Why Does My Cat Urinate in the House?

We love our cats. They are cute, cuddly, lovable, squishy, furry, purry, adorable, funny and sweet. 

But there are moments when that affection is tested.

“Why, oh why,” every cat owner has surely wondered at some point or been heard to lament, “why does my cat urinate in the house?”

Cats urinating in the house can be very distressing for owners. And let’s face it, as we freak out and start chasing Fluffy out of the room with stern warnings about what we will do if they ever do it again, it’s pretty distressing for our cats too.

The fact is, peeing is a significant activity for cats. The urine, its potency, its lingering smell and where it’s deposited are things that cats think about.  To understand how to stop a cat peeing in the house, we really have to look at the world from feline eyes.

Understanding Why Cats Urinate Indoors

Cats urinating in the home is a common complaint, and a behaviour that has been encountered by many cat owners before you. 

First thing is to differentiate between urination and spraying, both equally distasteful cat behaviours, but done for very different reasons. When a cat is urinating, it positions itself in a squat, and the urine is deposited on a horizontal surface. A spraying cat, however, keeps itself upright, quivers its tail and the “spray” is delivered to a vertical surface. 

Spraying is used by cats to scent their territory, and so it is usually motivated by a need to claim ownership. A cat will spray if it feels its territory is under threat, is anxious about changes in the home, or it needs to ‘refresh’ its scent.

There can be several reasons why your cat is urinating in the home. Some more common reasons are medical issues like urinary tract infections, problems with the litter tray, or because they are feeling anxious.

To find out how to stop a cat from peeing in the house, you need to observe your cat closely. You should note any signs of pain or discomfort, think about events or experiences that may be a trigger, and take a closer look at the litter tray to ensure it’s meeting your cat’s needs.

1. Medical Causes

To stop your cat from peeing in your home, it is essential to check first for a medical reason for the behaviour. Conditions such as urinary tract infection can be painful, and if the cat associates the litter box with the urinary tract pain, they may avoid it and seek other places to pee. Other painful conditions that cats can, therefore, associate with urination are kidney disease and diabetes mellitus. With these conditions, you would see an increase in thirst as well, so that’s worth looking out for. And if your cat is older,  a decline in cognitive function could impair their ability to reach the litter box in time. Identifying and addressing any underlying health problems is crucial for resolving inappropriate urination issues.

2. Stress and Environmental Changes

Cats may look relaxed a lot of the time but they are highly sensitive creatures and are very sensitive to environmental changes. Big changes like moving house, introducing a new pet, or having a baby are usually quite easily recognised as triggers for anxious or unusual behaviour changes. 

But if nothing obvious has changed, and you are not sure why your cat is suddenly peeing in the house and not the litter tray, you could also think about these things.

• Excessive amount of visitors in the home
• Renovations
• Visits from a new neighbourhood cat
• A change in food
• Moving furniture around
• Changing to location of the litter tray
• Excessively dirty or smelly kitty tray
• Loud noises and disturbances
• Weather conditions
  

Sometimes, cats can be quite perceptive, often picking up on our emotions and stressors. So it’s worth considering how your own behaviour has changed, as this might be the way your cat reacts to it. 

3.  Cognitive Decline

Because of the love and care we give them, especially if we keep our cats indoor or contained using an outdoor cat enclosure, our cats can live very long lives. But like us humans, old age comes with its own set of issues. If your cat is over 10 years old, it may be showing signs of cognitive decline, one of the symptoms of which might be urinating or defecating in the home. 

Cognitive decline due to ageing in cats is similar to dementia in humans. Spatial disorientation is common and can lead to cats wandering into unfamiliar places, or even not being able to find where the litter tray is or get there in time. 

If your cat is showing any symptoms of disorientation, lack of interest in playing, disordered sleep cycles including vocalising in the middle of the night, and indifference to food and water, it is important to get a diagnosis and management plan from your veterinarian. 

4. Behavioral Issues

Indoor urination problems are the most common behavioural issues seen in cats. Elimination behaviours are very integral to a cat’s biology as a predator, and if conditions are not exactly right it may lead to the cat urinating in the wrong place.

