Hi grrr,

Have there been any changes of any kind in the house? It could be as minor as rearranging a piece of furniture to something major like a new baby or pet. Have you recently changed the type of litter you use? Some cats are extremely sensitive to the slightest change in their "territory" and will show their displeasure by peeing where they aren't supposed to.

Nancy

thank goodness none of my cats have done this yet...

I read on another forum recently, someone suggested sprinking cayenne pepper on the dirt of your houseplants that are attracting this behavior. Since pets normally sniff before they squat, this would be a good way to prevent them from going there.

Cats don't like some material rubbing against their fur.
You might try a simple way of doing that. Scrunch up some aluminum foil and place it strategically in the pot so that kitty has to make contact in order to try her brand of watering.
If she's annoyed, she wont go back to it.

Hi Grrr...Does your Ficus have one trunk or multi?

Did you move the liter box to a different location or change liter brands?

I agree with the suggestion of putting something in the pot to deter the cat. I've heard about people using prickly pine cones or better yet.....Sweetgum pods. Do you know what they are? Ouchie!
I'm not sure that foil balls would work for my cat....there's about hundred or so all over the house now, under the sofa, all of the chairs, the fridge, etc. :-)

I've also heard of the plastic fork trick. That sounds pretty good. There are spray repellents designed to prevent this kind of behavior. Since your cat seems to attempting to stage a take-over of your potting soil, I'd be tempted to use pine cones (or whatever) AND the repellent.

Personally, I'd never let my cat come into contact with cayenne pepper. What if it gets the pepper on its paws?

Oh yeah, I forgot to add my own doubt to the cayenne idea. How would you feel if you got a snoot full of hot pepper? I wouldn't do this to a cat and I don't even like them.

My kitty like aluminum foil balls lol. I have heard of cayenne pepper but im afraid of what it would do if she got it in her eye. Same litter box space, same litter. Really haven't changed anything (thats what i added the kitty apocalypse bit) because there could be another cat thats hanging around outside and she is marking her territory... I think im going with the clear plastic fork idea... that'll give her a scream when she squats!

Al, This was 2 single trunked ficus and 1 single trunk hibiscus.

I should also add This cat is an indoor cat, NEVER has she been outside in her entire life.

You mean, Toni...lol It was Toni that asked you about the trunk.:-)

I used stones on mine. They looked good and my cat didn't even want to bother moving those.

Mike

I've been told aluminum foil works, try covering the soil with a sheet of aluminum rather than balls, apparently they don't like the feel of it on their feet.

When a cat starts going out of her normal box it could be a sign of illness, usually a bladder infection or bladder stones/crystals.

That is what happened to my cat. The first time she started going in potted plants, I thought she was just being naughty. Somehow things resolved, but 2 years later it happened again and didn't stop. Took her to the vet, she had bladder stones and crystals. Her condition became chronic and turned into cystitis. She was on and off antibiotics (even though in her case it wasn't an infection) it was the only thing that gave her relief.

Anyway, lots of research and many months later, she is doing fine, but has lots of scar tissue in her urethra from the crystals.

The final thing that worked for her was a total change of diet. Raw food was the thing that really healed her. She now eats Weruva and Wellness brand wet catfood and Professional (brand name) dry (only as a snack), and of course raw ground rabbit, which we are lucky enough to get locally.

Good luck with your cat.

Bitter apple is a spray sold expressly to deter pets from certain places. It's pet safe & I believe sold in pet shops. I haven't tried it myself but hear it works OK.

Pls, don't do the cayenne pepper, forget about it on the cat's paws, what about when they get it in their eyes, they'll scratch like mad & likely need a trip to the vet at least, so bad idea!

If it were me, I'd try the tin foil sheets (supposedly, cats don't like the feel of it), the double stick tape (the cat just needs to be stuck once, they won't try it again) or the forked sticking up (good one)!

My kitty is doing the same thing! Ive moved the ficus outside for now.....ive tried the pepper and i even made the dirt a war zone with kabob skewers! She doesnt dig she perches on the side and pees in the pot or even down the outside!....so frustrating! So after i moved it outside she came waltzing in the room, looked at the place the plant used to be and then turned and gave me a dirty look and proceeded to squat right there on my good area rug!...this ficus is my baby....she has all but killed it once already and i cut it down to nothing thinking it was dead and new sprouts and shoots came up and now shes almost killing those! Im desperate! Help!

At the risk of sounding like a jerk, never underestimate the powers of a well aimed squirt bottle/gun. Cats can be trained, mine knows what "no" means and what she can and can't get away with. Have had my little girl for going on 6 years now and I haven't spritzed her in many years (I can make a pssst sound, like a squirt bottle and that works too, but she got the idea years ago and i don't have to worry). Every cat is different, and just one more option to consider. A bit of room temp water on the rump unexpectedly and a loud "no" may help get the message across to leave the plants alone.

