Question:
I have a wonderful, beautiful, 6-year-old cat named Summer. From the day I got her (at 3 months of age), even though she was an outdoor kitten, she has used the litter box faithfully. Never did she urinate outside of her litter box -- until about six months ago.I have wall-to-wall white carpeting in the bathroom with a blue throw rug over it and, all of a sudden, Summer began urinating on the blue rug. I took her to the vet who said she was OK, but that she must be relieving herself somewhere because her bladder was empty. This went on for a while until I finally threw the blue rug away.I bought a new throw rug and she proceeded to urinate on it, too, so I cleaned it and put it in the closet. While it was in the closet, she would lie on it but never once peed on it. The minute I put it back in the bathroom, she peed on it again.She's had no trauma or changes in her life, so what would make her start urinating outside her box after six years?.
J.P., Silver Spring, Md Mar 28, 2004
Answer:
There are many reasons why cats become house-soilers, and from your account I think it is most likely that your cat is a "substrate marker."Certain surfaces (like a shag rug or a crunchy beanbag chair) act as triggers for cats to urinate (and also sometimes to defecate), as they would do naturally outdoors on a grassy or gravelly substrate in the garden or backyard.Removing such trigger-surfaces or materials in the home eliminates the problem, as when your cat chose to sleep on the throw rug when it was rolled up and put in a closet.
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