or animals in the house?

[jrosebud]

Thanks, guys.

It's not spraying on vertical surfaces, so it doesn't sound like it's marking.  The only trauma I can think of is that Charlie was neutered in November.  Oh, and we left for a week around Christmas.  Maybe he's just reallly sensitive?  Lost his parts and didn't want to be abandoned again?

I have an appointment with his vet set up for tomorrow morning to check his health and the Feliway is on it's way from Amazon.  They have it in a difusser now, so maybe it'll help out my jittery cat, Pumpkin, as well.  (Charlie's kind of a bully; I was certain that we'd find out that Pumpkin was the one going outside the litterbox because Charlie sometimes chases her out of it.  One of the most-commonly-used phrases in this house is, "Charlie, don't be a douche."  It's odd that he might be the one with anxiety issues.)

Will keep you updated.  

[KDbeads]

Hmmmm...
I think Charlie might be trying to put Pumpkin in her place.  I've got 5 boys here that pee on towels if either of the girls are out of their room.  Even though it's not spraying it IS still marking even if they are neutered.
 
There are a few other things to consider:
What did you change right before he started this?  Deodorant, hair spray, cooking oil, tennis shoes, detergent???  Totally serious here, with as many as 15 cats in this house at one time I've had to deal with this more time than I care to admit!
While at the vet have his glucose run, diabetic cats tend to pee in odd places continuously.  So do cats and dogs with CRF (renal failure), so a BUN and creatinie test might be something to look into.
Thought about urine crystals?
If he's the 'bully' this may be another thing he's come up with to be annoying.
What litter are you using? He may have decided he doesn't like it, might stick to his feet too much when he urinates.
Did you change food?  Or did the manufacturer of his food change formulas?
I could go on and on and on and on........

Also with the enzymatic cleaner, Which one are you using?  I'm finding Simple Solution and the one Walmart sells not quite strong enough to fully kill the odor even when poured on and left to evaporate.  I've had to switch to Nature's Miracle for cats or the one for skunk spray.  Then soak the area, drop a towel on it and let it dry slowly.  I go through a gallon a month with the number of inside critters I have right now.

[pckizer]

I know very much what you mean...I moved a few years ago and the new house had a previous male cat that, though it could not be detected by humans (even my overly sensitive nose), had sprayed around the house and was upsetting my male cat when moved into this new territory.

I tried a wide number of things, including keeping him at the vet for a week for some very intensive urinary analysis that turned up nothing physiological.  I tried many of the "you don't want to go here" chemicals starting with bitter apple and moving on up to even trying Feliway.  I tried some diet changes, I tried I cannot remember all the things now, but it took over a year to try all of the possibilities (since we needed to give them time to work or be shown to definitely not work).  Pretty much all that happened was that the location-based chemicals only moved the problems (to sometimes much worse results), and the global things like Feliway didn't do any good at all for mine.

As a last resort after trying the many other things, my Vet prescribed an off-label use of "clomipramine".  See:
Clomipramine, Veterinary uses

Though there is still occasional bad behaviour, it's 2% of what it used to be and that's with no observable negative impacts on the cat.  Energy level is still the same (if possibly a touch greater), appetite [edited: I type apatite the rock type way too often] is unchanged, health and weight are the same, he's much more affectionate and decidedly calmer in situations where he was previously stressed to the point of acting up.

[Whitney]

We have a room that was previously just storage and never used....when I went in it to get something I realized the damned cat had been peeing in one spot for quite some time.  It took months to get him to stop and I'm not sure what made him stop other than yelling at him every time he even went near the spot and cleaning the area repeatedly.  Overal he's generally been a bastard about using his litter box since we made him have to share with my cat (who will use any litter box that is out so there is no having their own); we just have to keep after him to go where he should and spray cleaners where he shouldn't.

[jrosebud]

We're back from the vet.  Charlie's had a raging UTI.  Poor guy.  I wish I'd known sooner; I hate to think of him hurting for so long.

Once it's cleared up, I'm hoping that the litterbox will seem much more inviting than our bedsheets.  I'll keep you updated.

Thanks again for the advice!  You guys are great!

[Cecilie]

We're back from the vet.  Charlie's had a raging UTI.  Poor guy.  I wish I'd known sooner; I hate to think of him hurting for so long.

Once it's cleared up, I'm hoping that the litterbox will seem much more inviting than our bedsheets.  I'll keep you updated.

Thanks again for the advice!  You guys are great!

Hope Charlie feels better soon.  
I would say that I would pray for him, but... Well you know.

[joeactor]

Awwww... Sorry Charlie!

Get well soon little fuzzy dude!

[elliebean]

I would say that I would pray for him, but... Well you know.

Pray to Godcat

[Cecilie]

Pray to Godcat

Haha, that's funny. It reminds me when I was little and my mom said that cats go to cat-heaven. I never believed her though...

[Kylyssa]

A UTI is far easier to treat than a psychological issue.  I'm glad you went to the vet.  Hope your little dude feels better soon.

[KDbeads]

It will take a bit for him to adjust from the UTI but it's MUCH easier than correcting a stubborn cat!

Hope he feels better soon, those things can be nasty.

[jrosebud]

The culture came back today - there was no bacteria, which means no UTI(nfection).  Since there was blood in the urine taken last week, it's most likely and inflamation of the bladder - which is quite painful.  Charlie's not had any more accidents, but his nose is dry and he feels warm.  (From what I'm reading online, this sounds like Cystitis.)  He's also talking a lot more - I imagine he's trying to tell us that he's not feeling well.

The vet gave us some pain and inti-inflamitory medication for him.  They also suggested that he go on a prescription diet.  They asked if we wanted dry or canned food and gave us samples.  We've always fed dry, but I took both.

After reading a bit online, it seems to me that cats with urinary tract problems shouldn't eat dry cat food.  (Issue number one with the vet - they didn't mention anything about wet food being the better option.)

I also noticed that one of the top five ingredients in the food most-highly recommended was corn flour.  As obligate carnivores; carbohydrates should only make up aproximately 5% of their diet, and grains should be absent.  I can't imagine that this food will be the best for him.  (Issue number two.)  But will feeding him a higher-quality food (like canned Wellness Core) make his issues worse and potentially cause a urinary blockage?  Do you know of any with a lower ash/magnesium content, but is actually made for a carnivore?

Does anyone have experience with Cystitis or quality cat foods?

Thanks so much!