What to Do If Your Cat Urinates Outside of Your Litter Box

Inappropriate urination is a VERY common problem in cats. It can be caused by litter box issues (that is you have a situation in your home that is not ideal for your cat), behavioral problems (they are marking territory), or medical problems (such as stones, infections, urethral obstructions as well as a condition called feline idiopathic cystitis (FIC). FIC literally means an inflammation of the urinary bladder in cats of unknown origin.

What can you do if your cat is urinating outside of the litter box?

Here are some tips.

1. First, DON’T assume it is behavioral. Get your vets help to figure out the underlying cause. Allow your vet to perform some basic tests to determine if stones or an infection is present. The most common tests they will do is a urinalysis and an x-ray to look for bladder stones. If an underlying condition is found, it should be treated. If NONE is found – then next – look at your litter box situation.

2. Check out your litter box. Is it ideal? If you were a cat, would you use it? There are a LOT of things cat owners do wrong in their litter box care, location, and litter that makes it unappealing place for cats. To learn more – read this very good and important article – 8 most common reasons cats won’t use the litter box. Make sure you have enough litter boxes, you are scooping often enough, using a litter attractive to them, the location is good, etc. Read this very good article to make sure you are doing the things your cat needs you to do – go to Critical Things to Know About Litter Box Care.

3. Minimize stress. Stress can cause cats to behaviorally or medially (they can get a stress related bladder inflammation) to go outside of the litter box. Try to minimize anything that causes them stress. If they HATE Company – put them in a room where they will be happy for a few hours while your company is there. If they HATE your dog, make sure they have a refuge to escape to away from the dog. Here is a good article on reducing multi-cat stress. Go to How to Reduce Stress in a Multi-cat Household.

For more information on inappropriate urination, go to Inappropriate urination in Cats and read feline idiopathic cystitis (FIC).

I hope this information helps you know what to do If Your Cat Urinates Outside of Your Litter Box.