In Which My Cat Pisses All Over Everything

In My Humble Opinion
1

Help.

I have a 13/14ish year old beautiful, sweet, black kitty named Merlin. (obliged.)

About a year ago, we got a creamsicle kitten, Abomination. In retrospect, this was ill-advised, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Mina is cute and terrible, and he caused a significant amount of stress for Merlin. He has calmed down significantly as he’s gotten older, but he’s still a bit of a handful. They couldn’t be more different in personality – Merlin is a shy, quiet, almost delicate cat who demands lots of attention, Mina just wants to bite everything and is much more aggressive and independent. Not to put too fine a point on it, but he’s an asshole.

Both are neutered.

The problems started about two months ago when Merlin, after a lifetime of prudent litterbox habits, pissed on my living room curtains, about five feet in front of my face. I immediately took him to the vet, where we discovered he had a bladder infection and urine crystals. We treated the infection, and I kept him in my bedroom for a while so he could get some time away from the kitten, and he had his own litter box and food dish in the bedroom, but I let him roam the entire house whenever he wanted. Meanwhile, the living room increasingly smelled like cat piss. I hate that smell more than almost any other smell in existence. It is vile.

Go back to the vet, and Merlin’s bladder infection has healed, but he still had crystals in his urine, so we switched him to a special dry food and I feed them both mostly wet food now. I talked to her about the peeing in my living room issue and she recommended Cat Attract Litter, and also suggested I not put their litter boxes in the same room (laundry room) because maybe the kitten is blocking his access. So I started using Cat Attract Litter and added a third litter box to the living room, right in the spot he enjoys pissing on so much. Things went okay for a couple of weeks, though the two cats almost exclusively use the living room litter box and ignore the other two. I’ve never seen Mina block Merlin from using any of the litter boxes.

A few days ago my husband was cleaning out some stuff on top of our kitchen island, including a plastic crate. Merlin walked right up to him and pissed in the crate. And since then he’s pissed twice on my favorite messenger bag, also in the living room, while I was sitting right there. I can only guess where else he’s been pissing.

I get that this is a territorial issue, I just have no idea how to stop it. Two days ago I removed Merlin from my bedroom permanently because my allergies just can’t take it. But he had been spending so much time in the rest of the house I didn’t think it would cause much stress. These issues far predate removing him from the bedroom, though.

Literally, any advice appreciated at this point. I already steam cleaned my house once on account of this cat and I am at my wit’s end.

2

Perhaps I misread but how do we definitely know it’s a territorial issue as opposed to a health issue?
My newest cat pissed maybe half a dozen times out of her litterbox. The first few times, it was stress. The other times, she was dissatisfied with the cleanliness of her litterbox.

For stress: more petting, playing, spending time with him only, making sure he has a few comfortable hiddey spots only for him.

Perhaps another litterbox next to his would help. It can be handy to have two litterboxes next to each other anyway.

3

I guess because he got a clean bill of health from the vet once the infection was treated, because he’s never pissed on stuff in the bedroom, and because he pissed literally five feet from a clean litter box in the living room.

This is a tough one. He won’t come to me when Mina’s nearby and now that Mina has figured out how to jump, there aren’t many spaces off limits. I thought I was effectively doing this with the bedroom, but it got to where he was meowing constantly to be let in or out of the bedroom, only to meow as soon as he got in there to be let back out. I don’t know if he’s getting confused as he ages, or what.

Sure, why not four? Why not twelve? Sigh.

4

I got a medium/large cage and put blankets/towels inside it and over it (including the entry) to create a dark, cozy kitty cube. With room enough for one, it can let a cat have his own space.

5

What kind of litterboxes do you have? I switched to self-cleaning, which has helped a lot.

I’m sorry to say it though, but I think the key may really be re-homing Mina… A second cat can be an awesome thing, but it sounds like these two are not a good match. I’m guessing stress is the real factor here. There are some pheromone based solutions that might help sooth Merlin as a next step, while you think things through. Cat behaviorists are also a thing and sometimes can help.

6

I have wondered this myself. Some people seem to equate re-homing a cat with giving away your children. I am not sure I feel that way, but I’m not very informed on what the potential consequences could be.

My litter boxes are uncovered, bin-type. I have three and just ordered a fourth which has the option to have a half-cover or a full-cover. I thought it might make him feel safer? I dunno.

I also bought a box of those Feliway diffuser refills.

7

Not sure if you’ve done this already, but Feline formula Nature’s Miracle will help take the cat pee smell away.

Check out Jackson Galaxy’s website. He’s the guy from My Cat from Hell, which is a really great show and he really does seem to help people live more happily with their cats.

8

Mina’s out of the kitten stage now, which means that now you have two adult males jockeying for territory. It doesn’t surprise me to learn that the pissing contest (which is exactly what this is) has intensified. I expect that Mina has been taking some surreptitious shots himself.

I don’t really have any clever advice except to say that it will probably sort itself out in a few months.

Have you had Mina to the vet? If one cat is ill, the other may pick it up. Maybe Mina smells weirder to Merlin now that he’s a mature cat or maybe he smells weird because he caught Merlin’s infection. It’s probably just Teen Spirit, though.

