Happy Caturday!
The cat featured today is Eleven, one of our resident kitties, whose "gotcha day" was Christmas Eve seven years ago. We got her as a companion for Sadi, a cat of ours who was adopted out as a kitten and returned to our care about five years later after winding up in a shelter, where she was going to be euthanized for behavior due to her extreme aggression in the shelter environment that made handling unsafe for staff. Our fosters are a life long commitment, so when we found out she was not just surrendered but at risk, we requested her return, and the shelter gladly handed her over with the warning that she might only have a future as a barn cat (we would never).
Sadi unfortunately did have a significant behavioral issue even after she decompressed from the stress of the shelter and was no longer behaving aggressively: she turned out to be a persistent house soiler. After ruling out medical and environmental causes, the problem was deemed behavioral, and she had a peculiar, destructive, and potentially dangerous tendency to specifically urinate on electronics. Between ruining costly equipment and creating a risk for an electrical fire, we decided she needed her own space that was easy to clean and void of anything of value (or risk) to urinate on, so we set her up in her own room with cat trees, bedding that could be washed, a vinyl floor, and finally got her a kitty friend to ensure she wouldn't be lonely. She of course still gets human attention, but as a minimally human-social animal to begin with, we wanted to make sure she had a constant companion.
While she is quite pretty, Eleven was selected based on entirely on temperament; we requested an independent cat that wasn't overly invested in human company, but who was playful and affectionate with other cats. The shelter immediately recommended Eleven based on those qualifiers, and the two hit it off immediately. They are both seniors now, and still loyal companions to one another. A calm environment with fewer other animals, less noise and foot traffic, and minimal opportunities to destructively urinate compared to the core part of the house seems to have helped with Sadi's soiling; she still does occasionally go outside of the litterbox, but the behavior has definitely shown a substantial decrease, so I'd like to think her set up, while unconventional, was just what she needed.
House soiling in cats is a common reason for them to be surrendered or turned loose, but in most cases, there is a correctable cause. A sudden change in potty habits often points to an illness or stressor that may not be immediately apparent. Always first rule out medical issues like urinary tract infections, urinary crystals, kidney disease, diabetes, or pain issues that can discourage the use of the litterbox (foot pain is a significant cause of litterbox avoidance in declawed cats in particular). The majority of cats who suddenly begin urinating in unusual places are experiencing a health problem.
Also look for environmental causes if the cat is deemed healthy: has the household routine recently changed significantly? New family members, new pets, home remodeling and rearranging furniture, the presence of roaming cats in the yard, or just an overall change in the activity level in the home can all result in inappropriate soiling. Abrupt changes in litter brand, litterbox location, or falling behind on litter cleanliness can also be the culprit. Explore and control all controllable factors before determining that it is a chronic behavioral issue that can not be eliminated or reduced to a manageable level.
