Historical October 1993 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
I am often asked to help clients with their cats who have chosen to urinate or defecate outside the litter box. People are surprised that a known “fastidious” creature would take to soiling in their owner’s house. Cat owners are. also disappointed to have to deal with a problem they thought only belonged to dog owners.
A careful history, and possibly, a few medical tests will help determine why a cat chooses to urinate outside of the litter box. Because cats are prone to bladder infections, and one symptom of having a bladder infection is urinating frequently, and in unusual places, a bladder infection must be ruled out when considering why a cat is house-soiling.
A cat suffering from a bladder infection (cystitis) will squat to urinate as often as every few minutes, sometimes straining for several minutes at a time while only producing a few drops of urine.
They have a great sense of urgency and may urinate wherever they find themselves or will seek the closest available object, like an article of clothing left on the floor.
The urine may be dark or grossly bloody, but can look normal to the naked eye although it contains significant amounts of blood. Male cats have a small and narrow penis which may obstruct with the blood, extra protein and mineral crystals that are found in urine during a bout of cystitis. Unless the obstruction is relieved, the cat will usually expire within 72 hours. Treated with antibiotics and prescription diets. cystitis usually resolves and the affected cat will return to using the litter box. Cats also house-soil when they are marking their territory. Neutering a house pet greatly reduces their need to mark territory, however both neutered male, and female, cats may occasionally feel the need to stake out their surroundings by urinating outside the litter box.
A cat using its urine to mark territory will “spray” its urine on a vertical object: a chair, table leg, or door jamb.
This problem increases during late winter and early spring, the height of breeding season. Indoor cats, especially those in ground floor dwellings, respond to the neighborhood cats mating, fighting, and marking territory outdoors. Fortunately for most owners, cats will use the litter box even though the type of litter put in the box changes with what is on sale, or with what Madison Avenue has convinced the owner is best, or desired by their cat.
I recommend people pick one type of litter, and if their cat uses it, not to make any changes. Plain unscented litter or one of the newer “scoopable” litters are preferable to any that are heavily scented or touted as being “odor controlling”.
The best odor control is a clean litter box: I suggest stool removal daily and a complete box change weekly with one box per cat. Cats will choose to void elsewhere if the box is too dirty. Keeping a box scrupulously clean with an acceptable litter is the best way not to drive a cat way from using its box. Occasionally a cat will demonstrate a preference for a particular surface other than the litter in the box, i.e. carpeting. newspaper or hard floors. Differentiation from location preference is important.
A cal will return to a particular location to void despite the surface in the location, but it will follow a favorite surface from location to location Treatment of surface and location preference requires investigation, trial and error, plus avoidance training. Emotional stress also will cause a cat to house-soil. Although they may seem aloof. cats respond to moving house, adding or losing a family member, alterations in work schedules, and especially, to a new cat in the house.
The strained relations between cats in multiple cat households may cause house-soiling. Determining the source of stress on a cat may not always be possible. Valium is sometimes prescribed and will correct the housesoiling behavior.
I have touched on the most common house-soiling problems. Because the treatment varies depending on the cause of house-soiling, a veterinarian can help formulate a plan to determine the cause and then develop a treatment strategy.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, October 1993.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1993_10.pdf, printed page(s) 6; PDF page(s) 6.
