Question

Cat owners-- I have a senior cat (14 yrs old) who has taken to peeing on my bed and inside our bathroom. She has been to the vet recently, so is medically in the clear. Her blood work is great and no UTI. Has anyone dealt with a senior cat with a new behavior issue? (Her litter box is in the basement, she's overweight, and she has started developing arthritis in one knee, but vet said its not bad).  

Answer 1

Yup, get another litter box. It sounds like she doesn't like gong down to use it. So have 2 available to her

Answer 2

I actually have a cat who was doing this (She is young). I got 2 more litter boxes and put them in different spots. 1 on the basement landing and 1 on the main floor. She likes the options I think, because it stopped!  

Answer 3

She’s so cute though  

Comments

@client she’s lucky she is  

Answer 4

Did he check her teeth. We had a cat that did this and found after a few years she had a bad tooth, removed it and she was a sweetheart again. Cats act out for various reasons, in pain you can’t see, change of litter, did you add anything (another pet to the mix). Perhaps the vet doesn’t think the arthritis is bad, but she feels differently. Can you move the box upstairs to see if it changes things.  

Comments

@lepidopteran she just had a dental in February, so not a tooth issue  

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@mindexpanding okay does just go down the list. There is always a reason unless she is senile.  

Answer 5

I would say to add on another litter box to the upstairs. She old fat and has arthritis so it might be a challenge for her to use the box downstairs. Also changing litters brands can disturb cats, If the cat declawed too that cause litter box issues as well, but first I woiud try to add one more box upstairs.  

Answer 6

Yup, I have a senior cat too, he just turned 19. He was doing the same. Doing the stairs just gets too hard for them to do. The tooth suggestion is a possibly too, i would check her mouth too. Also you mentioned she is over weight. Do you feed her dry or wet food? Cats are carnivores. Wet food is best for their diet even though i think its soo gross. A lot of times cats are super over weight because they are fed dry food and its not good for them. I didnt know this either until my vet told me. I switched all three of my kitties over and made a HUGE difference.  

Comments

@odel37548 our vet just told us not to give wet good because it causes them to overeat and gain more weight.  

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Really? thats strange especially if you put out so much food, thats all they can eat. For my senior cat, he gets half a can in the morning and the other in the evening and that was suggested by my vet. All three of my cats lost weight, they had no more dandruff, their coats were so much better, and all three of them have lived longer and thats been the last ten years so no i dont buy that

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I go to College Station Cat Clinic in Wheaton, they are awesome

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@odel37548 yes. Dr. Watson is the very best!  

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@odel37548 Can I ask what wet food and what size can you buy? My senior girl needs to lose weight too. She’s having trouble grooming herself and is missing the box on both #1 and #2. It’s awful.  

Answer 7

We had it too, he couldn’t get over a baby gate when the arthritis started at 12, so we added a hole for him to go through, then at 18 when his arthritis just got to be too much for 5 steps.  

Comments

@fernery2099 poor guy. I wish they could talk to use and let us know what’s going on.  

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@mindexpanding me too! He was 18. 5 when we had to make the call. He literally just lied on the floor and peed. he couldn’t even stand  broke our hearts! I thought I was going nuts when he was 12 and had the accidents all the sudden, then it clicked. I so wish they could talk!  

Answer 8

The rule is usually 2 litter boxes per cat so i would def get her another one thats easily accessible as well. Shes adorable!  

Answer 9

Has she had bloodwork done? Mine developed hyperthyroidism and had kidney failure which caused accidents and increased urination.  

Comments

@opportuna her bloodwork was done in February. They were surprised how good her kidneys were for her weight/age.  

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@mindexpanding I would consider another box on the main level or where she spends a lot of her time. Maybe that will help.  

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@mindexpanding Animals can develop new issues very quickly.  

Answer 10

Thanks everyone. We have 3 cats and 4 litter boxes. I’ll have to put one upstairs I guess. She does always make it downstairs to eat though  

Comments

"Hm I'm hungry. Better go downstairs" 1 hour later "Hm, gotta pee. Guess I'll just do it right here" Cat logic. They're a**holes but I still love them

Answer 11

You know that old person who has a collection of toilet paper, your cat is old and is forgetting the normal

Answer 12

As cats get older they usually develop renal failure. And have they checked for kidney stones or bladder infection. If her arthritis is bad going up and down the stairs might be difficult or getting in the box could be difficult. Bye peeing on your bed she is clearly trying to tell you something!  

