Expert: Shanti Zinzi - 12/28/2010

Question
I have two questions.  How to get cat to stop peeing and how to get her to lose weight as I feel it may be related?
I have 2 cats and a small dog (had over a year).  The male cat is an 8 lb stray found 2 months before the  female cat which is 12 lbs from the shelter.  They are both about 4 years old and have had them for the last 3 years.  The male is healthy and happy and goes outside.  
The female became overweight after I got her and I have tried many different foods to get her to lose weight but nothing seems to work.  It is also hard as I feed both cats at same time in morning and night so they both get the same food as I don’t have any time in the morning to try to separate them.
She is very inactive and plays at times with the male but will never go outside and if she does she runs right back in.  She is defiantly more skittish.  I feel that she may be a little depressed at times and have tried feliway along with giving her more attention but I am not sure if she’s depressed or just lazy as she does cuddle with me at night.
She has peed on my furniture since I have gotten her and had to throw away a very nice beanbag.  I have moved about 2.5 years ago and she still keeps peeing on my couch and chair and I want to get a new couch in hopes she won’t pee on that as she won’t have the smell but I want to try everything I can to curb this behavior so she won’t pee on the new couch as well.  I did get a new leather chair where I kept finding pee on the seat and the floor near it but haven’t seen any in the last year.  I have kept my dogs toys on it to keep the cats off of it and not sure if that was the solution for that particular chair but has helped.
I have two litter boxes.  An automatic and a regular box.  I am really lazy when it comes to the regular box and feel she may prefer the regular box.  They are both in a closet that the cats have access to but it is hard for me to see them in there.  I have heard the automatic one go off after she has been in there, though. I have also sent her to the vet twice and both times they said nothing is wrong with her physically.
So I know I need to be better with the litter box but I also want to figure out why she is peeing and how to get her to stop.  Also, what food would be best for her and can I feed it to the male cat as well?  She used to gobble down all the food I gave them but now has learned to eat what she wants and leaves some behind if it is too much.

Answer
Hi Shannon,
She sound like a sweet kitty...
If you would like help with dietary suggestions contact me via my website at www.thenatureofthebeast.org
Dry diet foods for cats are not good nor nutritionally sound and carnivore cats don't get the required nutrients. Also, gulping food down can be a sign that the food is nutritionally inferior or some type of sensitivity.
I definitely do not like the ingredients in Science Diet Light or any low calorie formula. I am not sure what you have used, but you can contact me  for more help with both issues if you like and fees are on website.
Exercise her, that would be most important. Make it fun, play with her!
Also, eliminate junk brands. Eliminate purina, whiskas, friskies, eliminate dry food as well. If she was adopted from a shelter, as an adult cat then you really wouldn't know her true age. Shelter staff often guess and usually very wrong. Older cats don't require as much physical activity as younger cats. Is it possible she is older or did you adopt her a kitten?
For litterbox issues"
1)  With cats, we first need to determine if she spraying or urinating. Both males and females can spray- if she is squatting that would be urinating. (you mentioned she pees on the couch so this sounds like urinating)
2)  Then all medical issues need to be ruled out. A urine analysis and blood panel.
You mentioned you have done this already.
3)  Then we need to play investigator.
4)  If the litter box has litter that cats don't like or there aren't enough litterboxes or litterboxes aren't adequately cleaned we change that.
The box MUST be scooped TWICE DAILY.
To understand this- think of sharing an UNFLUSHED toilet with a roommate that urinates 4x's a day and defacates 2x's a day, and you do the same. Then think about that multiplied by a few days.Think of the amount of waste that will be piling up. Same goes for litterboxes.
You would be completely repulsed!! Cats are the same. They do not want to be digging or stepping in or on waste.
Scoop twice daily, use UNSCENTED litter. Cats are extremely sensitive and have up to 50 million more scent receptor cells than a human -so those perfumed litters are dreadful to them.
Use a dust free clumping litter to scoop out the urine. If you stick to plain old Johnny Cat then scoop out solids and put in new litter every 2-3 days.
The plastic of the box should be cleaned weekly with a mild natural detergent or vinegar. Remove all fecal stains and urine smells from plastic.
5)  If none of this works, you must explore the idea of anxiety. If not using the litterbox is truly a behavioral issue then it is about anxiety. Have there been any changes in the home since the behavior started? New cat, new dog? new roommate? work on the home? new baby?
Something can be making her very anxious.
When you figure out the culprit you work on slowly and gingerly desensitizing her to whatever is making her anxious.
Since you mentioned you are not good about the litterboxes that raises my suspicion. Put them where you can see them, add a box, use unscented clumping litter like Swheat Scoop or World's Best,clean 2x's daily, scrub boxes once a week.
One thing that made me feel a little sad was that you mentioned she was "defiantly skittish" I don't think that is properly understanding her. Cats can be shy or skittish or slightly fearful or confident and every shade in between on that spectrum. There is no "defiance" about being shy.
Shy cats should be made to feel secure and protected. If they aren't and are forced to do things that they are afraid of they could develop behavior problems which could include not using the litterbox.

Best of luck in figuring out and please contact me via my website if you would like further help or a consultation.
Shanti