Cat urine can be very smelly – and as owners we much prefer for them to urinate in their allocated area. That can be a litter tray or outdoors – but what if your cat starts urinating everywhere else? As well as being very unsavoury it’s also very worrying – what could be wrong?
Table of contents
Neutering Status
One of the first things to check is if your cat is a male or female and if they have been neutered. The reason being is that when males reach sexual maturity, they can be prone to scent marking and spraying. And anyone with a mature tom cat will know how potent their urine is!
If you aren’t looking to breed your cat then neutering them (male or female) can help with a number of behavioural or medical issues.
However, note that even neutered cats will still urinate inappropriately. And entire ones can do so for other reasons, so do consider some of the other causes on the list too…
Stress
Stress is a BIG cause of inappropriate urination. Cats have been ‘domesticated’ much later than dogs and as such retain some very specific requirements to keep them happy, stress free and allow them to exhibit natural behaviours.
Sometimes modern life can take its toll and cats get stressed. This might be because of changes in routine; because their home isn’t providing them with an adequate environment to meet their needs; because they are living in a multi-cat household and the relationships are strained; or because their territory is being infringed upon by lots of other local cats.
This can lead to stress induced feline lower urinary tract disease and can cause inappropriate urination. To combat this, have a look into what cats need – play, space, exercise, the ability to escape and hide, feeding stations away from litter areas etc. Feline behaviour can be mind boggling but there are definitely lots of things you can do to make your home more cat friendly or to reduce stress in cats. We just need to find out their triggers first.
Urinary Tract Infection
Cats can also get urinary tract infections that cause discomfort and cystitis type signs. This can lead to distress, inflammation, blood in the urine and cats urinating little and often. Often squatting to urinate in areas other than their litter tray. Any signs like this require veterinary attention. So please do call your local clinic if your cat is having difficulty urinating.
Stones
Another issue is stones – stones in the bladder! Cats can get microscopic crystals forming in their urine. This can be due to a number of reasons such as infections or Ph changes.
Crystals themselves can cause inflammation and irritation to the bladder wall which again can cause cystitis type signs. However sometimes they also form stones that can also block a cat’s urethra (the tube where urine exits the body). This can equally cause cats to become distressed and squat all over the house and drip little bits of urine. Any signs like this require veterinary attention. So please do call your local clinic if your cat is having difficulty urinating. It becomes an emergency when your cat can’t produce ANY urine despite trying to and requires urgent veterinary care.
Arthritis
Bet you didn’t think arthritis could cause cats to change their urination habits? But yes, it can! When cats become arthritic, they can sometimes really struggle with the litter tray you provide – are they too tall to get into, are they too small to get in a comfortable position, are they hooded and the cat can’t turn without pain or discomfort?
This means that the cats are forced to urinate elsewhere! So, if your cat is stiff, sleeping more, not able to groom as well, playing less, a little grumpier than normal – go get a veterinary arthritis assessment! Once pain relief and anti-inflammatory medication is on board and you change your cat’s tray to something lower and larger placed in a safe area then they may start to improve again and use the facilities you provide.
Kidneys
Kidneys are used to filter the blood, and produce urine and to expel anything we don’t need (among other very important roles). If the kidneys start to malfunction and the nephrons within the kidney no longer do their job effectively, we can have a number of issues but one common sign we may certainly see is that our cat’s urination habits can change – again increased urination.
Kidney disease also can make your cat feel pretty unwell, so as well as producing more urine they may start to not use the litter trays as effectively and have accidents around the house.
Diabetes
Another issue which may cause your cat to start urinating everywhere is diabetes! Why? Because when your cat has an issue with its insulin and the blood glucose in its blood gets too high a cat will start to lose glucose in its urine. Glucose causes something called ‘osmotic diuresis’ when it effectively draws more fluid out so your cat urinates lots and also starts to drink lots! Diabetes can also make them feel under the weather so they may have accidents around the house because of how much urine they are producing! Once again – any changes to your cats drinking or urinating habits definitely warrants a visit to their lovely local vets.
Conclusion
As you can see your cat suddenly deciding to urinate everywhere can be down to a number of reasons – the list above certainly isn’t an exhaustive list – there could be many more reasons! But the advice remains- your cat urinating everywhere is not normal. Whether behavioural of medical it needs some interventions so please do seek help for your lovely veterinary team.
Discussion
My cat used to pee and the house and it made my home smell like a litter box. I was continually spending a lot of money continually cleaning the carpets and replacing furniture. I didn’t want to scream and shout at my poor little cat or give hime away like some of my friends had done when their cats would not stop spraying outside the box.