Expert: Karen Craft - 4/30/2010

Question
I have a 13 year old female cat. She's always been our only cat and has always shared the house with a dog. She started peeing on things sporadically about 4 years ago. She started peeing in the dirty laundry in baskets in the basement, on clean socks in a basket waiting to be folded, and in the corner of a carpeted staircase. She would only do it occasionally, just when we would forget to close the door to the basement or stairway. We moved about a year ago and since then it has become much more frequent. In the past few months she's been peeing in the dirty clothes basket up to a couple times a week! The washer/dryer is now upstairs and there's no way to shut a door to block it off. My family's getting really mad about it and considering making her an outside cat or getting rid of her. She wouldn't survive as an outside cat as we now live in the country and there are barn cats all over, she's de-clawed in the front and has never had to share her yard with other cats and will not warm up to them at all. She's always been pretty spoiled and gets a lot of attention. Any suggestions would help- thank you!

Answer
Hi Tiffany,

This isn't too big a deal to take care of. First, have her get a check up from your vet. 9 out of 10 times when a cat's litter box habits change it is because they are sick. Next get a good enzymatic cat urine cleaner and use it in the areas she has been urinating in. This will get rid of any urine odors she can smell but you can't.
Get rid of the laundry baskets that the clothes were in and get new ones. You want to remove all temptations for her to come back to the areas she was using. Put a litter box in the carpeted corner area. And another near the laundry. Because of her age get a different type of litter pan. I recommend this one.
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=petmate+giant+litter+pan&rls=com.micros...

Try changing to a different type of litter. Use one type in one box and another in the other. See which she likes best. Try this stuff.
http://www.preciouscat.com/attract-litter-additivebronly-available-through-your-...
Pet Smart carries it.

I believe your vet will find that she has some urinary infection problem. If she does he might push a special science diet that you get from him. Before you buy that read this. http://catinfo.org/feline_urinary_tract_health.htm

Hope this helps. Don't go the outside cat route. Doing that is an instant death sentence for your cat. These suggestions should take care of your problem and make your cat happy. Good luck.

Ciao, Karen