Hi all,
I got my Tom cat Jasper a year and a half ago. I originally had Jasper and his brother Charlie who unfortunately had to be put down due to medical reasons. Jasper has ALWAYS been a house cat due to the location of my house next to a busy main road. He is neutered.
When Jasper was approximately six months he fell from a first floor window. He didn't injure himself but he was extremely scared and stressed. Shortly after the incident he started urinating and defecating outside of his litter box in the same spot in the house (he was previously litter trained). With much patience I managed to break this habit and Jasper started using his litter tray again. Jasper has always had three litter trays to use and these are always available to him. I clean the litter trays regularly and clean up stools as soon as they appear.
I then had to have Charlie put down when he and Jasper were a year old. As expected, this caused Jasper much stress and grief and he started urinating (not defecting) out of his litter box in the same spot of the house. Again, after much patience we broke the habit and he started using his litter box again. Charlie and Jasper would sleep (and loudly play) together in the living room at night time. After we lost Charlie Jasper would scratch at the living room door and try and push through most nights to (what we think) get to us upstairs. We thought this behaviour was due to loneliness and the stress of being by himself. This would result in Jasper urinating in the night on the floor.
After consulting with our vet she suggested getting another housecat to keep Jasper company. We rescued a female kitten, Knip, (aged 10 weeks) who soon settled into the family. Knip and Jasper get on really well, playing, grooming and sleeping together.
We had hoped that getting Knip would stop Jasper's nightly scratching and urinating but it has not. Jasper is a lot happier and content since getting Knip but he is still displaying these (what we think are) stress behaviours. Now he doesn't urinate in the same place and has urinated in various parts of the house. Before urinating Jasper will scratch at the floor and then squat to wee. If we see him do this we pick him up and place him in one of the litter trays where he then uses the litter tray as he should.
We are desperate for some help or advice. We have consulted with our vet who has confirmed it is not medical but purely behavioural but she didn't really have any other advice apart from Felliway. We purchased the plug in (which is on all day) and the spray which we sprayed in all his favourite places to pee but these have had no effect (been using them now for a few months). We are really concerned about this as, obviously, Jasper is feeling stressed about something. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.
Adam and Leanne