Cat owners - do you think this cat is doing this to be annoying or is there something wrong?

[Anonymous]

4 weeks ago my partner moved his cat to our place, where my cat lives with us. The first week of the move, no issues. His cat was going toilet in the litter boxes just fine. But since the second week, his cat won’t pee in the litter boxes anymore and instead chooses the carpet or the kitchen floors instead. I’m tired of scrubbing the carpets and mopping the kitchen. The carpet that he pees on and the kitchen is further away than the litter boxes, so it makes me unsure if it’s a bladder issue/infection, and makes me wonder if he’s just doing it to be a pain in the a** or doing it for attention, especially since he always chooses the exact same spots to do it on, rather than it happening in random areas of the house. His cat is 14 years old and fixed/neutered, if that’s helpful. I don’t know whether to take him to the vet and waste $200 incase it’s just attention seeking behaviour.

[Astarlessnightsky]

How many litter boxes do you got? With two cats you should have two litter boxes.

At 14 years old it can be a medical issue, but its hard to tell.

I would get a second litterbox and see if this fixes it.

Also don't forget to clean it daylie.

[Asker]

There’s 2 litter boxes. I’m home majority of every day, so the boxes are always checked and cleaned.

[MementoMori777]

If the litter box is dirty enough, they won't use it, I doubt you'd shit on a toilet that is dirty, same logic goes for them

[Asker]

Both litter boxes are always cleaned and refilled.

[MementoMori777]

Does the cat have diabetes or old age?

[Asker]

Said he’s 14 years old.

[MementoMori777]

Yea he's old bro, he might just have a weak bladder

[MementoMori777]

14 human years is 80 cat years.

[Asker]

Yeah I’m thinking the same, but that’s doesn’t explain why he’s peeing everywhere except for the litter boxes? He has not problem pooping in the boxes, but actively avoids peeing in them, it’s really weird.

[MementoMori777]

Maybe he can't make it to the litter box, with age it's never the digestive tract that goes lose, it's usually the bladder

[Asker]

The kitchen is past the litter boxes, and the carpet that he pees on is directly next to the boxes.

[MementoMori777]

Does his piss smell like ammonia?

[Asker]

No, it doesn’t really smell like anything, he drinks aloooot of water so it’s extremely watered down.

[MementoMori777]

Yea the cat might have diabetes and or kidney failure, I had one that died from kidney failure and it had both of these symptoms and the other right now has the same symptoms and she has diabetes, that cat seems sick as well.

[MementoMori777]

Mine does pee in the box but way too much all the litter is used to clump all the urine

[MementoMori777]

Recently tho it's been peeing everywhere, I'm positive that cat is going through the same if not something similar

[MementoMori777]

I give my cat insulin shots twice a day

[MementoMori777]

It slows down the drinking and pissing but it's only a matter of time now

[Asker]

Hmm okay, I hadn’t considered kidney failure or diabetes, I’ll have to research and if it seems likely then save money to take him to the vets. Thanks for discussing it with me.

[MementoMori777]

💯🙏

[Kori1236]

How many boxes do you have? When I had 3 cats I had 4 boxes. Also at 14 I’d be very concerned that it’s a medical issue so getting him into the vet should be a high priority.

[D_Bone_Steak]

He's marking territory. He probably was like thinking he was a visitor for a little while... just like going to the vet. But eventually it hit him that this in his place now. He'll stop when everything smells like him.

[Asker]

I thought when cats mark territory, they let out a little bit of spray just to mark their scent? Rather than full on emptying their bladder? When I moved my own cat to our place, she marked the house with little sprays, she didn’t full on piss all over the place.

[D_Bone_Steak]

I actually thought the same thing as well... I learned differently with my cat Gouch. That fucker would full-on pee in random corners. And there was no moving at all with him... he just went through puberty at some point and just started doing it and then it stopped. We get rid of the piss smell, but as long as they smell what they smell still, that's when they stop or it goes into twitch tail mode. Or that bullshit where they rub their face on everything. They got scent glands around their face too and that's like their lighter scent marking. Thats what they're doing when they rub up against you with their head.

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

Maybe this is the cause if one's a different gender or if one is neutered or spayed?

[Paulychicagoluv]

What type of cleaner are you using?

[Asker]

What do you mean by cleaner?

[Paulychicagoluv]

When you clean where the cat pees, what type of cleaner do you use on those spots? 409, fantastik?

[Asker]

When it’s on the kitchen floors, I mop it up with hot water and white vinegar. When it comes to the carpet, since his pee barely has a scent, I just soak most of it up with newspaper or a cloth, and then scrub the carpet with water before soaking it up with something again. I don’t really use cleaning products. The carpet is old and well overdue for replacement, so I’m not worried about stains.

[Paulychicagoluv]

Well cats hate vinegar, chlorine, and ammonia. You should get a cleaner that has none of it, and they sell a really good one at Lowe's. Works on carpet, hardwood, tiles, etc. If they still smell something there from the past they will keep peeing on it

[Asker]

What is the good cleaner product? Lowe’s isn’t a thing where I live.

[Paulychicagoluv]

I'll have to look for the name

[Paulychicagoluv]

I'm thinking of buying this from Lowe's. Any recommendations? www.lowes.com/.../1083045

[Paulychicagoluv]

Sorry it took so long