Why is my cat peeing on the dog's towel? He still uses the litter box.

Inappropriate elimination can be due to either medical or behavioral problems. I always recommend having the cat examined by a vet to rule out any medical problems first, like GI disease, intestinal parasites or a urinary tract infection. If everything is normal on exam then you can consider this a behavioral issue. Cats will sometimes go outside the box if it is not cleaned frequently enough, if the litter or location of the box has been changed, or if there is something in the environment causing the cat stress (like the new housemate). You need to also consider pain/discomfort when using the box, either due to posturing or getting in/out of the box, especially if your cat is older. You may want to consider adding an extra litter box or two to your home, making the boxes more easily accessible. To help decrease your cat’s stress levels try adding pheromone diffusers like Feliway throughout the house. You may want to also consider talking to your vet about a urinary specific diet and possibly consider anti-anxiety medication to help relieve stress. I hope this helps. Best of luck. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi, thanks for using Petcoach! Sometimes underlying medical conditions can become behavioral even after the medical condition is long gone. If Leo hasn't seen a Vet I recommend you take him in for a physical and to have his urine tested. A UTI or crystals in the urine can cause irritation and urgency to urinate. Also, Leo is not neutered. Intact male cats mark and inappropriately urinate more. If there is no underlying medical condition I would ask your Vet to prescribe an antianxiety medication like Prozac. Confine him for 2 weeks and clean the soiled areas well with an enzymatic cleaner like Nature's Miracle. Put Feliway diffusers in his favorite nap places. When you let him out, keep the doors closed to the rooms he previously soiled in, keep clothes and bags off the floor, use shower curtains or aluminum foil (they don't like the feel on their feet) to cover beds or carpeting. Also environmental enrichment can help indoor cats. I've attached a few links below. I hope this helps! https://www.chewy.com/comfort-zone-feliway-cat-diffuser/dp/49006 https://www.chewy.com/natures-miracle-deep-cleaning-carpet/dp/42132 https://indoorpet.osu.edu/cats

Hello and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Inappropriate urination and defecation can be very frustrating to deal with. The first step you should take is to have Picachu neutered. An unneutered male will commonly spray in the household. A veterinarian can check to ensure there are no illnesses like urinary crystals or a urinary tract infection causing the inappropriate urination. You should also use a product like Natures Miracle cleaning solution to try to remove urine odor from carpets and elsewhere in the house. The odor of urine will likely attract Picachu to areas and cause him to continue to spray. If the problem is severe you may need to remove the carpet. The following are some other steps you can try: 1. Cats will urinate or defecate outside of the litter box for stress related reasons. Therefore it is best to keep the litter boxes in several different, quiet areas of the household. 2. A pheromone diffuser like Feliway can be quite helpful. 3. Ensure you have at least one litter box in the household per cat plus one. For example, if you have 3 cats, then 4 litter boxes are recommended. 4. Feeding an all canned food diet can help if there is inflammation in the bladder. There are also prescription diets available to help with bladder inflammation or digestive issues. Your veterinarian can help you choose the best one for your cat. 5. The litter boxes should be cleaned once to twice daily and completely emptied and washed weekly. Most cats prefer litter to be the clumping type that is kept a few inches deep. Certain litter types like Dr. Elsey's Cat Attract litter may be helpful. 6. If you are still having problems after taking the above steps you may want to talk to your veterinarian about behavioral medication. Good luck!

Hello and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Inappropriate elimination (peeing or pooping outside the litter box) in cats can be frustrating and difficult to treat. The first step you should take is scheduling an appointment for Udang to see a veterinarian. A lot of times a cat will start going outside of the litter box due to health problems like urinating tract infections, pain, urinary tract inflammation and digestive problems. Once you have established that there aren't any medical reasons for inappropriate elimination the following may be helpful: 1. Cats will urinate or defecate outside of the litter box for stress related reasons. Therefore it is best to keep the litter boxes in several different, quiet areas of the household. 2. A pheromone diffuser like Feliway can be quite helpful. 3. Ensure you have at least one litter box in the household per cat plus one. For example, if you have 3 cats, then 4 litter boxes are recommended. 4. Feeding an all canned food diet can help if there is inflammation in the bladder. There are also prescription diets available to help with bladder inflammation or digestive issues. Your veterinarian can help you choose the best one for your cat. 5. The litter boxes should be cleaned once to twice daily and completely emptied and washed weekly. Most cats prefer litter to be the clumping type that is kept a few inches deep. Certain litter types like Dr. Elsey's Cat Attract litter may be helpful. 6. You can also place aluminum foil over the areas Udang normally likes to urinate to prevent him from going in that area. If you have done a lot of the above suggestions you may also want to talk to your veterinarian about behavioral medications that may help prevent inappropriate urination. Good luck!