The MSD Veterinary manual suggests looking at the following issues to ascertain why a cat may be urinating in the house and not their litter tray. 

• Location preference – if your cat keeps going to the same place in the home to urinate, they may be expressing a preference for this location. Moving the tray here, or nearby, may encourage the cat to use the tray. Providing a choice of tray’s around the home may also help cats continue their preferred behaviour of using urination as a way to mark their territory.
• Substrate problem – maybe they don’t like the material being used in the tray. You can try changing the substrate to see if it makes a difference.

• Litter box aversion – it may be the tray itself that’s the problem. Is it too small? Are there too many cats sharing a tray?  Is it covered? Too shallow? Or perhaps a new noise or disturbance has affected the area and is scaring your cat.

5. Fear of the outdoors

Cats have a remarkable ability to remember and avoid stressful or traumatic experiences and environments. Rescue cats, particularly with negative experiences in their past, may develop irrational fears. 

If your cat is suddenly avoiding going outside, it may have had a frightening experience that it is trying to avoid. Fireworks, lightning, encounters with aggressive neighbourhood cats, or encounters with nasty neighbourhood people can be reasons why your cat avoids the outdoor space you have created and prefers to urinate inside the home. 

It is important to help your cat build their confidence in being outdoors. Providing safe enclosed spaces, plenty of places to hide and sneak around, having positive interactions with your cat in the space, and allowing your cat freedom to access or leave the space as needed can help desensitise your cat’s fears.

6. Territorial disputes

Cats are territorial, and feel safest in an environment that contains their own scent. If a cat feels their territory has been infiltrated or threatened, it may cause undesirable behaviours such as peeing in the house. 

Keeping a barrier between your cat and other cats is a great way of allowing your cat to feel safe in their own territory. An outdoor netted enclosure can be a great way of doing this. 

Even then, however, it’s possible that cats can get into aggressive and frightening conflicts with other cats through the netting. In fact, just the presence of another cat nearby your cat’s home can make it click into territorial mode and begin a campaign of spraying to mark its territory.

If your cat is being taunted by a neighbouring cat, setting up sprinkler systems, shooing the cat away, or contacting neighbours to ask if they can keep their cat away from your home are good options to stop your kitty from feeling threatened.

7. Spraying

Spraying, unlike urination, is done by cat’s on vertical surfaces to mark their territory and usually has a very strong odour. A spraying cat stands upright and shakes its tail, forcing the urine outwards rather than downwards as it does during urination.

Neutering will often stop cats from spraying, but if there has been a change in your cat’s environment, such as a new furniture or a fresh lick of paint, you may find your cat spraying to keep their comfort giving scent in the home. 

As the cat accepts the new change, the behaviour should naturally decrease. 

8. Problem with Litter Tray

If your cat is urinating in the house, then problems with the litter tray could be the culprit. To stop your cat urinating in the house, check these things to confirm there is no issue with litter tray –

• Is the litter tray being cleaned regularly?
• Are cats being forced to share a too small tray?
• Does your cat have a choice of trays in different locations?
• Does your cat have a preferred location for urination?
• Is your tray location too exposed?
• Does changing the litter material stop your cat from peeing in the house?
• Has a new disturbance been introduced to the litter tray location? 

Often, a bit of trial and error in regards to the number and type of trays, and some careful observation of your cat to determine any emotional or environmental changes, can help stop your cat peeing in the house. 

The Importance of Litter Box Maintenance for Indoor Urination

As mentioned, cat’s dont like dirty litter boxes. So how do you maintain a clean litter tray and hopefully stop your indoor cat urination problems?

• Regular Scooping – at least daily, if not twice daily is best. And while it’s obvious that you want to get those poop pieces out, you may not realise it’s also important to scoop out any soiled or clumped urine material as the strong odour may make your cat feel the tray is unclean.
  
• Change the substrate – a weekly change of litter material and a deep clean of the trays can prevent a build up of odours that may cause your cat to avoid the litter tray. 
• Use an appropriate amount of litter material – this is not the time to be stingy! Cats want to bury their waste, and if your tray material is not deep enough they may not be satisfied with using it. 
  
