Does your cat sometimes urinate OUTSIDE the litter box?
It’s a common problem with cats. In fact, it’s something my subscribers ask me about all the time. Inappropriate urination is one of the most common reasons house cats are relinquished to shelters or “put outside”.
Not only is it annoying and unsanitary, but it can cause terrible odor problems in your home. If you have a cat, you know what I mean.
So why do cats urinate outside the box?
Well, it could be caused by any number of things. Here are 8 of the most common reasons cats urinate outside the box:
- The litter is dirty
- The litter is uncomfortable
- The box is too small
- The box smells like harsh cleaning chemicals
- The litter is too deep
- The litter isn’t deep enough
- The box is in a noisy location / they have no privacy
- You don’t have enough boxes (you need at least 1 box per cat)
If your cat is urinating outside the box because of an odor issue, it can be a tough problem to solve. That’s because once your kitty starts urinating in a spot outside the box, he will continue to do it over and over again. The smell just naturally draws him back to that spot (just as it does when he sprays to mark his territory).
It’s hard to get your cat to stop urinating outside the box, especially when he’s been doing it for a while. Getting rid of the cat urine odor isn’t easy either, but it CAN be done.
Scent-marking is a form of communication, which has territorial and personal implications. It allows cats to advertise their priority with respect to living space, objects, other cats and people. It also serves as a method of advertising the breeding status of females.
Domestic cats often engage in scent-marking of one form or another and while we enjoy their bunting, other forms of marking behavior involve urine, feces, or furniture scratching. These are not as attractive to us!
When a cat defecates on its owner’s bedspread or urinates on an owner’s legs, this behavior should be viewed as a great compliment, signifying close attachment.
However, this is often not the pet owner’s interpretation.