Expert: Charlotte Sherrell, DVM - 5/2/2010

Question
I have 3 cats, 1 male and 2 female, the male is fixed the females are not. They are all 2 years old. About a year ago, one (or more) of them started urinating on towels that were on the bathroom floor and go into the bedrooms and urinate on blankets. The same towel or blanket could be on the floor in the living room, and they would not urinate on it, and in fact sleep on the towel. I have tried washing the blankets and towels with urine remover, but nothing seems to help. Also lately one of the cats has started to dedicate in the bathtub at night (now it is every night). All the cats use the letter dish (which is cleaned at least once a day). Besides this behavior they are well behaved and very affectionate. I do not have a lot of money to try many different options. I appreciate any advice you could offer.

Thank you

Ken

Answer
Ken -

The first thing you should do is to have all the cats examined for urinary tract infections. The kitty that is urinating on the towels may have an infection or may have an inflamed bladder.  It is necessary to rule out infection first, then you can determine why the cat is using the towels.

Are you breeding the females?  If not, then I recommend that you have them spayed.  Female cats will continually have a heat cycle until they become pregnant.  Cats that are not spayed may be stressed which may cause bladder infections and inflammation.



A trip to the veterinarian should help you determine if bladder infections are the reason why the kitty is using the towels.

Best Regards,

Charlotte Sherrell, DVM