Cat treats apartment like his litterbox

Dear Dr. John,

I adopted a cat, Marty, a few months ago from a shelter. He has settled in fairly well. I had another cat named Mick that I had to put to sleep last fall after a protracted illness. Recently, I have found Marty urinating outside of his litter box in various locations around the apartment. I wonder if he does it because of any smells of my previous cat still lingering in the apartment. What could other causes for this new behavior be? I clean out his litter box every day.  Am I doing something wrong? He seems content, has the run of the house, but I need to find a way to stop this from happening. Any suggestions you might have would be appreciated. K.R.

Dear K.R.,

There is always the possibility that your new cat found some residual odors in your home that has triggered his urinating or marking behavior in the home, but it is not highly likely. I presume that Marty is neutered and the fact that the inappropriate voiding did not start at the beginning makes this less of a possibility. Since this does not happen all the time, a urinary tract infection is not likely but cannot be ruled out. Despite that, this sounds mostly like a behavioral problem.

Cats urinate outside of the box if they are upset even if it is not obvious. Various causes for a cat being upset include a change in your schedule, visitors, noises outside or in the building that are new, a box that the cat deems is improperly cleaned, or anything that has changed in his and your daily routine. It can take some sleuthing to figure it out.

Here are a few things you can try doing. Change the brand of litter, if the box is uncovered then get a covered box or vice versa, move the location of the litter box, get a second litter box, or try purchasing one of the many pheromones one can find to relax a cat and change behavior such as Feliway.

I would contact your veterinarian as well to see what they say. They might want to make sure the cat has no problems in the bladder such as urinary stones, or anything else. Discuss your plans of action with them. As a last resort, they might recommend anxiolytic medication.  Good luck!

Dr. John de Jong owns and operates the Boston Mobile Veterinary Clinic.He can be reached at 781-899-9994.