Mina’s young enough that he would transition into another household alright, probably, but finding a good home for a bitey black male adult can be difficult. Maybe if you start now, you can ride the Mr. Biggles craze.

9

Just to clarify: The kitten is the bitey one. He’s not mean-spirited, he just gets easily overstimulated. The older black cat is a docile sweetheart and would not likely adjust well to being rehomed.

I am a huge fan of Jackson Galaxy and My Cat From Hell. I’ve been trying to follow his litterbox advice including putting one in a socially important area. I also ordered a UV Blacklight so I can identify just where exactly the pissing is happening. And I would be in trouble without Nature’s Miracle! That stuff really is miraculous.

10

Sad to say, we had a cat like that a while back and while we loved him, we ended up putting him down because he kept ruining our furniture and other areas.

Sorry cat. You ruin a brand new couch and other items, you are going to go by by.

And yes, we tried everything.

We gave him some good years but we ended up putting him down. The vet said it wont get any better with age and will probably get worse. I buried him in the backyard.

You cant allow this animal to ruin your house. Just quietly remove him (dont make a scene of it) and take him to the vet.

11

I really don’t like having ruined furniture and I hate piss smell, but Merlin is a relatively healthy, physically active, living organism and the only reason I would put him down is if it were a quality of life issue. I’m committed to continue working on this problem until it resolves itself or I figure it out. And if neither of those things happen, I’m not sure how I’m going to deal with it, but we’ll cross that bridge then.

12

YOUR vet said that YOUR cat wouldn’t get any better in his behavior. I don’t believe her vet has said anything of the sort about her cat. You also mentioned you tried “everything” with your cat, and it doesn’t sound like she’s at that point with her cat. So I don’t think the advice about your cat should be carried over to this cat. I think less extreme solutions should be attempted prior to putting a cat down.

13

Like re-homing. If it’s a stress issue, that could solve it.
Playing with Mina to get the energy out of him and giving Merlin his own space seems like the best option. Giving a cat its own space can be quite simple, it doesn’t need to be as large as a room. I have a bookshelf and put a blanket on the shelf and over the opening so it feels enclosed. Perhaps making sure Mina understands that some spots are his and other spots are Merlin’s would help. The pissing is likely because he feels defensive about not having a place of his own. I have two male cats who’ve never had territorial pissing because neither feels like they don’t have any place of theirs.

14

Oh, right. That means we’re still short some pictures in this thread. /taps toe

It was the younger one I was suggesting re-homing, not the older. I don’t think re-homing Mina would be a bad idea, if you can find him a good new family and you won’t miss him, too much. I expect Merlin would feel quite pleased with himself if Mina departed.

15

Do you see the evil in those eyes?

He is seriously cute, but I’m kidding myself to say I’m as attached to him as I am to Merlin.

16

Yep. Me too. Re-homing Mina is what I’m thinking. I don’t really think this is a question of enough litter boxes or the type of litter. If the pheromones don’t help, and doing a little more creative separate space creation doesn’t help, I would say re-home Mina while he’s young and cute and relatively easy to place.

If I remember correctly, Mina has been hard on Merlin for a while now. I think he’s just letting you know, er, I think he’s stressed.

17

Yeah, he got sick right away when we first got the kitten – he had bronchitis. He changed a lot behaviorally, not willing to play or snuggle when Mina’s around, and then the bladder infection.

18

We went through something similar for over a year and a half (and I also posted here for advice). We literally tried everything- multiple litter boxes with Cat Attract litter, Feliway, calming collars, calming water drops, medication for the bitey one, everything Jackson Galaxy suggested including a wall full of cat shelves and firm adherence to Eat-Play-Love, a cage that the bitey one got stuck in in a week-on, week-off arrangement (the older cat would be shut up in one of the guest rooms during the off week), reintroduction, and ultimately a cat behaviorist (to the tune of $450). The older cat ended up with a huge bladder stone from holding her urine until she could sneak out an urinate on things (usually my things), and had to have surgery. That was the end of the line for the better half (who is the older cat’s Person); we rehomed bitey to a nice couple a few miles away, where she is the only cat in a house with three dogs and her new mom lets her drink out of her water glass. Older cat has gone completely back to normal; we keep her on the special diet to avoid any repeats of bladder stones anyway, just in case.

It’s been nearly a year since the rehoming, and I still have a photo of bitey as my phone wallpaper. I loved that little monster; she was my crabby beautiful little ginger tabby who at almost ten pounds loved to lay on my chest because that’s how I snuggled with her when we first got her as a baby. Better half says I get to pick the next critter when the older kitty kicks off this mortal coil.

I hope your situation ends more happily for everyone; you absolutely have my sympathy.

19

Oh man, that cat is full of schemes. You should advertise for someone who wants to adopt an Evil Vizier.

I am sorry I don’t have better advice. I know it’s hard to be in a position where a pet might not work out.

20

Do you have a friend or relative who can take Mina for a few days, just to see what happens?

If this behavior stops, it’s due to Mina’s presence. If it doesn’t, Merlin has something else going on.