Answer 13

Renal failure would be my first thought. Just lost both my boys of 18 years to that. This behavior was very common for them for the last 4 years of their lives.  

Answer 14

Maybe needs pain meds for the knee and that’s why she’s having accidents. Or/and add feliway collars and diffusers in the house to help with stress. Also antidepressants if needed

Answer 15

I would put a litter box in the bathroom, it may be more painful that realizing.  

Answer 16

Have her checked for hyperthyroidism we just had our senior cat checked & sure enough that’s why she was peeing on rugs. She’s on meds now for rest of her life but is doing so much better , although she’s cranky sometimes. She wants to be next to a human all the time to cuddle

Answer 17

My moms senior cat started peeing in the living room. Once she moved his little box upstairs (it was in the basement) he stopped. I think he was just having a hard time making it down the stairs.  

Answer 18

Yes! Odds are here kidneys are shutting down and with arthritis she is probably unable to maneuver like she used to. We just lost our 15 yr old and she showed all the same signs for months.  

Comments

@transvestite this happened with both of our cats at about age 15 too.  I hope with this one the extra litter box will help.  

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@abattoir Try the extra box away from the other. Sometimes another cat's scent will deter them. Also get kitty into a routine and get pet stairs for your bed. It helped our baby so much!  

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@transvestite sorry, I should have mentioned this happened to each of our cats at separate times when they were about that age a year apart. We had the extra boxes upstairs but eventually it got too bad and we made the decision to put them to sleep when they wouldn’t use litter boxes at all. We had to sleep with plastic shower curtains on our bed for about a year. ❤️

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@abattoir Omg I'm so sorry. It's just awful to see our babies go through this.  

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@transvestite thank you! It sure was, we had adopted them both as a kitten and a one year old, and our kitten grew to to eventually act as a therapy cat for our son with autism. It was so hard to lose her especially, but I’m glad we had them so long. I wasn’t prepared for the end of life to be so rough, poor kitties.  

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@abattoir We did the same thing for our sweet Zena with my daughter. They do such wonderful things for our kids. I really wish cats were considered legal service animals like dogs

Answer 19

I would put her liter box where she has better access, to where she’s not in any discomfort. Or maybe forgetful. Keep her close.  

Answer 20

My sister's cat was doing that recently and was diagnosed with diabetes.  

Answer 21

No advice for the problem, but when our cat had a litter box aversion (he had crystals) the only thing that got the smell out of the furniture was OdorXit. It's not cheap, but you can buy a concentrate that basically lasts forever (we've had a 16oz bottle for at least 5 years).  

Answer 22

My friend cat had kidney stones when this happened

Answer 23

Yes our cat does the same thing he’s 16 years old and he pees wherever he wants he’s healthy there’s nothing wrong with him he’ll pee on the bed on clothes anywhere he pleases to

Answer 24

We were having the same issue with our old guy. I agree with what others are saying. Have the thyroid rechecked. Also move a litter box to the area she is peeing and put it there. Any changes in the cat litter? Sometimes they are just picky. If the urine came back with no UTI; did they check for crystals, kidney failure or diabetes? In all honesty it could be old age. Ours was doing “both” in random places for several months. He had multiple health issues. After speaking with our vet he agreed it was a health/safety issue. I live with my parents (mom has Alzheimer’s) and we had to think about those repercussions as well - we can’t risk her getting sick because of it. We said our goodbyes to him last month  I hope you find some answers!  

Answer 25

@mindexpanding, can I PM you?  

Comments

@ricardaricardama of course!  

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@mindexpanding sent!  

Answer 26

I was going to say thyroid too. I had 2- older ones start that Or put multiple litter boxes around

Answer 27

When my cat started to pee out side of her litter box I used Cat Attract litter and it stopped. After one bag I went back to my normal (cheaper) litter.