Why do cats wee on the floor when there is a cat litter there for them to use?

Question

My cat is toilet trained but occationally my cat wees on the floor, for no reason what so ever.

Answer 1

Because the cats are conspiring against you! It's a huge feline conspiracy to make your carpets and floors smell like pee! You have to expose the conspiracy NOW or let it go on forever....

Answer 2

There are several possible reasons for your cat's actions. Without more information - such as your cat's gender and age, how often, the location(s) that it is using, etc - it is difficult to give a reason for it. Basically, your cat is telling you that there is something wrong by peeing on the floor. The trick is trying to decipher what the problem is!

The most obvious problem - and the easiest to resolve - is the litter box itself. Is the litter box cleaned regulalry? Have you recently changed the litter (whether type or brand or smell)? Have you recently changed the litter box itself? Is the litter box too small as your cat grows? Have you recently cleaned the litter box with a citrus-based or citrus smelling detergent? Is the litter box near its food bowl? Cats are very fastidious and clean. If the litter box does not meet expectations, they may opt for the floor instead. Some cats are VERY PICKY about changes in their litter, about the smell - of the litter, of the cleaning solutions used, or of the box itself whether too old or too new. Citrus smells are pleasant to us but not to a cat, so citrus cleaners could be putting it off. Or if the cat's food bowl is too close to the litter box, he may not like that (would you like to eat your dinner in the toilet?)

The next possiblilty is that your cat is feeling threatened. Has there been a change in the home that may have affected your cat - another cat or kitten, a new baby, a new person, new furniture? Alternatively, the loss or removal of someone / something or some other change may have made your cat feel insecure, threatened or unhappy. Is your cat peeing elsewhere in front of you so that you can see it? If so, it could be that it is trying to tell you that it needs some affection, support, comforting to make it feel more secure and confident about the changes around it. Even a new cat in the neighbourhood that is moving into your cat's territory might be putting your cat off. If this is the case, your cat would be most likely to pee near windows, doors, and other places where the new cat would notice/smell it.

The final possibility is a medical problem. Your vet would be able to identify and explore the different possibilities and to determine which may be causing the problem. In a male cat, the most likely is crystals developiong in the urinary tract, blocking the cat's ability to urinate. Try to watch your cat's behaviour when it is peeing. If you notice that it seems to make frequent and numerous trips to the litter box, squatting and trying to pee but not actually doing anything, it might be down to a blockage.

Based upon the reason for your cat's actions, there are different ways of resolving the problem. Once you have figured out the WHY, just ask again and you'll be able to find the way(s) to resolve the problem!

Answer 3

Sorry to hear that your cat is weeing on the floor! Not pleasant!

Firstly, is it your only cat? If you have more than one and they share a litter box, that could be the problem, as the 'top cat' may not be pleased about having to slum it with the lower cat! Also, do you clean it every day? If not, you should from now on :-)

Secondly, is there a cat flap in your home? Do other cats ever enter your house? Have you met a new friend, partner or is someone new coming to visit? Any new furniture or any other changes? It could be likey that your cat is marking its territory as it feels threatened by something or someone.

If he has a medical problem, he may not be able to make it to the litter tray in time.

Is his litter tray in a busy place where people keep walking past? Or a cold or unappealing spot? Perhaps try moving the litter tray nearer to the spot he keeps peeing on, if there is just one spot.

If it happens more than once a week and the litter tray is clean, in a suitable place, not shared by other cats and there is no disruption in your home, you should take your cat to the vet to check for a urinary tract infection. It's better to be safe than sorry! And at least your vet can help you with stopping the behaviour.

Answer 4

Cats tend to have surface and location preferences for where, and on what, they like to eliminate. Most cats prefer a loose, sandy substance, which is why they will use a litter box. It's only when their preferences include the laundry basket, the bed or the Persian rug, that normal elimination behavior becomes a problem. With careful analysis of your cat's environment, specific factors that have contributed to the litter box problem can usually be identified and changed, so that your cat will again use the litter box for elimination.

Some common reasons why cats don't use the litter box are: an aversion to the box, a preference for a particular surface not provided by the box, a preference for a particular location where there is no box, or a combination of all three. You'll need to do some detective work to determine the reason your cat is house soiling. Sometimes, the reason the litter box problem initially started may not be the same reason it's continuing. For example, your cat may have stopped using the litter box because of a urinary tract infection, and has now developed a surface preference for carpet and a location preference for the bedroom closet. You would need to address all three of these factors in order to resolve the problem.

Cats don't stop using their litter boxes because they're mad or upset and are trying to get revenge for something that "offended" or "angered" them. Because humans act for these reasons, it's easy for us to assume that our pets do as well. Animals don't act out of spite or revenge, so it won't help to give your cat special privileges in the hope that she'll start using the litter box again.

Medical Problems
It's common for cats to begin eliminating outside of their litter box when they have a medical problem. For example, a urinary tract infection or crystals in the urine can make urination very painful. Cats often associate this pain with the litter box and begin to avoid it. If your cat has a house-soiling problem, check with your veterinarian first to rule out any medical problems for the behavior. Cats don't always act sick, even when they are, and only a trip to the veterinarian for a thorough physical examination can rule out a medical problem.