Please make sure the litter box is scooped daily and cleaned completely once a week. I would also have her checked to make sure she doesn’t have a urinary tract infection which can cause inappropriate urination. Cats often will urinate on blankets, towels, bath mats and laundry so please don’t leave anything like that around. You can also confine her to a smaller part of the house until she gets retrained. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Olivia.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! There are a few things you can try here. It may be that Kasey does not like the litter in her litter box as much for urination so you may change that to a different litter material/type. Another thing you can do is use a product called Feliway which can help resolve some of these issues if they are behavioral in nature. You may find that online. It has been going on for so long that I think a medical issue is less likely. Good luck and have a great day!

Hello, thank you for your question about Merlin. It is possible that Merlin is exhibiting these behaviors due to the a recent change of environment and new scents. To help further identify and remedy this problem I have provided additional information below. Hope this helps! -Your cat may have an aversion to the litterbox. This can develop due to odors, litter type, other cats or dogs, or an attraction for other substances. Observing your cat using the litterbox can help to determine the cause. Hesitation to enter the box, excessive scratching outside the box, straddling the box, and failure to cover up feces may be indications that your cat has a litterbox aversion. Making your cat’s litterbox more appealing can help. Daily cleaning, as well as changing all the litter out weekly can help. Boxes should be cleaned with a mild, unscented soap. Having the box in a low traffic area of the house may also help to reduce any anxiety surrounding the litterbox. Lastly, finding a litter your cat prefers may be key to making the box more appealing. Using cardboard trays and a few different kinds of litters may aid you in finding your cat’s litter preference. -A multi-pet household is another possible cause of inappropriate elimination. Cats may urinate or defecate outside of the litterbox if there are too few litterboxes present, if the boxes are not cleaned regularly or if inter-pet aggression exists. Owners need to determine if there are an adequate number of litterboxes present in multiple locations; it is recommended that the number of litterboxes total the number of cats plus one. It is very important to clean boxes daily. Non-clumping litter should be completely discarded every day; clumping litter should be scooped daily and completely discarded every 1 to 2 weeks. Owners should observe interactions between cats and other animals in the house to see if any harassment or territorial aggression exists; cats may be aggressive towards one another and dogs may follow cats around in search of a tasty treat. Depending on the case, it may be beneficial to separate cats or place litterboxes in areas where the cat cannot be bothered by canine housemates. Additionally, open litterboxes should be used instead of covered ones, so that the cat can visualize its surroundings and have multiple escape routes. Spraying can be differentiated from the other problems because the cat will still use the litterbox for urination and defecation normally. However they will also target specific areas to spray (usually vertical surfaces though sometimes horizontal), assume a characteristic stance, and stand while urinating. Owners should recognize that spraying is not always an abnormal behavior. Cats spray either due to positive or negative stimuli. Positive stimuli can be normal sexual or predatory behavior. Negative stimuli, which normally results in more frequent and problematic spraying, is usually due to anxiety or inter-cat aggression. Whether positive or negative, the stimuli should be identified and removed. Spay or neuter all intact cats. Clean or remove objects that the cat likes to spray on and make these areas less attractive to the cat. For instance if the cat sprays one spot on a wall, move the cat’s food dishes to that spot. Most cats do not like to soil where they eat. If the cat sprays when it sees another cat outside block the view. If these tactics do not work then room diffusers or spraying with feline pheromones may help reduce spraying. Medication can be prescribed by veterinarians and have been shown to greatly reduce marking behavior. However, since the behavior can return as soon as the drug is withdrawn, drugs should be used only after or in conjunction with the methods mentioned above.