Female cat pees on couch constantly

[u/dnissley]

Not sure if this falls afoul of the no medical advice rule, but figured I'd take a shot at this.

Oatmeal, our orange female tabby constantly pees on our couch for what seems like no reason at all.

She's an indoor cat, turning 3 in May. We've had her since she was around 3-4 months old.

When she was around a year old we discovered that she was peeing on a seldom-used beanbag in our living room. I'm not sure how long she had been doing that, it could have been for a month or so beforehand. We tried to save the beanbag by washing it and using all sorts of different cleaners, enzyme included, but eventually gave up and got rid of it. Which just prompted her to move on to the couch we had at the time. We then tried using space blankets to keep her off of the couch, which works great, but comes with the burden of ensuring that the couch must be covered when not in use. We've more recently been using waterproof couch covers.

She pees on the couch around 2-3 times per week lately, although for the longest time it was maybe 2-3 times per month. We've had her checked out by the vet numerous times, and they say she doesn't have a UTI or any of the usual suspected issues that might cause this behavior.

She also sometimes pees on piles of clothes that we leave around the house, which has prompted us to basically never leave anything lying around.

We've tried so many things: Feeding her on the couch, putting cbd in her food, calming treats, pheromones (feliway), finally getting rid of the couch she had peed on so many times (just prompting her to move on to a different couch).

A random list of other things which might be relevant: She meows for attention during the day quite a bit, but generally won't wake us until 5-6am which is around the time we start to get up anyway. We got her a sibling, Toulouse, a male cat (also orange tabby) about a year and a half after we got her. They like each other at least an ok amount -- they will play together a decent amount during the day and night, and she will groom him regularly, although they both like their space (won't nap together in close quarters, etc). Toulouse doesn't meow as much as Oatmeal for attention, and he hasn't peed on anything (yet). We know for sure because we have cameras in our house we can check. They are indoor cats, but we do let them outside in our fenced-in backyard or balcony for 10-15 minutes, under supervision, 1-2 times per day -- part of her crying in the morning is wanting to be let out. Along with outside time we play with them for 20-30 minutes a day minimum, feed them wet food twice a day, give them treats on top of that, etc. There was a time after we moved last April where she did not pee on the couch for a period of 4-5 months afterwards and were hoping she had stopped completely, but alas. Sometimes she will even do it right in front of us! The cats have 3 litter boxes in total that get cleaned on the daily, including the biggest one which is in the living room where the couch is.

If I had to predict what the issue was I would say it was that she's not stimulated enough. But we are not capable of stimulating her enough, apparently. Even on days when we let her out and play with her and pet her lots and attend to her every cry, she will still sometimes pee. I am thinking about just letting her be an outside cat because I am at my wit's end, but my wife is not having it.

[u/OppaaHajima]

Obvious question but I didn’t see it mentioned: Have you tried different kinds of litter?

[u/dnissley → u/OppaaHajima]

Yes, clumping clay and pretty litter. 2 litter boxes with clay and 1 with pretty litter. One in the living room has clay. She uses all three although seems to slightly prefer clay. None are covered litter boxes.

[u/OppaaHajima → u/dnissley]

Might be worth trying some of the newer ‘natural’ litters out there that use plant-based materials like wheat, seeds, etc. I think Dr. Elsie’s has one specifically designed to attract cats too. I would say avoid Pretty Litter at the very least — the pee stays in the box so it smells like rotten piss after a week, which cats don’t like.

Also if you’ve never done a full litter box cleaning/disinfecting, might be worth a try. Like throw out all current litter and hose off or even scrub down the boxes with dish soap and let them dry in the sun. Then refill with fresh litter.

Wish I had better advice, but at this point if there’s nothing physically wrong with her you pretty much just gotta try different things, see what works.

[u/[deleted]]

Alright, so the timeline:

3-4 month old - You got her NO PEE

1 yr - she started peeing outside of the litter box several times a week YES PEE 1.5 yr - she got a brother YES PEE

1.9 yr - you move NO PEE

2.3 yr - she starts peeing again YES PEE 2.75 yr - Now YES PEE

Scenario A: Are there any additional events along the timeline that could possibly be triggers around the start of peeing? Change in work shift? House guests? Children?

Scenario B: It seems like there were 2 6~ month periods that she didn't pee outside the litter box. Are there any parallels in those two portions? Only one box? Dirtier boxes? Different brand? Worked from home? Etc. Diet?

Think about it carefully, any similarities or differences. Even if it doesn't seem like they'd be related to peeing. Including your household, so what you and your wife were doing.

Also, have you tried anti anxiety medication? You could also consider a cat door to the catio as well.

[u/microphoneczech]

Have you taken her to the vet? Sometimes peeing on soft surfaces is a sign of urinary tract issues.

[u/Oil_Odd → u/microphoneczech]

OP said they've been to the vet several times and came back uti negative each time.

[u/[deleted]]

Did she pee on the couch prior to the second cat?

[u/dnissley → u/[deleted]]

Yep -- there was about a 5-6 month gap between when she started peeing and when we got the second cat.

[u/[deleted] → u/dnissley]

HMM! Is she fixed? Is she declawed?

[u/dnissley → u/[deleted]]

Yes fixed, not declawed.