Cleaning Soiled Areas
Because animals are highly motivated to continue soiling an area that smells like urine or feces, it's imperative that you thoroughly clean the soiled areas (see our handout: "Successful Cleaning To Remove Pet Odors And Stains").

Aversion To The Litter Box
Your cat may have decided that the litter box is an unpleasant place to eliminate if:

The box is not clean enough for her.
She has experienced painful urination or defecation in the box due to a medical problem.
She has been startled by a noise while using the box.
She has been "ambushed" while in the box either by another cat, a child, a dog, or by you, if you were attempting to catch her for some reason.
She associates the box with punishment (someone punished her for eliminating outside the box, then placed her in the box).
What You Can Do
Keep the litter box extremely clean. Scoop at least once a day and change the litter completely every four to five days. If you use scoopable litter, you may not need to change the litter as frequently. This will vary according to how many cats are in the household, how many litter boxes you have, and how large the cats are that are using the box or boxes. A good guideline is that if you can smell the box, then you can be sure it's offensive to your cat as well.
Add a new box in a different location than the old one and use a different type of litter in the new box. Because your cat has decided that her old litter box is unpleasant, you'll want to make the new one different enough that she doesn't simply apply the old, negative associations to the new box.
Make sure that the litter box isn't near an appliance that makes noise or in an area of the house that your cat doesn't frequent.
If ambushing is a problem, try to create more than one exit from the litter box, so that if the "ambusher" is waiting by one area, your cat always has an escape route.
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Answer 5

If it's a tom and unneutered it may be marking it's territory! I think though it's more likely that the litter tray is not clean enough as far as the cat is concerned! You'd be surprised as to how fussy some cats can be! One of mine won't go near her tray if I don't remove solid waste after she's finished and even then I have to use just a small amount of litter and change it every other day!
If you are sure that the tray isn't the problem, it's not been moved or had a change of litter,then take it to the vet! Cats (especially if on a dry food) are prone to water infections!

Answer 6

My cat suddenly started doing this and when I took her to the vets for a check up he said that she had a urine infection and cats tend to not like getting onto litter when this happens - don't know why that is but there you go. Any way he gave me a little bottle of the liquid which I had to spray on the areas where she kept weeing and she soon stopped and haven't had a problem since.

Answer 7

Try making sure the box is kept cleaner. A lot of cats won't use them if they are too full. If that isn't the case you may need to have it checked for a urinary tract infection with your vet, or another health problem. That happened with a puppy my wife and I adopted, she was already house broke but would just stop and pee on the floor without any warning, the vet ended up determining it was an infection.
P.S. Cats are OK, but I prefer dogs. They don't usually make it a habit to go in the house.

Answer 8

First, is your cat spayed or neutered? If not that would be the first thing to do. Unaltered cats mark their territory if they feel aroused or threatened. Second, are you keeping the cat's box cleaned out? Cats are very clean animals and don't like using a box that is not, they will show their displeasure by not using their litter box if they don't like how it looks or smells. Third, has anything changed in your home? Cats don't like change and will sometime respond in a negative manner.

The best thing you can do is discuss this problem with your vet or animal behaviorist. Oh, and invest in a good carpet cleaner.

Answer 9

There are two main reasons for this

1. the littler tray isn't clean enough for your cat, doesn't mean its dirty, just your cat likes it more clean. or it doesn't like to poo and wee in the same place.

2. your cat may not like the type of little you use at the time it wee's on the floor.

so try using more than one litter box, clean them out more often and try your cats with different types of litter and see which it prefers to use.

hope it gets sorted soon

Answer 10

Is your cat neutered or spayed? If not, it may be marking its territory. If it is spayed or neutered, your cat may be trying to let you know that it is ill and in pain - the vast majority of times cats go out of the box, it's because the cat has a urinary health problem and needs to be seen by a vet. Please take your cat to the vet & explain what's happening to him/her, so your vet can check your cat to see if it needs to be treated for a urinary health problem. Even if your cat has been to the vet recently and has been declared healthy, please take it back & specifically mention the urinary issues - urinary problems can pop up very quickly, and are very painful for the cat.

If the cat checks out OK at the vet, there may be a problem with the litterbox, litter, or location that is making the cat dislike the box. The box may not be clean enough, or not large enough, you may need to replace the box if it has absorbed odor over time, you may need to add a second box, the litter may not be a type the cat is comfortable using, the location of the box may be upsetting to the cat - there are several possible explanations & solutions - please read these links for suggestions:
http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/housesoiling.html
http://www.catinfo.org/litterbox.htm

Hope this helps!

Answer 11

One of my cats is very fussy. She likes a clean litter box. She'll pee on clutter of almost every imaginable kind: papers, piles of unfolded clothing, an unmade bed, behind furniture occasionally (when it's dusty). She is helping my housekeeping skills. Once I started scooping the box daily (I do it right after feeding them in the evening, while they're occupied with their dinner) and watching out for my clutter, it almost never happens. I have no idea what other problems of this nature there may be waiting for me, but I am grateful it has been solved for now.