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Kitten peed in bathroom sink!

17 years ago

My 19 week old kitten (who wasn't eating last week and is now eating like a little pig) jumped up into the bathroom sink yesterday morning as I was putting on makeup. She is the 2nd of my 4 cats who do this as my 2nd youngest likes to sit in the sink (she loves water) and watch me. They also drink out of the sink and bath tub faucets (all four cats) if I turn the water on for them. However the kitten (Hillary) just sat down and peed in the sink like nothing was out of the ordinary. I rushed her down to her litter box (in our basement bathroom) as soon as I realized what she did and she calmly walked over to it and defecated. She wasn't straining or anything and I know that peeing outside of the litter box is usually associated with UTIs but she has been on antibiotics for the last seven days (because she wasn't eating and the vet couldn't find a cause) so I don't see how that could be the case.

I scrubbed the sink out with clorox but today when I was getting ready for work she tried the same thing! I picked her up out of the sink and called her so she would follow me downstairs and she went straight to her litter box and used it. I've had her at my house for 11 weeks so its not as though she doesn't know where the litter box is! She's never gone to the bathroom anywhere other than the litter box before (I'd smell it if she did). I have four cats and five large litter boxes for them to use and clean them at least every other day. Any ideas as to why a cat would do this?

Comments (11)

  • 17 years ago

    Perhaps your litter box is located too far away. Your kitten was happily keeping you company, and then had to pee, and didn't want to go all the way downstairs to the basement. I suggest you add another litter box to the upstairs bathroom, or at least at a location closer than the basement.

  • 17 years ago

    I'd think because it looks/seems kind of like a litterbox. Maybe put something in or over the sink when you're not around. Any other things to be confused or used, like empty boxes, are best out of their way too.

    Try fragrance-free litter if not already. Cats really don't like fragrance and some will go elsewhere. You might also try putting out a small litter box for her, since she's a kitten and you mentioned your other boxes are large.

    Could be a texture thing also, if she doesn't like the litter. I've got one who won't walk on those pellets : )

  • 17 years ago

    Yes, good point on location. Boxes that aren't convenient will also have cats 'holding it,' which can end up causing bacterial infections and stones.

  • 17 years ago

    When Bindi was small, I had to keep lots of pans around until she understood the house better and grew a bit.

    As an aside, I had a cat in the 80's. She was outdoor in the beginning until I could get her housetrained.

    Funny thing was, she would run in the house, pee in our clawfoot tub, and then run back outside (seems she was too good to pee in the yard).

    So my dad named her Tax.

    That way every time she ran in the house, we could say InCome Tax :-)

    LOL

  • 17 years ago

    Years ago, we had one that, if he got mad at us, he'd do both in the tub....Thank goodness it was the tub...He was a honey any other time, but look out if we did something he didn't like.....Gotta love them!

  • 17 years ago

    I think the other posters are right on with their suggestions that your little girl may need more litterboxes available in other parts of the house, and perhaps different litter or litterbox types. Also as mentioned, some cats associate all "boxes" (litterboxes, cardboard boxes, sinks, bathtubs, etc.) with appropriate places to eliminate. If that's the case, you can dissuade her from using your sinks by leaving water in the sinks when you're not using them.

    Laurie

  • 17 years ago

    Peeing in sinks and tubs are a symptom of UTI. Perhaps she is on an antibiotic that is not addressing that bacteria?

    I would tell the vet, especially if she's never done this kind of thing before.

  • 17 years ago

    I had a cat that would pee in anything that resembled a cat box. Clothes basket, shoe boxes, lid to board game we were playing. Appliance box my 3 yr old kid made into a play house in the basement. Never in sink or tub. I really had to be careful about what was laying around. Was he just stupid or confused, I just don't know. He would just drive me crazy. He has since past a number of years ago and I still find myself putting the clothes basket upside down every once in a while.

  • 17 years ago

    I had this problem with one of my cats. We had moved across the hall from our old apartment, and a few weeks later, the cat started peeing into the sink. We said "he's just being a jerk" (the catbox is about 3 feet away from it, so no long run for it.) and filled the sink with water. This stopped him from doing it. The next night, he opens the shower door, and starts peeing in there. Every time we closed the shower door, he would run and open it. It was late one night, he was opening it, and I got mad cause he woke me up, so I put a bungee cord holding the door shut. He scratched the door, and I went to sleep. Next morning, I wake up, and the toilet, which was closed stunk of cat pee. My wife goes "why is he doing this?" and we tried to figure what was different from before the move. I said "He can always sit in the bathroom when we use it." We left the toilet top up, and found he actually wanted to use the toilet like us, and all he saw from the sink and tub was "white bowl".

    He is a bigger cat, so not so worried about him falling in, but it might be something to think of. It might not be the same for yours, and our cats could just be strange, but still.

  • 14 years ago

    I hav a male cat who isn't quite a year old yet and for the last three weeks he's been peeing in the sink, in the tub and on top of the dryer...could it be because I've switched the cat litter? He hasn't been fixed yet but he does have an appt. set up to be neutered in 2 weeks...could that be my problem solver??

  • 14 years ago

    My 6 month old kitten has had sporadic litter box problems ever since I got her at 8 weeks. Maybe it was because she came from a shelter and they got her at 4 weeks. Anyway, I have another bigger kitten who loves her, but is very much an in your face kitten.

    My question is that now that Cookie is peeing in the sink and bathtub, will she go somewhere else if I block them off. I filled the sink up with an inch of water and she stopped for a couple of days, but then I noticed somehting in the bathtub.