• Provide a choice of trays – don’t force cats to share a tray, instead provide a range of trays and locations so cats can choose where they want to urinate. Having trays in different locations can help your cat follow its natural instinct to urinate around its territory.

How to Manage and Prevent Indoor Urination: Practical Tips

Putting it all together, if you want to stop your cat from peeing in the home, take a note of the following tips-

1. Eliminate medical issues

Anything that causes a cat pain when urinating can create negative associations with the litter tray which can then cause your cat to avoid it. Frequent urination, changes in appetite, disturbance to sleep patterns, lack of interest in food or night time vocalisations can all be signs that something physical is happening to your cat. If you notice these symptoms along with indoor urination, you should consult a veterinarian to rule out any medical problems. 

2. Identify environmental stressors

Cats are highly sensitive creatures that are naturally tuned into looking for changes in the environment that may signal danger. Big changes such as moving house, or a new baby are easily recognisable as triggers for changed cat behaviour, but smaller things like lack of stimulation, changes in your petting a play interactions, moving furniture, having unexpected visitors, or even a change in weather can cause stress which might interfere in how and where a cat wants to urinate. It’s essential to closely observe your cat’s behaviour in response to any of these changes. 

3. Ensure litter tray is optimal

Urination is also one of the most important behaviours for cats, used by them to mark territory but also to hide their scent from potential prey or intruders to their territory. This is why the cleanliness, position, material, number, depth and location of kitty trays is a vital component to understanding undesirable cat behaviour. Understanding that a cat needs to urinate in a discreet safe space, bury its waste entirely, not leave a strong enough scent to alert potential prey, define its territory and not eat around where it urinates, you will start to see how your management of the litter tray is a vital component to stop your cat urinating in the home. 

4. Provide enrichment experiences

A happy cat is a secure cat, and a secure cat is less likely to indulge in problematic behaviours. Providing a sensory rich environment, safe access to secure outdoor spaces, time for play and bonding, things to climb and hide in, and comfy warm bedding are all ways you can satisfy those catty needs, and ensure cat’s will behave in cat and human appropriate behaviours. 

When to Seek Professional Help for Your Cat’s Urination Issues

If your cat is over 10 years old and has other physical signs in addition to urinating in the house, such as indifference to food, withdrawal from touch, excessive vocalisation, loss of weight, frequent urination, or excessive thirst, then it could indicate a medical problem that requires diagnosis and treatment.

If you have addressed medical issues, and investigated litter tray issues or possible environmental stressors that may be causing your cat to urinate in the home and not the litter tray, then you may want to engage the services of a cat behaviourist. Services offered by experts such as Animal Behaviour Australia may be just what you need to understand your cat better and find solutions to your cat’s indoor urination problems. A cat behaviourist understands cat behaviour in depth, and also has the benefit of having worked with multiple cats and therefore have a broader understanding or what to look for in the cat and the environment that may be contributing to the problem, and then provide some tried and true solutions to manage the problem.

How a Cat Enclosure Can Help Prevent Indoor Urination Problems

Domestic cats have 4 main things they need to do every day – eat, sleep, play and eliminate. And these 4 things are extremely important to them. Cats are very particular about where they perform each of these activities, and are also very keen to keep them separated. So a cat, for example, does not want to eat where it pees and poops. Nor does it want to sleep where it pees and poops.

So having very clear delineation between indoor spaces for eating and sleeping, and outdoor spaces for playing and pooping, can be very helpful in discouraging cats from urinating in the home. 

Outdoor cat enclosures are a great way of providing your cat safe access to outdoor spaces, and can also be a great location for litter trays so that odours can be kept outside the home. Placing multiple trays in discreet places around the outdoor space can allow cats the freedom of choosing where they want to urinate, and mimic the natural cat behaviour or moving around its territory. 

Allowing cats to follow their natural cat instincts and behaviours can increase your cat’s mental and physical health and decrease the potential for undesirable behaviours such as urinating in the house.
Looking for a cat netting enclosure in Perth? Choose Kitty Safe! Let your cat roam freely outdoors while keeping your home odor-free. Create the perfect sanctuary for your furry friend today!

 

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