Also called · toileting accidents · not using the litter tray · urinating anywhere
What it looks like
- Suddenly toileting away from the usual spot
- Uncomfortable posture or crying while toileting
- More frequent urination
Why it happens
An unpleasant experience creates avoidance of the place
Digestive and lower urinary tract disease are easily affected by diet, and the resulting diarrhoea, constipation, frequent urination and painful urination hurt. That unpleasant experience triggers avoidance of the toileting place, and they end up going elsewhere.
In an older animal it may be a sign of disease
The increased drinking and urination of kidney failure is sometimes read as the problem behaviour of "toileting outside the tray". It is a symptom, not a behaviour.
Stress is taken seriously too
Environmental stress is increasingly seen as one cause of feline idiopathic cystitis and of digestive signs in dogs.
What to do
Investigate and treat the underlying disease first
Do not reverse this order. With urolithiasis, for example, treatment that dissolves the stones or uses a low-mineral therapeutic diet with increased water intake can make the "inappropriate toileting" disappear on its own.
Increase water intake
For urinary problems, getting more water in is the foundation. More water bowls, or mixing in wet food.
Audit the toilet setup
Check location, number, litter type, cleanliness and access. For an older animal, a lower-sided tray alone sometimes solves it.
Reduce the stressors
Therapeutic diets containing supplement ingredients intended to reduce anxiety are also being developed.
Watch out for
If toileting itself is learned as the bad thing, they hide to do it, and the problem becomes harder to see.
See a vet if
Straining to urinate with nothing coming out — go immediately (urethral obstruction is an emergency)
Blood in the urine
A sudden increase in drinking and urine volume
Common questions
If it started as a physical problem, training will not resolve it. Sudden-onset accidents in particular need disease ruled out first.
Related behaviors
Was this useful?
General behaviour and nutrition information. It does not replace diagnosis or prescription. Similar behaviour does not always have the same cause, and the cause is not necessarily diet or environment — have a vet rule out illness first, and consult a behaviour specialist where needed.