Cat is suddenly peeing everywhere

Question

My female cat is 7 and I've had her since she was 4 months old. We moved when she was 1.5 and she started peeing all over the house. There was blood in the pee and the vet gave her antidepressants but it didn't work so we let her outside and she was okay.

She also stopped liking other cats after we moved. In November last year, one cat she grew up with moved away with my sister. In February this year, the other cat we had died but she really hated him. In early march, we got another cat about 1.5 years old and she's crazy and funny and little but i still loved my cat the most.

Then, in early June, she started peeing little drops everywhere but there was no blood. We took her to the vet and they tried to get a urine sample but couldn't, and kept her for a few hours but still couldn't, so they gave her an antibiotic shot and she peed for real in her litter box the next day.

We haven't changed her food or litter type, nor had anything recently changed. Then we went on vacation for 10 days and when I got home, she had peed everywhere in my room. On my bed, on paper on the ground, in her litter box, on anything on the ground. I cleaned most of it up but I was tired from the drive and went to sleep. Then she woke me up at 2 am by almost peeing on me. She was preparing to pee on my bed and on me and I took her to her litter box and when she went back to trying to pee on me, I moved it next to my bed.

I noticed that in addition to her squatting to pee everywhere, she's started to pee standing up with her back arched and tail shaking, her back against the wall or my bedskirt or my suitcase. I don't know if it's medical or mental and I don't want to stress her out more by taking her to the vet but I'm worried and honestly annoyed because she's peeing on everything.

Another thing I noticed since I got home yesterday, she's started flopping down more. She'll jump on my bed and immediately flop and lay down or she'll stop walking and flop over. It's different than her normal flopping; it's not the cute kind. I've tried giving her treats and sitting with her outside and we have a catnip plant growing that she loves and nothing has calmed her down. I'm desperate for advice.

Answer 1

Did the vet advise you to do more tests? I mean urinary test, ultrasound investigation?

From my experience I can assume that your cat suffers from pain. Usually, if a cat's behavior changes suddenly, it means that cat is trying to show you something, as they can't speak.

Your cat has already had problems with peeing. Peeing with little drops could be because of cystitis or urine calculus/renal gravel. If she pees on you, it definitely means she has problems. You just need to find out what kind of problem.

Take her to a vet. Do more tests, check her health. The sooner the better.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Go for a recheck, make sure they look at the pee. Have you switched her diet? She seems like a stress UTI cat, talk to your veterinarian about Hill's C/D. It's a urinary diet for cats prone to getting UTI's from stress, it's one of our most sold foods for cats (along with urinary s/o) that works great. Also another good add on for this is the feliway difuser (http://www.feliway.com/) I love love love this stuff.

If they cannot get a sample at the clinic ask them for litter beads and a syringe so you can collect urine yourself at home. Lock her in the bathroom with the litter box and beads, if she won't use the box chances are she'll use the bathtub or sink which is still ok. Also a side note if you do this remove any carpet/towels that will soak up pee if she decides to pee on those.

Some UTI's aren't cured with our standard antibiotics so a culture and sensitivity would be another thing to consider however they would need to do a cystocentesis for a proper sample.

Good luck! We see this ALL the time in clinic.

Answer 3

The earlier incidents sound medical, but the later incidents sound like territorial marking. The new posture you've described is the posture cats use when territorial marking.

...she's started to pee standing up with her back arched and tail shaking, her back against the wall or my bedskirt or my suitcase.

Contrary to popular belief, female cats can and will spray as well as male cats. It's a good idea to rule out medical issues with a vet to make absolutely sure, but given this behavior, it's pretty likely your cat is actually territorially spraying on purpose.

Female cats more typically spray if something is stressing them out, especially if they feel their territory is being intruded on. The likely answer is that she is territorially spraying because she doesn't get along with your other cat, but it's also possible that she's reacting to cats outside that she can see and smell through the windows and doors.

If the latter, you can scare off cats around your home with motion detecting sprinklers designed for this purpose. If the former, you're going to have to figure out ways for your cats to get along better. Unfortunately, there isn't really an easy solution to this, but I can give some tips to help get started.

1. Take note of when and where there are any incidents. That is, places where the cat is peeing, and if there are any bullying incidents between the two cats. It might also be useful to get a blacklight and search for areas where your cat has peed that you aren't already aware of, as cat pee will shine under blacklight. With this information, you can start to put together a picture of areas of contention for your cats.
2. Fix the areas of contention. Cats often get into trouble over sharing limited resources, like the litterbox. If you notice incidents are happening over that kind of thing, simply get more of that thing so the cats no longer have to share. The other way they get into trouble is if one cat tends to bully the other cat. A lot of the time the bullying is enabled by the environment, like if there's places the cat can trap its victim or ambush its victim. Rearrange your home or buy more cat furniture to try to eliminate these types of spots. In general, it's probably a good idea for you to get a lot more cat furniture, and make essentially a second story for your cats to explore without having to come back down. This way your cats will have options, and will not have to share the same space unless they're comfortable doing so. Hopefully this will cut down on the stress level.
3. Play with your cats more while they are in the same room. Playing with them together will hopefully make them more confident around each other.

I suppose I should mention that it is also possible that something else entirely is disrupting the cat's territory and stressing it out as well. I have written this answer mostly assuming it's other cats given the information provided, but it may also help to think on if there were any other changes to the house that could be stressing out your cat.