Mine did well with this, I have close to a 100 plants in my house, some very poisonous and a few in pots big enough to give her ideas. But Miss Kitty knows darn well to stay the heck away from my plants, cords, and tables and countertops on penalty of a wet butt. Its a good arrangement for us. ;-)

My kitty pisspants waits until were asleep or not home so the squirt bottle has never been an option....plus shes so naughty im sure if i squirted her she would seek a new vengeance....im even worried about deterring her from the plant because who know what shell do if she discovers she cant pee in it! I love her and she sweet as can be except when it comes to my ficus!

She won't use a cat box? I'd figure out what she doesn't like about the accommodations you've provided and make some changes immediately. Remove the plants entirely, if needed. Perhaps get the cat to the vet.

There's no way that I'd allow a cat to pee all over just because she's "naughty".

When my cats decided they wanted to chew up my seedlings, and jumped up on the counter where the flats were and started chomping away, I taped sheets of aluminum foil to the shop lights and they hung down like curtains around the flats. The cats could've easily moved the foil with their heads and continued the munching, but they didn't care for the aluminum foil and stayed away. You could make aluminum foil "teepees" that are about as tall as your cat in your plant pots.

When you've had several months of no peeing in the pots to make sure she's out of the habit, you should probably replace all the pots she's previously peed in. Animals can smell stuff that we can't smell, and if she can detect the slightest odor on the pot from her previous indiscretions, she'll pee there again.

Also, when my male cat started peeing in places he never had before, when he peed on something that was white, I noticed that his urine was an orange color - not normal! I took him to the vet and it turned out he had a stone in his bladder. The vet said when they have pain during urination they associate it with the litter box, so they try relieving themselves in other places to avoid the pain. Fortunately, after the stone was removed he went back to pottying in the litter box like he always had before.

Deanna

@Liza Fernandez Well, you can find guides that
solve this and other training issues. Instead of the expensive sprays, you can guide your cat to "not think out
of the box". HaHa! I found out what we were doing wrong and quickly solved
what my cat's communication problem was.
There is a vast amount of information on the
Internet, but most of it is useless. You should find a good guide somewhere on
this pagehttp://bit.ly/1QwP0F1 or here
www.healthyfamilyhouse.com Good luck!

They hate aluminum foil, orange peel, and spikey pine cones. I had to repot my plants with new soil and then use these items..worked like a charm :) good luck. Also if un-neutered he will mark his territory, and it won't be just potted plants he urinates and sprays :(

I hate to say this but even neutered some male cats still spray, although not as smelly. We found this out when we adopted the neighbor's cat when they couldn't take him with them when they moved. We never got him trained to be a completely inside cat but he spend all his nights inside and he spent most of his days in his own yard. This is the one reason why over the years we've only had a female cat and strictly an inside cat, it can't annoy the neighbors or go after birds. The girl we have now doesn't scratch the furniture, doesn't get into much trouble either other then pushing pens and anything smallish onto the floor. All of the cats we've had lived long happy lives, all living on the average 18-20 years. We only had trouble with one of the girls and the crumpled up aluminum worked like a charm.

Also depends on if you neuter.. When you do it.. Typically if you do it before 6months they won't spray...after 6 months they have already come into "adulthood" and their hormones have kicked in... I have had one girl who lived to 18 and she was a piece of cake...but had major attitude ha ha . Then I had a male 18 & and a male 22. The kitten I have now at 10weeks old the shelter neutered him so time will tell ;)

Dimples, major attitude LOL, you know what they say, dogs have masters, cats have staff, so true. Our girl has a chef and a masseuse at her beck and call.

Keep in mind even some females spray. We adopted one from the shelter, she's 2 and I am constantly seeing her spray even though she's spayed. Our other cat went into heat before we could get her spayed and was not happy that she had to stay inside so she kept peeing on the foot of the bed right on top of my feet when I was asleep until her appointment. Luckily I have had very few cats try and use my plants as a box, at least recently. They prefer to go outside.

Mt cat has been urinating in one of our potted plants when we are not around to catch him, he is an indoor/outdoor cat and we keep the door open for him. Currently we have some rather "large" stones in the plant which are not determine him at all. We have changed the soil a few times already as well and he still returns to this plant. We've taken him to the vet and was told that he is fine, there were no issue regarding his health. I have even tried using a citrus smelling spray on the plant as well. Any help for this one?

Just a thought, have you tried those cat scat mats or maybe buy a package of those long wooden skewers and sticking enough in so he can't get into the pot, when we had a problem crumpled up aluminum balls worked for us, but might not deter your boy.

My cats were peeing in my plants even tho I have plenty litter boxes...what I did was buy a few cheap litter pans and in one I planted shade loving grass and cat nip in the other. With her own plants to scratch in she leaves mine alone...for the most part. I've stopped the potty thing...but have yet to stop her chewing my plants lol.