Expert: Kate Tilmouth - 2/8/2009

Question
Hi there,

My fiancé and I are at our wits end. We have 3 boys. 2 are litter mates and
we had them a year before we got the third. After intorducing them slowly to
each other, they all got along really well. Well, one of the original boys, #1
started peeing on random things 2 months after the intro of #3. He pees in
his box (we have 3) but goes on rugs, clothes, backpacks, a paper bag that
he loved playing in, a massage table...the other two cats have no problem(2
and 3)!! All of them are neutered, and the vet told us that should take care of
the problem...obviously it hasn't worked. We have tried feliway too and that
doesn't help either. What else can we do? We are close to giving this one
away because he is destroying our home!! We are fairly confident it's not am
infection becuase there is no realy urgency to it. Today, he went from
cuddling with us to peeing on the bag he plays in!

Answer
Hi
Ok sounds to me like this little boy is feeling a little unsettled in his home for some reason and the peeing on things helps them to smell more like him which in turn helps to make him feel happier and more confident. it is a common occurance and what triggers it can be very difficult to discover. It could have simply been a loud noise of getting his tail caught etc.

what ever has caused it has made him feel that hi has to make his home smell more like him. So what needs to be done is to shrink his world for a time so that he has a smaller area to worry about and can become confident in that smaller space first. During this time he will also get used to using his litter tray all the time too. Also during this time it is very important that you clean the house thoroughly, especially where he has urinated before (I find a black light very helpful as even the tiniest spot left will encourage him to go there again),

I know this may sound all rather drastic but it is the only way to help your cat find his confidence again. i have written a web page about all of this including the procedure here http://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-litter-box.html  I hope it helps your situation.

take things slowly and calmly and hopefully the behaviour will be stopped.

best wishes Kate
http://www.our-happy-cat.com