[scrapinkel]

My 18 month old neutered male orange tabby, Sonny, has started to pee on the carpet throughout the house rather than his litter box. This has never been an issue before, just started this week and I have actually caught him doing it twice and suspected him of doing it aleast two other times (unexplained wet spots). I was told this could be a sign of an UTI so I took him to the vet on Wednesday night. She examined him, no fever, bright and active behavior, eating ok. They did a urinealysis and a urine culture. I got a call last night that the urinalysis came back normal, we are still waiting on the culture.

The vet said she is leaning towards a behavior issue rather than a physical one. I was told by a coworker that there is medicine that the cat can be given to help with this behavior? Anyone ever heard of this? The vet said we would talk about behavior problems after we get the culture results back early next week.

Just trying to get informed. These are the only cats I have had other than an outdoor cat when I was a child.

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[CatsRU]

Sometimes when their living environment has been changed, cats can start urinating inappropriately. Is there a strange cat roaming around? Have you changed the litter? Have you moved the litter trays? How many trays do you have for the two cats? I have four as some cats will not pee and poo in the same tray.

[Trifon]

I agree, look for signs of something changing around the house. Cats roaming around outside is a common one, but can also be a change in the type of litter you are using, or how you are cleaning the litter tray, you have changed your work hours (maybe not home as much as you were) etc.

I would run some feliway diffuser in the meantime, they should help relax him.

[charleycat]

Definitely try and find the cause first. Charley was fine, even when we brought a new baby home, but he expressed his disapproval three months later when she didn't leave!

You could also try adding a few drops of Rescue Remedy to his water each day to help calm him down. In the meantime you'll need to remove all traces of urine in the carpet or he will return to the same spots. Try "Urine Off", "Odaban" or cleaning it up with Biozet. Vinegar on tiled areas may also help.

Try to keep him out of any areas he is particularly using. Close doors to bedrooms so he doesn't use beds! Or confine him to a bathroom or laundry for a few days until he has learnt to use his litter tray again. The area would need to be comfortable for him, add a scratching rail, food and water away from the litter.

Good luck!

[scrapinkel]

Absolutely nothing has changed. I did pick up some urine off to clean the carpet. It has been two days since the last time he peed on the carpet. I have been changing the litter box daily instead of just scooping. Maybe that is helping? I should hear from the vet in the morning with the results of his urine culture.

A friend of mine said her cat was doing the same thing and it turned out the poor kitty has a bad tooth!

[scrapinkel]

Absolutely nothing has changed. I did pick up some urine off to clean the carpet. It has been two days since the last time he peed on the carpet. I have been changing the litter box daily instead of just scooping. Maybe that is helping? I should hear from the vet in the morning with the results of his urine culture.

A friend of mine said her cat was doing the same thing and it turned out the poor kitty has a bad tooth!

[scrapinkel]

We went the entire weekend with no peeing on the carpet. My husband and daughter and I were all home all weekend. The times Sonny peed on the carpet were on week days when we were in and out at work or school. I am not beginning to wonder if he is doing this to get our attention? He is a very clingly cat. He follows me everywhere, sleeps with me at night, sits with me if I am watching tv, even follows me into the bathroom if I don't let him it he cries at the door.

Buspar was the medication I was told about. So I am waiting for the vet to get back to me sometime today with the final results of Sonny's urine culture to rule out anything physical and then if that is normal we will be discussing behavioral issues.

[CatsRU]

It definitely could be an attentions seeking behaviour. Please let us know what the vet diagnoses.

[scrapinkel]

Just heard from the vet and Sonny's urine culture came back normal. We further discussed his behavior. She is leaning towards separation anxiety. She wants me to try a few things before we resort to putting him on medication. She wants me to add another litter box, in the room where he has been peeing, maybe even change the litter, but I think this might not be the issue since he poops in the litter box and will also pee in there- plus this might upset my other cat who is not having any issues. She also suggested confining him to one room for up to two weeks! I have a very small house and don't really have a spare room to confine him too, plus since he gets so freaked out when he can't be with me I would think that would make things worse. So I am going to try the extra litter box and see how that goes, if it continues the we will probably try the anti anxiety medication - Amitriptyline

[burmeselover]

Don't forget to buy some Feliway and use it 24/7. It's not a medication. It's a synthetic version of the happy pheremones that cats make to rub on furniture/walls etc. to make them feel happy and at home. It comes in a vial which screws into a diffuser that plugs into a powerpoint. One vial lasts a month. I've had good success with this product with my cats.
Read more at: Feliway website.

[scrapinkel]

Thanks for that info. I will have to look into Feliway

[Kicol]

My girl peed on the carpet in two occasions and in both of them another cat was involved. Neighbour's cat or cats roaming around the house and a kitten in the house. Luckily we did not have any more problems. I am thinking also that it could have been fear, as she did the same once at the vets office while we were in the waiting room and a tiny kitten was running freely in that same area.

[oriental cats]

I agree, look for signs of something changing around the house. Cats roaming around outside is a common one, but can also be a change in the type of litter you are using, or how you are cleaning the litter tray, you have changed your work hours (maybe not home as much as you were) etc.

I would run some feliway diffuser in the meantime, they should help relax him.

all of the above and I would add some rescue remedy to his water as well

[scrapinkel]

We have gone over everything and nothing has changed. He seems to be so attached to me (follows me from roon to room, cries if he knows I am in the house and he can't be with me, sleeps with me every night) that we think that he is having some seperation anxiety, although I have worked fulltime since got him as a kitten. We got him in June of 2008 my teenage daughter had just started summer vacation so she was home with him but when she went back to school he was fine that year but he was also much younger. So this summer my daughter was home for summer again, she went back to school about 6 weeks ago. I noticed his peeing issue about 10 days ago and before that I had found a few wetspots in the previous week or so but attributed them to my daughter or husband spilling something and not cleaning it up. But starting last week he started peeing right in front of me! The vet said that he is older now and more sensitive to us being out of the house and my daughter going back to school could have been the trigger. We were all home all weekend and he was fine no incidents at all. He has actually been good all week so far, I have not found any wet spots. Not sure if that means he is feeling himself again or what but I am keeping my fingers crossed.

[LillysMom]

Hello to all! I am new here and found this site through googling for Amitriptyline side effects in cats.
I know this medication has been successful in treating UTI's and other anxiety related issues, but we are currently having a pretty rough time with this medication. We are on day 6 of 10mg Amitriptyline once a day after a round of Clavamox for a bacterial UTI.

Lilly (my rescue Himalayan) is disoriented, lethargic, and easily aggravated. My once happy purring cat now hates to be touched and almost acts as if she is in pain when doing so. She has developed severe diarrhea yet seems starved all the time. We have been to the vet four times now. Once for the initial UTI diagnosis, again when she developed bloody diarrhea from the Clavamox, again when the stopped eating from the Metronidazole to stop the diarrhea and then again for the UTI re-check.

She finally started having a somewhat normal stool then we started the Amitriptyline. Her pupils are huge, she seems very skittish, and is constantly in and out of the litter box with the diarrhea issue. I know one of the side effects of Amitriptyline is unkempt fur and lack of concern for grooming so now we are dealing with quite a mess.

The vet had me cut her dosage down to 5Mg per day but I have not seen a change in the side effects. In fact, she appears to be in a worse state.

I guess what I am getting at, is that for us, this drug has not been a good experience. The occasional litter box accidents are still happening. In fact the only time they stopped was when she was on the Clavamox.

I sympathize with you. We are just about at our wits end here. I'm hoping to get some good advise through what other post regarding your situation as I am all ears for any advice.

Good luck and I hope all works out well for you.