My cat starting to urinate on the baseboards

[Guest]

Needing advice for my cat. She is a healthy 12 year old woman, she’s up to date on vaccines, has a water fountain, eats well and has been checked by the vet and is in great health.

The reason I’m asking for help is we moved into a new house (pet friendly) and immediately when I walked in I could smell a cat urine smell.

She has never had issues using her box and even the first couple weeks she used her box.

Now all the sudden starting day before yesterday she’s starting to urinate on the baseboards.

Any ideas on why suddenly she’s decided to do this?

What can I do to stop her and what’s the best solution to trying to manage the smell on the carpet? I'm a renter so I can’t pull up the carpet or anything.

[Sarah]

If she’s smelling other cats in the home you’ll need to remove carpet and paint with Kilz to get rid of the smell.

[Kira]

The change in routine/environment has made her stressed. Get her tested for a UTI/idiopathic cystitis and ask your vet about appropriate calming tools for her.

I’d try a feliway defuser but she may need something stronger.

Explore these too: Why does my dog urinate on me?

[Kay]

I would contact your landlord and complain about urine smell from previous tenant.

Don’t say your cat is peeing outside the box.

[Jess]

It sounds like she is stressed due to the recent move. Cats when stressed can develop something called cystitis which is inflammation of the bladder. It’s worth a vet check as cystitis can cause UTI’s.

[Kristin]

For smell I will forever recommend "my pet peed." I have tried a zillion enzyme cleaners and none of them even come close to this one. It's incredible and works so so well. I would get her to the vet to test for a uti or stones.

If the vet check is clear it is likely from smelling other cats in the home

[Anita]

She's reacting to the smell from the previous tenents. I would immediately limit her to an area that is easy to clean until you know she's no longer marking and then work on removing any trace of the previous cats (easier said than done!).

Of course you can also take all the other steps, like a vet visit to rule out a UTI and a pheromone collar, but the main thing is to restrict her to one area.

Hopefully she'll be less likely to mark her own territory and if she does, hopefully it will be an easy area to clean.