Cat Peeing Behavior

Watch for signs of sickness or rebellion when your cat urinates. Learn to recognize when a cat is urinating because of an illness or a bad behavior issue. Some peeing behaviors become a habit if not dealt with promptly while others are signs of an underlying medical condition. In some cases, owners must alter a cat's waste elimination environment to correct this behavior or take the feline to the veterinarian for medical attention.

  1. Urinary Infection

    • Urinary infections often cause poor peeing behavior in cats, according to the Feline Advisory Bureau. Bladder stones, cancer, bacterial infection, urethral plugs and inflamed urinary regions are warning signs of feline lower urinary tract disease. This infection leads to painful urinating, peeing outside the litter box and marking in several areas around the house. Treatments include stress reduction, food changes and analgesic pain killers.

    Territorial Marking

    • Cats use urine to mark their territories. Cats urinate on furniture, their bedding, areas of the lawn and other habitats they consider their own. Females urinate when they are in heat, while males mark spots when they reach sexual maturity. Anne Moss of thecatsite.com says even spayed and neutered cats urinate in this manner out of habit. Owners often combat these habits using non-ammonia based urine solvents and odor neutralizers.

    Sickness and Urinating

    • Cats urinate in forbidden areas when they are sick. Veterinarians Marty Becker and Janice Willard of catchannel.com say increased urinating in conjunction with goopy eyes, runny nose or ear discharge signify an illness. They suggest keeping a keen eye for these symptoms early on, as veterinarians can treat symptoms best in the early stages of the sickness. Other signs, such as bloody urine, straining to urinate or the inability to pee might indicate pollakiuria, a condition where cats pee frequently in small quantities all over the house, according to petplace.com.

    Litter Box Condition

    • Cats are finicky when it comes to litter box conditions. They might pee outside the litter box if the owners have not cleaned it recently and several piles of urine and defecation remain inside. Using scented litter produces varied results in peeing habits, according to felinexpress.com. In some cases, scented litter helps cats find the litter box and signify the proper location for peeing. In other circumstances, the scent might irritate the feline and prompt improper peeing habits elsewhere in the house.

    Private Urinating Behavior

    • Cats like to pee in privacy, said Dr. Myrna Milani of Westminster Animal Hospital. This private behavior prompts them to pee in secluded areas if their litter boxes are located in the midst of activity. If there is more than one cat in the household, some cats refuse to share a litter box and will urinate elsewhere. Dominant cats sometimes scare more timid felines away from the litter box, which causes stress for the less dominant cat, and encourages it to pee in an off-limits location.