cat peeing in house for no reason

by Jamaine
(Hawthorne, CA)

I have 5 cats. One is 11yrs a boy, one is a 9yrs a girl, one is a 8yrs a girl and two 6yrs boy and girl left over from ath first litter of the oldest three. The 8 year old female has stopped using the litter box. I don't know why. She has gone behind the family room TV, the front room sofa and glasscase, and behind the china cabinet in the dining room.We have tried everything.My husband hasblocked off everything I mentioned except thefront room sofa because she can still get behind it. I have used paper on her, I tell her Bad Kitty in a loud voice and she still does it. This cat has been with since she was able to leave the mother and we don't want to send her to the pound. She only knows us and is very shy. I don't know for sure, but I don't think she can make it in a pound.My floors are hardwood and she is messing them up going the same place over and over. Please help me I love her so much. I don't like to pop her with paper or yell at her. She has always been a good cat. What could be wrong?

Answer by Kate
Hi firstly, your cat is not being naughty and so should not be punished.

behavior like this is down to one of two things. either she has a urinary infection

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-urinary-problems.html

Or it is due to something which has upset her in the house and she is using her urine to make herself feel more relaxed at home i,e if the house smells of her then everything must be ok. Also unless the smell of urine is completely got rid of in the areas that she goes in then she will return to the same spot over and over again. Sometimes it can be difficult to see if you haven't missed a spot, a black light is good for this.

please see this page on ideas on how to get rid of the smell of urine.

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-urine-cleaner.html

As for what may have caused her unease, well this is difficult to say, it can be one of so many things. You need to make sure that there are plenty of different litter trays around with all your cats and also you could try giving her a period of litter retraining.

Please read the next two pages about this issue, they will give you more information on why this might be happening and what to do about it.

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-urine.html

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-litter-box.html

best wishes Kate

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