If you’ve got cat urine problems, you’ve got stress. The first problem is not knowing why your cat’s decided it’s a good idea to wet on the carpet or in the laundry basket or wherever instead of just the litter box. After you’ve taken her to the vet and she’s check out healthy, there are still so many potential causes of litter box problems. Then there’s the problem of the mess and smell. And not just any smell, but that seemingly indestructable cat urine smell. Walking into a room and finding yet another wet spot is maddening and it can seem like your cat is out to get you. Why else would she be attacking your sanity this way, right? Well, not quite.
It’s Nothing Against You
Rest assured that your cat doesn’t hate you and she’s not out to get you. Sure, if you recently brought her home, she may not be very attached to you, but she doesn’t hate you. It’s a mistake to think a cat wets on your property in order to annoy you. A cat doesn’t even realize stain-free carpets, furniture and clothing are important and to them, the smell of cat urine is quite normal. You cat has no concept of why you would be annoyed with cat pee on your floor, potted plants, kitchen sink or elsewhere.
It is possible that your cat may be afraid of you or someone else in the house. You may treat your cat well, but if he’s had bad experiences with people in the past, it will take him time to trust anyone. It’s also possible that your cat’s stressed out simply because you are, either about his litter box problems or something else. Cats pick up on our “vibes” and take a human’s stress as a sign all is not well, so they become stressed to.
Improper training methods can also make cats fearful and stressed. Dog training methods do not work on cats. Never rub your cat’s nose in their soiling. Unlike dogs, cats can’t associate your action with theirs. They have no idea why your pushing them around like that. Likewise, swatting a cat, even lightly, will only cause the cat to fear your hands (or rolled up newspaper, etc.) Punishment just does not work with cats. The trick to training cats is positive reinforcement–rewarding them for doing the right thing.
Your Cat’s not Trying to Manipulate You
Okay, so cats are pretty clever and definitely can figure out how to manipulate people. There’s a good reason cat owners joke about being owned by their cat. One of my cats figured out he could get my attention immediately by jumping on the kitchen counter. Another did it by scratching on the furniture. Neither of these cats did these things except when the wanted something specific (let outside and play time, respectively). They had me trained!
Yet urination isn’t something cats use to get reactions from people. Urination is natural, unavoidable and beyond the cat’s control–when they gotta go, they gotta go. A cat can’t just decide to wet on your bed if the he’s not ready to piddle. And when he is ready to piddle, he’s not thinking of finding the most attention-getting spot to do it.
While cats don’t pee outside the litter box specifically to get attention, a cat who’s not getting enough attention may start peeing outside the box. Cats need at least two 15-minute play sessions daily to avoid boredom and to develop or maintain a bond with their human caretaker. Kittens need far more interaction than that. Yet the urination itself isn’t a method for getting attention. Rather, it’s a reaction to the stress of being bored and lonely.
Learn more about cat urine problems, like why cats urinate outside the litter box, how to stop that behavior and how to neutralize lingering odors in Cat Urine Problems Eliminated.
No related posts.
